Regent Square Schools (Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg, Swissvale: mortgage, house, neighborhood) - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

joebecker · 01-21-2010, 04:34 PM

I've been reading lost of posts about Regent Square, but I haven't found anything specific about the school options there. I know that the neighborhood is actually made up from a few different townships - so it's hard to be general, but I'm just looking for some insight from some locals.

Do most people send kids to the public schools? If so, are you satisfied with them?

Are there popular private/catholic schools in the neighborhood? If so, (ballpark) how espensive are they?

Are charter/magnet schools a realistic option? Is admission competitive?

Thanks so much - I love the neighborhood and really would like to move there, I just need to be able to convince my wife that we have good options for schools!

BrianTH · 01-21-2010, 05:52 PM

So we have an almost-four-year-old and live in Regent Square, and have looked a lot into schools.

There are three public districts in Regent Square: Pittsburgh, Woodland Hills (Swissvale/Edgewood), and Wilkinsburg. Of those the most desirable is Pittsburgh, because it feeds up through the Allderdice pattern. Pittsburgh also has some interesting magnet programs/schools.

There is also a new environmentally-themed charter school right in Regent Square next to Frick Park. They are K-4 this year and plan to add a grade each year until they reach K-8. They use a lottery for admissions, and your best chance is if you live in the Pittsburgh part because Pittsburgh students get preference. Another somewhat local charter school option would be Propel-East in Turtle Creek (they are K-8).

There are also a bunch of private school options. St Bedes over in Point Breeze is a very popular Catholic K-8. They have a special rate for Catholic students, and for non-Catholics I believe it is around $4300/year. Shady Side Academy has its Junior School just a couple blocks north of Forbes and Braddock: they start at over $17000/year for Kindergarten and go up from there, with financial aid available. St Edmunds is a non-denominational and nearly-secular K-8 school on Forbes over in Squirrel Hill, with tuition just under $15000/year for first-grade (again with financial aid available). Further in the East End there are a bunch more private options.

So that is a quick overview--let me know if you have more questions.

BrianTH · 01-22-2010, 06:23 AM

Oh, and Propel is also opening another charter school in Braddock Hills, which will start K-4 and 9-10 (eventually planned for K-12). They are doing that in large part because Propel East had acquired a huge waiting list. Anyway, that will be quite convenient for Regent Square.

Scientist Mom · 01-22-2010, 07:02 AM

Brian did a good job summing it all up. Other nearby catholic schools include Word of God Catholic School in Swissvale and St. Maurice Catholic School in Forest Hills. My child goes to St. Bede's but I know families sending their kids to the other 2 and they have good things to say about those schools as well.

robrobrob · 01-22-2010, 08:05 AM

Here is my take on the schools. Shadyside is pretty expensive but they give pretty generous aid. I had a friend who applied there for a daughter and he would only have to have paid about $6000. Anyway, he told me that having a big mortgage and a wife who stayed home clearly helped. I went to St. Edmunds a long time ago so that would be my first choice. I have no idea what their aid packages are like. With regard to the Catholic schools, my knowledge is from my wife, who is a product of Catholic Schools. Excluding Carlow, which isn't tied to a parish I think, Sacred Heart is the best followed closely by St. Bedes. I think these are expensive in relation to other Catholic Schools but are cheap compared to Carlow which is cheap compared with Shadyside or St. Edmunds. Another private option is the Waldorf School in Friendship. This is a school my wife and I have talked about for our kids but it is pretty expensive although not as expensive as Shadyside or St. Edmunds.

I guess the question that Brian didn't answer but maybe he could was where do the kids go. I would imagine that in his area, the Wilkinsburg portion of Regent, few if any kids go to the public schools. I would imagine that in Edgewood and Swissvale. there are probably a few kids that go to the local public school initially because it is Edgewood elementary initially. However, at some point, maybe in 3rd grade?, they move schools. Doesn't the Pittsburgh portion of Regent Square feed to a school in Homewood? Can't imagine many Regent Square kids go there so they would most likely go mangnet or private. I think at one point Brian even cited a stat that said there really weren't that many kids in the Pittburgh portion of Regent Square or something like that. In short I would guess that most of the kids go to private, magnet, charter schools depending on their religious beliefs, income, etc. If I were to guess, I would put my money on St. Bedes as the most popular.

BrianTH · 01-22-2010, 08:32 AM

I honestly can't even guess at relative numbers to various schools because Regent Square is such a small area, and yet there are so many different schools, and there have been lots of changes to the options in recent years. I do know there are kids going to St Bedes, the Environmental Charter School, Minadeo/Sterrett (that's the new Pittsburgh public schools feeder pattern for Regent Square), Edgewood Primary (Woodland Hills), and a hodge-podge of private schools. I know people who have at least looked at St Maurice (a school I definitely overlooked in my original roundup) and Propel East, but I couldn't confirm students from Regent Square are actually going there.

BrianTH · 01-22-2010, 08:47 AM

By the way, here is an article on Propel from this week's Pop City:

Making the Grade: Propel Schools

joebecker · 01-28-2010, 07:00 PM

Thanks everybody, especially Brian - that's a lot more info than I could find anywhere else, which was none.
So my house is now on the market, and I'm still trying to convince the wife that Regent Square is the place for us...anything else I should know?

Thanks!

BrianTH · 01-28-2010, 08:43 PM

Since you are asking about schools, I'd just emphasize that Regent Square seems to be attracting a lot of young parents these days--you will see strollers all over the sidewalks on nice weekend days. It is just a very comfortable environment for raising kids: you've got Frick Park plus some smaller playgrounds, some kid-friendly restaurants (our little guy loves the fries at D's, and mommy and daddy love the excellent beer selection), you are close to a shopping center with a grocery store and Kmart . . . it all makes for a low-key family lifestyle.