Info. about moving to Pike Cty? Help!! (Dickson City, Tunkhannock: appointed, 2014)

[librarianmom]

My family is looking at Pike County as our new home. Can anyone tell me about the school systems? Living and commuting to NYC from there? Where are the best areas for a family with children? Help!!!!

[nepagalsince1974]

Hi!

I've lived in Pike and Wayne counties since I was 4 and consider myself a native after all these years...personally, I think that the Wallenpaupack Area School District is the best, and you can live 10-15 miles outside of Milford, still commute easily, and have a very peaceful existence. Milford has become quite overdeveloped in my opinion...though it is very close to I80.

All of the school districts in this area are quite good, so you really can't lose. Plenty for the kids to get involved in, etc. Have you thought of a development? Fawn Lake Forest and Masthope are both in Pike County, are very affordable, and have many ammenities.

[mod]use DM for realtor recommendations, please[/mod]

Good luck with your search, and you've chosen a WONDERFUL area to raise your family!!!!

[littlebunnie69]

I really love Wallenpaupack school also! MY one child attends their elementary school. All around a very nice school system. The area i live has a lot of families with kids and it is very convienent to the promiseland lake! The commute doesn't seem bad ( but we don't commute ) I live in greentown right smack in the middle of wayne and pike counties

[kinpa]

I was disappointed when I read today's Wayne independent. Wallenpaupack is no longer keeping up. They have 3 warnings, and a lower score than last year. Wallenpaupack used to be one of the best schools in the area, if you look at our scores now they are pretty bad. My now adult children all went to Wallenpaupack their whole lives, and my Grand-kids now go there. My step daughter is going to be a senior this year and she can't even spell simple words. Neither can her friends, it is awful. They are passing kids that wouldn't have passed 8th grade a few years ago. I am very concerned. I don't know how a parent who has a senior that cant spell would be happy with this school district.

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

Originally Posted by kinpa

I was disappointed when I read today's Wayne independent. Wallenpaupack is no longer keeping up. They have 3 warnings, and a lower score than last year. Wallenpaupack used to be one of the best schools in the area, if you look at our scores now they are pretty bad. My now adult children all went to Wallenpaupack their whole lives, and my Grand-kids now go there. My step daughter is going to be a senior this year and she can't even spell simple words. Neither can her friends, it is awful. They are passing kids that wouldn't have passed 8th grade a few years ago. I am very concerned. I don't know how a parent who has a senior that cant spell would be happy with this school district.

I have never heard anything negative about Wallenpaupauk, it is one of the best districts in the area. I do not think it would be fair to blame a school district or teachers for the reason a senior can not spell. It has to do with personal motivation plus how the parents are involved with the child's education. Parents today must be advocates for their children's education regardless of what district they are in. Many students need the extra help/tutoring - but it is up to the individual and the parents to get the help.

[ff18wife]

Originally Posted by nepagalsince1974

Hi!

I've lived in Pike and Wayne counties since I was 4 and consider myself a native after all these years...personally, I think that the Wallenpaupack Area School District is the best, and you can live 10-15 miles outside of Milford, still commute easily, and have a very peaceful existence. Milford has become quite overdeveloped in my opinion...though it is very close to I80.

All of the school districts in this area are quite good, so you really can't lose. Plenty for the kids to get involved in, etc. Have you thought of a development? Fawn Lake Forest and Masthope are both in Pike County, are very affordable, and have many ammenities.

Not being sarcastic but where is Milford close to I80? I know the way I go is Route 206 south to Route 15 to Route 80 and to me, that is by no way close. I think it's at least 45 mins, if not more, to get to Route 80 from Milford.

Maybe I84 which runs right through Milford???

[greentown]

Originally Posted by kinpa

I was disappointed when I read today's Wayne independent. Wallenpaupack is no longer keeping up. They have 3 warnings, and a lower score than last year. Wallenpaupack used to be one of the best schools in the area, if you look at our scores now they are pretty bad. My now adult children all went to Wallenpaupack their whole lives, and my Grand-kids now go there. My step daughter is going to be a senior this year and she can't even spell simple words. Neither can her friends, it is awful. They are passing kids that wouldn't have passed 8th grade a few years ago. I am very concerned. I don't know how a parent who has a senior that cant spell would be happy with this school district.

Could this be the portion of the article you read in the Wayne Independent"

"Wallenpaupack
Three warning marks were given for Wallenpaupack Area High School, although overall the District had high readings with 14 out of 17 targets reached.
Under the IEP Special Education group for the high school, there was only a 24.6% proficiency under reading, with a target goal of 63%; this was down 1.8% from last year. In math, this group had a 14% proficiency with a 56% target, a decrease of 4.9% from the prior year.
For the economically disadvantaged subgroup, for math the proficiency level was 40% and the target 56%; this was a decline of 8.8% from last year.
The number of AYP targets differ with each school because there are not always at least 40 students in a given group to qualify for the AYP calculations. When a warning mark is given, the school needs to meet AYP targets next year in order to be considered on-track for meeting the NCLB goal of all students reaching proficiency by the year 2014.
For more information see the Pa. Department of Education web site at www.paayp.com."

If you read the article, I would hardly find these three groups representative of the whole student body as a whole. As for the senior girl with spelling difficulties (probably due to lack of reading skills), there are several tutoring options available to students, free of charge. My daughter will also be a senior at Wallenpaupack this year and is in the top 20 students in the class of over 300. As another poster pointed out, personal motivation and parental involvement work wonders. However, my daughter isn't always particularly interested in studying, so obviously the teachers are doing something right. I also have three other children in the district and all are straight A students and enjoy and participate in their school activities.

[memoriesbre]

The area is great. We were looking there but couldn't find a large enough home. We are now in Tunkhannock, which is about 25 min. from Dickson City. Pike County is much closer to NJ and NY and would be an easier commute than Tunkhannock. We fortunately do not have to commute!