Considering move to Riverview Area - questions

[Stewabby]

We like that area, but be very careful about the schools. For example, Waterset is a very nice community, but the schools are not very good. Fishhawk Ranch has some of the best schools in the county.

You can look on greatschools.net to see the school rankings.

[Mr. Sparky]

Originally Posted by Stewabby

We like that area, but be very careful about the schools. For example, Waterset is a very nice community, but the schools are not very good. Fishhawk Ranch has some of the best schools in the county.

You can look on greatschools.net to see the school rankings.

We are building in Waterset, and I would have to respectfully disagree with you on the schools being bad. The elementary is A rated and the middle and high school are B rated by the state, so they are not bad schools. School Accountability Report

Fishhawk Ranch does have excellent schools, but that is as much a result of Fishhawk attracting a demographic of home owner that naturally produces an excellent school. You can actually see that in the history of the schools that currently service Waterset. They were really bad several years back, but as the area developed, the schools significantly improve. Waterset which just started in October is designed by Newland Communities who created Fishhawk Ranch and is slated to be just as large. As Waterset grows (it will get some of its own schools eventually), the demographics should rapidly change improving the schools automatically.

Our son starts Kindergarten next year, so with an A rated elementary school, we have time for the rest of the school system to catch up. I would think of Waterset as being at the same point as Fishhawk was 10 years ago. If you can afford the time to let the neighborhood and schools grow, you'll be rewarded with a better commute, closer coast access, and better property appreciation (FishHawk homes come at a premium as one would expect).

[Stewabby]

Originally Posted by Mr. Sparky

We are building in Waterset, and I would have to respectfully disagree with you on the schools being bad. The elementary is A rated and the middle and high school are B rated by the state, so they are not bad schools. School Accountability Report

Fishhawk Ranch does have excellent schools, but that is as much a result of Fishhawk attracting a demographic of home owner that naturally produces an excellent school. You can actually see that in the history of the schools that currently service Waterset. They were really bad several years back, but as the area developed, the schools significantly improve. Waterset which just started in October is designed by Newland Communities who created Fishhawk Ranch and is slated to be just as large. As Waterset grows (it will get some of its own schools eventually), the demographics should rapidly change improving the schools automatically.

Our son starts Kindergarten next year, so with an A rated elementary school, we have time for the rest of the school system to catch up. I would think of Waterset as being at the same point as Fishhawk was 10 years ago. If you can afford the time to let the neighborhood and schools grow, you'll be rewarded with a better commute, closer coast access, and better property appreciation (FishHawk homes come at a premium as one would expect).

That's a good point and we did discuss that. I think they are building enough good communities there that eventually the schools will be decent. It's just too much of a risk to take for us. We'd rather pay more to live in a place like Fishhawk than to take the chance of having to pay for private schools.

For Waterset the elementary school is Doby which is a 6 (out of 10), the middle school is a 5 and the high school is only a 4. http:Stats about all US cities - real estate, relocation info, crime, house prices, cost of living, races, home value estimator, recent sales, income, photos, schools, maps, weather, neighborhoods, and more. If your kids are very young I can see hoping that they will improve enough in time by the time they are school age.

If I recall correctly most of the Fishhawk schools are 8-10s.

[EngGirl]

Originally Posted by Stewabby

For Waterset the elementary school is Doby which is a 6 (out of 10), the middle school is a 5 and the high school is only a 4.

This is true and the reason we decided to look elsewhere

[DonnaAruba]

All great info. We have a soon to be 8th grader and soon to be 9th grader - so we're way past the elementary school concerns, but I well remember them. We'd be moving from MS and HS ratings of only 5 in GA, so a 6-8 would hopefully be a step(s) up in FL. I'm not really sure how we compare state to state though.

[Stewabby]

Also, for those with very young children there is a good Montessori school right in Waterset that goes up to age 8. That actually makes Waterset much more of an option for us. We love the Westbay homes and we are seriously considering having one built.