A lot of big things have been happening lately, so much so that I have not been checking into this site for the last few months.

 

The first bit of big news is that the Wife is pregnant and due in the middle of May.  The second piece of news is that we sold our house in Middleburg and are looking to move to the east side, most likely Shaker Heights but we are also looking in Cleveland/University Heights (maybe as far north as South Euclid or into Beachwood but that's doubtful).  Yes we decided that one big life decision deserves another.  I think we are crazy, but soon we are going to be out of our house so really need to find a place.

 

But that brings me to my question about the school districts in the area.  The ratings from the state seem to indicate that all the inner ring school districts are not that good, and really need to get their act together.

 

Neither of us have any contacts that actually live in these areas so do not have a first hand account as to whether these rankings are accurate or not. 

 

Any and all help is appreciated.

 

Thanks

Prior to getting pregnant I never concerned myself too much with how the school districts were ranked, but its funny how things change.

I can't advise about schools on that side of town other than to say that Solon is considered one of the best in the area, but that's not really on your list. Congratulations on the impending bundle of joy, however, and sorry you've left Berea SD as I think that's a good district (I'm partial to it, since my son goes to school there). I'm sure you have your reasons for the move. I know several families who live in the CH-UH district and send their kids to Hathaway Brown.

 

If I can help with any advice related to the baby, let me know. Good luck!

I was just having a conversation about this the other day. Here's my take.

 

As a product of the CH-UH school district I may be a little biased, but in general I think the district is pretty good. Competent teachers, rigorous academics, advanced placement options and a plethora of extra curricular activities in addition to good facilities.

 

The problem I have with state report cards is that they give an average of how well students do on the tests, but don't really tell you how well your child could do based on what's available to them and what is offered in the way of curriculum.

 

You have to keep in mind that the inner ring burbs on the east are more burdened with lower income single parent households which has proven to be a negative in a lot of cases when it comes to education (see Cleveland public schools).

 

I think your kid(s) will be fine in those districts as long as you and your wife have make sure your kids do the work. Just my two cents. And Congrats on the baby.

Shaker and Cleveland Heights are still good, and there are lots of private schools in the vicinity if that changes.

Congrats!  Note of caution: school quality assessment is extremely fraught. The state grading system is incredibly simplistic (by design) and collapses into a single number or small set of grades a whole bunch of different things they may or may not be important to you. That said, note that the state does grade individual schools, not just whole districts, so you can look at that when weighing neighborhoods within each district: e.g, http://reportcard.education.ohio.gov/Pages/District-Report.aspx?DistrictIRN=044750

 

Second note of caution: word of mouth testimonials are comforting, but people are weird about their schools, and you want to be wary about accidentally subjecting yourself to unknown biases. There are people who subconsciously associate old school buildings with decline, for example, and it can color their view of other things. Obviously some people are weird about race, too (consciously or subconsciously). And different families look for different things in schools, such as religious diversity and ambition level of peer families (the coastal meritocracy is much stronger in some districts than others).

 

Third thing: don't stress too much about it.  Remind yourself that the district you choose will have far less influence on your kids than you and your wife. As long as you feel comfortable about the physical safety of your kid, the differences between, say Shaker Hts, Beachwood, and Solon schools are likely to be of third order importance to your kid's academic success.  This is probably not advice people hear often, but it's what pretty much all school research shows.

 

I'm sure you'd do this anyway, but you might think about visiting some schools in the neighborhoods you're considering. This is totally normal (at least in some places) and can give you a good feel, even if you won't actually be using the school for a few years.

 

Good luck!

The "top" districts (according to conventional wisdom) in the eastern half of Cuyahoga County are Mayfield, Beachwood, Orange, Solon, and Chagrin Falls.

 

I have to give my alma mater a plug here... Mayfield Schools are absolutely as top notch as Beachwood or Solon, even if they are not as known for it. The people are a good mix of blue collar and uppity white collar as well as some immigrants and minorities, but parents in that community value education which is key. My sister is graduating this year from Mayfield and my educator mother is still very happy with it. I would say if you're thinking about going as far as Beachwood or South Euclid-Lyndhurst, you should take a look at Mayfield as well.

 

If you want the more urban experience, you are correct in looking at Shaker and CH. While the state rankings make them appear to have far more problems, I'm not so convinced that a student with supportive parents who wants to succeed would have any less opportunities at those districts than in one of the above districts I mentioned. As StrapHanger and Mov2Ohio said, ODE's ranking metrics are based solely on the percentage of students that meet a certain goal, like graduating or passing a test. A large number of students from lower income households that don't place an emphasis on education can really throw those rankings off, even if a school's programs, teachers, and standards are solid.

I don't have any kids, but I have several nieces and nephews in the CHUH school district and my siblings all seem happy with it.  That said, to some, it does matter what school in the district.  My siblings kids all go to Roxboro, Fairfax, or Canterbury elementary schools and Roxboro middle. 

My advice is you should tour the schools and meet the teachers / administrators. That, more than anything else, is what is going to be a major influence on your child's success. I just pulled my last child out of Orange because I felt like the entire teaching staff (at the elementary level, anyway) was phoning it in. There was nothing inherently 'bad', I just felt they were teaching to be 'good enough'. My own personal bias, however.

 

That said, I have a number of friends whose children are in Shaker, and while this is purely anecdotal, they all love the system. They find the academics challenging, the teachers nurturing, and generally have very positive things to say (again, this is still all in the elementary school level). Two of those families came from private and put them into the Shaker system and like it better. Parents seem to be engaged for the most part, and the school has the resources to give the kids the tools they need to succeed.

Shaker and Cleveland Hts still produce many National Merit Scholars.  I personally have an issue with the '4 school' program they are currently running at Heights High.  I can't imagine a freshman in high school knows enough about his/her future desires to be pigeon holed so early in life.

 

Depending on your ability to plan ahead, you might want to consider the long term cost of some of those better districts.  If you are paying an extra $200,000 for a house in a nice school district, that translates to closer to $400,000 over the course of a 30 year loan once you take interest into account.  For that extra $$, you can live in the inner ring and send your kids to a private school.

 

FWIW, I have some skepticism about Mayfield maintaining its excellent rankings.  If the east side's trends continue, the housing stock in Mayfield Hts is the type which starts turning to more and more rentals, and the selling prices consequently drop, and then the schools start to weaken.  The larger apartment buildings around Mayfield and SOM are also falling out of style in a hurry.  Gates Mills, Mayfield Village, and Highland Heights are all in the school too, so it is not like the entire district has those anticipated problems.  I'm just thinking ahead 15 or so years.

My advice is you should tour the schools and meet the teachers / administrators. That, more than anything else, is what is going to be a major influence on your child's success. I just pulled my last child out of Orange because I felt like the entire teaching staff (at the elementary level, anyway) was phoning it in. There was nothing inherently 'bad', I just felt they were teaching to be 'good enough'. My own personal bias, however.

 

That said, I have a number of friends whose children are in Shaker, and while this is purely anecdotal, they all love the system. They find the academics challenging, the teachers nurturing, and generally have very positive things to say (again, this is still all in the elementary school level). Two of those families came from private and put them into the Shaker system and like it better. Parents seem to be engaged for the most part, and the school has the resources to give the kids the tools they need to succeed.

 

I'd find out where the professors live.  Docs and lawyers too, but mostly professors.

 

If you are going to go private anyway I'd recommend Walton Hills.  You can get a good sized house and a lot of land at a lower price, because it's Bedford schools.

Just to let you all know we have an agreement to purchase a house in Shaker Heights on Warrington.  Hopefully dont find any surprises during the inspection on Thursday, and can start planning all the needed baby stuff.  And there is a lot of stuff that they apparently need.

^Nice!  That's a beautiful street.

They need a lot of stuff and all parents will suggest you get or don't get different things. There's no way to avoid getting things you don't really need with the first one, IMO. But you can go all in on a bouncy seat or exersaucer and find the kid hates it. You might want to consider infant & child CPR classes, which communities offer usually very inexpensively. And your local fire station probably does car seat installation inspections (by appointment) - a must, since almost everyone puts them in wrong. They won't let you take the baby out of the hospital if it isn't in a car seat.

The one thing I definitely recommend, if you have room, is to get a baby swing.  Both my kids slept 'like babies' in that thing during stretches of the day.

Neither of us have any contacts that actually live in these areas so do not have a first hand account as to whether these rankings are accurate or not. 

 

You didn't know that your old buddy from 4 Meyer grew up in University Heights and still lives in the Heights area? ;)

 

I think that Shaker Heights is a safe bet for schools depending on your housing budget. The ratings are a bit deceiving for all schools like that because of the proportion of low-income students they serve, but the district overall still offers a wide variety high quality programs.

 

I personally would have no problems sending a child to Cleveland Heights-University Heights or even South Euclid-Lyndhurst, but for many those options have long become unrealistic.

FWIW, I have some skepticism about Mayfield maintaining its excellent rankings.  If the east side's trends continue, the housing stock in Mayfield Hts is the type which starts turning to more and more rentals, and the selling prices consequently drop, and then the schools start to weaken.  The larger apartment buildings around Mayfield and SOM are also falling out of style in a hurry.  Gates Mills, Mayfield Village, and Highland Heights are all in the school too, so it is not like the entire district has those anticipated problems.  I'm just thinking ahead 15 or so years.

 

I think that that trend is well on its way in the Mayfield Schools. Mayfield Heights is far and away the biggest city in the district, and it is a city that is steadily changing demographically because of the housing/apartment stock. My guess is that almost no one in Gates Mills uses the public schools, and Highland Heights and Mayfield Village both also have high percentages of families using private schools. This is a recipe for a school district that is quickly becoming more similar to its neighbors to the north/west than its neighbors to the south/east.

FWIW, I have some skepticism about Mayfield maintaining its excellent rankings.  If the east side's trends continue, the housing stock in Mayfield Hts is the type which starts turning to more and more rentals, and the selling prices consequently drop, and then the schools start to weaken.  The larger apartment buildings around Mayfield and SOM are also falling out of style in a hurry.  Gates Mills, Mayfield Village, and Highland Heights are all in the school too, so it is not like the entire district has those anticipated problems.  I'm just thinking ahead 15 or so years.

 

I think that that trend is well on its way in the Mayfield Schools. Mayfield Heights is far and away the biggest city in the district, and it is a city that is steadily changing demographically because of the housing/apartment stock. My guess is that almost no one in Gates Mills uses the public schools, and Highland Heights and Mayfield Village both also have high percentages of families using private schools. This is a recipe for a school district that is quickly becoming more similar to its neighbors to the north/west than its neighbors to the south/east.

 

That's how Bedford is.  Almost no one in Walton Hills uses the Bedford City Schools, they actually tried to withdraw from the district.  When I lived in Maple Heights, my part (south of Turney) was called "Maple Hills" for the same reason, though that has changed, I'm told.

Neither of us have any contacts that actually live in these areas so do not have a first hand account as to whether these rankings are accurate or not. 

 

You didn't know that your old buddy from 4 Meyer grew up in University Heights and still lives in the Heights area? ;)

 

I think that Shaker Heights is a safe bet for schools depending on your housing budget. The ratings are a bit deceiving for all schools like that because of the proportion of low-income students they serve, but the district overall still offers a wide variety high quality programs.

 

I personally would have no problems sending a child to Cleveland Heights-University Heights or even South Euclid-Lyndhurst, but for many those options have long become unrealistic.

 

Yeah, we ended up in Shaker.  I knew you were in that area but the whole past month has been crazy  (and this next future month will be too as the wife is due in 4 weeks).  We moved this past weekend, and really lucked out as it had rained all week until Sat/Sun when we moved. 

 

Now the second stage of purging begins.  Going through all the cr@p we moved.

A lot of big things have been happening lately, so much so that I have not been checking into this site for the last few months.

 

The first bit of big news is that the Wife is pregnant and due in the middle of May.  The second piece of news is that we sold our house in Middleburg and are looking to move to the east side, most likely Shaker Heights but we are also looking in Cleveland/University Heights (maybe as far north as South Euclid or into Beachwood but that's doubtful).  Yes we decided that one big life decision deserves another.  I think we are crazy, but soon we are going to be out of our house so really need to find a place.

 

But that brings me to my question about the school districts in the area.  The ratings from the state seem to indicate that all the inner ring school districts are not that good, and really need to get their act together.

 

Neither of us have any contacts that actually live in these areas so do not have a first hand account as to whether these rankings are accurate or not. 

 

Any and all help is appreciated.

 

Thanks

Prior to getting pregnant I never concerned myself too much with how the school districts were ranked, but its funny how things change.

 

Congrats on the baby and the move to the right side of town!

 

I attended Shaker Schools along with several relative and my nieces & nephews and cousins children currently attend

I have cousins and their children who attend CHUH schools

My cousins in Univ Circle have children that previously attended John Hay and the CSA

 

If I had children I wouldn't have an issue sending my children to any of those schools

Neither of us have any contacts that actually live in these areas so do not have a first hand account as to whether these rankings are accurate or not. 

 

You didn't know that your old buddy from 4 Meyer grew up in University Heights and still lives in the Heights area? ;)

 

I think that Shaker Heights is a safe bet for schools depending on your housing budget. The ratings are a bit deceiving for all schools like that because of the proportion of low-income students they serve, but the district overall still offers a wide variety high quality programs.

 

I personally would have no problems sending a child to Cleveland Heights-University Heights or even South Euclid-Lyndhurst, but for many those options have long become unrealistic.

 

Yeah, we ended up in Shaker.  I knew you were in that area but the whole past month has been crazy  (and this next future month will be too as the wife is due in 4 weeks).  We moved this past weekend, and really lucked out as it had rained all week until Sat/Sun when we moved. 

 

Now the second stage of purging begins.  Going through all the cr@p we moved.

 

Welcome to the Heights!  Now learn how to do the plastic eastside suburban smile and wave!