Duval County Schools (Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Sawgrass: real estate, apartments, rentals)

[GadgetRick]

Ok, I've heard a few (bad) things about Duval County schools. My job is in Duval County and was wondering if there are any decent schools in Duval. If so, where? Looking for a place to rent and would like to be (somewhat) close to the office if I can help it. If I can't find any decent schools I'll drive farther to St. Johns County where I hear schools are better.

[fsu813]

Sure.

Here ya go: http://schools.jacksonville.com/fcat...&action=Search

You'll note that 76 are A/B, 43 are C and 11 are D/F.

Also, there are many N/A due to evaluation irregularities, mostly with some of the High Schools.

This has caused a lot of contraversey around his year's ratings. They used a different rating company, and there are many indications that some of the ratings aren't "accurate". In fact the city may be taking legal action against the company beacuse far too many school showed a decline where all other indicators didn't, and many of the school's evaluations (with a N/A) aren't even finished yet - extremely overdue.

Something about the procedure that the new company used.

Although judging a school by 1 standardized test is hardly an accurate way of measuring these things anyways. It's an indicator, certainly not a definitive measure.

Since 2010's rating aren't finished and/or accurate, here's some info from last year's ratings:

Big Gains in Duval School Grades - Local News on wokv.com (http://wokv.com/localnews/2009/06/big-gains-expected-in-duval-sc.html - broken link)

Duval superintendent given high rating by board | jacksonville.com

Most School Grades Up, But State Flunks 8 In Duval County - Education News Story - WJXT Jacksonville (http://www.news4jax.com/education/16819360/detail.html - broken link)

Also:

DISTRICT GRADES FOR 2009

Baker County -- B

Clay County -- A

Duval County -- B

Flagler County -- A

Nassau County -- A

Putnam County -- C

St. Johns County -- A

Volusia County -- A

per St. Augustine paper not too long ago


Oh, none of this includes private schools either, which are usually highly rated as wel.

[nctxwa]

Ok, I've heard a few (bad) things about Duval County schools. My job is in Duval County and was wondering if there are any decent schools in Duval. If so, where? Looking for a place to rent and would like to be (somewhat) close to the office if I can help it. If I can't find any decent schools I'll drive farther to St. Johns County where I hear schools are better.

Rick,

Check out the Mandarin area as that high is school is rated an A and they do have several apartments around. If you move within two miles of the school then your child will have to walk to school. something to think about. The Paddock Club has been a nice place to live and far enough away for the kids to use the bus to both middle and high school.

[srpvb]

Look at Ponte Vedra Beach area. Tons of rentals and so close to JTB (Butler Blvd) but in St Johns County. You can probably find a great condo to rent for a good price.

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by nctxwa

Check out the Mandarin area as that high is school is rated an A and they do have several apartments around. If you move within two miles of the school then your child will have to walk to school. something to think about. The Paddock Club has been a nice place to live and far enough away for the kids to use the bus to both middle and high school.

Been checking the area. Looks to be reasonable rents and not terribly far from where I work. Looks like St. John's County and Duvall County meet in the middle (sort of)?

Not looking for an apartment, we need to rent a house as we've got 2 kids and an apartment/townhouse just wouldn't be the best. Not fair to the neighbors with 2 little boys in the house...

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by srpvb

Look at Ponte Vedra Beach area. Tons of rentals and so close to JTB (Butler Blvd) but in St Johns County. You can probably find a great condo to rent for a good price.

I was looking at places there today. Unfortunately, there seem to be a TON of condos but not many houses. Don't really want to go back into a condo with 2 little boys.

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by fsu813

Sure.

Here ya go: http://schools.jacksonville.com/fcat...&action=Search

You'll note that 76 are A/B, 43 are C and 11 are D/F.

Also, there are many N/A due to evaluation irregularities, mostly with some of the High Schools.

This has caused a lot of contraversey around his year's ratings. They used a different rating company, and there are many indications that some of the ratings aren't "accurate". In fact the city may be taking legal action against the company beacuse far too many school showed a decline where all other indicators didn't, and many of the school's evaluations (with a N/A) aren't even finished yet - extremely overdue.

Something about the procedure that the new company used.

Although judging a school by 1 standardized test is hardly an accurate way of measuring these things anyways. It's an indicator, certainly not a definitive measure.

Since 2010's rating aren't finished and/or accurate, here's some info from last year's ratings:

Big Gains in Duval School Grades - Local News on wokv.com (http://wokv.com/localnews/2009/06/big-gains-expected-in-duval-sc.html - broken link)

Duval superintendent given high rating by board | jacksonville.com

Most School Grades Up, But State Flunks 8 In Duval County - Education News Story - WJXT Jacksonville (http://www.news4jax.com/education/16819360/detail.html - broken link)

Also:

DISTRICT GRADES FOR 2009

Baker County -- B

Clay County -- A

Duval County -- B

Flagler County -- A

Nassau County -- A

Putnam County -- C

St. Johns County -- A

Volusia County -- A

per St. Augustine paper not too long ago


Oh, none of this includes private schools either, which are usually highly rated as wel.

Thanks so much for the info!!!!

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by GadgetRick

I was looking at places there today. Unfortunately, there seem to be a TON of condos but not many houses. Don't really want to go back into a condo with 2 little boys.

Ponte Vedra Beach proper is mostly single family houses - not condos. But there are very few house rentals on the market right now (most people who are looking to rent long term usually get their places on the market before school starts). I've looked for some other people recently - there are some older but ok houses - a couple in Sawgrass - in the $2300-2600/month range. A few that are cheaper but crummy looking even in the ads - and a fair number that are a lot more expensive.

fsu813 posted a list of rentals in another thread. I took a quick look for some other people - and really liked this house:

http://www.traditionsjax.com/propert...v=n&ids=F17739

I did a little background research - and couldn't find anything wrong with it. Although it is in Duval County - the local elementary school - Hendricks Avenue - is top rate (don't know anything about the middle or high school situation). Why don't you take a look (and no - I am not a real estate agent ). Robyn

[hlauburn]

The problem with schools (generally speaking, not just Duval) is not as much finding decent elementary (or middle school) that pulls from a smaller area, but finding good high schools. The best 2 in the county are really good, but not everyone can get into those. Public high schools feed from a very large geographic area, so when you consider that there is a strong correlation between poverty and a school's success, it's something to consider.

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

Ponte Vedra Beach proper is mostly single family houses - not condos. But there are very few house rentals on the market right now (most people who are looking to rent long term usually get their places on the market before school starts). I've looked for some other people recently - there are some older but ok houses - a couple in Sawgrass - in the $2300-2600/month range. A few that are cheaper but crummy looking even in the ads - and a fair number that are a lot more expensive.

fsu813 posted a list of rentals in another thread. I took a quick look for some other people - and really liked this house:

Traditions Realty - Property Details for MLS# 550726

I did a little background research - and couldn't find anything wrong with it. Although it is in Duval County - the local elementary school - Hendricks Avenue - is top rate (don't know anything about the middle or high school situation). Why don't you take a look (and no - I am not a real estate agent ). Robyn

Thanks. Looks great, just more than I want to spend at the moment. We've been struggling for quite a while and we're getting back on our feet so trying to keep the rent down as much as possible.