With eight different cities come eight distinct public school systems. Each has its strengths. All can provide a child with an excellent start on life. But since the U.S. Justice Department allowed the region to stop busing students across towns to enhance integration, success can often come down to that basic tenet of real estate: location, location, location.
Overview
Buying into the best neighborhoods often means getting your kids into the best schools, even if they are older facilities. Part of that is due to peer pressure and the power of a motivated home. The children of successful people generally expect success of themselves, and that establishes a culture where learning is not marginalized. Of course, rich kids can be just as bad an influence if they are lazy and unmotivated and spread that malaise like a disease. But those situations tend to be isolated, and annual test score results show the schools in more affluent areas tend to score highest on standardized measures.
Your real estate agent can guide you to the best-performing schools in your price range, or you can get a good idea by looking at the results of Virginia’s Standards of Learning Exams. The local newspapers keep the SOL results on file and you can go to the state Department of Education and view “report cards” for individual schools or entire school divisions (that’s what school systems are called here) that include safety measures such as weapons offenses and attacks on students or teachers. The form to begin is located at https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard.
The area is also blessed with some excellent private schools and academies, reaching from the youngest pre-schoolers right up through high school. Although there isn’t a Manhattan-type push from birth to get your child into the right pre-school, the best can be competitive, so you won’t want to delay asking about waiting lists.
The area also has its share of private schools run by a range of denominations. And it’s a hotbed of home schooling, with ad hoc organizations that help parents perform this difficult job and provide a place for such students to mingle and learn their social skills.
Your children won’t need to leave the area to go to college, and you might want to check out the post-secondary education offerings yourself. The area is home to Old Dominion University, Christopher Newport, and Norfolk State University, three state schools that offer a wide range of degrees. Virginia Wesleyan College, Regent University, and Hampton University are private four-year institutions, and Thomas Nelson and Tidewater Community Colleges offer two-year associate programs as well as opportunities to transfer credits to continue at four-year schools. There are also a number of colleges and universities in the area that provide flexible schedules or online options for those who need to take that route because of military or employment commitments.
There’s even a free-standing medical school, Eastern Virginia Medical School, for those who want a health career, and Regent University offers an accredited law degree as well.