Which would you choose?

[Marlow]

As long as safety is not an issue, I think a motivated child will do as well in a decent school as in a great school. Also, I would want my child to be somewhere in the middle, class and income-wise. If the reason the school is great is because the parents are all wealthy and we aren't, I would worry that my daughter would be focused on keeping up with the expensive clothes and accessories. If it were in a poorer area and we were going to have way more than the average income, I would be worried that she'd try to dumb and/or class herself down to fit in.

While as parents we focus on academics, kids often focus on other things. Being relatively happy during school will have a huge impact on whether a child is successful or not.

[TouchOfWhimsy]

We homeschool, so if we were planning to stay in an area for a long time, then location would be secondary to the house itself. For resale value, though, it's location, location, location. Also, if the area that you're considering is a bit iffy, it might get worse as years pass.

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by TouchOfWhimsy

We homeschool, so if we were planning to stay in an area for a long time, then location would be secondary to the house itself. For resale value, though, it's location, location, location. Also, if the area that you're considering is a bit iffy, it might get worse as years pass.

This is a great point, a good school district sells a home for a lot of people.