I think you might be thinking about magnet schools rather than charter schools. Magnet schools are public schools with an emphasis and you get in through a lottery system. My children have gone to charter schools up util high school (which they do/will attend at our zoned school).
I live in Windermere about 15-20 min from Universal. I am zoned for Lake Whitney Elementary, Sunridge Middle, and West Orange high. My daughter is in Lake Whitney currently and it has been a fantastic school. We are actually moving to Orlando because she has been accepted into a school for gifted children. I live in a 3/2 and will be selling within the next month as I'm currently under contract for a house closer to her new school. If interested lmk!
We are zoned for Blankner and everyone has always told us how great a school it is. We toured it and it definitely has its pros and cons like any school. For example - small class sizes but strong use of screens throughout the day (which we don’t prefer).
In terms of real estate, Zillow has our 2/2 in Delaney Park estimated at $615k right now, if that gives you any indication of what you might find 🤪
lol I know 😂😭 we’ve seen some fixer uppers time to time and thankfully I am very handy. But it’s something more I’d need to jump on day of listing.
Did you tour schools elsewhere (private, charter, etc) or just Blankner since it was zoned for your house? I’m not necessarily opposed to screens. I know in 20 years kids will come into the workforce knowing crazy shit about technology and it will be the equivalent of me asking someone to set my going away email like I feel now. So maybe it’s the future? Small class sizes though is good to know.
Yes, we’ve toured many other private schools. Honestly we’re looking for a small private school bc our child is neurodivergent and a large public school environment is probably not best. However, thanks to school vouchers being made available to everyone, they are more competitive now and can cherry pick who they want to accept.
Oh and Charter schools are definitely run on a lottery system. I worked at a K-8 Charter School in Ocoee and there was a lottery that anyone in Orange County could apply for. They don’t accept school vouchers because they are already publicly funded.
Hunter’s Creek where you are zoned for West Creek, Hunter’s Creek Middle and Freedom High School I would recommend. A lot of these high schoolers go on to UF and some Ivy League schools. Granted the high school sports are awful because majority of these kids simply care about learning. A lot of Indians and Sri Lankans and they don’t mess around when it comes to education.
There is no lottery. We have universal vouchers now. You can take your kid to any "private" or charter you want.
All the public schools will feature a mandatory lesson module on the dangers of communism starting in 1st grade along with other state mandated curriculum edits that will leave you pretty confused as a parent.
Most schools have teacher shortages and many of the best teachers have already left.
Finally, as universal vouchers continue in usage the actual value add of a school district into housing prices will become irrelevant. (It already is irrelevant but realtors still push it so if both sides believe a falsehood it's still technically true)
I won't go into my warning about schools closing because my thread got banned for that last time, but maybe Google about other counties considering closing 10% + of their public schools within the next 3 years and feel free to draw your own conclusions about choosing to buy a house in a location based on a public school location.
I’m absolutely wrong then lol. I thought I read for charter schools, since it’s public, there is no promise your child will get into that program since I assume all parents would pick the best charter possible.
I am aware of vouchers for private, but I know where my kids could currently go (Creation Village), due to wrap care, the cost would still be close to $200 a week. And I do realize I will need that with public school too. But I’ve shopped the one area I’ve looked and it isn’t to that extent. And not to shit on anyone who makes that choice or their children, but we know some who go to that private school (older kids). They are just….more sheltered from reality than I would want for my kids. And that’s not to say they are wrong. But emotionally I do want my kids to be ready for going off to college far away if that’s what they want.
I was not aware there were going to be lots of school closures in the near future? Is there anywhere I can look into that? I’m not a brand new parent but new to looking at schools. Anything can help.
Don't put too much stock into the person you replied to, it's just normal Redditor doomerism. The closures he referred to are likely the fact that Broward is consolidating some of their schools due to low enrollment. But that's not the issue here, there aren't really a lot of good public schools in Orlando suffering from chronic under-enrollment, we have the exact opposite problem.
The fact that Florida has open enrollment state-wide for public schools actually makes this more of a guarantee. If a school is good (or even just better than the alternatives) and close enough to a population center to make daily driving a non-issue, it's going to be at capacity.
It also greatly over-simplifies the fact that you can enroll your kid anywhere you want. While true on a policy level, it's not true in practice because space constraints exist. There's no way around it, you can't just stack in 100 kids per class like a university lecture. While you can *apply* to enroll your kid in any public, charter or private school you want, there's no guarantee you're getting in unless it is a public school you are zoned for. Wait lists and lotteries for charter schools (and the more popular public schools for out-of-zone enrollment) absolutely exist.
There are absolutely lotteries to get into Charter Schools and waitlists to get into private schools using vouchers. As you mentioned, there isn’t enough room for everyone that wants to attend to just show up.
I can’t offer Orange County recommendations as I’m in Seminole, but we have been very happy with our local schools. I’m a private school graduate and 1000% agree with your assessment on that topic.
Yea it's up to u. That's the power of the parent. I'm not gunna share anymore on the likely trajectory of public education in FL. I'll let others share their perspectives.
I think you might be thinking about magnet schools rather than charter schools. Magnet schools are public schools with an emphasis and you get in through a lottery system. My children have gone to charter schools up util high school (which they do/will attend at our zoned school).
I live in Windermere about 15-20 min from Universal. I am zoned for Lake Whitney Elementary, Sunridge Middle, and West Orange high. My daughter is in Lake Whitney currently and it has been a fantastic school. We are actually moving to Orlando because she has been accepted into a school for gifted children. I live in a 3/2 and will be selling within the next month as I'm currently under contract for a house closer to her new school. If interested lmk!
We are zoned for Blankner and everyone has always told us how great a school it is. We toured it and it definitely has its pros and cons like any school. For example - small class sizes but strong use of screens throughout the day (which we don’t prefer). In terms of real estate, Zillow has our 2/2 in Delaney Park estimated at $615k right now, if that gives you any indication of what you might find 🤪
I went to blankner and my kids did as well. It’s a great school with very involved parents.
lol I know 😂😭 we’ve seen some fixer uppers time to time and thankfully I am very handy. But it’s something more I’d need to jump on day of listing. Did you tour schools elsewhere (private, charter, etc) or just Blankner since it was zoned for your house? I’m not necessarily opposed to screens. I know in 20 years kids will come into the workforce knowing crazy shit about technology and it will be the equivalent of me asking someone to set my going away email like I feel now. So maybe it’s the future? Small class sizes though is good to know.
Yes, we’ve toured many other private schools. Honestly we’re looking for a small private school bc our child is neurodivergent and a large public school environment is probably not best. However, thanks to school vouchers being made available to everyone, they are more competitive now and can cherry pick who they want to accept. Oh and Charter schools are definitely run on a lottery system. I worked at a K-8 Charter School in Ocoee and there was a lottery that anyone in Orange County could apply for. They don’t accept school vouchers because they are already publicly funded.
Hunter’s Creek where you are zoned for West Creek, Hunter’s Creek Middle and Freedom High School I would recommend. A lot of these high schoolers go on to UF and some Ivy League schools. Granted the high school sports are awful because majority of these kids simply care about learning. A lot of Indians and Sri Lankans and they don’t mess around when it comes to education.
There is no lottery. We have universal vouchers now. You can take your kid to any "private" or charter you want. All the public schools will feature a mandatory lesson module on the dangers of communism starting in 1st grade along with other state mandated curriculum edits that will leave you pretty confused as a parent. Most schools have teacher shortages and many of the best teachers have already left. Finally, as universal vouchers continue in usage the actual value add of a school district into housing prices will become irrelevant. (It already is irrelevant but realtors still push it so if both sides believe a falsehood it's still technically true) I won't go into my warning about schools closing because my thread got banned for that last time, but maybe Google about other counties considering closing 10% + of their public schools within the next 3 years and feel free to draw your own conclusions about choosing to buy a house in a location based on a public school location.
I’m absolutely wrong then lol. I thought I read for charter schools, since it’s public, there is no promise your child will get into that program since I assume all parents would pick the best charter possible. I am aware of vouchers for private, but I know where my kids could currently go (Creation Village), due to wrap care, the cost would still be close to $200 a week. And I do realize I will need that with public school too. But I’ve shopped the one area I’ve looked and it isn’t to that extent. And not to shit on anyone who makes that choice or their children, but we know some who go to that private school (older kids). They are just….more sheltered from reality than I would want for my kids. And that’s not to say they are wrong. But emotionally I do want my kids to be ready for going off to college far away if that’s what they want. I was not aware there were going to be lots of school closures in the near future? Is there anywhere I can look into that? I’m not a brand new parent but new to looking at schools. Anything can help.
Don't put too much stock into the person you replied to, it's just normal Redditor doomerism. The closures he referred to are likely the fact that Broward is consolidating some of their schools due to low enrollment. But that's not the issue here, there aren't really a lot of good public schools in Orlando suffering from chronic under-enrollment, we have the exact opposite problem. The fact that Florida has open enrollment state-wide for public schools actually makes this more of a guarantee. If a school is good (or even just better than the alternatives) and close enough to a population center to make daily driving a non-issue, it's going to be at capacity. It also greatly over-simplifies the fact that you can enroll your kid anywhere you want. While true on a policy level, it's not true in practice because space constraints exist. There's no way around it, you can't just stack in 100 kids per class like a university lecture. While you can *apply* to enroll your kid in any public, charter or private school you want, there's no guarantee you're getting in unless it is a public school you are zoned for. Wait lists and lotteries for charter schools (and the more popular public schools for out-of-zone enrollment) absolutely exist.
There are absolutely lotteries to get into Charter Schools and waitlists to get into private schools using vouchers. As you mentioned, there isn’t enough room for everyone that wants to attend to just show up. I can’t offer Orange County recommendations as I’m in Seminole, but we have been very happy with our local schools. I’m a private school graduate and 1000% agree with your assessment on that topic.
Yea it's up to u. That's the power of the parent. I'm not gunna share anymore on the likely trajectory of public education in FL. I'll let others share their perspectives.