Moving to Oahu in August, need help! (middle-class, apartment complex)

[kaymelia]

Hi! I'm married with 2 daughters, ages 12 and 6. I recently got into graduate school at U of H and will be moving my family to Oahu in August. I have a job secured (I'm an RN) and my husband is currently looking. We currently live in the bay area in California. We don't live extravagantly and will be bringing very little with us (a suitcase or 2 each). Our cost of living is high in the bay area, and I know it will continue to be high in Oahu. To put it in perspective, we pay $2000 for an 1100 sq ft 3bed/1bath home. It was built in the 40's and is completely falling a part! Our rent is cheap because our home is the only home located within an apartment complex. We have been in this house 5 years and the cost of rent has gone up considerably. If we were to move into our house now, it would be $3000.

Our priority is finding decent schooling for our girls. My oldest will be going into 7th grade and my youngest, into 1st grade. Private school is not an option as we just won't be able to afford it and the deadlines have past for applications anyway. I've heard mixed reviews about schooling. My friends at work that are from Oahu attended private schools. My biggest concern is for my 12 year old. She is very shy, very quiet, and very sensitive. This move will be hardest on her, and I want to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Any and all advice is welcome please! I'm mostly curious about best place to live for a middle-class family and best schools for our girls. Ideally, I'd like my commute to Queens and U of H to be no more than an hour, but if the schools that are best are further away, I'm ok with a longer commute.

Thank you in advance for your help

[whtviper1]

With all this concern for a 12 year old why go to UH with out of state tuition when there are so many good grad schools in the Bay Area?

[kaymelia]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

With all this concern for a 12 year old why go to UH with out of state tuition when there are so many good grad schools in the Bay Area?

Great question. I actually did get accepted into 2 grad schools here in the bay area. Believe it or not, tuition for these schools is comparable to out-of-state tuition in Hawaii. More importantly the program at UH is a dual Nurse Practitioner/Public Health degree which is exactly the type of NP I want to be.

I have no doubt that this move is going to be hard, but I also know that no matter what, we are going to be ok. As a mom, I'm always going to be concerned that I'm making the best choices for my kids. We have already decided to make this move, now it's a matter of making the best decisions in where to be.

[CyberCity]

Originally Posted by kaymelia

Our priority is finding decent schooling for our girls. My oldest will be going into 7th grade and my youngest, into 1st grade. Private school is not an option as we just won't be able to afford it and the deadlines have past for applications anyway. I've heard mixed reviews about schooling. My friends at work that are from Oahu attended private schools. My biggest concern is for my 12 year old. She is very shy, very quiet, and very sensitive. This move will be hardest on her, and I want to make the transition as smooth as possible.

I usually support those who want to move to Hawaii, I think it is a doable move for most folks if they are willing to make adjustments and be flexible.

BUT you have hit the one area when I get much more cautious in my support of a move ... SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN. I cannot in good conscience recommend that you move to Hawaii with school age children unless you have on the back burner a serious "plan B" that includes private school. If financially that is impossible to even consider, then my thoughts are that you'll need to put YOUR educational advancement plans BEHIND the educational well being of your children.

Many of us on this forum who give advice to pay special attention to the public school system, do so with your best interest in mind.

Good luck with planning for the overall health and happiness of your entire family.

[kaymelia]

[quote=CyberCity;28712485]I usually support those who want to move to Hawaii, I think it is a doable move for most folks if they are willing to make adjustments and be flexible.

BUT you have hit the one area when I get much more cautious in my support of a move ... SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN. I cannot in good conscience recommend that you move to Hawaii with school age children unless you have on the back burner a serious "plan B" that includes private school. If financially that is impossible to even consider, then my thoughts are that you'll need to put YOUR educational advancement plans BEHIND the educational well being of your children.

Hi! Thank you for this advice and I appreciate your honesty . Could you be a little more specific about the concerns with public schooling?

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by kaymelia

Hi! Thank you for this advice and I appreciate your honesty . Could you be a little more specific about the concerns with public schooling?

I agree with CyberCity on this. Unfortunately the State of Hawai'i consistently ranks near the bottom of all states on quality of public education. Teachers are underpaid, schools are underfunded, the system is a mess. That doesn't mean there aren't a few good teachers, and a few good schools, but for the most part parents looking for good education for their kids wind up putting them in private schools.

If you use the Advanced Search function here you can dig into a lot of previous conversations on the topic.

Good luck!

[hunterseat]

Some of us think the public school system sucks no matter where you move in the U.S. But it's really bad here.

What's your husband's line of work?

[kaymelia]

Originally Posted by hunterseat

Some of us think the public school system sucks no matter where you move in the U.S. But it's really bad here.

What's your husband's line of work?

My husband is also a nurse.

[kaymelia]

Originally Posted by OpenD

I agree with CyberCity on this. Unfortunately the State of Hawai'i consistently ranks near the bottom of all states on quality of public education. Teachers are underpaid, schools are underfunded, the system is a mess. That doesn't mean there aren't a few good teachers, and a few good schools, but for the most part parents looking for good education for their kids wind up putting them in private schools.

If you use the Advanced Search function here you can dig into a lot of previous conversations on the topic.

Good luck!

Thank you! I'm finding a lot of great information reading through various conversations. It seems that there are a few public schools that are great and a few more that are decent. I friend of a friend that lives in Oahu suggested Noelani. The areas I'm seeing that are recommended are mililiani, moanalua, salt lake, kahala, and kaneohe. I was told to avoid Kahili but that it's not too bad. Just to put it in perspective, bad to me is East Oakland and Richmond (about 20 minutes each from where I live). Those places you can't even go through in the daytime without fear of being shot. That being said, I live in a very nice area, but in California, the nice areas are surrounded by extreme crime. Our kids can't even walk to school alone without fear of abduction.

[hunterseat]

Originally Posted by kaymelia

My husband is also a nurse.

That's awesome! Nurses are amazing individuals. Takes a special kind of person and thank God for you both!

You know there have been some nurse lay-offs here lately but I bet he will find work fast. My guy is a carpenter/contractor and heard horror stories but got several job offers fairly quickly. He's not earning his full potential but we've only been here since Jan. We're very thankful for what we have!!

Seems elementary schools shine here and it all drops off after that. I think that may be an administration/faculty problem. I'm still thinking about the troops-to-teachers thing...