Relocating to Macungie area...hoping for school recommendations (Allentown, Easton: transplants, daycare)

[LGinAlaska]

Our family of 4 is moving from Anchorage, Alaska to the Macungie area in June 2018. Our biggest priority is excellent schools for our 11th grade son and our 3rd grade daughter. I've done some research and have read through data. I'm looking for a neighborly, word-of-mouth recommendation. I'm interested in the "feel" of the school, its students, teachers, and the climate. We may prefer a smaller school district as we are coming from the Last Frontier

1. How would you compare Parkland SD, East Penn SD and Salisbury SD?

2. Do any of these areas have more of a community, walkability feel to them?

3. Do any of these areas have access to parks and trails? We love hiking and mountain biking.

Thanks in advance for your time and help.

p.s. My husband and I lived in Saucon Valley and Coopersburg when we were children and he attended Lehigh, so we're somewhat familiar with those areas. Now his work will be in Macungie.

[mrknowitall526]

East Penn and Parkland are both huge school districts with over 2500 students in the high school. All 3, though, perform pretty well in state tests. But there are always private schools, like Allentown Central Catholic.

[toobusytoday]

East Penn is the most convenient and the schools are good - the town is great, but if you are looking for a small school district, than look East at Southern Lehigh. Salisbury is a good school district, but if your goal is a cohesive community, you will not find a town center there. In fact, you cannot drive from one end of Salisbury school district to the other without going OUT of the school district. I really don't know how they figured out the district boundaries.

Southern Lehigh is within easy commuting distance to Macungie. You can go the back way to Macungie over the hills or you can take route 78. We have a nice small town in Coopersburg that has a Halloween parade, Community day, two very nice large parks connected by a rail trail for walking and biking. A friendly library, good shopping, great small school district and enough newcomers that you won't feel you are jumping into a clique. When we moved here 20 years ago, our neighbors came to us with food and smiles. This is still the case today where my neighborhood is now turning over to younger people and kids actually play outside. Southern Lehigh is made up of the townships of Upper Saucon (which includes Center Valley), Lower Milford and borough of Coopersburg. When you do a search for homes make sure you look for the words Southern Lehigh Schools as you can have a Coopersburg address and live in Bucks county, or have an Emmaus address and live in Lower Milford township.

[Amj2018]

Hello

I read your post. Long story, but I was born/raised in Detroit, Michigan. I'm a physician and my husband is an engineer. I have been living in Northeast, PA for the last year with my family (son is 10 and daughter is 5). We are relocating to the Lehigh Valley. My kids have been through so much, moving a lot, I really want to make a permanent decision and not move again. My kids are used to non-traditional education (they have been in Montessori), but we are considering the pubic schools because the cost of living is higher.

We are also a mixed race family and when I look on-line it doesn't appear that Coopersburg is very culturally diverse.

I'm really looking for a neighborhood where the kids still play outside and there are block parties and halloween parties, etc.

I was wondering your opinion how is the acceptance of "transplants" and people with different cultures?

[blazerj]

Originally Posted by Amj2018

Hello

I read your post. Long story, but I was born/raised in Detroit, Michigan. I'm a physician and my husband is an engineer. I have been living in Northeast, PA for the last year with my family (son is 10 and daughter is 5). We are relocating to the Lehigh Valley. My kids have been through so much, moving a lot, I really want to make a permanent decision and not move again. My kids are used to non-traditional education (they have been in Montessori), but we are considering the pubic schools because the cost of living is higher.

We are also a mixed race family and when I look on-line it doesn't appear that Coopersburg is very culturally diverse.

I'm really looking for a neighborhood where the kids still play outside and there are block parties and halloween parties, etc.

I was wondering your opinion how is the acceptance of "transplants" and people with different cultures?

I can't help you much with the neighborhood question, because it's really neighborhood dependent. I don't have a suggestion for a great realtor, but that will help a lot. My neighborhood is very friendly, has block parties once a year or so, but generally is very quiet and private.

There are a lot of new homes and neighborhoods being built all around the LV, so there are a lot of transplants. We moved here around 8 years ago (we are not white) and have really never had any issues with race/ culture pretty much all around here (shopping, daycare, kids activities...)

[ringler24]

Originally Posted by Amj2018

Hello

I read your post. Long story, but I was born/raised in Detroit, Michigan. I'm a physician and my husband is an engineer. I have been living in Northeast, PA for the last year with my family (son is 10 and daughter is 5). We are relocating to the Lehigh Valley. My kids have been through so much, moving a lot, I really want to make a permanent decision and not move again. My kids are used to non-traditional education (they have been in Montessori), but we are considering the pubic schools because the cost of living is higher.

We are also a mixed race family and when I look on-line it doesn't appear that Coopersburg is very culturally diverse.

I'm really looking for a neighborhood where the kids still play outside and there are block parties and halloween parties, etc.

I was wondering your opinion how is the acceptance of "transplants" and people with different cultures?

You should consider College Hill in Easton. We are a mixed race family as well and chose this neighborhood because it is all the qualities you shared. The schools may not be ranked highest on paper but we have been very please with them. Our children have excelled and loved their teachers. I'm a college professor in education and a former teacher so I'm not just speaking from a lack of knowledge. Private message me if you'd like to chat more.

[toobusytoday]

I have to say I canvassed in the college hill section of Easton before the primary and I loved all of the cool houses and welcoming vibe.

[johnp292]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

I have to say I canvassed in the college hill section of Easton before the primary and I loved all of the cool houses and welcoming vibe.

That’s Easton Area School District though.

I’d be cautious about moving there with kids, especially if they are at or near high school age. It was a major reason we moved from Forks to Lower Macungie about 8 years ago.

[ringler24]

Originally Posted by johnp292

That’s Easton Area School District though.

I’d be cautious about moving there with kids, especially if they are at or near high school age. It was a major reason we moved from Forks to Lower Macungie about 8 years ago.

Did you have children in the high school?

[johnp292]

Originally Posted by ringler24

Did you have children in the high school?

We had a daughter who was about to go into high school and we were not going to send her to Easton. We moved to the East Penn district. There were other factors for the move but the school was a big one.

We had problems in that school too, but we were only there for 2 years before I got transferred to Arizona. The high school here was much better for her.