Elementary Schools In Lakewood Ranch (house, purchase, best schools)

[AILENE22]

Hi

I have touring schools for school choice and I liked a couple schools and I wanted to know if anyone can give me any feedback on these schools good or bad as I have to decide by friday. Out of all elementary schools in lakewood ranch I felt really good about Gilbert Mcneal elementary. However, I also liked Gene Witt Elementary which is not to far from lakewood ranch but has a good reputation. My daughter is starting kindergarten and its really hard to make a choice. I was just wondering if anyone can share experiences at either school. thanks

[nikkimamma]

Hi, I would be interested in this answer also. Hubby and I will be moving there as soon as we sell the house up here in cold NY. Knowing which school is preferred will help decide which part of Lakewood we would be house hunt in.

[SoFLGal]

If you're looking at LWR I might also suggest looking into Palmer Ranch as well. It has a similar kind of feel to it but does not have any CDD fees like LWR does. You need to make sure you get your home throughly inspected before you purchase a home. I would recommend this with any home purchase. There have been some issues with Chinese drywall in some areas of LWR.

Now onto the school question. You might want to look here: School Accountability Report... It has state rankings for every school in the state of Florida. Or you might want to check here: www.greatschools.com for more info and opinions on the local schools.

Good luck with your search!

[nikkimamma]

Thanks for the info. My husband and I have visited both locations (PR and LWR) on several occasions and have really fell in love with LWR and all that they have to offer. We like the feel, a main street, the sports club, parks for the kids - all within the community. Also, every time we visited, there were so many families out and about - walking, jogging, riding bikes, playing ball in the street. PR really didn't give us the same feeling, kind of like a ghost town (turtle rock was were we looking). I didn't get the same sense of "community feeling". Also, the homes are much older, most need alot of updating and are a bit expensive for the quality.
As for inspections - would get it regardless of where we were purchasing.

I'll check the greatschools.com site for opinions on the local schools.

[AILENE22]

Thanks everyone I have been checking around and the two best schools everyone is talking about it Mcneal and Gene Witt. These are my two best choices so far. One is in Lakewood Ranch zone and Gene witt is not but hear really good things about both.

[Oobie119]

Mcneal is the better of the two, it's in a better location and has a better student population. The teachers there must be HIGHLY QUALIFIED. Witt is nice too, but has some issues with student/teacher ratio and seems to have trouble keeping adminstration (my husband works for MCSD). If we had to choose, we'd pick McNeal for sure

[nickr1]

Both of my kids went to McNeal Elementary. You can't go wrong. They got them ready for middle school who in turn got them ready for high school. And now I see the high school curriculum and it's fantastic. Just stay involved and you can't miss. Good luck!