Did You Tour Local Schools Before Buying a House?

This is a bit helpful: http://www.greatschools.org/

Absolutely do that. My husband did that when we were moving. He researched the school districts (we really do believe in the public school system and choose our homes based on that) and found the best ones. He went to the town he was going to work in, even though their rating wasn't the best in the area (not bad, but just not one of the top ones) in order to see if perhaps we could live close to his work. They were extremely rigid in their thinking - because our rising 11th grader had not had American History yet, they told my husband he would have to repeat 10th grade. WHAT? He'd be 20 when he finished school! We asked about summer school, and she waved her hand and walked away from my husband. You know what that school lost? A good student who was active in lots of wonderful things, and the taxes their township would have had from a new homeowner.

THAT is the kind of school you NEVER want to move to on purpose. A private school can act like this too, I promise. It's more about how the school comports itself, what their attitude is like. The place we ended up has the most wonderful school district and we have loved our school. And all my son had to do there was take American History along with any other kid who needed to take it. There were 10th, 11th and 12th graders in his class, along with Biology. Why on earth that other school didn't want to have different grade levels in their classes is beyond me.

So tour away. If they say no tours, you most probably don't want your kid there anyway!

Dawn

We did research on the school district but sadly did not check into property and school taxes. We got hammered on that. Is there a such thing as good schools and low taxes?? I doubt it!

We bought our house in a school division that we liked. We knew that we wanted to be within walking distance to a french immersion school. I think kids need to go to school in the community in which they live. The kids who go to private school end up not having friends in their own neighborhoods, not to mention time wasted with long commutes. Here we have school information nights each spring when you can come and learn about the school, but I imagine you could arrange a tour anytime.

we fully checked out neighborhoods & school districts before choosing the town of our choice.

For example, the small town where my DH's job moved to....had just rejected passage of a bond to improve the infrastructure of their school district (building additions, renov existing, etc).

Instead, we chose the town where we've been for the past 21 years....based on how proactive the school district was in terms of updating itself. We did not tour the schools, simply checked out the area surrounding each one. Our son was only 3 at the time, & we knew that in 3 years....the staff could greatly change.

Good luck in your search. Oh, & when we were looking at homes.....we made sure we looked for neighbors with toys & play equipment! We wanted a "Leave it to Beaver" neighborhood....& searched until we found it!

I teach in a Westchester school. It's not uncommon to see families walking around the school. We have parents do some of the touring since our administrators aren't always available. You could also ask to set up a meeting with the principal to ask questions only he/she could answer. Good luck in your search.

We have school choice here so we did not spend time checking on schools before buying our house. We bought our house based on the neighborhood and the proximity to our jobs.

I also could not imagine touring schools before I actually had a kid, and we bought our house long before having our son. Once we had our son, we picked a school based on what would best fit his interests and personality. I do not put much stock in traditional measurements of school performance. It is very limiting and is such a tiny piece of the puzzle. In your case, I would at least get an overview of the school choices.

Absolutely, check into the schools. I know plenty of people who moved to our area just to go to our school. There is usually published data on school test scores too. You may also want to check with a real estate agent on certain areas as well or they may know some parents you can talk to.

Um...absolutely. Call the schools, tour the schools, talk to neighbors about the schools, etc. We chose the school district FIRST, THEN only looked at houses in that school district. You can always change the house, NEVER fall in love with the HOUSE. Schools, neighborhood (neighbors, in particular, if you have a chance to chat with any of them before buying), proximity to amenities, etc, are way more important to me than if the house has granite countertops or stainless appliances. A decent home in a great school district trumps a gorgeous, dream home with crappy schools anyday.

Absolutely you need to review the local schools unless you have already decided you are sending your kids to private school and have extremely strong confidence that you can afford private school for many years.

I don't think a tour is going to do much though - it can't hurt but if you talk to people there they are not going to be honest with you if the school stinks. You have to research on your own about drop out stats (for HS), grades etc. Granted those aren't going to guarantee it's a good school either but it's some indicator.

Of course, you can imagine the better schools are in more expensive /higher tax areas. So you either pay to live in a 'nicer' (safer) area and get to take advantage of the better schools or you live in a less expensive area and have to send your kids to private schools. It depends on your financial situation - personally I'd rather have a smaller home in a better area to be safe and have access to good public schools than to have a nicer home in a less expensive, less safe area.

Definitely. We got a book from the county(?) years ago with a blurb about each school. There may be something similar on-line now, or you may still be able to call some county government office and get a hardcopy! I wish I could remember the path I used to get to it, but it was 13 years ago, so I can just say it used to exist.

We drove around looking at towns in our radius and read a little bit from the book about each school district. My husband and step-son then toured the ones that sounded good and had a nice-seeming town. My son was very into music, and they even met a number of the music teachers, I believe.

The tour of the local high school was one of the main reasons we focused on Rye. My son stepped inside and said - I want to go here! Every time there's a bond issue, I tell everyone I know that story - a great school can really make a difference in property values!