School ratings not consistent?

[MortonR]

In Hillsborough County, you'll attend the school you are zoned for based on the address. Period.

There is no lottery system in Hillsborough County. Pinellas County uses a lottery system for some schools, I believe.

You can apply for magnet schools, however, you can't do it unless you're a resident. This pretty much prevents you from being in a magnet school prior to moving here.

There are charter schools, which you could get into without being in a specific geographical area, but you'll have to provide transportation if they have room, as many of the better charters are full or have waiting lists.

The "choice" program is pretty much dead for all intents and purposes. The ability to utilize choice is quite specific and requires an application and approval process, so again, it's not something you can just show up and qualify for it.

Ignore Great Schools, as it can be gamed somewhat. Look at the school district web site and the links to the State's ratings for each school. Obviously, "A" schools are the best, but that's not to say a "B" school is bad by any means.

Before you do any of this, you really need to figure out where you'll be to begin with. For the most part you're not going to have a lot of say over where your children attend school the first year unless you go private or can get them into a charter.

RM

[wine_time]

Ok thx. I'll try the state rankings. I just started with Great Schools because they show up on all the real estate sites. FWIW, they are pretty accurate in our area, but I know it's not consistent across the board.

[EngGirl]

I think it might be a little tough to find a townhouse 2000+ sq ft in size. Most are under this size. Make sure you check HOA rules personally and DO NOT TAKE agent's/seller's words for an answer.

In your first post you mentioned Wesley Chapel. Please see my other posts on this forum about upcoming school rezoning for some Wesley Chapel schools - there is nothing worse to get a house only to learn it will be rezoned to bad school

[wine_time]

We checked out that new subdivision with the bridge...Union something. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of a new neighborhood (we're in our 3rd house, and we always build). But for us, it was just too far out. A lovely area though. You almost forget you're in FL. But we want the FL 'feel', so it wasn't for us. My kids had fun running through all of the model homes though! Lol

[wine_time]

Adding to that, we checked out Safety Harbor, which we LOVED, but ultimately, I don't think the schools are rated as highly as some other areas, plus, it was out of our price range, especially with renovations and insurance!

[MortonR]

Now see, that's where the Great Schools thing is sketchy. As I understand it, Safety Harbor has very good schools. If that's not the case, someone please correct me, but we have friends with kids in Safety Harbor and they've been pleased with the schools.

I'm not saying that Great Schools is not a valid resource, just use it along with others to get a good picture of the area and schools. Having "A" grades isn't absolute, either, as you can have magnet schools that are "A" rated in some very, very sketchy areas. Not living here you probably wouldn't know that nearly all of the magnet students are bussed in from outside the immediate area, so it's not that neighborhood's kids that are attending (the magnet.) Many magnet schools are part of a neighborhood school, but the magnet program is separate and distinct from the "regular" school.

RM