jr. high/high school bands near Renton (Seattle, Bellevue: house, theatre)

[newbee2seattle]

Hello! My family is relocating to the Seattle area this summer for my husbands new job. His office will be in Renton and he would prefer to live close by. We have 4 children, our oldest will start 8th grade this fall and he's having the hardest time with the thought of moving. The school he currently goes to has an AWESOME band, which he was invited to join next year, and we would love to find a school with a great band to make his transistion into a new school a little easier, hopefully. I read an older post regarding great high school bands in Seattle, but I don't think we are going to move right in the city. Possible towns that we are looking at are Bellevue, Maple Valley, Maple Hills, Sonomish, Issaquah and Renton. Are there any great high school bands in any of these towns? Obviously, academics are most important, but a schools band and sports programs tie for second! Thanks for any help!

[Ira500]

Academically, the schools of the Issaquah school district have a great reputation. But...part of Renton( the eastern part) is in the Issaquah school district, and Liberty High School is in Renton but in the Issaquah district, and is supposed to have a good band program.
Renton High School in downtown Renton doesn't have a good reputation for academics, but they have an awesome band and is a big sports school...Within the Renton district, Hazen High School has the best reputation.

[CityGirl72]

There are very few good spots in Renton (this does not mean there aren't any)

I'd avoid raising my family in Renton at all costs (IMHO) - there are much better place to raise a family if you don't mind a commute

[newbee2seattle]

thanks for the info. I've heard you have to be selective about what area in Renton to live. My husband is not oppose to living within a 30 minute drive to his office, especially if that means finding a great school system for the kids.

[Ira500]

There are very few good spots in Renton (this does not mean there aren't any)

I live just outside of Renton and spend time there all the time, in all parts of Renton. Many people who live in Renton are pretty happy there. There are manyf good spots in Renton, and to suggest that there are only "very few" is offensive and insulting. There are some parts of Renton that aren't nice, and some Renton schools are really bad, but there are also million dollar homes by the lake, expensive restaurants, wine bars, live theatre, nice parks, salmon in the Cedar River, ballet...
I'm not suggesting that you only look at Renton and nowhere else, but neither should you rule it out based on very outdated and wrong information.

[Issquahsilver]

I highly recommend looking into Liberty High School, its band program is outstanding and they hired a new instructor 3 years ago who has already taken them to Disneyland and Chicago. Liberty is part of the highly regarded issaquah school district. Most of Newcaslte, South Issaquah and portions of the far eastern part of renton highlands goes to liberty...so if you can find a home around there, its close and convinient to everything. Liberty's academics are far and above anything you will really find in the area....so it's worth finding a house in the Liberty attendance area if you can.

heres a link to the band program at Liberty...

liberty.issaquah.wednet.edu/Teachers/DonleyP/home.htm

[newbee2seattle]

Thank you! We will definitely check out Liberty High School.

[seamama]

We live in a new development in the Renton Highlands. I think that people who don't live here don't have a very high opinion of it but just wanted to say that there are nice areas here and that we really like it. It's diverse and is slowly shedding it's industrial image (back in the day, it was a rual coal mine area that then became a slightly less rural place for the Boeing and Paccar plants). The downtown area is slowly becoming a nicer (and safer) place and I feel like the City is working hard to help improve the overall feel of the place. As for the schools, Issaquah does have a much better reputation. I think Renton schools will improve over time but we are personally considering moving to another part of Renton to be in the Issaquah schools as I don't think the improvements will happen fast enough for us (our oldest start Kindergarten in the Fall).