The skinny for Seattle families

[staelisei]

CarawayDJ, we are on the same page. Are you moving up from CA? We're relocating from the Bay Area after nine years. Originally from the midwest. I'd be interested to talk with you about schools you're checking out on the East Side... wouldn't that commute be a pain from Magnolia, or are you considering living on Mercer? I have yet to visit school campuses, but the Salmon Bay School intrigues me. If we rented a spot on Magnolia, Lawton Elementary boasts the scores, but I'm unsure about the vibe at the school. Relocating (quickly) is darn stressful! I need some real life advice on handling this with more finesse. My poor kids are looking at me like I've lost my mind, so a large amount of stress must be visible. I'm going to put the kettle on and take a few deep breaths...

[CarawayDJ]

Originally Posted by staelisei

CarawayDJ, we are on the same page. Are you moving up from CA? We're relocating from the Bay Area after nine years. Originally from the midwest. I'd be interested to talk with you about schools you're checking out on the East Side... wouldn't that commute be a pain from Magnolia, or are you considering living on Mercer? I have yet to visit school campuses, but the Salmon Bay School intrigues me. If we rented a spot on Magnolia, Lawton Elementary boasts the scores, but I'm unsure about the vibe at the school. Relocating (quickly) is darn stressful! I need some real life advice on handling this with more finesse. My poor kids are looking at me like I've lost my mind, so a large amount of stress must be visible. I'm going to put the kettle on and take a few deep breaths...

We're moving up from Temecula in SoCal. Originally from NH. I can't be of much help. My school research has primarily been on the Internet. We're going to visit and take our cars up there in May, then spend a couple of months in Europe, and then fly to Seattle for good. If we send our son to school on the East Side we will also live there. As much as we love Magnolia, we love our kid a whole lot more. Lawton is a perfect 10 according to GreatSchools, but I'm actually suspect of such schools. I know some teachers down here I've discussed this with. I'm also a hobbyist student of organizational behavior. I wonder if such schools really have teachers that much better, or if they simply gear their teaching toward the tests? Do such schools put too much pressure on the kids? Too much homework? Will they take a high energy but bright kid and be patient? I did talk to some parents picking up their kids at Blaine in Magnolia on my last visit. They both liked the school. It's also K-8. Our son will only need one school change and that's for HS. If we decide on Magnolia we'll try to get into Blaine. I often say that I can tell you how good a school is just by observing the parents. We hung out at the Magnolia Playground quite a bit on our last couple of visits. When school let out for the day many of the parents and kids would hit the playground. I got a good vibe from both the parents and the kids. We might have to cart our son to a reasonably priced private school at least for Kindergarten though. I feel like he could use another year of small class sizes before unleashing him on the public school system. Salmon Bay sounds interesting, but if they use a lottery I couldn't count on it and it would have to be plan B.

As for the East Side, I like some of the private options. Bellevue Christian School seems great. They don't dwell on the almighty standardize tests. They go out of the way to mention that. From afar it sounds a lot like a Christian school in my town that parents rave about. There seems to be a lot of montessori schools on the East Side too. Don't know much about them but I am curious. If we go the public school route we'll probably settle into Kirkland. They have good schools but not perfect schools; which is what we want. I am dwelling on avoiding perfect schools because I want my child to be a child too. He'll need time for scouting, music, hiking, fishing, sailing, and everything else that makes life worth living. I want him to grow up with a proper balance between school/work and life.

The East Side is not devoid of property crime but it sure is less. We love the city and being able to walk to shops and restaurants as much as anyone, but raising our kid in a great family environment is far more important than the convenience of walking to the store or a funky restaurant.

Maybe once we get up there are opinions on everything will change, but these are our thoughts at the moment.