When you’re thinking about moving one of the first issues that comes to mind for parents is school districts. Making sure the kids go to good schools is one of the biggest deciding factors when families go house hunting. If you’re moving to a new city, or just want to move to a better school district, you’ll want to find out which schools are up to snuff and which ones to avoid. This process isn’t as hard as you think, you can actually do it with three steps.
Review Sites
These days everything from restaurants to dentists are scrutinized by online reviews. The same concept behind Yelp and Trip Advisor has created sites like Schoolgrades.org, SchoolDigger.com, and GreatSchools.org. These sites show data like: test scores, graduation rates, college acceptance rates, demographics, student to teacher ratio, and parent reviews. A few sites will even show homes for sale in the district.
Department of Education
These 3rd party sites are great, but sometimes it’s best to get it straight from the source. The U.S. Department of Education created the National Center for Education Statistics to show parents data on every school in America. This allows you to compare schools and find the right school for your kids.
Other Parents
If all else fails, just find some parents who have kids in the school you’re looking at and see what they think. This can give you a good idea of intangible issues that can’t be measured by statistics and reports. You can do this in person, or try to find an online forum. There are plenty of Facebook groups and community discussion boards regarding local issues. A great place to start is Nextdoor.com. This platform segments communities by each neighborhood, so you can find out about schools and see what it’s like to live in the community.
Finding the right school district is just one of the many factors that go into buying a home. At Perry Hood Properties, we’re here to help you with any factor that might affect your buying process. We’ve been in the greater Tulsa area for more than 30 years and can build the perfect home for you and your family.