Moving to AZ - Suggested Preschools, MOPS, etc. (Mesa, Chandler: home, neighborhood)

[MarkSmither]

I currently live in Omaha, NE and have a 4 and 2 year old. My wife is a stay at home mom and currently is involved in MOPS, through our church (which is a EFree church).

I will be working in Mesa, so we were thinking of living in that area or possibly Gilbert or Chandler...but we're looking for advice for good school systems, preschool, and area to live in, etc. And any other suggested advice individuals would give would be appreciated.

We did notice preschool starts in August pretty much any place we have found online, which is the same time we are looking at moving.

Also, is there a parents or moms website for Pheonix or other areas? In Omaha we have stuff like Momaha.com and some others that are great for suggested kids activities, groups, and what not. Just haven't been able to find a similar site, this is pretty much the only one we have found close.

Thanks!

[ReadyFreddy]

Here's an EFree church in Mesa. This wouldn't be a bad area to live. Those are good schools.
WELCOME TO GRACE CHURCH, MESA, ARIZONA (http://www.gracemesa.com/index.htm - broken link)

I don't think preschoolers really miss anything in Aug.

[sh9730]

And for mom - try meetup.com . I see lots of "mommy n me" type groups listed there all the time in the various areas of town.

[dubess]

I have been out of work for 2 months and have a job interview in Miami AZ. My parents live in Sun City West (I currently live in NC, originally from MA). My father has told me that the Miami area of Arizona is just awful and that Gilbert or Sun Tan Valley are not much better. I have two children who will be entering the 6th grade in the fall (Sept 2012) and after reading posts here and checking the school grades, it doesn't appear that the schools there are very good.

And what about the mining? I don't know much about copper mining but my dad said they are looks terrible and there are superfunds everywhere. I checked the air quality (where I live in NC compared to Queen Creek) and it appears the air quality is better in AZ than where I live.

After hearing from my dad, I am a bit concerned on the schools. I have no doubt I will have to live at least an hour away. Do any of the schools have any after school programs where my children could go or would I be better off hiring a nanny/babysitter?

The only draw to moving to AZ is to be closer to my parents - the rest of us live on the east coast. But, I don't want to make a move and then find that my children's education will be lacking.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

[observer53]

Gilbert is just fine school and neighborhood wise (your dad is wrong there, but it's a long commute from Gilbert to Miami. San Tan Valley would be even farther.

NE Mesa would be another option with better schools, if you don't want to live in Miami. I agree that there's not much there in MIami. I'm not sure what your dad says "looks terrible" re: the mines here. Copper mining was really in the doldrums here for a long time, seems to be coming back recently.