Export vs Murrysville vs Irwin (Franklin: fit in, house, transfer)

[kubus_gt]

Schools: Norwin as I am partial to it, Franklin Regional looks good on paper. Penn Trafford is in the middle and is also a good district.
Location: Murrysville is close to Monroeville so there is plenty within short distance, However NHT is in between Monroeville and Hempfield/Greensburg, so for almost the same driving distance, you get 1% lower sales tax.
Tax wise: NHT/Norwin has the one of the lowest taxes in Westmoreland, meaning for the lower price tag, you still get a good school district and services. Irwin in particular is managed very well and kept the same tax rate for 18 years (lower then NHT).
Safety: You can occasional vandalism in both places, minor felony and both schools have typical drug problems for suburbia. NHT spends a large chunk of the budget on Police and it does show.

The winner:
Penn Township. You are in between the two, but within the same driving distance to everything, good school, same taxes, less traffic (no 22 or 30), less big box, more mom and pap business.

[lovemy4kids]

Originally Posted by Florida Paradise

North Huntingdon or Hempfield would be the best area to live as they are most accessible to Greensburg Central Catholic which by far a superior school.

What makes Greensburg Central Catholic so superior to the other schools? I thought Franklin regional was a top school in the state? How much is tuition there?

[lovemy4kids]

Originally Posted by Thunder64

I have noticed from living in Murrysville, if your not driving a Mercedes, most of the parents have their kids snub your children. Not all, but the most. Just giving you my opinion.

It's the second time I've heard a comment about Murrysville and Mercedes. The other talked about how the school parking lot is full of luxury cars the kids are driving.

Is Murrysville essentially snob country then?

[Florida Paradise]

Perhaps I am just bias to GCC. Greensburg Central has been a GREAT school for my own kids. Just saying my personal experiences. It is around $7000.00 per year.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Florida Paradise

Perhaps I am just bias to GCC. Greensburg Central has been a GREAT school for my own kids. Just saying my personal experiences. It is around $7000.00 per year.

Things change, my entire college education was $8000.00.

[hempfield mania]

CCAC doesn't count! :-)

sorry, couldn't resist...

[lovemy4kids]

Originally Posted by Thunder64

Murrysville and Export both go to Franklin Regional School District. A very good school, but your kids better do their homework, and study. Its not an easy school, unless they were raised here from day one.
Murrysville is quiet, and pretty much low key. Export is a lot of rentals, and...well...ya know. Its not bad there, but does have its riff raff!
I have noticed from living in Murrysville, if your not driving a Mercedes, most of the parents have their kids snub your children. Not all, but the most. Just giving you my opinion.

We'd love as much inside scoop as possible on Murrysville since it's our first choice on paper. We hope to visit the school climates of the public and private schools but at that point, it's all a show. I wonder if the Mercedes drivers are everywhere or you see more in the area than normal. Afterall, there are many affordable homes in the FR school district.

[kjtocool]

I went to Franklin Regional, my parents weren't rich, we certainly didn't drive Mercedes (though my best friends parents did). They never forbade me from hanging out with him, nor did anyone else, rather they accepted me with open arms. Parents there, like anywhere, are going to be protective of their kids, so I'm sure if you're giving off the trouble vibe, they make keep their kids away from you. Maybe trouble correlates with low-income around there, maybe it's a reinforced stereotype, I don't know.

What I do know about Franklin:

- Has it's cliques like anywhere else. Jocks, nerds, etc all exist.
- Has had it's share of issues. Was on 20/20 for a bullying incident, had a principle fired for engaging in homosexual escapades at night in a public park (and subsequently getting caught), teacher had an inappropriate relationship with student, etc. It's not immune to the downfalls of the education system.
- Export feeds into FR as does Murrysville. Export is lower income, where most of Murrysville is middle-class or above.
- Had very good teachers when I was there.
- Has great facilities, relatively new school, new football field, etc.
- Safe area, nice area, great library, great parks.
- Purposefully keeps out big businesses. Wouldn't let Wal-Mart build there, they then build on the edge of town.
- Great access to anything and everything (unless you work downtown and have to fight tunnel traffic). Getting to down-town at off-peak times is cake.
- When I was there we had a rivalry with Gateway, and to some extent Kiski. There were multiple group-fights in McDonalds / Hockey parking lots. Kids will be kids. Cops were always quick to intervene, never tried to ruin lives. One time, bout 300 kids ready to brawl, kid from kiski attacked a kid from FR and started 1 on 1, cops quickly took them down, teacher talked to the cops and the Kiski kid spent the night in jail while the FR kid was released to his parents with no charges.


Overall, I'd highly recommend the area, and the school. But don't believe the 'Mercedes' snob talk, and don't go in expecting a level of perfection that doesn't exist in this world.

[lovemy4kids]

Now that's the insiders scoop I was hoping for. Thanks so much, Kjtocool. Shocking about the 20/20 bullying incident. How long ago?

[kjtocool]

1999? 2000? It was a silly piece. Most kids in school had no idea there was even a problem (I didn't). The sensational point that got 20/20 interested is that 2 bully girls held the victim girl down on a bus and lit a piece of her hair on fire, a very small piece, but enough to say her hair was 'lit on fire'. No one was seriously hurt, proper punishment was handed down, etc.