Kirkwood Elementary Schools (St. Louis, Webster Groves, Manchester: real estate market, houses, neighborhoods)

[Annahartog]

Hello forum, my family is relocating from Chicago to St. Louis in two weeks and we are targeting Kirkwood to purchase a home. Our only experience with owning a home in Chicago was negative. We purchased in Oak Park (a Chicago suburb), and we ultimately had difficulty selling our house because of the perception that the elementary school for which our house was zoned was the least desirable (in a community in which all the schools are generally considered very good).

To be clear, I am confident that our children can get a great education at any of the Kirkwood elementary schools. I would have no concerns about putting them in any of the elementary schools. That said, a home purchase is by far the most expensive purchase we will ever make, and this time around, I want to be sure that we will not have any difficulty selling because of perceptions that not all schools in Kirkwood are equally good. I would very much appreciate any feedback about how the five elementary schools are perceived in the real estate market in Kirkwood. Again, I realize perception may not match reality, but as we learned the hard way, that is not much comfort when you are trying to sell a house.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by Annahartog

Hello forum, my family is relocating from Chicago to St. Louis in two weeks and we are targeting Kirkwood to purchase a home. Our only experience with owning a home in Chicago was negative. We purchased in Oak Park (a Chicago suburb), and we ultimately had difficulty selling our house because of the perception that the elementary school for which our house was zoned was the least desirable (in a community in which all the schools are generally considered very good).

To be clear, I am confident that our children can get a great education at any of the Kirkwood elementary schools. I would have no concerns about putting them in any of the elementary schools. That said, a home purchase is by far the most expensive purchase we will ever make, and this time around, I want to be sure that we will not have any difficulty selling because of perceptions that not all schools in Kirkwood are equally good. I would very much appreciate any feedback about how the five elementary schools are perceived in the real estate market in Kirkwood. Again, I realize perception may not match reality, but as we learned the hard way, that is not much comfort when you are trying to sell a house.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

We are in Tillman's district even though we are physically closer to Keysor so keep in mind how they draw up boundaries sometimes isn't the same as how close you are to a given school and they also do some in district busing for demographic reasons (I believe - could be wrong). Education wise I do think they are all pretty much the same. 2 are not even in Kirkwood proper: North Glendale is obviously in Glendale and Westchester is in Des Peres. With that said I personally would rank Tillman, Keysor and North Glendale slightly ahead of the others just based on surrounding neighborhood. Tillman is closer to some really expensive Kirkwood homes (along Taylor, for example). Even though you have a mix of homes, my impression is from Tillman south to downtown Kirkwood you have pretty desirable real estate/location. The homes around North Glendale tend to be smaller but that area has always been very popular. Part of the attraction is actually a catholic parish and school, Mary Queen of Peace. Keysor is pretty close to the heart of Kirkwood. You have some smaller homes north of Keysor on Geyer and and the surrounding neighborhoods going north to Manchester, but they are nice. My impression is you have a lot of young couples who bought starter homes and still a few older folks who've lived in those homes for 50 years. Many of these homes are going down these days with new, bigger ones going up, even on smaller lots. The homes surrounding Westchester tend to be older, smaller ranch style houses and you'd have to ask an agent, but I've always thought Kirkwood north of Manchester is probably slightly less desirable than Kirkwood south of Manchester. Traditionally the houses nearer Robinson are slightly smaller as well, but also very nice.

A bit of a wildcard: we have a neighbor around the block from us trying to sell a beautiful classic Kirkwood victorian about 2 blocks from downtown and has had a difficult time. They opine, based on their experience, that younger couples aren't that interested in the old beauties like previous generations have been. This perhaps jibes with all of the smaller older homes going down with new ones coming up. That trend started up before the 2008 crash, died down for awhile, and seems to be hotter than ever around Kirkwood, especially north of West Essex between Geyer and Kirkwood Road going towards Manchester. I would want an agent that knows this area pretty well. Like school by school, street by street well.

[billiken]

I would agree that if you want to live in Kirkwood, you want an agent that specializes in that area. I feel I know Webster Groves and Kirkwood pretty well, but when we were looking for homes there, our agent taught us many things--we would've probably made some bad investment decisions otherwise. As nice as Kirkwood is generally, there are more desirable and less desirable parts--and you don't want to pay too much $$ or over-invest in improvements in the less desirable parts. I can't really answer your questions on the schools because we took an "any school in this district would be fine with us" approach.

[DeBaliviere]

Originally Posted by MUTGR

I've always thought Kirkwood north of Manchester is probably slightly less desirable than Kirkwood south of Manchester.

I'd say this is true. Although I have noticed some new construction in that part of Kirkwood.

Of course, if we're just talking about the Kirkwood School District, as opposed to Kirkwood proper, there are great houses to be found north of Manchester in Des Peres, Warson Woods and, of course, Huntleigh.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by DeBaliviere

I'd say this is true. Although I have noticed some new construction in that part of Kirkwood.

Of course, if we're just talking about the Kirkwood School District, as opposed to Kirkwood proper, there are great houses to be found north of Manchester in Des Peres, Warson Woods and, of course, Huntleigh.

Quite true.

[Mark R]

First, if you want information on Kirkwood School District Boundaries, you'll find it here:

http://www.kirkwoodschools.org/pages...and_Boundaries

The fact that North Kirkwood Middle School bisects Nipher, and the funny business with elementary school distribution in the southeast part might have to do with Meacham Park.

The only elementary school that doesn't get a 10 on Great Schools is Robinson.

If walkability is on the table, Keysor and Westchester are the best options since Nipher is quite a bit away from Tillman, North Glendale and Robinson. Westchester is just a block or so from North Kirkwood, both north of Manchester, and houses at the north end of Keysor's area are about the same distance from Keysor, North Kirkwood and the high school.

The school district website singles out Tillman as "The super best elementary school in the world".

[Angus215]

Why does the high school only have a 7 on GreatSchools? I though it was supposed to be one of the best in the state?