Moving to Baton Rouge

Hey L.!

Welcome to LA! I live on the OTHER (north) side of Baton Rouge, in Zachary. It's GREAT! We have the #1 school system in the state (the best of the worst, I suppose, but alas...) I know you've heard public schools here in LA are not the best. My husband and I are both teachers, AND new parents...talk about torn! But yeah, Zachary schools can save you a lot of headache and money. We are about 20 minutes from downtown Baton Rouge! There's also Central schools on this side as well. Good luck and stay in touch when you get here!

Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas have great festivals! Especially in the spring, there is some family fun not far away nearly every weekend. Also, every Sat there is a great farmer's market downtown.

When it comes to school, I recommend private schools. However, there are some magnet programs that are good as well.

Welcome to Baton Rouge! People are very friendly and I'm sure you will make friends fast.

Hi L.!

I too moved to Baton Rouge from Missouri over 11 years ago. At first it was a complete culture shock because everyone is amazingly friendly and will tell you their life story in a heartbeat. LOL!!! There are a variety of people in South Louisiana which gives it its true unique character which I greatly enjoy. I assume you are from around Kansas City or St. Louis since you mention suburbs. Although Baton Rouge is big enough for suburbs - they haven't quite been designated as that. Denham Springs and Prairieville have good public school systems. Unfortunately, Baton Rouge's public system isn't the strongest but the private schools are good and of course a price tag comes with that. Do you know what area you will be living?
I'll be glad to answer anymore questions.
Best of luck!

I live in a neighborhood called "Tuscany Villas". It is near Woodlawn High School & Woodlawn Middle School. Right outside our subvision, they are building a new Elementary School (Woodlawn Elementary) on Antioch Rd, zip 70817. This is a fairly new neighborhood, only 3-4 years old (we moved in to our brand new house in March 2005). There is a house for sale down the street from us. They are 3 bedroom, 2 bath homes, with approx 1500 sq ft. This house has a 2 seat swingset already in the backyard & it is on the "pond". They have pics, and it is For Sale by Owner:

www.fsbobr.com/site100-01/1000977/ei.cfm?M=103&SM=&am...

Also, there are nearby churches: Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian. And there are lots of nearby grocery stores/food places, etc on Airline Hwy & Jones Creek/Coursey Blvd.

Hi L.,

I have lived in and around Baton Rouge my whole life. I love it here.

Schools: you don't want your child in public schools in East Baton Rouge Parish. That school system is horrilbe. I moved to Livingston Parish for it's schools and they are awesome. Ascension parish is also very highly rated. I live just past the East Baton Rouge parish line in Watson/Denham Springs. the Live Oak school district is awesome. My daughters have some great teachers. Especially my one in pre-k.

If you prefer private schools which are very expensive. I checked in to them before I moved. Some are upwards of $10,000 per year. There are some great private schools in Baton Rouge. Central Private is one that is highly recommened and not religion based.

L., Welcome to Baton Rouge. Originally from BR, moved to New Orleans in 1985 to work, purchased a home but lost it in Katrina. GOD blessed me with another home in BR. Central area is very quiet with very good prices. I love my home,older area,sort of a country feel,huge lots. Also, my realtor got to know me, my needs, wants, and lifestyle then one saturday called me to meet her at noon. When I walked in the door a cool breeze came over me, we hugged and cried and now it's my home. As far as a Mom's Club, I can't help with that, I'm a great-grand mother and do whatever I can to support them,their moms, and their mom and dads.You'll love BR,there are lots of good areas to look at.

Don't know what religion you are, but there are good private schools spead out thru baton rouge. You do not want to send your child to public school in Louisiana. Your decision.....just a little piece of advice.
Toward the south side of baton rouge, near bluebonnet road, we have a great catholic school called St. Jude's and a great private school downtown called St. James.

If you would be interested in Montessori schools, there are also some great ones on this side of town as well.

There is another area in baton rouge, called Central. This is more "off the beaten path" type place. You might like it there. Central is about 20-30 minutes from the Bluebonnet road i mentioned in the first paragraph.

it you give more info, i will gear my thoughts towards what you would like for you your family.

Were you are moving makes a huge difference for schools. South Louisiana and Baton Rouge in particular is wonderful place to live and raise children. The food and the people are the best. But the East Baton Rouge Parish School System is awful. So here in the area most people move to Ascension Parish or Livingston Parish for good school systems. We have parishes not counties =). Anyway I live in prairieville which is ascension parish but i am still sending my kids to private catholic school in baton rouge ( a mere 10 miles away). We have lots of great private schools, non religious (millerville academy www.millervilleacademy.com, baton rouge internation school www.brintl.com , central private, runnels academy? www.runnels.org , starkey academy www.starkeyacademy.org , and i am sure some more) And then the Catholic schools are St. jude http://www.stjudecatholic.org/ , st. theresa , St. George http://www.st-george.org/, Most Blessed sacrament http://www.mbsbr.org/ , holy family http://holyfamilyschool.com ,etc.) Baptist schools are Parkview Baptist... Episcopalian schools are Episcopal (this is the $10k/yr) http://www.ehsbr.org/ and St. Lukes www.stlukesbr.org. there is also some lutheran schools....And then there is christian life academy(non denom I think), university lab school(LSU) http://www.uhigh.lsu.edu/academics/elementary.htm and well a ton of other private schools. And since you are thinking ahead.. don't forget about highschool as certain highschools have certain elementary "feeder schools." So you need to decide where it is you plan to live. And if you want a private school then join that church and begin the volunteering process soon. It will help network you in the community but it is also important for school. You may want come here and tour the schools or search for the weblinks to BR schools. It is sad that our public schools are not up to par but most of our private schools are overachievers. And while prairieville is nice ... I think Livingston has their growth under control and offers a better public school system, road maintenance, and less flood zones, etc. So the part that matters Livingston Parish is composed of : Denham Springs, Walker, Livingston and Watson... and i think Satsuma. And Ascension Parish is composed of: Prairieville, Hobart, Dutchtown, Geismar, St.Amant, and Gonzales... it also includes Sorrento which i don't know if their are schools for that area as it is so small and Donaldsonville which is across the river and has some questionable schools. Hope this helps and feel free to message me for more info or specifics. And welcome to Baton Rouge. PS. here is a google link to a list of more... http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=GGLJ%2CGGLJ%3A...

Originally from New Orleans and move to area in 1972.

We have just elected a new Governor and many changes going on at this time. By the time your child goes to school changes should be in effect. However no way to advise what schools are the best in the area at this time. However if you can afford it private schools are the way to go. South west corner of the state is one of the biggest growing areas at this time.

Close to flag ship university and some good private schools.

Several new subdivision going on in Nicholson Drive (highway 30) and Bluebonnet Blvd. Area

Good Luck - God Bless