Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Moving for a school - is that crazy?

My child is 7 and he has been in 3 schools already. We naively assumed that each of those options would be the best fit for him. We are not done changing schools! We are living in a house in a coveted PS zone and paying property taxes for other people's kids to get the excellent PS education that this school is reputed for That is how things worked out for us.

We plan to move again before my son reaches middle school - but, we will commute to the new school for a while before moving to the new neighborhood.

If you are looking at private schools, which mean that residency requirements are not applicable, my advise is to try the school for 6 months (commute to it if you can) and then decide to move or buy. If it is a public school, renting first could be a good option. Since you said that high school is your concern, then, while planning your move, you might want to also consider other factors like availability of options for extracurricular activities, enrichment, possible tutoring centers etc.

Good luck.

We bought a repo rental house in a neighboring large city (about an hour away). We made sure it would be suitable for us to live in should the circumstances warrant. So it's an investment property, but suitable for us, at least during the week.

We also have adult children who have rented it from us at below market rent, so it has worked out, although we have tenants at the moment.

We actually intended to move to the city, but ended up staying put for now. We are happily homeschooling.

In my experience, buying a house based on criteria other than schools is unheard of. Everyone here lives where they do because of the schools. Many were sold a bill of goods, but only because of bait and switch.

Well i bought my house based on what I could afford but I know many people take schools into account.

I don't think that it's a crazy idea at all - I'd consider that many *many* people make the decision re where to buy their house based on the reputation of the school district they will be living in (gifted children or not).

That said, there are other reasons I'd consider *not* moving when you are already established in a home - if none of these are considerations, then yeah, a move is ok. If any of these are issues, I'd not be so quick to move. It's really *tough* knowing there are potentially better schools out there "if only" you could move, but the flip side of that is - school is just one part of life, and sometimes not everything is able to work out and other things might take a higher priority. So here's what I would consider as reasons not to move (and conversely, depending on the answer - reasons *to* move):

Financial (if you are a home owner) - how long have you been in your current house? How much of a loan is left to pay off? If you're heavily into having paid off your loan, are you going to take a hit in terms of potentially losing value over the $ you've put into the house? Or will you be ok or make a profit? What is the difference in expenses (house and cost of living) between where you are now and where you will be living?

Neighborhood - do you like your current neighborhood? Do you think you'll enjoy your next neighborhood just as much? Are there major differences? Traffic? Yard space etc? How long have you known your neighbors? What types of relationships do you have in your current neighborhood? Are there families you can depend on in an emergency? Are there other children for your child to play with etc.

How 'real' is the reality of the better school(s) in the other school district? Are you basing your impressions on what you've read, what the school district says, or what other parents in the trenches have told you? How reliable are those other parents' experiences relative to your own? Do you know the people who've given you advice well enough to trust that what they are saying is really what's up? Or to know how to filter what they are saying to give you an accurate picture Will you have regrets if you move and find that the new school isn't all you'd hoped for it to be? Will you still be happy with the move?

How much will it cost to sell again and move back to where you are?

Just a few cents worth of what I'd consider!

Good luck with whatever you decide,

polarbear

To add to what polarbear brought to the table: If your move is significantly far away, you might want to look at city-data.com You can discover quite a lot from their info.

For instance, years ago I worked with a woman whose husband was recruited from Huntsville, Alabama into the Silicon Valley to work for Silicon Graphics. She said the salary offered seemed to be huge, but they discovered after the move that houses and cost-of-living were eating up most of it. So much so that they weren't able to afford a home and had to rent instead of buy. They didn't do their research properly before taking the leap.

We have considered moving from our rural town to a major metro area one state over. When DH consulted his boss, (the district manager) about a pay raise to off-set the significantly higher cost-of-living, he was told that the pay scale for his position didn't account for location. In other words, he'd be making the same amount, but we'd be paying so much more for everything. Our standard-of-living here vs. there is overall higher, that for now it takes priority over the lure of "perfect school". That may change as DS gets older, however. Right now, DH and DS resist moving from this home.

We moved to a neighboring school district because the gifted program was better. It was only a 9 mile move, and I know some of our friends thought we were crazy, but it has worked out very well for us, turns out we LOVE our new neighborhood which just so happens to be full of other families who moved to this area because of the gifted program, so it turns out there are a lot of peers for our kids as well. It's been a win-win.

We are considering doing the same thing. I think if you have exhausted all of your possibilities in schools near you, it makes sense to think about a move. You are not alone!

It is kind of nice to see I am not alone!!! I had NO idea educating my child was going to be so difficult and I don't really think I am a difficult person!! I have a high set of standards, but I'd like to think I was reasonable, sometimes it just seems so frustrating!

To add my voice to the few that urge caution about this kind of strategy...




Yup, us, too.


It's worth noting that children who are MG or HG may well be helped by a move to a more favorable location, education-wise. With 2e or higher LOG children, however, I'm not so convinced that it can be done through calculated planning.

We (briefly) considered moving to Reno or the Seattle area (for the early-entry program via UW), I know that, but those were the only places that really seemed to have what we needed in order to actually do much good beyond what we were already able to provide in place. Besides-- hey, the quality of life here is good and the cost of living relatively reasonable. So we stayed put. I don't really regret that, by the way.

It has been hard on my dental work to hear all of our friends, acquaintances, and neighbors GUSH about the public schools here, however, while we pay our taxes and put a sock in it.