Providence School? St Johns County Schools? (Jacksonville, Fruit Cove: 2015, how much, home)

[kate916]

We are relocating to Jacksonville and trying to make a final decision regarding schools. Does anyone have any experience with Providence? We like that it includes k-12 (no scattering of students after 6th grade) and appears to have a good balance of academics/strong sports/extracurricular programs within a faith based environment. Our initial impressions of the school were very good but I would love to hear thoughts from others in the community who are more familiar with the school and its reputation in the area.

We are currently thinking either Providence or St. Johns County public schools. Our children currently attend a large private christian school similar to Providence and have been happy there but we have also visited and heard great things about St. Johns County schools, specifically in the Julington Creek area. Our final home choice will be based on the school we choose.

Any first hand knowledge from anyone with children at Providence or St. Johns County schools would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone has moved from a private school to St Johns schools I would LOVE to hear your experiences as well as how the transition was for your children!

Just trying to learn everything we can to make the best choice for our children. In moving to an area we knew NOTHING about this board has been a tremendous source of information…Thank you in advance for your help!

[Acebab]

I have heard that Providence is a fabulous school! Like you said, both sports and academics -very well rounded.

We have just moved from Duval to St. John's for the public school system. We are only into the third week of school, but so far, we are REALLY impressed!!! We have two friends that have pulled their children out of private schools in town in Jacksonville and moved to the beaches and now have their kids in the SJC public school system and they both have felt that the public school has been more challenging than the private school they were attending in town. Their children had to "catch up" a bit with their new classmates. We have moved from public to public, but it is DEFINTELY more challenging. My 5th grader is blown away at how much "harder" it is and is missing her old school because her old school was "easy!" Private school was not in our budget - if it had of been, Providence would have been a school to consider. It was a huge decision for us to move, but now that we have and we are experiencing the difference in the school system, we are soooo glad that we did! We were at a wonderful elementary school in Duval county and I seriously feel like we are in a private school now being in St. John's. If you want to go public, you will not be sorry that you moved into St. John's county! (We are not in the JCP area, we are close to the beaches, but all SJC schools are great!)

[Acebab]

Also, depending on where you are looking, Liberty Pines Academy (St. John's Forest, St. John's Golf and Country club) is a K-8 school and they are building a new K-8 in Durbin Crossing (slated to open 2014-2015) and then a new K-8 in Nocatee (slated to open 2015-2016 school year). I don't know the ages of your kiddos, but I love the K-8 concept because the kids only have to change schools once, when they reach the high school level. If you have younger children, that information might be good to know when it comes to considering neighbhorhoods!

[kdodd117]

I went to Providence starting in 4th grade (the first year they opened) through graduation. I loved my time and experience there. I would highly recommend this school.

[kate916]

Thank you so much for the feedback. Encouraging to hear that both could be good options for us. Are all Northern St Johns county schools TRULY equal in most respects?

Can anyone tell me if there seems to be a different feel/reputation to any of the different schools within St Johns? For example…PVB area vs Julington or Hickory Creek areas for elementary. Landrum vs. Fruit Cove or Switzerland for Middle?

I have had many tell me you can't go wrong with any of them and we have visited a few so just curious if there are general ideas of which are preferred among those who live in the area and why?

Love the k-8 concept but did not find the right neighborhood as so few of them feed into Liberty Pines at this time and it is hard to base a home purchase now on another k-8 that is still in the planning phase. Wish that was a more realistic option for us though.

Thanks again for all of your help!