Seminole County - Sanford (32773) Questions/Schools (Midway: best neighborhood, house, transfer)

[Jessie61195]

Hi everyone!

I’m moving to Seminole County in early January and am still house hunting. I have a 4 month old baby and a price range of ideally less than $500,000 (this market is absurd). I noticed that Sanford offers way more house for the money, and the Kensington Reserve 32773 area seems to have a lot of nice homes, but I’m concerned about the school options for my daughter. Although she’s 5 years away from elementary school, it seems like the zoned school (Midway) is only ranked 4/10. I don’t want to enroll her in an area where she won’t receive a solid education, but I also feel like things may change in 5 years due to the revitalization of the area. Can anyone offer their opinions on whether or not this is a safe area for a family and if the schooling situation would deter you from enrolling your child there? I am open to magnet schools if that’s an option, but it makes me nervous that they are based off a lottery.

Thanks so much for your help!

[Arcenal813]

If I were looking to move to Sanford, that wouldn't be my preferred area. It's not BAD, but it's "newer," and cheap.

At $500k, you should be able to find a modest house in the nicer parts.
Seminole County schools in general are considered to be among the best in Florida.

If I were you, I'd look at Sanford West of I-4. Smaller house, but much better area.

[kyle19125]

I would take the 4 out of 10 rating on GreatSchools with a grain of salt. Did you know GreatSchools negatively scores racial diversity, minority-majority student bodies and how many students are on the free lunch-reduced lunch program? Niche is a much better grading system and has arguably become the more reliable source for school grades. In their latest result (2021) Midway received a B- which is in step with the school's meteoric improvement in testing the past 5 years. Midway's magnet school designation with the Arts program has helped tremendously and have heard how students in that program are a big part of the academic turnaround. http://www.midway.scps.k12.fl.us/cor...s-Brochure.pdf I would highly advise doing some further investigation before blowing it off due to one rating source.

[drive carephilly]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

I would take the 4 out of 10 rating on GreatSchools with a grain of salt. Did you know GreatSchools negatively scores racial diversity, minority-majority student bodies and how many students are on the free lunch-reduced lunch program? Niche is a much better grading system and has arguably become the more reliable source for school grades. In their latest result (2021) Midway received a B- which is in step with the school's meteoric improvement in testing the past 5 years. Midway's magnet school designation with the Arts program has helped tremendously and have heard how students in that program are a big part of the academic turnaround. http://www.midway.scps.k12.fl.us/cor...s-Brochure.pdf I would highly advise doing some further investigation before blowing it off due to one rating source.

Niche also averages in diversity among other factors.


Overall Niche Grade
Academics
Diversity
Teachers
College Prep
Clubs & Activities
Health & Safety
Administration
Sports
Food
Resources & Facilities

GreatSchools also ranks those things along with academics and college readiness (which are my top two priorities) separately and makes them easy to see. The difference is in how each website is weighting each criterion.

I think it's important to look at all of the rankings and look at their individual category rankings to come up with your own score but I don't think it's so cut and dry that Niche's algorithm is better. It really depends on what your priorities are as a parent.

I think Seminole has made a name for itself around these parts by not having very many bad schools but that doesn't translate to "all the schools are great." The reality is that it's a mix of schools of varying caliber and due diligence is required.

Personally, I'm more of the "worst house in the best neighborhood" kinda guy but if you don't mind driving your kid to school for 6 years, Seminole County has open enrollment and you can see how many seats are open at each school before you apply https://www.scps.k12.fl.us/core/file...s-Overview.pdf you can find the house and neighborhood that work for you and then spend that money anyway in time and gas ;-)