Family with Teens Possibly moving to Indy area (Fishers, Carmel: new house, transfer)

[sooner_jenn]

Hi,
My husband has applied for a job in Indy. We have two teenagers who take AP classes, so quality of schools is the most important. I was wanting to know where would be a good place to look for housing? Our price would be less than 400k, we like new houses and we like the burbs. Any suggestions? It looks like Carmel and Fishers are good, but which is better? Or what are the differences? Thanks!

[sweetana3]

Carmel is older and actually has something of a downtown undergoing a big renovation. Carmel High School is huge but has a good scholastic reputation. Fishers is, to me, a huge number of subdivisions tied together with good schools but no real "center" although the town has a good library and metro buildings off 116th. Zionsville is a small village that has been surrounded by suburbs and also has good schools. I would suggest deciding on the "best" school for your family and then look for homes.

Your kids will likely be going to huge high schools and need to have strong personalities to be recognized but there are a lot of transfers into these schools so they will not be the only ones.

Your price range is available in all the areas above Indy downtown. Any likelihood of private schools? We have an International School and Park Tudor (I dont know the others). If this is possible or being considered, then I would suggest other areas to live in for convenience.

[domergurl]

what it boils down to is do you want your teens to graduate from a 5K student high school or a 2.5K high school. Carmel won't split their high school so they can keep winning state championships. Hamilton Southeastern schools (Fishers) split their high schools a few years ago.

All 3 are excellent. But you may also want to look into Zionsville. Their HS is small than the other 3 and their school system is top notch as well. Compares evenly with Carmel and Fishers.

[TheWriteStuffIndy]

Don't forget the south side! It was a great place to grow up in the 1970s and '80s for me. I attended Perry Meridian High School, and some of the schools farther south of it, such as Franklin Central High School and, in particular, Center Grove High School, operate truly superior secondary education programs. Also, don't forget Indy's significant number of private and charter schools, too! Some of the Catholic institutions, such as Bishop Chatard, are highly rated nationally and extraordinary safe.

[TaylorRothschild]

I concur with the north burbs.

Zionsville is probably the best all-around option. <mod edit>

And I'm sure you know better than to consider anything inside 465.

[sooner_jenn]

Thanks for all of the input. It pretty much confirmed what I could gather snooping around online. Still waiting to find out. We are considering private, so I will take a second look at those schools you mentioned. Thanks!