Best school district? (St. Louis, Clayton, Ladue: real estate, mortgage, how much)

[ALC]

Hello,

We are looking for a suburb in St. Louis with the best schools. Once we move to St. Louis we plan to stick around in that house, since we hate moving. We are seriously considering either Ladue or Clayton.

It seems that Clayton has a bit more diverse of a student population, and has somewhat stronger schools, but we aren't sure. Any opinions? Thanks.

[RickMG]

Here is a great site to compare schools.

Schools, High School, Public Schools, School District, Public High Schools - SchoolMatters

I advise you to click on school performance here:

Missouri Public Schools, Public School Districts - Student Performance, Key Data - SchoolMatters (http://www.schoolmatters.com/app/data/q/stid=26/llid=111/stllid=220/locid=26/catid=814/secid=3166/compid=-1/site=pes - broken link)

When the page comes up check the 'district' box and then put in a zip code in the second section and put a distance of 10 miles to find all the districts performances around there. This is actual and you will find they aren't just what locals perceive to be the case.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by ALC

Hello,

We are looking for a suburb in St. Louis with the best schools. Once we move to St. Louis we plan to stick around in that house, since we hate moving. We are seriously considering either Ladue or Clayton.

It seems that Clayton has a bit more diverse of a student population, and has somewhat stronger schools, but we aren't sure. Any opinions? Thanks.

I'm a resident of Clayton. Clayton is a bit smaller than Ladue so the teachers can focus more individually on students. Also, Clayton is advantageous in that it's more centrally located than Ladue. I guess it all depends on what you want. Clayton High School, where I graduated from 2 years ago, is among the best high schools in the United States. I can't say as much for Ladue. All I can tell you is that Clayton and Ladue have that kind of Milwaukee-Chicago attitude towards each other LOL.

[RickMG]

Originally Posted by ajf131

All I can tell you is that Clayton and Ladue have that kind of Milwaukee-Chicago attitude towards each other LOL.

HEY!!! I graduated from Ladue....a little more than two years ago.

[Bobster]

Both Clayton and Ladue have excellent public school districts. I think that both of them have high schools ranked in the top 500 nationwide according to Business Week. Both places are inner ring suburbs, so the houses tend to be a bit older. Actually, some of the neatest residential architecture can be found in both of these areas.

I too am a real estate agent and mortgage banker. If you like, please feel free to check out my profile here to link to my web site. It has a host of tools to help in your home search. Also, please feel free to write or call me.

Bob

[Inoxkeeper]

Rah Rah Rockwood! One of the best districts in the state! Check it out!

[Kanick]

If money were no object, I'd choose Clayton Schools for my kids. I graduated from Parkway and my kids are in the Parkway School District as well. It has a good reputation but personally, I've always thought it was pretty over-rated.
I think some of the things that they do are beyond stupid (like charge $3200 a year for full day kindergarten - as does Rockwood). Ladue would be my 2nd choice, probably Webster/Parkway/Rockwood as third choices (Rockwood is too far out for my tastes though but some people seem to love living in a plastic houses with relentless traffic and no highways close by).

[rimotwinmom]

Hi St Louis Area:
Moving to the area, and have twins starting K- sept 09
Both are currently reading above average K level.( one at 3rd grade, and other at 1st-2nd grade)
I just want to make sure we choose a school district that has resources.

thanks for any school suggestions!

[aragx6]

How much money are you looking to spend on a home? What kind of neighborhood do you like? Is public transit important to you? Do you want public schools or would you prefer private? Where will you be working? How long of a commute are you comfortable with?

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by ALC

Hello,

We are looking for a suburb in St. Louis with the best schools. Once we move to St. Louis we plan to stick around in that house, since we hate moving. We are seriously considering either Ladue or Clayton.

It seems that Clayton has a bit more diverse of a student population, and has somewhat stronger schools, but we aren't sure. Any opinions? Thanks.

Some of the posts here make me laugh. They both have very strong school districts amongst the top few in St. Louis. I'd pick based on housing, and other wants, as opposed to schools in your situation, considering both school districts are very strong, and not a lot enough difference imo.