School Ratings - present vs future (Seattle, Bellevue: real estate, how much, house)

[Walch1007]

Hi all,

I'm still in the market for a home. While price is certainly a constraining factor, it is not the main one as we're willing to be flexible with size, age, and condition of the house.

How does everyone view the various areas developing in terms of their school district potential?

Dynamics I don't understand:
-All the buyers in the Bellevue area clamor for homes in areas with a 10-10-10 school rating (10 for elementary, 10 for middle school, 10 for high school). However, is there that big of a difference between a 8 and a 10 and with all the wealthy moving in, doesn't that actually diminish the future potential of the schools rated a 10 because many of their students will be from wealthy families that don't really need them to work a day in their lives?
-People love Issaquah but not so much Juanita Kirkland even though schools are just as good?

Thanks

[misscross]

Depends on how much you buy into the hype of 10-10-10 districts.

Decades ago Kirkland was priced more expensively than Sammamish and Issaquah, until more recent new arrivals with academically inclined kids started to live in large numbers in Sammamish and now it's another 10-10-10 area while back when we looked there it was un-incoroporated boonies affordable area!

Whether an area is on the upswing going up from 6 to 8 and probably to 9 next year as some of the Juanita area schools are, is more important than the current score.

[homesinseattle]

I'd buy in Juanita. An 8 is not going to kill you, might actually expose your kids to a little economic and social diversity while they are getting very good schooling. Investment wise, that area has a lot of upside, believe me.

[modc]

I lived in Juanita and sent my kids to school there for early elementary school. I didn't think the school was very good and looking ahead to middle school and high school we decided to move. The schools may be different in the future ( that's what I thought when I bought my house well before we had kids) but they weren't great for us right now.

[CrazyDonkey]

GreatSchools' rankings (I won't call them "ratings") in this state are 100% based on test scores, which are highly correlated with family income. By limiting yourself to only "10-10-10" areas, you help to drive up real estate values therein, making them even more exclusive, even if only losing bidding wars.

[Walch1007]

Originally Posted by modc

I lived in Juanita and sent my kids to school there for early elementary school. I didn't think the school was very good and looking ahead to middle school and high school we decided to move. The schools may be different in the future ( that's what I thought when I bought my house well before we had kids) but they weren't great for us right now.

May I ask where you moved to and what you didn't like about Juanita schools?

[Walch1007]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I'd buy in Juanita. An 8 is not going to kill you, might actually expose your kids to a little economic and social diversity while they are getting very good schooling. Investment wise, that area has a lot of upside, believe me.

Any particular reason for believing the Juanita area is on the upswing (moreso than any other eastside neighborhood)? It's been around for a while hasn't it?

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Walch1007

Hi all,

I'm still in the market for a home. While price is certainly a constraining factor, it is not the main one as we're willing to be flexible with size, age, and condition of the house.

So, you are willing to waive inspections on a smaller and older house, just to get your kid into the "right" school? Juanita would shoehorn you into LWSD.

[perigee]

If you can buy in Kirkland, buy in Kirkland, like Crazy mentioned children's test results are more closely related to parent's income. I heard the schools were great, though the only complaint I heard was that some parents didn't like the focus on football in the high school. If you are the type of parent to consider school ratings for your children, it means you are an involved parent which is more important then tests scores. As for future school scores, either for as your child ages or potential resale value, all signs point to better schools as housing values increase and property taxes follow.

Other then how crazy the 405 has gotten Kirkland is well situated, it has a Costco, Freddies, QFC, parks, plenty of family friendly entertainment and "easy" (well comparatively speaking of course) access to Seattle and other eastside cities.

Finally Kirkland has a little more character, Bellevue has always been on the yuppy side and the influx of new developments around Issaquah has changed the once sleepy little town. I couldn't believe the number of Teslas I saw driving around.

[CrazyDonkey]

Also, the Opt-Out Movement, with parents opting their kids out of state-mandated tests, is big in this area. Kids being opted out score a zero, which is then reflected in GreatSchools' rankings.