Rancho Sahuarita to Basis Tucson (Phoenix, Chandler: best neighborhoods, neighborhoods, utilities)

[beTucsonan]

Originally Posted by Moving To Tucson

Today is the day my hubby asks for a job transfer......

Good luck!

[Moving To Tucson]

Thanks BajaAZ...

Just got off the phone (for the second time) with my hubby.

His boss said, "So you weren't worried I'd let you go, were you?". )

Of course he was a bit.... but it was good to hear that his boss will do all he can to accommodate this move. He feels that my hubby can still do work for the NJ office from Tucson, which is what my hubby expected him to say.

We still have to wait to hear from upper management (specifically those based in Tucson and maybe even Phoenix), but at least we have my hubby's boss's support.

So happy.
Thanks again!

[rzzzz]

There is a huge asian supermarket in Tucson. Lee Lee's in Casas Adobes.

[Moving To Tucson]

Thanks rzzzz.

We made sure to stop there while visiting in November. Having such a place is priceless.

Thanks for the post.

[Vision67]

This is an interesting thread. I graduated from the U of A way back in 1975. I haven't been to Tucson since then but it seems some things never changed. I wanted to stay there at that time but there were too few employment opportunities.

Now I'm 65 and starting to think about retiring. It seems that in Tucson it's possible to buy a nice 3 bdrm house for less than $200K. It also seems that the cost of living is fairly low due to the depressed economy.

However, I wonder about the crime rate. Where can I get objective data on that?

[AtheistAstroGuy]

I must admit I didn't read the entire thread, but I did want to tell you about Basis.

Basis is a wonderful school, your child will not get a better education anywhere in Tucson that I know of, and we looked around over years at both public, private, and charter schools. They are consistently ranked Nationally, and the best way I can put it is that they actually learn vs. prep for standardized tests. We have never heard of any type of bullying, or anything even remotely close to it which you will see in the public TUSD schools. That's not to say they are perfect, but nothing ever is.

But with the good comes the bad. Even starting in 1st grade, you can expect your child to have between 1 to 2 hours of homework a night. It will have 20-30 minutes of reading and soon they will be jumping right into spelling tests and writing sentences (which takes forever helping your child). That pace stays pretty much the same all the way up through 6th grade. Our kids have a lot of extracurricular activities, which has made it difficult at times. While the amount of homework doesn't really go down, it starts to get a little easier around 4th or 5th grade as the kids now know the routine and take a lot more responsibility for their homework. We had a "Who's smarter than a 5th grader" challenge parents vs. students and the students destroyed the parents. It was really neat to see. About the only thing I haven't been a fan of is that every couple months the kids will be assigned homework of going to a free concert or something like that around Tucson and to write up a summary of it. It takes a lot of time after school and creates time conflicts with work. But the teachers generally will work with you if you can't make them with your child.

Our kids seem very happy there. I would highly recommend it. Enrollment is almost always full, and they use a lottery system. If you don't get accepted the first time, call every day for the first couple of weeks. They got so sick of me, but had one child change to a private school on like the last day and said if I could have my child there in an hour the slot was ours. I did and they have been going since.

Good luck and welcome to Tucson.

[Moving To Tucson]

AtheistAstroGuy,

Thanks so much! It's awesome to hear from a Basis Parent! We saw a CNN clip about Basis many years back and were amazed with their method. We never thought we'd be able to send our daughter there, but the opportunity has presented itself.

I was definitely most worried about the work-load (after school, specifically). Gymnastics is our after-school activity twice a week, presently.

My 7 year old is currently somewhat ahead (long division, great speller, read the Chronicles of Narnia 3 times already).... so hopefully she'll feel like she fits in. I just want her to be challenged.... and do better than what I can do with her at home (she is homeschooled, presently).

Her biggest problem is exactly what you spoke about (the effort we end up putting in as parents). It makes all the difference when they start putting their own energy and enthusiasm into their studies (homework).

My daughter could finish her school day much more quickly if she applied herself a bit more. "Focus" is a word used all the time in our house!!!

Anyway... thanks so much. So great to speak with someone who is living the life I want to be living. Just have to wait for a few more things to fall into place!

Thanks again.

[Moving To Tucson]

Vision67, (AtheistAstroGuy, please read the previous message...

I recommend that you speak with BajaAZ. He grew up in Tucson, I believe.... and has been very informative throughout this thread.

Hope you're able to find the information you're looking for.

[Moving To Tucson]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone posting to my thread.

No new news to share, but I expect to find out some key info next week (ie: potential buyer and job transfer specs).

Thanks again to all who helped my family out so far.

[Moving To Tucson]

Good and not so good news...

Yet another potential buyer fell through. (our 7th or 8th) The bank said they have too much credit card debt.

The good news is that my hubby heard from his boss's boss and he has a green light with regard to the transfer. He might just need to work in the Phoenix office a few days a week for the first 6 months (build relationships... etc).

No problem... My hubby has an old friend in Phoenix (30 minutes from his office there) that he can stay with a few nights a week till the 6 months are over.

This being said, it may be best for my hubby to relocate first and get the first 6 months out of the way while we continue trying to sell our home here.

I would very much prefer that my daughter and I relocate first, but that will be a discussion my hubby and I will have to have soon.