Relocating from Ma to Tucson (Oro Valley, Vail: spring break, real estate market, car insurance)

[sarabara]

We are thinking about relocating in the next year from ma to tucson. We have two children that will be in high school. My daughter has down syndrome and I am wondering if anyone knows how the high schools are for special needs children. What months are the kids in school? Also how expensive is auto insurance in AZ?

[TAGS70]

There is a school on Speedway and I-10 and it is for children with special needs. The Vail School District is rated very high on GreatSchools.Org and I believe they have programs to help students with special needs. Most schools do the standard months for school and summers off. In Vail they do a year round school with about 1 1/2 months off in the summer and 3 weeks off for spring break, holidays season and so on. I am originally from back east and I have noticed car insurance is way cheaper here. We have two brand new cars and we pay $1200 a year for full coverage. I hope this helps, please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thank You
Michael

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by TAGS70

There is a school on Speedway and I-10 and it is for children with special needs.

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe this school is for blind children (and maybe deaf, too).

[Marcy1210]

Originally Posted by TAGS70

There is a school on Speedway and I-10 and it is for children with special needs.

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe this school is for blind children (and maybe deaf, too).

It is. It's the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind.

[Dreamdeer]

It saddens me to say that our schools are in serious trouble right now, and might get worse before they get better. Budget slashes have meant lots of schools have closed down and the remainder become crowded. Art, science, and physical education classes have been cut, in some places to nonexistence. With all this going on, I don't imagine that special education has come through unscathed. I'm not saying don't move here, but be prepared to supplement your children's education at home. But whatever you do, don't let them drop out! We don't have a GED program anymore, and too many dropouts compete for the same minimum-wage jobs.

There is much that I love about Tucson, but I'm also glad that I don't have to raise kids here.

[Marcy1210]

GED testing and prep is offered at the Pima Community College West campus and at N. Bonita Ave. Prep is available online, with extensive self-testing, but the actual test has to be taken in person. All school districts have a Special Ed department, and many Special Ed programs are Federal, so they're still available. Check with each school district (TUSD, Amphitheater, Sunnyside, Vail, etc.,) to see what programs are offered. Amphi has a pretty good Special Ed department. Each School District is online so you can research them.

[SWSIREN]

If you have a choice find a home in Oro Valley, NWest Tucson or the Vail school district. These areas have superior schools. There is an Autism Alliance in Tucson that could guide you to a good school.

Tucson Alliance for Autism

Moderator cut: not allowed

[brrrinmass]

Sarabara, where in MA you transfering from. We too were thinking of relocating to Tucson from MA but would not dream of trying to sell our house in this real estate market. We are from Townsend, MA. Good luck with the transfer.

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Relocating from MA to any other state west of the Mississippi will involve a huge amount of educational culture shock. There is much more tax resistance in the West than on the East Coast, and it shows in school funding. If MA to AZ isn't the most extreme change possible in educational welfare, it's pretty close to it. I'd wait to move until your kids are finished with school in MA.
The public school calendar in AZ starts in mid-August and runs into May.

[Subie2]

The best way to find out what you'd pay for car insurance is to get quotes from many different companies. I don't know how else to compare rates from MA to AZ.