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We are moving to Grand Forks in late June for my husband's job. We have two young children. I am a school librarian and hope to find a job there as well. Does anyone know whether the public schools have librarians? (As opposed to a technician or assistant who checks books in and out.) Since there aren't any librarian positions open right now and I can't tell if the schools even have this position. We are looking in Thompson, Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.
Also on schools, in all three of those districts, what is the availability of gifted education? My oldest will be going into fifth grade and at her current school she gets pulled out one day a week for gifted education. Do any of these districts have a gifted program, or does it vary by individual school? Know a school with a strong program? Along those lines, do any of the middle schools offer a speciality program, such as math and science or world languages?
Lastly, it is going to be really challenging to live without 4WD? Here in VA schools close if there is even a light dusting of snow, federal government shuts down too. So my husband has a 2 WD SUV and I have a 2 WD minivan, and we would be sad to have to trade them for something else but I would rather know now. We are aiming for a short commute for both of us if that makes a difference, probably not involving the highway unless we settle on Thompson (?).
Thanks in advance! Everyone is saying the schools in the area are pretty good and that's very reassuring...can't wait to hear more.
Your vehicles are fine. People on this forum will insist that 4wd is a must, but if you look around, the majority of the vehicles are 2 WD and they get around just fine. You will want good tires and possibly an engine block heater to plug in at night for those really nasty cold spells.
Driving on snow? My father used to say, "Half the speed, double the distance.". In other words, keep your speed at or slower than half your normal speed. Double the distance between you and the next person, double. the distance it takes to stop. That's the rule of thumb, and its the minimum, you may want slower and more distance if its icy under the snow.
The high and middle schools all have librarians in GF. GF public.schools are rather good jobs compared to the region, so openings might be rare.
UND probably has had a number of openings, as their has been admin issues there with the libraries. The city library also might have openings.
Grade schools in GF have had gifted programs. Not sure now. You might call the Grand Forks public school office. It might have a bearing on which grade school boundary you want to live.
I live in East Grand Forks, but have many friends with young kids in GF and Thompson schools, and our 3 young kids K-4 are in EGF public schools. There is also a Catholic school system with 2 K-5 schools in GF and Sacred Heart K-5 in EGF. Sacred Heart is the primary Catholic school for both GF and EGF for grades 6-12. There is also a non-demoniational Christian school (Riverside Christian school) located in EGF (serves both cities).
I am not familiar with the gifted programs in either school district. Here is the link to the GF public school site
I am not familiar with it and dont know if only at certain schools are at all of them. Contact the public school office located on 47th Ave S for info.
But in general you will find the public schools here are very good, in comparison to many areas of the country and have strong parent involvement. There is open enrollement within the GF school system, meaning you can apply to go to school outside the school boundaries.
Typically Century ES is the newest and considered by some as better. Kelly ES on the south side too gets good reviews. I caution though that no matter where you go the schools are good.
Centruy ES has had crowded issues for years and with the growth on the south end of town, mainly south of 32nd Ave S on toward 47th Ave S west of Washington St, there is a new elementary school opening up in the Fall of 2015..... Here are the current and prospective ES school boundaries....
Wow, really quick responses and super helpful! I will call GF schools about any enrichment programs. Also I had no idea you can apply to a different school, that's helpful.
Great idea about the UND and public libraries. I definitely prefer k-12 but I will keep those possibilities in mind, thanks.
So glad to hear it about our 2 WD vehicles. Half the speed, twice the distance sounds sensible. I have an Odyssey too and really want to keep it.
Thank you everyone for the great info and links!
Last edited by ElkHunter; 12-20-2014 at 08:46 PM..
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Wow, really quick responses and super helpful! I will call GF schools about any enrichment programs. Also I had no idea you can apply to a different school, that's helpful.
Great idea about the UND and public libraries. I definitely prefer k-12 but I will keep those possibilities in mind, thanks.
So glad to hear it about our 2 WD vehicles. Half the speed, twice the distance sounds sensible. I have an Odyssey too and really want to keep it.
Thank you everyone for the great info and links!
Our family and many others have Odyssey's in the area and no issues travelling in town or highways in 98 percent of the time. I work shift work at the National Weather Service and once I had trouble navagating coming home from work at 1 am as the streets werent plowed yet as it was snowing and drifts were enough to catch under the car. But that is pretty rare...and unless you must travel outside of town and on rural county roads in the middle of a snow event you will be just fine. As long as you have good tires and a good battery no problems. I have the same all-season tires as it came with and no issues. Now..if you come from a warm climate you should have your vehicle checked to be sure it is up to par....the right anti-freeze, best all season tires, as if you bought a vehicle in warm climates you may not have the upgraded winter package they sell here. I dont have a block heater for mine as it is parked in a garage....and usually only parked outside while at work. No issues noted with temps down to -20F , but a bit sluggish as expected when starting.... Remote starters are a good investment however...very nice to start your car before you head out if shopping, or if parked outside overnight.....to warm it up before you get in. Remote starters are pretty common here. When you go grocery shopping or to Target or wherever....you will often see quite a few cars running with no one inside. But with a remote starter you can have the doors locked and keep it running or start it up 5 to 10 minutes before you go out the store door.
One thing about real estate, homes, etc... there has been a lot of apartment building in the last few years...mostly luxury....and rental prices may be higher than you are used too (or maybe not) But home prices, rental prices aren't as cheap as one expects. There are more homes on the market then 1 yr ago...so that has helped I think stabilize prices some. I live living in EGF MN....smaller town with a smaller school district....but you do have to travel over into Grand Forks for most shopping and to work and the MN income tax rate is higher than ND....but property taxes a bit lower.
GF school district does not provide transportation to schools....i.e. no district busing. Dietrich bus service provides busing for many students, but you do have to pay. I dont know how much. In EGF MN busing is provided and free (per state law) Thompson provides school district busses....unsure if cost though.
Thanks for the tip on the bussing situation. I had not factored that in.
Real estate does seem high. And that's saying something, because we currently live just outside of DC where prices are considered very high. We had hoped to rent a house in the GF area, but that seems unlikely due to the scarcity. It looks like we will be looking to buy a newer home unless by some miracle we find a newer home to rent that will take a small dog.
I followed the link about GF's enrichment program and it seems similar to what we have here so that's reassuring.
Thanks for the tip on the bussing situation. I had not factored that in.
Real estate does seem high. And that's saying something, because we currently live just outside of DC where prices are considered very high. We had hoped to rent a house in the GF area, but that seems unlikely due to the scarcity. It looks like we will be looking to buy a newer home unless by some miracle we find a newer home to rent that will take a small dog.
I followed the link about GF's enrichment program and it seems similar to what we have here so that's reassuring.
Thanks again!
Rental single family housing is a bit scarce....not nearly as bad a few years ago.... craiglist isnt too bad to look at (but only trust those with local numbers or addresses). Oxford Realty and Elite Property Mangement are two of the main property management companies in the city for rental homes.
If you have one small dog that usually isnt too bad....but more than 1 pet and the choices are way less.
And yes new home prices have gone up as land prices are quite high. The land they are building on was once rich farmland and the developers who bought the land had to pay a premium. One reason we chose the east side (EGF) as lot prices were cheaper. For SFH rentals most will run in the 1300 to 1600/mo range. Homes are sitting on the market longer and I forsee some price reductions coming up the spring....but hard to find a new home for under 275k anymore which is crazy. I am not a realtor or have any connections, but do like to follow that stuff. If you have any questions about certain areas let me know.
Most rental homes will tend to be a bit older and a majority close to UND.
One thing to remember....I dont know if they have specials out there where you live in VA....but when you buy a home in a new neighborhood you will have considerable specials added on. Specials include amounts per property for concrete road/curb and gutter, sewer and lights. Some builders may include specials in the price of the lot, some dont. Typically specials are on a 15 yr loan.... so thus on your housing payment you will have added the property tax and then the special amounts per year. The actual percentage of property taxes on a house has been going down as the state has been using money to buy down taxes some....but with increased assessment valuations of home prices...taxes have been at best stable.
One note on school librarians--ND regulations require that school media specialists, which is the term more commonly used here, qualify for a ND teacher's license. I've encountered individuals with an ALA-accredited masters in library science and 20 years of experience as a school librarian who were not able to be employed in the schools because of the lack of a teaching credential.
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