Schools in Prescott v. Flagstaff (Phoenix, Prescott Valley: crime rate, school districts, college)

[kct]

Hello all,

Live in Colorado right now, but job may require a move to AZ. For the record, my job is not dependent on living in Prescott or Flag, so jobs in the local area are not an issue.

I have three kids - 8th, 6th, and 2d grades and am debating the merits of living in Prescott or Flagstaff.

Have been reading the forum for a while and understand that Prescott and Flagstaff are different communities. To be honest, we are leaning towards Flag as it has more of an Alpine feel, but that doesn't matter a whole lot when your kids are miserable.

That being said, I am having a hard time differentiating which city has the better educational system.

Flag has NAU near it, but I get the feeling the cost of living is too high for a good teacher and a college nearby doesn't guarantee a good educational system.

Prescott seems to have stability and decent schools, but I have no idea how to evaluate that.

Bottom-line, should we choose to move to either city, which has the better education system and which town is the better family town?

I understand everything is subjective, but perhaps someone can shed some light on the situation in either city.

Thanks

[BriansPerspective]

If you go to Arizona School Report Cards - Home you can compare schools and districts. I ran a comparison of Flagstaff Unified, Prescott Unified, and Humboldt Unified (Prescott Valley and Dewey). The comparison gives the percentage of students passing the AIMS test for reading, writing, and math for grades 3-8 and 9-10. I averaged all of the scores for the following results:

Flag: 74% passing
Prescott: 83% passing
PV/Dewey: 75% passing

You can also check out School Report Cards: Find A School where you can find individual school rankings with cryptic names like 'Performing', 'Performing Plus', 'Excelling', etc. It's probably easiest to search by zip code. Note: AZ just passed a law to change the rankings to a more obvious A, B, C, D, F system, but that won't happen for another couple of years.

[kct]

Thanks for the reply. Anybody care to chime in on family lifestyle in either community.

Thanks

[redjan1225]

Originally Posted by kct

Thanks for the reply. Anybody care to chime in on family lifestyle in either community.

Thanks

I don't have any children, but I'm working on it, and would love to raise my children in the areas of Prescott, Prescott Valley, and/or Chino Valley. The areas are not problem-free, but I feel very at ease there. I find the people friendly, and conservative (which I am too). One thing I hear people who live in Prescott and Flag vent their frustrations on, is the Phoenicians invading their cities during the unbearable summer months. They are both tourist spots and traffic and pedestrian traffic goes up and down depending on the time of year.

I recently visited Prescott for a few days during the week and was in heaven, but weekends are much busier with lots more people. I hear people from Prescott frequently vent their frustrations on the California migration as well. Lots of California retirees there.

Have you visited AZ at all? If you are looking for a small-town feel, also check out Camp Verde.

You mentioned in your OP about paying a good teacher well; you may want to look in to that. My sister left Arizona for Colorado in July because she was sick of the high volume of work and low pay. In AZ, she was expected to put in extra unpaid hours for trainings. In CO, she'll make a lower salary for about a year until her evaluations are in and then she'll be bumped up accordingly. She has taught for 10 years between CA, AZ, and CO. Each time she moves, she has to deal with a cut in pay for awhile. Just a thought.

Best of luck to you.

[kct]

Thanks for the reply. FWIW, I am not a teacher, so I wasn't worried about the pay, only that it seems Flag is more expensive thus leading to possibly more turnover in teachers as they are paid below median income for the area. I am no economist, just musings from my mind...

Regardless, I am really interested in both communities. We have visited both Prescott and Flagstaff and I liked the feel of Flagstaff more, but wanted to get insider information as I understand you cannot just judge a book by it's cover. We tend to lean more towards the conservative, but it doesn't play a large factor in the decision...

Keep em coming folks....

[LADY_DI2010]

I dont care for the schools in prescott, thats why i moved to the phoenix there alot better.

before we moved my son could not read and hes 9 now he can read alot better

[DellNec]

Prescott school enrollment is down 5%. Chino Valley is down 4%. Main reason is that the economy in the Prescott area is driving people and their families away. People just can't afford to live here plus the job situation is worse off than Phoenix. Many of the families left for Phoenix where job pay and opportunity is greater than Prescott.

Local school districts experiencing declining enrollment - The Prescott Daily Courier - Prescott, Arizona

[cyndimorales]

Originally Posted by kct

Hello all,

Live in Colorado right now, but job may require a move to AZ. For the record, my job is not dependent on living in Prescott or Flag, so jobs in the local area are not an issue.

I have three kids - 8th, 6th, and 2d grades and am debating the merits of living in Prescott or Flagstaff.

Have been reading the forum for a while and understand that Prescott and Flagstaff are different communities. To be honest, we are leaning towards Flag as it has more of an Alpine feel, but that doesn't matter a whole lot when your kids are miserable.

That being said, I am having a hard time differentiating which city has the better educational system.

Flag has NAU near it, but I get the feeling the cost of living is too high for a good teacher and a college nearby doesn't guarantee a good educational system.

Prescott seems to have stability and decent schools, but I have no idea how to evaluate that.

Bottom-line, should we choose to move to either city, which has the better education system and which town is the better family town?

I understand everything is subjective, but perhaps someone can shed some light on the situation in either city.

Thanks

I live in Flag. I have lived here since I was 4. I have moved away many times but have always come back. I am here for good because I feel that Flag has alot to offer. It has a great educational system but needs alot of parent support because of the economy. Flagstaff is surrounded by many things a family can do such as skiing or sight seeing. The cost of living has always been high, but not so high as to where I have had to leave because of it. What I like the best is the crime rate is the lowest in the state. The college is popular and the Grand Canyon brings in alot of tourists, however, that is good for Flagstaff's economy and beauty. CM.

[CRSArizona]

Just an opinion, from briefly residing in Flag a few years ago, and currently in PV, I got the impression that Flag lifestyle/community would be more suitable to older kids, teens, college age and the 20-40 set, while Prescott seems to be more suitable for a family oriented lifestyle.

Whether that's technically the case, I can't say. Just felt like Flag seemed much cooler for a party crowd while Prescott is more laid back and postcard family crowd. Take that how you will ;-)

[nowannamove]

I can not speak for Prescott, but here is my take

Overall the state of AZ has a less than admirable education system. I have lived all over the country and am not impressed at all with AZ.

That said, Flagstaff has some wonderful teachers and awesome charter schools, including

Flagstaff Arts Leadership Academy
Northland Prep
Several Montessori Schools
And.... a new one is coming soon that is supposed to rock.

Nice small town feel. Kids are safe here, and not too fast or flashy.

Cheers
M

Find out more about Flagstaff at FinditinFlag.com