Suburban or Rural Schools

SO MUCH depends on the community, the community's involvement with the school in the education of the children. Parental involvement is crucial in getting a good balanced education for children.

I grew up in a small town where everybody knew everybody, blah. I hated it. I always told my mom I was just born in the wrong place. My goal in life was to get out. If anything... the desire to get out of a small rural town motivated me to make the best of everything I had to ensure that I had the proper scholarships and education to make it out of there.

I did, it was hard because once I moved to a larger city, I saw how different it was in the rural area.

I am a city girl, love the busy fast paced part of life. When I go back to my roots to visit which is rare because I hate it, I feel as if everything is in slow motion. I have relatives with children in the same grade level as mine now and they are no where close to the level of our curriculum.

It is a personal choice. We are in a great school district with stellar schools and parents are very involved. I would have it no other way for my daughter. I want to her experience diversity, different personality types, different opportunities, and better opportunities.

Before you move, check into the schools your children would be attending. If possible, visit those schools. Get a feel for the people and the environment.

I have family that could never, ever live in a city like I do because they never have and the adjustment would be too much.

Prime example.... (NO OFFENSE INTENDED TO ANYONE) 3 yrs ago, a cousin, the same age as my daughter came to visit. My daughter had an orchestra concert during this visit. At the concert as we were about to take our seats and daughter was already backstage.....The cousin looked to my hubby and me before the concert and said "are there any Americans here". Bless her heart, she didn't know there were any nationalities other than hers... how sad because my daughter has great relationships with people of all nationalities.

As others have mentioned it depends on the communities you are comparing. I've taught inner-city and suburban. I've lived in and attended school in a very rural community.

I personally didn't like the rural setting. I felt like I had less opportunities (sports and academic classes and clubs) than my friends did at another local school (which was actually much closer than the district I was zoned in). I also felt that I hadn't gotten the appropriate education when I got to college. I graduated near the top of my class, and really struggled with basic classes at college. I had to work my butt off when I got there.

My biggest complaint was that once I went to middle and high school in the rural setting, many of my friends could live up to 50 miles away from my house. My parents didn't like having to drive me to/from a friend's house on the weekend --- it would take them a couple hours round trip. So I didn't have much of a social life with some of my friends. We ended up having each other over on Thursday evenings so we could use the buses to get back and forth to school.....couldn't do too much on a Thursday night either.

So look at how large the district is and how far away potential friends of your girls will be living from you. Now also imagine them driving those roads to visit each other or how far it will be for them to have a part time job somewhere. ---- just another thing to think about. :)

In my experience it's more the size of the school itself & the commitment the community has to education that matters.

Good luck!

all i know is that i grew up in the country, and went to a very very small town school - i thought i wanted to get "out" so i moved to one of the big suburbs, and started our family...i totally regret it. i'm not a city girl, come to find out! just not into the whole thing...although i do love the convenience of having everything close...i'm just not a fan of all the hustle and bustle, the traffic, and all the PEOPLE. i want to be able to hang out in my back yard and not have to constantly be on the lookout for neighbors to have to be polite to, dogs, having to keep such a close eye on my son, etc...i know most people think i am a freak or a recluse, but that's just me. be very careful before uprooting your family and do lots of research. i am now stressing about sending my son to kindergarten up here in the fall...i'm dealing with it but i would much rather he be in a smaller school. it's a goal we are working towards. just my perspective. some people don't adjust that great to moving to the 'burbs.

Really just depends on where you live. I went to a rural school in Arkansas and it was very basic stuff. I moved to a school in innercity Houston (a magnet school) and it was very exciting (we went on SO many field trips! the zoo, the science/natural history museum, Sea World a few hours away, children's theater to see a Mark Twain play, a place that you walk through and learn about different countries, sample their foods, hear their music, etc...nasa, all kinds of places). Then I moved to a suburban school that was in the top 10% of the nation. We met REAL, famous authors, we had AWESOME lunches, there were so many electives in middle school it just wasn't funny. So many options! Going to a public suburban school in the 80s: for 6th and 7th grade I was on the school volleyball, basketball, track, and softball teams. In those 2 years I took electives in Latin, choir, music, art, public speaking, biology lab, and was in the drama club and student government as well as being in "Wings" (which is what we call AP classes now) for English / Lit. My friend took German, others took Spanish. I had so much fun! Then we moved back to a rural school. The food was abysmal. The classes were so "plain": Math, basic Science, LA History, Reading, English, PE, and only one choice of an elective: either band or cheer for girls, band or sports for boys. (The only school sponsored sports were basketball and football). There was a beta club (honor roll kids) and a 4-H club (I didn't have livestock), and that was all. That was a dark year, lol. After marrying, I thought that maybe my memory of my "good schools" were a little exaggerated and weren't that good, but after moving back to that state, I saw that it wasn't so. After living there for a couple years, my bff moved there too with her son. He was very concerned about leaving his old school (the sad rural one I ended up in) but I promised it'd be a good thing. He is thriving! When asked how he thinks he'll like it, he was like "it's so clean and new looking". But they loved how organized it is, how they aren't just loaded down with tons of homework but do really well in school, he's in elementary school and has chosen Spanish and a church club for extra activity. He plays soccer, basketball, and flag football at different times of the year. In summer he's taking tennis lessons and swims. He's in Cub Scouts. He LOVES lunch and raves about the good food. He's on the honor roll and loves school in general. So me? I'd go to a good suburban school any day. I'm sure not all of them are great, but I like the OPTIONS. Rachel Y brings up a good point though: some suburbs do have more urban issues or are simply big and not necessarily offering big ranges of classes. Shop and research!

I wouldn't think there would be too much difference between the two in elementary school, except maybe you would have more schools to choose from in a larger district? I really like that the rural school my daughter goes to is small, I know a lot of the kids, and most of the teachers and staff know my daughter.

I think there is a much greater gap at jr. high and high school just based on the class offerings. When I was in a rural high school, I would hear about schools with three or four foreign language offerings and AP classes while I had to go to a different district to take calculus because mine didn't have a teacher qualified to teach it even if there were enough kids to make a class.

I don't know your area but we had great public schools where I grew up (suburban NYC area). My kids are in a suburban area and the schools are good here too. Talk to a real estate agent or do a bit of research before you pick a town and move. Some towns are great and others have "urban" problems or just very large schools.