Lake Mary - Advice/Info on nice area for young families

[kyle19125]

I keep waiting for Beckycat to join the thread as she lives in the area and knows the specific school information quite well. You might send her a direct message as she is quite helpful with providing information and would surely be happy to help. I think you can type her username into the search function and once you do, click on her name to send a direct message.

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

I keep waiting for Beckycat to join the thread as she lives in the area and knows the specific school information quite well. You might send her a direct message as she is quite helpful with providing information and would surely be happy to help. I think you can type her username into the search function and once you do, click on her name to send a direct message.

Here I come. I guess I missed this one the other day. LOL
Anyhow, all the places mentioned are very nice. The only concern I have is zoning for schools. Many of those mentioned are zoned for Seminole High. I would recommend Lake Mary High over that unless your child is going into the health academy or IB program. As for middle schools, Greenwood Lakes, Rock Lake and Markham Middle are good choices. Most of the elementary schools in the Northwest cluster are fine.

Another option would be to look into Longwood. There are nice neighborhoods on Markham Woods Road. You can also look into Sweetwater. I believe that is zoned for Lake Brantley High.

Lake Mary and Longwood are a good choice to live. Sanford has some very nice homes as well but zoning is an issue.

You can use this link to see what schools a residence is zoned for: School Zone Search

Good luck and feel free to ask other questions.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by beckycat

Here I come. I guess I missed this one the other day. LOL
Anyhow, all the places mentioned are very nice. The only concern I have is zoning for schools. Many of those mentioned are zoned for Seminole High. I would recommend Lake Mary High over that unless your child is going into the health academy or IB program.

I agree regarding Lake Mary HS unless you feel your children can handle the academic load of the International Baccalaureate program at Seminole HS. The IB program is quite demanding, even for Long Islanders.

[Susan75]

Thanks Beckycat and Kyle. My children are still quite young (7, 5, and 8 months) so highschool is a ways off. Right now I would be focused on the elementary and middle schools. Is there anyplace you recommend where all 3 levels of schools are particularly good? I truly hate the process of moving and once we buy a house I would hope to stay there for a long time ;-) The IB program sounds interesting. My oldest son is extremely advanced academically and does require a challenge. Who knows what he will be like come high school though.

Beckycat- do you know of any gifted programs or dual language programs anywhere?

[FloridaNative35]

As I just said in the other Lake Mary thread, the IB program is extremely challenging, even for highly gifted students.

I don't know much about Seminole schools, but Orange has gifted programs, dual language, and language immersion programs in their magnet program. Look into magnet schools if your children need more of a challenge.

In many cases, gifted instruction is in addition to regular classes, not instead of regular classes (meaning, in most schools, gifted children attend regular classes but then have enrichment classes once or twice a week where they receive more challenging work). But, as I said, I'm not sure how Seminole County works.

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by Susan75

Thanks Beckycat and Kyle. My children are still quite young (7, 5, and 8 months) so highschool is a ways off. Right now I would be focused on the elementary and middle schools. Is there anyplace you recommend where all 3 levels of schools are particularly good? I truly hate the process of moving and once we buy a house I would hope to stay there for a long time ;-) The IB program sounds interesting. My oldest son is extremely advanced academically and does require a challenge. Who knows what he will be like come high school though.

Beckycat- do you know of any gifted programs or dual language programs anywhere?

I know most of the schools have a type of gifted program. Once they get up there, they can use it towards college credits.

There are parts of Alaqua in Longwood zoned for all good schools. There are some other subdivisions off Lake Emma Rd like Huntington Pointe and a couple others, some newer. There's Eagles Crossing across from Lake Mary High.

What type of home and size home are you looking for? What's important to you?

[Susan75]

I think we will be looking for a home between $400-$500 thousand depending on his promotion/salary increase. As you already know we have 3 young boys so we are looking for family oriented places. It would be nice to have a neighborhood with kids to play with or with a nearby playground. We love to swim and are hoping to have our own pool, but a community pool could do the job. My mother would be moving with us. We currently have a house with mother/daughter set-up so she has her own apartment in the downstairs. We want to do something similar there, though I realize that might be difficult with HOA's. She is a big part of our lives and our family and we want her with us (just not sharing our kitchen and bathroom...lol). From what I understand Disney is 40 minutes away, Daytona Beach about the same? My kids love science and nature so we would really enjoy taking advantage of any activities along those lines.

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by Susan75

I think we will be looking for a home between $400-$500 thousand depending on his promotion/salary increase. As you already know we have 3 young boys so we are looking for family oriented places. It would be nice to have a neighborhood with kids to play with or with a nearby playground. We love to swim and are hoping to have our own pool, but a community pool could do the job. My mother would be moving with us. We currently have a house with mother/daughter set-up so she has her own apartment in the downstairs. We want to do something similar there, though I realize that might be difficult with HOA's. She is a big part of our lives and our family and we want her with us (just not sharing our kitchen and bathroom...lol). From what I understand Disney is 40 minutes away, Daytona Beach about the same? My kids love science and nature so we would really enjoy taking advantage of any activities along those lines.

On that budget, it will get you pretty far here. You will get what you're looking for and in the school district that you want. The communities in that price range should have a pool or you can get one with the house. As for your mom and HOA's, I'm sure you can set something up for her. They don't have to know everything We have the Y right here with a heated outdoor pool and many activities for the kids. The beach and Disney are about 40 minutes from here. We also have springs with nature walks. This area really is perfect for everything.

[Susan75]

This is exciting :-) I really appreciate your input. The schools were my biggest concern but now I feel a lot better.