heather123

We are relocating to Florida in early 2013 can anyone please advise me of the best areas with the best schools for my kids. I have a daughter age 14 and my son is age 12. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Jerseygirl

From what I can gather...great schools and Florida don't exactly go together.

Derrygal

Yes - that's what I've heard too!!

Bob

Florida is a big state...not much point in recommendations if it's going to be the other end of the state.

Saying that, yeah, general reputation of schools in Florida is not great, with a few exceptions here and there.

Probably best to check out city-data.com and greatschools.org

Wibblypig

There are some very good schools in Florida and admittedly some bad ones, it's the same in any state. It would depend on where you were living as Florida is a big state, it's a bit like asking if someone could recommend a school in the UK

heather123

My husbands business would be around the Kissimmee, davenport,Orlando and surounding areas but he would be willing to commute for a nice neighbourhood to live in with good schools

Wibblypig

Well you can rule out Kissimmee and Davenport for decent schools! Kissimmee is especially known for having some of the worst schools and also it's not a desirable area to live or bring up children. Why do you think it's full of vacation homes?! It's cheap and no one wants to live there!

What grades are your children? Budget for rent?

sunnysideup

Oh dear. It's going to be a challenge for kids of 12 and 14 switching to a new system. Quick intro to USA apartheid: the best schools are generally in the richest neighborhoods, and vice-versa. This is especially true in Florida. Taxpayers who fork out thousands (or tens of thousands) in property taxes each year do carry some clout - the poor do not. However, to get into those schools you need to live in said neighborhood. There isn't a whole lot of school cross-boundary choice in most Florida counties - you go to the assigned school for your area, with a few exceptions. One other possibility: look for which school in your area teaches the I.B. That school will certainly have good teachers for the I.B. program but the school itself may be in a dodgy area. They do this kind of thing to keep good school buildings alive, even if they are in areas which were formerly prosperous but are not longer so. Research Tampa for example. A word of advice for the 14 year old soon to be high-schooler: get the kid in classes which teach Advance Placement subjects. With some pushing you can get kids into good classes with good teachers which will get them up to international college entry level by the time they are 18. Let them drift in regular subject classes and they will be barely literate. I have a daughter that did very well in a public high school in Florida and got an academic scholarship to the University of Miami whch was no easy feat, but we were careful with the neighborhood we chose to live in and we navigated her through the 'factory' high school system carefully (and she was very self-motivated I must say).

Wibblypig

Sorry I missed the ages of your children some how! Doh! So you will be looking at middle and high school. As sunnysideup said for the good schools they are in the expensive areas. Windermere and Dr Phillips are your closest areas with good schools, Winter Park has good schools too but that is in North Orlando so quite a way away! The south side of Winter Garden has good schools too. Make sure you check with the schools that the home you rent is within the catchment area of the school, just because a home is right next to a school doesn't mean it's in the catchment area!

We live in Windermere and I would highly recommend it but it's far from cheap! For a 4 bedroom home with a pool you will be looking at $2500+ a month. My youngest two go to Windermere Elementary and my eldest has just started Bridgewater Middle School. We are in the catchment area for West Orange High School, several of my friends kids go there and they really rate the school.

HTH

goldenstate31

you can forget commuting if they will go to a public school
depending on where you live will determine what school your child is zoned for. i.e do a google search of where your school district is, most will even let you type in your street address and that is the public school your children have to attend!
On the other hand if its private education. We had friends from the Isle of Man who lived in Davenport area i think it was and they used to commute to windermere prep school which was about 40 minute drive.
But $$$$ if you have 2 in private education in and around that area expect to pay 1,500 dollars a month +

You should live in an area where they have good public schools, so windermere, Metro west etc. Also look on great schools.net that helped me a lot! (i dont live in Florida but its for most or probably all the states)

goldenstate31

Jerseygirl

$1,500 per month for 2 in private schools sounds extremely cheap...it's probably almost double that amount for each child. We paid $25K per year for one child 10 years ago in New Jersey. Around here school fees for children starting school (5/6 yr old) are approx $25/$30K per year.

Wibblypig

I live right next to Windermere Prep The fees are over $20K a year according to one of my friends But it is a very good school! Although even if we could 'just' afford it I would be wary as a couple of months ago at the orthodontist a child from there was having her teeth checked and she was complaining to the dental nurse that she ONLY got $50 off the tooth fairy for loosing ONE tooth apparently the going rate for her school friends was at least $75 per tooth, $100 if you are good!! Thankfully my daughter sat next to her didn't hear!!! I do however know of several children who go there who come from nice 'normal' families

Metrowest isn't so great to live, crime rates aren't that desirable....

Jerseygirl

I don't care for Windermere...too Stepford Wifeish (is that really a word? ) for my liking. Friends of our lived there for about 5 years and couldn't wait to move. Sadly when they sold the house they only got about 1/2 what they paid for it.

Sally Redux

That's sort of true but an awful lot of kids get into our district on permits. Not sure how they swing it. You can get one if a parent works in the district, others just seem to be very pushy parents. The high school is also desperate for football players so there has been an influx of big guys.