Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We moved to Mt Lebo at the beginning of the school year from a suburb of NYC. We're extremely happy with the schools but it is hard to break in socially. My 4th gradeer has had the easiest time, but the 7th and 10th grader have found it much harder. People are friendly but most are from here and go back a long time. Your 6th grader to b may have an easier time, because all of the the five elementary feed into two middle schools so it's an obvious time to make new friends. But we came from a town where the kids could walk everywhere and hang out after school without making advance plans. That doesn't seem to happen as much here. A lot depends, obviously, on what you're used to. we're renting and wll by a house in a more central part of the town, which will help.
Good luck!
It is hard for most kids to break in socially when they move to a new school district, and the older they are, the harder it is to break in. The comment, "but most are from here and go back a long time," can apply to anywhere but applies less to Mt. Lebanon. Drive around Mt. Lebo and notice how many "For Sale" signs you see. You will see a very high turnover of houses. I lived in Mt. Lebo for nine years and my house has sold three times since I sold it. The fact that five elementary schools feed into two middle schools make it easier for kids to fit in. Compare it to a small district where the kids have gone to school in the same classes since kindergarten. You say you, "came from a town where the kids could walk everywhere and hang out after school without making advance plans." This sounds just like Mt. Lebo. How many school districts don't have bussing? For anyone relocating with school age children, don't wait until summer to move. Move during the year. It will be easier for your child to meet new friend since they are the new kid. When you move during the summer, your kids sit around waiting for school to start. School starts and no one pays much attention to them especially in a larger school. It sounds like this is what happened in your situation.
You just reminded me of the other only drawback. Mt. Lebo does not have school buses. That's super rare for a school district in this region. If you later decide to send your child to a private high school, you won't get free bus transportation like everyone who lives in other school districts. I didn't mind walking my children to the bus stop when they were younger, but it was definitely a hassle to drive them to school, which I had to do for kindergarten mid-day. I can't imagine driving kids to school twice a day for X number of years before they can walk alone. Even if the school is in walking distance, the school will most likely be a farther walk than a bus stop is in a different school district. Not sure how much time you want to spend driving or walking back and forth to school twice a day until you daughter is old enough to do it herself or gets to know other kids to walk with.
For anyone relocating with school age children, don't wait until summer to move. Move during the year. It will be easier for your child to meet new friend since they are the new kid. When you move during the summer, your kids sit around waiting for school to start. School starts and no one pays much attention to them especially in a larger school.
This is perfect advice. Moving in the summer is difficult on kids because they have no way to meet other kids the entire summer. At the start of a new school year, they get lost in the crowd. Moving during the school year allows them an opportunity to make friends for summer because they get noticed as the new kids. If you're uncomfortable moving your children during the school year, wait until the very end of summer to move so they aren't lonely for weeks before school starts.
The biggest con is if you have kids: The high school is miserable. You kids will be never be the same. It is undergoing a huge renovation now, but doubtless will be the same disaster as before when done. Why? Rude elitist teachers. Huge drinking/drug culture. No diversity and elitism (~1% african american population). Not a whole lot of fighting, but tons of dysfunction. I would never send my kids anywhere near that place. Send your kids to private high school! Winchester Thurston or Shadyside Academy will do. (Hope the voucher system actually gets implemented.) - 2009 MT LEBO HIGH Graduate
Yeah, cause a lack of diversity and elitism are hardly issues at exclusive private schools like Winchester and Shadyside Academy. You do also realize that while Mt. Lebanon is an affluent area, tuition rates at those schools would still break the bank for most residents, right?
Yeah, it is always easier to blame a school district than your own parenting. Hey my kid is doing drugs! Than stupid school is at fault! :roll eyes:
I am always impressed with kids that do well out of the city schools. Talk about a tough road.
Am I misunderstanding this? In the first part you're saying you can't blame the schools, but in the second part you're saying that you're impressed by kids who succeed in spite of the schools. Doesn't that second part imply that the schools do have an impact on the kids?
Am I misunderstanding this? In the first part you're saying you can't blame the schools, but in the second part you're saying that you're impressed by kids who succeed in spite of the schools. Doesn't that second part imply that the schools do have an impact on the kids?
What, you mean you're surprised at the twisted h_curtis "logic"?
Been living in USC for 10 years, worked in Mt. Lebo for 7 of those.
Compared to USC, Mt. Lebo is a veritable United Nations, if not in actual diversity of color, at least in some diversity of culture and experience.
USC is the kind of place where if you were invited to a party, the hosts would have two kinds of macrobrew light beer and Yellowtail, yet make a point to let you know how much money they have. These are the folks who will complain about not getting a bread basket at Salt and for whom making a meal from the Silver Palate cookbook is still considered avant-garde. It doesn't get more homogeneous, non-trendy or culturally stifling than USC. Except maybe Peters.
Mt. Lebo, OTOH, does offer pure, unadulterated snooty from a couple of neighborhoods but for the most part, is populated by reasonably well-grounded people who are more about being good neighbors than competing with you on who's got more/better stuff. There's a lot of different housing stock there. Also seems there are more people living there who are entrepreneurs and do interesting things other than banking and soul-sucking corporate 9-5.
USC is a school district. Mt. Lebo is an actual place to live.
The "cons" of Mt. Lebo are why I live in USC. I'm not from the area originally and to me, buying a house with a large kitchen/entertaining area AND a 2-car garage for what we paid was a steal (in New England relative terms). It was hard to find that combo in Mt. Lebo for a price we were comfortable with. But in hindsight I wished we'd moved to Mt. Lebo to begin with. I might not be living between a racist on one side and the lawyer who's never once invited us over (we've invited them numerous times, they always refused).
Keep in mind in Mt. Lebo, the cops know/see all. Nice guys and gals, and probably the fittest police department on the planet. But they like to make a spectacle. You never get stopped by one cop for a vehicle violation. It's always two or three and it's always an embarrassing scene. I've had this happen multiple times as I'm almost always tardy on getting my inspection stickers renewed.
The school thing is a mess. The competition between Mt. Lebo and USC is often embarrassing (and expensive for taxpayers). But overall, Mt. Lebo uses its taxes more effectively, IMO.
Been living in USC for 10 years, worked in Mt. Lebo for 7 of those.
Compared to USC, Mt. Lebo is a veritable United Nations, if not in actual diversity of color, at least in some diversity of culture and experience.
USC is the kind of place where if you were invited to a party, the hosts would have two kinds of macrobrew light beer and Yellowtail, yet make a point to let you know how much money they have. These are the folks who will complain about not getting a bread basket at Salt and for whom making a meal from the Silver Palate cookbook is still considered avant-garde. It doesn't get more homogeneous, non-trendy or culturally stifling than USC. Except maybe Peters.
Mt. Lebo, OTOH, does offer pure, unadulterated snooty from a couple of neighborhoods but for the most part, is populated by reasonably well-grounded people who are more about being good neighbors than competing with you on who's got more/better stuff. There's a lot of different housing stock there. Also seems there are more people living there who are entrepreneurs and do interesting things other than banking and soul-sucking corporate 9-5.
USC is a school district. Mt. Lebo is an actual place to live.
The "cons" of Mt. Lebo are why I live in USC. I'm not from the area originally and to me, buying a house with a large kitchen/entertaining area AND a 2-car garage for what we paid was a steal (in New England relative terms). It was hard to find that combo in Mt. Lebo for a price we were comfortable with. But in hindsight I wished we'd moved to Mt. Lebo to begin with. I might not be living between a racist on one side and the lawyer who's never once invited us over (we've invited them numerous times, they always refused).
Keep in mind in Mt. Lebo, the cops know/see all. Nice guys and gals, and probably the fittest police department on the planet. But they like to make a spectacle. You never get stopped by one cop for a vehicle violation. It's always two or three and it's always an embarrassing scene. I've had this happen multiple times as I'm almost always tardy on getting my inspection stickers renewed.
The school thing is a mess. The competition between Mt. Lebo and USC is often embarrassing (and expensive for taxpayers). But overall, Mt. Lebo uses its taxes more effectively, IMO.
I have lived in USC for almost 26 years, and my two best friends live in Mt.Lebanon, and have done so for over 30 years, so I believe I have a bit of perspective on both communities.
Your comments, smug and smarmy as they are, do not reflect my long and varied experience in both USC and MT. Lebanon. Certainly, one can find examples of your cliched personalities in both communities, but perhaps you may wish to take a long look in the mirror. Could it be a superior, condescending attitude on your part is a major aspect of your opinions of your neighbors?
Since you believe that your fellow residents are "non-trendy", and " culturally stifing", perhaps you should consider moving your trendy, cultured self to a more welcoming location?
I can make this simple for you...My daughter who is perfectly fine has made a ton of friends...loves her school blah, blah, blah....my son who is special needs....well the teachers are completely incompetent...they treat him in the worst most awful way, and it is all because they haven't had kids on the spectrum before, and they simply want to preserve their pretty little prissy school without any disturbances. The ABA teacher wants to do things by the book rather than by the child, and we are re-searching other districts that may be more suitable for both our kids not just one of them.
As far as the keeping up with the Jonses...well...so far the parents from both my kids classes seems quite nice and normal. There are a few from the older classes who have the stick up their a**...But I personally could care less, its their money wasted on gas not mine speaking of the big SUV's, and all. It just makes me go pick my kids sooner, so I can find parking since once these ppl show up, there's no more room to park. LOLOL
Mt Lebanon is beautiful visually speaking, it looks like you just dropped in the middle of some fairytale town; the homes are gorgeous, however the traffic SUCKS royally...takes 20 minutes to drive 1 mile, and most people are completely unaware that there are OTHER people behind them. So here goes "green" and everyone is taking their sweet a*** time making you spend another 5 minutes at the stop light. So far, this is my biggest pet peeve....and it is also very hard to find properties to rent that are affordable. (Affordable meaning prices versus space) There are some for sale, but they are small, and the prices are totally inflated considering that a good majority still has fixtures from the 50's! (Think the famous pink/green situation, wood paneling galore and lots of wallpaper. So house price versus the remodeling you'll have to do, may make it look like a waste of money. There is no way I would pay $400k on a house if we could...considering all the updating that we would have to deal with, and the property taxes attached to such price range. (there is a thread on this you should check out. Washington Rd is not maintained all that well, its a patch work...so I don't see the tax dollars being spend on it...maybe if you compare it with some other beat up road, it looks better...but for as much as they charge in taxes, the way the pavement looks now is pathetic. It has a better patch through main street, but that's it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
