Bellevue (Interlake High) vs. Mercer Island ~Rentals, Schools, Best for families

[72470]

Does anyone have opinions of the elementary schools surrounding the Interlake High School area? It seems although Interlake ranks high on the best high schools list, the surrounding elementary schools (specifically Ardmore and Sherwood Heights) rank much lower.
I realize the population is diverse and that Interlake scores higher due to their gifted/IB/AP offerings, but are the surrounding elementary schools really that bad? (Great Schools are School Digger rate them a 4 or 5 out of 10)

[LaylaM]

Bennett Elementary is your best choice within the Interlake community. Agreed that Sherwood and Ardmore are not your best choices, just too many ESL kids. Bennett is very good and does have a liberal open enrollment policy, but it's past the application deadline for this year, so you'd need to be living within the zone. Honestly, I cannot recommend any of the apartments that feed into the school, since most of them are just not appealing for many reasons.

Bennett sits inside a wonderful housing development and also serves a wide scope of other good neighborhoods that prefer this elementary over their own schools. There are rental homes in the area, but I can see that securing one is a major struggle long-distance, and at this busy time of year.

If you haven't already, you could check craigslist for condo rentals. We have many owners who rent to newcomers and the quality of the units is often superior to the older houses you've been seeing. Also, just wondering if you've contacted a rental agent? There are people here who work on commission and will search for an apartment, but not sure if they work long distance. Also, you haven't mentioned what company you are moving here for, but some of the larger companies do use relocation consultants for incoming employees to help them get settled.

[Jalhop]

Whenever I've looked at Great Schools there might be 20 reviews. When there's 100+ reviews I'll perceive some value to the score. There can be bad teachers at any school because it's hard to fire them. Inflexible rules (e.g. first grader gets handcuffed and arrested for having a plastic knife from a fast food restaurant) make for angry parents. Tiger parents get upset if the curriculum isn't to their liking. These are nationwide problems. I doubt that any Bellevue public school is much worse than another on average, and they all seem good relative to schools in other places. ESL students are a mixed bag. They might hold back the class somewhat but add beneficial diversity. The teachers still have to follow the curriculum to the letter but the school gets a lower score on the standardized tests.