moving to lake mary florida (Sanford, Casselberry: section 8, rentals, crime rate)

[NS007]

I am moving to lake mary florida in some blogs it was mentioned sanford middle school and seminole high are good schools for IB but when I went online great school ratings for these schools were only 6 and 7 only So how do we conclude that these are best schools and what are parameters to judge these schools as best
Also in Sanford crime rate is very high is it safer to attend schools in that area
Please advise

[kyle19125]

GreatSchools is a horrible rating site and uses some questionable criteria such as the number of participants in free/reduced cost school lunch program participants as academic negatives. Sanford MS and Seminole HS are also both a mixed bag of students attending, with the IB participants performing very high while the general population tends to do poorly. The students in the IB programs take a separate set of classes and the curriculum is completely different from the mainstream academics. In terms of the crime rate (which is largely useless for determining where to live), Sanford's "high crime" is relative to a couple of small pockets mostly, which are miles away from where you would most likely wind up living.
Crime rate statistics are compiled by zip code, and 32771 for example (one of two Sanford zip codes) covers 36 square miles. I have had roots in that zip code since 1979 (lived here continually since 2010), and in my neighborhood/section of Sanford (the western third of the city which sits north/west of the 417 Toll/Greenway and Airport Blvd) our crime rate is equal to what is seen in "much safer" Lake Mary.

[NS007]

Thank you so much this helps how is Casselberry to live. Next weekend I will be coming to florida to check neighbourhood.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by NS007

Thank you so much this helps how is Casselberry to live. Next weekend I will be coming to florida to check neighbourhood.

Casselberry is a mixed bag, like most other older cities in FL that have seen more than a few booms (and downturns) in development. Older neighborhoods tend to lose favor when newer are built, leaving many of them to devalue via rundown properties that are rentals and in some instances Section 8 housing, not to mention the housing crisis/recession in 2007-2011 which some neighborhoods still haven't recovered from. Casselberry's odd layout (achieved via annexation over the years) makes it hard to pinpoint what's good or bad but generally speaking neighborhoods around the lakes in the central section up toward the north end are best. The biggest negative is probably the school situation, which is probably the weakest link in what is otherwise a top-tier school district (Seminole County Public Schools).

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ca...!4d-81.3278455