Teacher looking to move...but... (Logan, Park City: apartment, renting, crime)

[TikTok0]

This may be long...but help would be really appreciated.

I am a high school Math and AP Computer Science teacher in Northern Virginia. I know for sure I am moving at the end of this school year, June, and I've been doing research for a long time but still lost. I have applied to schools around Austin, Texas, but I want another option as well.

I first began my research with Utah this past summer, but all the statistical data I saw seemed to point that it was the wrong place for me. Houses are not cheap, pay seems low, class sizes seem really high, and I could not find a good set of data to determine where schools were even good. So, I ruled it out and went around searching everywhere else and ended up with Texas. However, I keep coming back to research Utah.

With a lack of information currently, I'd like to know what others will think about Utah being a good fit for me for a variety of reasons. I will just list things about myself and hope for a kind soul to help me out.

1) Huge Utah Jazz fan, which means I need to get out of the eastern time zone.
2) I am religious but have no real denomination. I think of religion more as a way to live life and I mix a lot of eastern philosophy into Christian philosophy.
3) I will never drink or smoke and would rather be around people who do neither.
4) I am coming from a school that is not the best. I have had the full mix of students: thug types who refuse to do any work and just want to be clowns as well as AP students who jump when you say jump. I do not mind the lower level courses as long as the students still try, but I definitely preferred not having to do the babysit act with my AP students who were real go getters. I just need a location where a large portion of the students have not entirely stopped working. I cannot imagine teaching class sizes over 30.
5) I have a fear of large cities, like DC and New York. I may want to conquer that fear by attacking it head on, but I'd need to live in a safe part of a city anyway.
6) I am a bargain finder. I like to buy high quality that lasts but spend as little possible on it. Basically I just want to save money.
7) Money again...I'd like to own a small house but will start off renting an apartment. I really do not want to spend half my pay check on an apartment.
8) Most likely a life-long single. I am 26 and have had a hard life where I lost my fiance and then was sick for 4 years with cancer. I keep mostly to myself now and would prefer an area that is more about casual friendships, if that makes sense.
9) Random...I get along real well with Asians for some reason, although I get along with everybody. At my current school, half of the Asian population requested me.
10) Not bi-lingual.
11) I am an extremely dedicated teacher, staying an extra 3 hours a day on average. I would like to be at a place where there are other friendly, dedicated teachers. At my current school, we have several teachers who work by the clock and generally dislike students.
12) I think I would be most comfortable in a high school that is medium to large, 700+.
13) My interests change constantly. I am good at almost anything I do. I read a lot, play games (board and video). I love racquetball and bowling best. But, as I would like to open up some more and find new people to associate with, I am very pliable on interests.

[dmnari]

I don't know much about the high schools in Utah, so I might be off here.

West High School is probably considered as the best high school in Salt lake city, I think its the only public school with both IB and AP programs.

The schools in Park city will probably be your best option. Very involved parents and motivated kids.

Utah is notoriously known as one of the states that spend the least amount of money on education(per capita). They have huge class sizes because of few teachers due to their extremely low salary.

If you really want to move, you will be better off looking at the private schools, especially; Rowland Hall-St. Marks and Judge Memorial.

From the way you have described yourself you will probably get a lot of offers.

Good luck

[john2timex]

The desire for a smaller class size will be hard to satisfy in Utah. But from the sound of it a 3A school is about the right fit.
I might suggest a city that has a university as this tend to lend itself easier to finding like minded casual friends, and not just of college aged people. I find that areas near universities tend to be more diverse and accepting of others. Having never lived there myself I can't say with certainty that Utah County should be avoided but a common perception I have heard is that the area tends to be highly family oriented and cliquish.
Another area that I thought of when reading your post was Moab. It is more remote than other areas but I have always enjoyed my time there. Also Park City, unlikely that you could afford to live in town but there are opportunities from Coalville to Henefer.
I currently live in Cache Valley(Logan). My wife loves the slowed down pace and friendliness here, having always lived in the Salt Lake area before. There are three HS's in the Valley (2-4A and 1-3A). Crime is low here and housing affordable.
Hope this has helped and maybe generated some interest. I think Utah is a nice place to live mostly and would encourage you to investigate further.

[TikTok0]

Appreciate the responses. I haven't looked at private schools, because frankly I have no idea how to do research on them.

I looked at West High and saw that they claimed to be the best in Utah. I then looked at their test scores just for a general idea of strengths...and unless I am reading them incorrectly they were abysmal. I just went to the state site and looked up the scores in different ways, again they were awful (in math).

"The median home cost in Park City is $2,350,000"
I think I have to rule that out completely...unless there are affordable places very nearby?


Moab is much more realistic with cost, but with the number of people there it seemed like the schools would be so small. I was looking at stats for that area down there as well, if you go a bit further south it looked like Utah became a native american stronghold, with schools devoted entirely to native americans (but also with the highest pay in the state).


I really do want to consider Utah, I've been dreaming of living there since I was a little kid. I just can't seem to find the right financial / education combination there.

[dmnari]

I found this website on google. It has the list of all the private schools in Utah.

Private Schools in Utah

The best ones are, Waterford school, Rowland Hall-St. Marks and Judge Memorial.

[TikTok0]

Combined that link with another site. The private schools are much smaller. The few that are large are all religious, which unfortunately won't fit me as I don't fit any religion.

Utah seems to have the slow paced, friendly, moral lifestyle I want but not a school system I want (or can afford).

[coolcats]

Utah's schools pay poorly. But if you are single, you'd have a leg up. Your costs will be lower than trying to support a whole family. As far as being a Jazz fan -- there's no better place than Salt Lake. You can get $5 tickets to lots of games.

[TikTok0]

The pay isn't that bad really. It has a low start (mid 30s) but at least it gets remotely decent raises each year. Texas will have 8-10k higher to start, but has tiny raises meaning that 10 years down the road the two are almost even, then Utah may actually start making money if one were to stay longer.

It isn't about money to spend though, it's more about whether you can afford to live in an area for housing. You can get away with low pay if you are a smart shopper and don't rely on material things.

[john2timex]

Again Cache valley may be a place to look. There are two districts here, Logan school Dist www.lcsd.logan.k12.ut.us/ - 12k and Cache County SD www.cache.k12.ut.us/ - 4k
Decent homes here start between 140 and 160K. We are the home to Utah State University and all of the high schools offer AP as well as congruent enrollment with the university. In fact my daughter may graduate HS with an Asso.degree. This would also make schooling to further your career that much easier.
Cache offers excellent accessabilty to outdoor recreation as well as winter sports.
In last years FBI crime report Logan was once again (2 out of last three years) designated as the safest community of its size in the country. Last year we fell to #9 because of the first homocide using a gun in over 30 years.
I don't want to advertise here but if you would like more info on the area and housing possibilities send me a direct message.

[TikTok0]

I usually don't care so much about money...but wow, Cache has some of the worst pay I have seen: 28.5k with my masters to start. Logan is at least more reasonable.

Looking at the NCLB scores again is baffling. I realize full well that the state tests should not be used as a major indicator of things, but I feel that they should at least be within a reasonable level. Does Utah suffer a major problem with mathematics? 50% of students cannot pass the Utah NCLB math tests? Is this misleading?

If it is anything like Virginia, the NCLB tests we have are so generic in their questions that if you have any basic knowledge in what you were supposed to cover you should pass. I even got 20% of my algebra I students, who had previously failed algebra I, to get an Advanced Pass score.

Just loaded up the ACT scores, which Utah seems to use more than SATs. The math ACT scores are smack dab in the middle.