Does anyone know how to check out school districts when moving?

My family and I will be moving over the summer and I would like to move into a good school district for my DD. When checking them out can you only check out academics? I would also like to know as much about the people that go to the school as possible. Any information would be greatly appreciated since I really have no idea where to begin and I'd hate to start looking blindly into the great huge internet world.

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You can check with a local realtor in the area you are moving too. Can also go onto realtor.com, I think you can do a school check there as well.

Your state should have a website with info on school testing and school ratings. Check under the school superintendent. Also, simply walking in the neighborhood, looking for families and being friendly will help you get info. Excelling schools will brag about it - ours has banners up. Most people in the communities know the good schools and good districts. These ratings are public info and the school districts will have them, also. Look up the school districts and the schools on google. Lots of info should be there.

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We used this when we were thinking about moving.
Search for Public School Districts

I spent HOURS reading posts on City-Data.com, a great state-by-state guide/forum. It's been such an informative place to find out about many different places. On the main page, in the top right, click on the blue star thing, Visit Forums, and click on the state you're looking at, and enjoy reading!

As far as districts, if and when you do a visit yourself, I'd make it a point to go during the week when school is in session and stop into a school in the area you're looking. Most should be more than willing to show you around, so you can get that initial "gut feeling" about the school climate.

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~Jenn~

Thank you all for your help. I've been digging all night and your information was very helpful. Thanks again!

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Definately google the state and/or cities you're looking for - we luckily found great websites with tons of great info when we were moving. Also I found that school districts are happy to help, I made a few calls when we were looking to get more info on some things, and I have to say all the places I called were pleasant to deal with, provided me with information, offered to help etc I hope the same for you!

greatschools.net they give all info

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Wife to Marc , Mommy to Kayla

We actually found, for the areas we were looking at, that GreatSchools didn't have very up to date or even accurate information. I'm sure you'll see right away if it's not up to date, we found much better information elsewhere. That was just our experience.

I'm in the same boat. I'm getting very picky about the neighborhood I move to next.

I definately recommend talking to the neighbors (yes, walk up and ring their doorbell if needed) of any house that you're seriously considering. Even if the school district is good, the neighborhood might not be. After all, would anyone really move to Wisteria Lane if they knew what had gone on there over the years?

When moving to our current house we also asked EVERYONE (store clerks, waitresses, etc) where they would move to if they could move anywhere in the area. Then we asked them WHY they would choose that location.

While school is in session, and if you're close enough to do this, visit the classrooms where your child would attend. We will soon be doing an exploratory trip to our new area to check out churches, too.

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