What are good schools in Chesterfield? (Richmond, Short Pump: crime, buying a house, neighborhood)

[evanescencexluvr]

I was wondering if anybody knows which are the best schools in chesterfield and which ones we should stay away from when buying a house.

-I saw that Midlothian High school was excellent and matoaca is excellent.

-I didnt really see anything on Lloyd Bird, Thomas Dale, James River, Cosby, Clover Hill, etc.

-I did see that meadowbrook is a horrible school. They failed the SOLs overall and their passing rates of certain subjects were only like in the 50%s. Is this true? because Meadowbrook area had the nicest house that we were interested?

- I also saw that Manchester overall failed the SOLs for 2009-2009. They had better individual passing rates on the county website for subjects. They were in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. However Midlothian High Schools were all in the upper 90s. Is this a bad school? Is it kinda like Richmond City schools where we know those are bad?

[jhrichmond]

I think Midlothian and James River have the best reputations. That's really all I can say here.

[ellieb128]

Originally Posted by jhrichmond

I think Midlothian and James River have the best reputations. That's really all I can say here.

I would agree that these are probably the best schools in the county. I would have no problem sending my child to Clover Hill or Cosby either and I've heard good things about Monacan. I would not send a child to Meadowbrook from what I've read in the paper about the issues at the school.

[onevthoki]

Please remember that the high schools in Chesterfield offer "specialty centers". So while you do have the student population that is zoned for the school based on where they reside, you also have some that will come in to the school for specialty training. For instance, James River offers the Leadership Program, LC Bird features the Engineering Program, Thomas Dale has the Performing Arts, and so on. Are the test scores all lumped together? Have no idea - my oldest is only in middle school, so still trying to figure it all out. You might contact the school system directly to ask.

On Thomas Dale, here is what I know as a parent of a student that could attend there... it is currently at 132% (I think!) capacity. To help with the overcrowding, the system has reallocated the nearby building that formerly housed Chester Middle School. It will become the 9th Grade Annex of Thomas Dale, with 10-12th graders attending the main campus. This will put both of those buildings, in addition to the feeder schools of Carver Middle and Elizabeth Davis Middle, under-capacity through 2018 (projected enrollment).

[MisnSoFL]

Chesterfield has EXCELLENT schools! I have taught at many of the schools. The only area I would stay away from is Meadowbrook H.S.

[Anders15]

As I said in another thread not sure if it was yours or not) you can't pick your schools, it's predetermined based on the location of your house. I liked James River although I've never attended. From what I hear it's very liberal. The school is EXTREMELY clean and is in a good area.. reminds me of those schools you see on tv where everything is just so perfect lol.

[GeorgiaTransplant]

Originally Posted by evanescencexluvr

which are the best schools in chesterfield and which ones we should stay away from when buying a house.

Originally Posted by Anders15

you can't pick your schools, it's predetermined based on the location of your house. I liked James River although I've never attended. From what I hear it's very liberal. The school is EXTREMELY clean and is in a good area.. reminds me of those schools you see on tv where everything is just so perfect lol.

What I *think* they're doing is restricting their search for homes to buy to good school areas.

That's exactly what I did for the house I'm about to close on in Short Pump-it's not the absolute best set, but they are sure up there and it fits my budget-researched SOL scores, resources, and other data and asked family and friends about their children's experiences in Richmond schools, then just ruled out the ones in school areas I preferred my children absolutely not attend.

So in this case, if they take your excellent advice-James River really is a good school by all accounts-they'd look at a list of houses with the schools they feed, and if James River was the only one they wanted kids to go to-they'd only continue with the subset of houses that were assigned to James River.

[Anders15]

Well that would suck because the school zones change all the time to accommodate the population. I'm not sure which city/country does it most but I hear ALL THE TIME about how somewhere is rezoning their schools I can't remember if it is Chesterfield or not though. It's really a gamble unless you're in Henrico since they seem to change their zones the least.

James River area can be pricey if you want to go all out. It is a nice quiet neighborhood where crime almost never happens. It is the kind of community where your kids can go over your neighbor's house after school until you get home. I like how it seems tucked away and so peaceful out there.

[onevthoki]

I always advise folks to never, ever, ever (did I say nevery??) buy a home for a certain school. In large areas, redistricting can always raise it's head! Case in point with Chester Middle School - who in the world would have thought they would just close the school? (Not that I'm opposed to that mind you - think it's a great solution to the problem.) BUT, with that as an example, you can never expect a particular address will always attend a particular school. Buy a home for the reputation of the system as a whole.

[GeorgiaTransplant]

Originally Posted by onevthoki

I always advise folks to never, ever, ever (did I say nevery??) buy a home for a certain school. In large areas, redistricting can always raise it's head! Case in point with Chester Middle School - who in the world would have thought they would just close the school? (Not that I'm opposed to that mind you - think it's a great solution to the problem.) BUT, with that as an example, you can never expect a particular address will always attend a particular school. Buy a home for the reputation of the system as a whole.

Ergo-why I'm buying in western Henrico. Even the "bad" schools there are generally pretty good (my wife got all wrapped up about the reputation of Godwin versus Freeman versus Deep Run, and I was just laughing inside. Look up the test scores of those 3 and you'll see why).