Do you consider schools when moving?

Question

Schools are one of our #1 factors when moving. We are currently looking to relocate and are very picky about the school districts we will live in. 
I realize not everyone cares about this and that test scores and college prep aren’t everything. However, I went to a great high school and had a wonderful experience and felt really prepared for college and graduate school. I want that for my kids, too. 
I think I offended my friend though. She asked why we wouldn’t move to her small town, and I was honest. I told her we would prefer a larger city and a top ranked school district. I feel terrible and I apologized. I shouldn’t have said the thing about schools, but the fact is, it’s very important to us when we are home hunting. 
Are we the only ones that care about this? Are we crazy? Ha.

Answer

We plan to open enroll to a district we don’t live in. That’s not an option for everyone though, which I understand. Visiting a school (difficult to do at the moment) can be a huge eye opener. A school may have high test scores but a horrible culture and climate. If you can connect with a variety of community members within the district and get their thoughts, that can be helpful as well. 
Also keep in mind that standardized tests are one moment of one day of the kids’ academic careers. Take the data with a grain of salt knowing that the tests are often designed to mess kids up. Our ELA state test is written with two correct answers for every question but only one of the answers is credited as correct. Test designers try to trip kids up and play the “gotchya” game, which is not in line with best practices. Kids also hate state tests and many see no value. Their perceptions of why they take them are extremely skewed - a middle school student told me once he planned to bomb the test on purpose so the teacher he disliked wouldn’t get paid. Totally not how it works. 
A school, a teacher, and a student are more than a test score. Look at more than just that data when choosing a school.

Answer

We sold our house once our daughter was born and bought a new one specifically for the school district! You are not crazy.

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I consider schools. However, I don’t consider them for their “ratings”. I look into their programs and what they offer. Clubs, activities, curriculum...

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Of course. Especially when we buy again. I am not settling for less than great. Why would I choose less than the best for my child?

Answer

You’re not crazy. That’s important. I guess I’m unclear why that offended your friend. Does she have a kid in a small town school district?
But small towns don’t always have bad school systems. Where I live, the main city is the “bad” school system, and all the small towns around it are the “good” ones

Answer

100% schools are so important. From elementary to freshman year I went to schools in California and the rest were in Washington state. 
The school dynamics are so different. Not to talk crap about California schools but growing up there and when I went to school in California none of my teachers knew my name ever. Didn’t care if you did bad.
In Washington all my teachers knew my name and actually cared if I did well in school. The curriculum is so different they make you work hard! They actually prepared us for when we got out of high school. It’s a 30min class everyday that you have to take 9-12 grade. They teach you taxes, how to make a build your resume, voting, applying for scholarships, trade schools, they help you if you don’t want to go to college to have a plan for what you are going to do, community service, SAT prep etc...
Unfortunately, I was young and dumb and my senior year I begged my mom to let me go back to California so I can graduate with all my friends I grew up with. I went back to the school I went to my freshman year, I came out with no knowledge for life outside of high school. 
Where if I stayed in a Washington school I would have probably been more successful. 
It’s safe to say I don’t live in California anymore and won’t be letting my kids go to school there.

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Yes 😂 that was our #1 priority. We are currently in the best elementary school district for our city. It was definitely something we really wanted.

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It was very important to us. When we bought our first home the neighborhood was split into 2 different counties, one had amazing schools the other had horrible schools (low test scores, high teacher turnover, upper grades had reports of gang violence and high drug use) despite them being in the same part of a nice neighborhood you had to be cautious on what side of the line you lived on.

Answer

As a teacher I actually don’t look at schools. I teach at a title one school and it’s rated low cause of test scores, however, it has some of the hardest working teachers in the county! They also get extra resources and teachers than non title one schools. Low test scores unfortunately tent to tie with low income families due to a variety of factors. It is in no way a reflection of the school. I suppose If a school had a bad reputation of bad teachers I wouldn’t want my kid going there.

Answer

Schools are important to me but I also went to a very small rural school and it had a ton of advantages large achools don't have. I had 18 kids in my grade in grade school clsss and only 300 ish total in highschool. I was very advanced and having such small class sizes allowed my teachers to do individual learning plans with me and the district even worked with me to make sure I was getting the best education I could. I had a teacher who would drive me from the middle school to the high school to take advanced math for example and another who helped me create a independent learning class for a subject I wanted to do but wasnt offered. I was able to take community college classes in high school and had guidence counselors who helped me search for every scholarship I could get. I graduated top of my class and went to a prestigious private college almost completly paid for due to scholarships. The downsides were obviously we didn't have as many electives or the super fancy equipment. Sports were not going to be scouted much and we didn't have a full AP class load. So there are benefits and disadvantages to both. My sister went to the top highschool in our state at the time(lottery pick from out of district) and while she got to take more varied classes she also got lost in the large school numbers. The teachers had way more students so they had to teach to the middle and couldn't work with students one on one as much. We are looking at all options but for us it was 75% house location then school after. As long as your child has a good work ethic they will get out what they put in...I hope you guys find the school district you want!!

Do you consider schools when moving?

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