Relocating to Tempe Area

[Pennies4Penny]

Originally Posted by midwesttosouthwest

We are pretty set on moving, it is a transfer for my husbands current job and if he declines it now he will loose his job. We are willing to look into alternative schooling options such as private schools and homeschooling but would like to be in area with good public schools so we have that option as well. It seems as though Gilbert has good schools so we are seriously considering moving into that area. Are there areas in Gilbert to avoid or anything we should know? How is Mesa for a family? We have heard east side of Mesa but I'm not sure if it is as good of an option for us as Gilbert. Thank you all for your time and input!

Gilbert is a nice town. No areas to avoid, it's safe. It's also very conservative and religious (mostly Mormons), but I have many friends there; we live in neighboring Chandler. The public school system there recently voted to remove pages about reproduction from the high school biology books, ha. In the event that we are not able to move before next school year, I enrolled my daughter at Eduprize. It's a charter school and the only one in Arizona with a 5 star rating. I don't travel to Tempe much, so I'm not sure how the commute will be, but shouldn't be too bad. 20 minutes maybe? I'd look it up though. I don't know much about Mesa, except that it's an older city, whereas Gilbert is younger.

[PhureeKeeper]

Dear OP, I recommend you rent for a year and get familiar with the area and take the time to find out more about what you really want. Your kids are young enough they don't need a large yard right NOW. There are many house rentals in the valley.

[phxmomto1each]

Originally Posted by Pennies4Penny

Valid Victorians and other top honors students in the best Arizona public schools would not even be on the honor roll in top performing states like Colorado, Massachusetts, or Minnesota.

Are you really criticizing the quality of education in AZ while calling valedictorians "Valid Victorians"? Ahh, irony! I believe that AZ has excellent schools, average schools, and terrible schools, as do most States. The great thing about AZ is that the leg. has allowed for the expansion of charter schools, which was not an option when I was growing up in Tempe. There are outstanding charter schools that are in the top 25% of all schools in the nation, (as found by the George W. Bush institute) such as BASIS, Great Hearts Academies, & Tempe Prep. Academy. There are also a number of other great charter schools like Bright Beginnings in Chandler, Benchmark in Scottsdale, etc.

To the OP - Kyrene School District has a great reputation, and many public schools have had to make improvements to keep students from enrolling in a charter school, such as offering full-immersion foreign language classes and self-enclosed honors programs. There are also a number of Great Hearts in the east valley, a couple in Chandler, one in Mesa, & Gilbert. Since your kids are young, Kindergarten is the best time to apply and try to get into one in the lottery. I chose a Great Hearts Academy for my kids because of the small class sizes, it is extremely academically rigorous and they teach up to every child (offering tutoring as needed), it strives to develop well-rounded individuals and requires classes in French, music, P.E., art, Latin, drama, and competitive chess, and focuses on the core virtues of respect, integrity, honesty, courage, humility, citizenship and friendship. I would highly recommend it!

I think that the commute from Queen Creek into Tempe would be a nightmare. During rush hour you are probably looking at 45 min. to an hour each way. South Tempe is really great with some beautiful homes with decent backyards (look around South of Guadalupe to Chandler Blvd., Rural Rd. to the 101). The rest of Tempe has older neighborhoods, where there are not as many young families, or the neighborhoods are pretty saturated with college kids. Chandler is nice because it is family friendly, has newer homes, a good school district, and depending on where you live, you may be able to take side streets into Tempe. The problem is that the homes don't have the character of homes in Tempe and North Central Phx. In South Chandler, there is constantly new development so you could pick a lot with a large yard (I have a family member that did that). There are also a lot of young families moving into that area and you can get a lot of home for your money. You could find nice homes in Mesa, Gilbert or other areas in the east valley with large backyards, but it really varies by neighborhood, and the commute into Tempe can really get burdensome.

Best of luck in your home search - I hope you love living in AZ as much as I do!

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Pennies4Penny

Have you looked into what's happening with Arizona schools and the quality of education here? We are moving out of Arizona because of the exceptionally low standards and worsening school system. I urge you to really look into it before you move here. Especially coming from the Midwest (where we will be moving to) where the standards are much higher.

Originally Posted by Pennies4Penny

How did I end up here? Well my husband was offered a transfer 7 years ago and we took it on a whim. We had no kids or heavy responsibilities at the time so we were being adventurous. Nothing wrong with that. Now that we DO have children, one who will soon be starting school and have a need for the education system, we see things from a different perspective, and will not let their futures be compromised by some greedy politicians the idiots here keep electing. Instead of funding schools, he is giving your tax money to private prisons which are contracted with the state, to be kept at 95-100% capacity or you the tax payer has to pay more for those empty beds. People with less education are at higher risk for being incarcerated, so cutting public education while expanding private prisons makes perfect sense and unfortunately the children of this state and others like Kansas and Louisiana, will be the ones to pay for it.

Can we say "WAAAH WAAAH WAAAH" enough? Observer is right: every post I've read from you is about how bad the schools are ... and a good share of your posts evolve completely off the topic of the thread, such as this one. So now that we're already off topic, have you considered enrolling your kids in a good private school? The public system shouldn't be your only choice, and there are plenty of good private schools in the Phoenix area. If you are really concerned about your kids and the quality of education, you would fork out the money and put your children in a reputable private school. If you don't, then you are part of the problem.

I have news for you: the standards in the public school system are going to be lower than most private schools, no matter where you go. Chances are that you might not be very happy in the Midwest (or anywhere else for that matter) based on how much you seem to thrive on complaining. So all I can say now is: good luck on your move to the Midwest where you THINK the standards in public education are higher. Don't let the door smack you in the butt on the way out!

[goolsbyjazz]

To the OP, P4P has a valid concern. Arizona does rank among the lowest in per pupil spending in the nation, however, you can still find good schools here for your kids. I had similar concerns and even contemplated moving, but we searched and found good schools for our daughters. You must be an active advocate because the quality varies significantly from school to school. It doesn't seem like education is a priority on a state level, but that does not mean there are not good schools (public and private) here. You have to fo your due diligence. As for neighborhoods, south Tempe near the Chandler border, is very nice. The Warner Ranch area in particular. You may not get the same amount of yard as you would in QC, but your commute will be much easier.