ZeroCool
Active Member
Hello all,
Wife and I are once again in discussions for moving. I'm putting together a case for the Harper's Ferry area for lots of reasons I probably don't have to mention here (significantly cheaper housing, overall lower cost of living, beautiful scenery and, uh... guns). My wife and I have already been to the area a few times and, while she loves the type of houses we can afford there, she isn't too thrilled about much else. I'll be honest, she is having a hard time overcoming the "Hillbilly" stigma of WV. She has been in Anne Arundel County her entire life...
That said, I'm still trying to put together a strong case for the move. While things such as the cost of living are pretty easy to outline objectively, I'm having a harder time getting information that's easy to digest in comparing schools and youth activities/sports to Maryland.
We have two girls, both currently in Elementary school. School and youth sports/activities (soccer and dance, specifically) are a large part of of our life and we are very committed for that to continue. Our concern is lower population, lower median income/higher poverty rate means less opportunity and competition for our children in WV.
I see that WV is generally ranked worst 10 states in the country while MD is generally in the top 10 for Public Schooling. This is obviously a hard case to make as a benefit of moving to WV...
What is interesting to me, however, is that the schools in the areas we are looking at are actually ranked higher than our current location schools. I don't know if that means they are actually better or if that's weighted to the state and they are actually similar/worse.
I'm hoping for some feedback on the following:
As always, I truly appreciate any/all feedback. I'd love to call WV "home" at some point in the near future...
Wife and I are once again in discussions for moving. I'm putting together a case for the Harper's Ferry area for lots of reasons I probably don't have to mention here (significantly cheaper housing, overall lower cost of living, beautiful scenery and, uh... guns). My wife and I have already been to the area a few times and, while she loves the type of houses we can afford there, she isn't too thrilled about much else. I'll be honest, she is having a hard time overcoming the "Hillbilly" stigma of WV. She has been in Anne Arundel County her entire life...
That said, I'm still trying to put together a strong case for the move. While things such as the cost of living are pretty easy to outline objectively, I'm having a harder time getting information that's easy to digest in comparing schools and youth activities/sports to Maryland.
We have two girls, both currently in Elementary school. School and youth sports/activities (soccer and dance, specifically) are a large part of of our life and we are very committed for that to continue. Our concern is lower population, lower median income/higher poverty rate means less opportunity and competition for our children in WV.
I see that WV is generally ranked worst 10 states in the country while MD is generally in the top 10 for Public Schooling. This is obviously a hard case to make as a benefit of moving to WV...
What is interesting to me, however, is that the schools in the areas we are looking at are actually ranked higher than our current location schools. I don't know if that means they are actually better or if that's weighted to the state and they are actually similar/worse.
I'm hoping for some feedback on the following:
- Does anyone know how school rankings are handled? For example, is an "8" in WV actually a lower ranked school than a "6" in MD?
- Can anyone speak to the state of WV public schooling in general? Harper's Ferry/Jefferson County specific feedback would be awesome!
- Can anyone speak to youth sports/activities in the area? Hoping for strong programs with good pool of competition...
As always, I truly appreciate any/all feedback. I'd love to call WV "home" at some point in the near future...