Public schools

Raidingtime · Mar 8, 2017

Hello,

I'm once again creating a new thread.

I'm at a time in my life where I am settling with my career and have a lot of opportunities out there for me. Currently, I'm a state worker employed in East Portland. I'm looking to move out of East Portland to an area that has a better school district. My daughter is 6 years old right now and will be finishing her Kindergarten year this June. I would like to move out her current school district, David Douglas, to a better public school district and plant roots for the next 12 years. I can most likely get a job transfer out to Oregon City, Beaverton, or Vancouver/ Camas areas and would prefer to work close to where I live.

What have been your experiences been like with the school district you've had your children or child in? Pros/Cons? From the research I've done it seems that Beaverton schools and Oregon City schools are a step up from Portland metro area public schools. What are your thoughts on this?

Much appreciated to any input

Thank you,

Raidingtime

clearconscience · Mar 8, 2017

Camas has one of the best schools districts you will find. Period.
And anything in Vancouver will be better than oregon.

But Vancouver has suffered from the disgust of portland. A lot of their trash is moving here and all the apts seem to be catering to section 8 low lifes, which bring their illegitimate kids with them that will share a school with your kids.
So if you come to vancouver, stay on the east side and anything east of 192nd is camas.

filsonhand · Mar 8, 2017

The only downside about leaving Gresham are the soothing sounds of a tec-9 to lull you to sleep from an escalade on 28's will be a distant memory

Raidingtime · Mar 8, 2017

filsonhand said:
The only downside about leaving Gresham are the soothing sounds of a tec-9 to lull you to sleep from an escalade on 28's will be a distant memory

Side note, I grew up in this neighborhood listening to tec-9s and escalades. I think I'm ready to listen to the birds and the bees now.

Hop Sing · Mar 9, 2017

My wife teaches elementary and middle school learning disabilities in the Beaverton School District, and while it is a well funded district and is good overall, she says there is quite a variability between schools. None are bad per se, but some are better than average as far as staffing, facilities and such.

So if you you are thinking of moving that direction I think it would be a good idea to visit the schools and maybe meet some parents to see where you want to end up.

Gaucho Gringo · Mar 9, 2017

Raidingtime said:
Hello,

I'm once again creating a new thread.

I'm at a time in my life where I am settling with my career and have a lot of opportunities out there for me. Currently, I'm a state worker employed in East Portland. I'm looking to move out of East Portland to an area that has a better school district. My daughter is 6 years old right now and will be finishing her Kindergarten year this June. I would like to move out her current school district, David Douglas, to a better public school district and plant roots for the next 12 years. I can most likely get a job transfer out to Oregon City, Beaverton, or Vancouver/ Camas areas and would prefer to work close to where I live.

What have been your experiences been like with the school district you've had your children or child in? Pros/Cons? From the research I've done it seems that Beaverton schools and Oregon City schools are a step up from Portland metro area public schools. What are your thoughts on this?

Much appreciated to any input

Thank you,

Raidingtime

It is a shame, in the 50's and 60's David Douglas was the place to live. My dad's friends were giving him a bad time because we lived in Alameda area rather than move to the more desirable DD area. Goes to show you how things change. As far as today I would say Vancouver or Camas. After living almost my entire life(am 66 now)in a 2 mile radius area in Portland moved to Vancouver over a year ago. Schools were an important consideration because of my daughter and 2 grandchildren living with us. I can say the schools are much better than Portland's, housing and more importantly utilities costs are lower and the people are much friendlier. Just my personal experience. Also almost no potholes in the roads.

Uberdillo · Mar 9, 2017

I've heard good things about Gladstone. They stood out as a public school in the Clackamas-Oregon city area a while back and have been aggressively expanding their science and technology departments over the years. Where they were short on AP/Honors courses since they didn't follow whatever that specific curriculum was, they had teachers who were teaching at local colleges and taught at that level, dunno if they've kept up with that trend.

Hawaiian · Mar 9, 2017

Good idea to get out of Portland. Their schools seem to be lacking. You will also save on not having to pay all the taxes the city of Portland keep coming up with. Conestoga middle school and Southridge high school are decent schools in Beaverton. My son went to both.
A shameless plug. My wife is a Realtor and has a website that has a ton of information on neighborhoods and school districts in the Portland Metro and surrounding area. Check it out.
www.movingtoportland.net On the left side menu bar, scroll down to 'Education' and click on it. All the school district info will come up. The data is from 2016, the 2017 data won't be available until April. My wife is familiar with most school districts, give her a call.

Gary.

Raidingtime · Mar 9, 2017

Hawaiian said:
Good idea to get out of Portland. Their schools seem to be lacking. You will also save on not having to pay all the taxes the city of Portland keep coming up with. Conestoga middle school and Southridge high school are decent schools in Beaverton. My son went to both.
A shameless plug. My wife is a Realtor and has a website that has a ton of information on neighborhoods and school districts in the Portland Metro and surrounding area. Check it out.
www.movingtoportland.com On the left side menu bar, scroll down to 'Education' and click on it. All the school district info will come up. The data is from 2016, the 2017 data won't be available until April. My wife is familiar with most school districts, give her a call.

Gary.

Thank you Gary. Her website is extremely comprehensive. It basically goes into detail explaining many of the things that I've been already aware of. I bookmarked the website and will give her a call when I get closer to moving. We plan to move this summer while she's out of school.

Side note, who the heck made a system where a child's education is dependent on the zip code they live in?

Hawaiian · Mar 9, 2017

We got surprise when we moved here from Hawaii. My son was 12 and had attended private school in Hawaii as their public system is very poor. So, he leaves private school in Hawaii and goes into public school in Beaverton and is behind! Go figure.

etrain16 · Mar 9, 2017

Oregon City schools are decent. When it comes to grade schools though, you may want to shop around a bit, some have better reputations than others. Last I heard, John McLoughlin was the highest rated elementary school in OC. I've known a number of folks whose kids went there and spoke highly of it.

Joe13 · Mar 9, 2017

Homeschooling done right > all public schools.

Sorry but my opinion of public schools is to the point that I can not properly put them into words without violating the site rules...

Ura-Ki · Mar 9, 2017

I graduated from David Douglas, It was heading down hill even before I went there. Sadly, DDHS used to be a top notch school district with some pretty good schools and quality staff. It's been 30 years since I went there, and they were loosing the good teachers to better districts even then! We did a year and a half in Beaverton with my two son's before moving out of Oregon, Hands down. Beaverton was much better then any thing in the Portland area! I used to hear really good things about Tigard, But I have no experience with it. Good Luck!