Good Place to Relocate To In Southern Maryland?

[cissp]

I have recently been given a job offer from a company in Lexington Park, which does government contract work on the naval base. In doing research on schools and quality of life, Calvert County seems to rank highest compared to St. Mary's County. I was surprised to learn that the Calvert County's educational system ranked consistently high, and that's compared to Montgomery County as well (usually the standard in Maryland school systems). My question is, should I be seriously considering buying into Calvert County areas for the schools afforded, as well as the housing areas?

I would also appreciate any recommendations on "good" areas in Calvert County to live in, considering housing, quality of life, and educational systems.

Thanks,
Chuck

 

[Bustem' Down]

You also have to weigh in wether you like the country or need to be closer to more urban areas and how much you like commuting. I've heard a lot good about both St. Mary's and Calvert.

 

[baswm]

LAnd prices in Calvert are going up every day. The most affordable area I would say is in Lusby. CRE and White sands. Affordable is a relative term.

 

[ylexot]

County taxes are also lower in Calvert...

 

[Tomcat]

Are you looking at schools in general, or a certain grade range. Grade school, middle school or high school. There are outstanding schools in each area that might not be reflected in the average.

 

[hollywoman]

Schools - St. Mary's vs Calvert....go with Calvert. Calvert has the better school system. Lower Calvert is not conjested with all the stores and traffic.

 

[Mikeinsmd]

AND we have our own hip hop web site!!

smdhiphop.com is up!!

 

[cholo]

Two words: Flat Tops. Or is it flattops?

 

[cissp]

Are you looking at schools in general, or a certain grade range. Grade school, middle school or high school. There are outstanding schools in each area that might not be reflected in the average.

I have a daughter that will be starting 4th Grade after Summer break, and have a son that is eight months old. So my initial interest is in elementary schools, but I certainly need to plan for the future with the middle and high schools they would attend. I looked over houses for sale on Realtor.com over the weekend, and came across quite a few reasonably priced ones in Lusby, which is where I'd initially lean towards. But I also need to obtain schools information, as well as crime statistics.

Thanks,
Chuck

 

[cissp]

Schools in Southern Maryland

Schools - St. Mary's vs Calvert....go with Calvert. Calvert has the better school system. Lower Calvert is not conjested with all the stores and traffic.

Data in schoolmatters.com and mdreportcard.org supports your statement. Not only that, but the Calvert County school system ranked amongst the highest in the state. That is a pleasant surprise to me. I mean, I didn't expect it to be as bad as, say, Prince Georges County, but I didn't expect its rankings to be that high. Any reason for that?

Thanks,
Chuck

 

[SeaRide]

Data in schoolmatters.com and mdreportcard.org supports your statement. Not only that, but the Calvert County school system ranked amongst the highest in the state. That is a pleasant surprise to me. I mean, I didn't expect it to be as bad as, say, Prince Georges County, but I didn't expect its rankings to be that high. Any reason for that?

Thanks,
Chuck

I am the parent of two teenagers. My kids went to Plum Point Elem.(recipent of National Blue Ribbon award), Plum Point Middle (another recipent of National Blue Ribbon award) and my daughter will join with my son attending Huntingtown H.S. this coming fall.

I don't know the exact reason(s). I know it has something to do with a lot of teacher-parent conferences, a lot of parents being involved, the community being concerned about kids' education and few other reasons I can think of. I cannot speak for northern Calvert area schools or southern Calvert area schools.

Keep in mind that Calvert is ranked up there among with Montgomery and Queen Anne in terms of quality of education and teacher-kids ratio and something else I forget at this time.

Calvert is the smallest county in the state of MD in terms of land size (approx. 220 sq. mi.) There are presently four high schools in the Calvert county.

sorry for the rambling ..

 

[huntr1]

I have a daughter that will be starting 4th Grade after Summer break, and have a son that is eight months old. So my initial interest is in elementary schools, but I certainly need to plan for the future with the middle and high schools they would attend. I looked over houses for sale on Realtor.com over the weekend, and came across quite a few reasonably priced ones in Lusby, which is where I'd initially lean towards. But I also need to obtain schools information, as well as crime statistics.

Thanks,
Chuck

Enjoy driving over the bridge, especially when Mig is baking cookies. Still waiting for the day it completely falls into the Patuxent.

 

[huntr1]

Enjoy driving over the bridge, especially when Mig is baking cookies. Still waiting for the day it completely falls into the Patuxent.

Good Place to Relocate ... 06-01-2005 06:55 AM childish Somebody forgot to put on their sense of humor today.

 

[ylexot]

Data in schoolmatters.com and mdreportcard.org supports your statement. Not only that, but the Calvert County school system ranked amongst the highest in the state. That is a pleasant surprise to me. I mean, I didn't expect it to be as bad as, say, Prince Georges County, but I didn't expect its rankings to be that high. Any reason for that?

Thanks,
Chuck

As someone else pointed out, you need to look at the individual schools. I grew up in PG county and some of the schools were horrible, but some were very good. I went to Eleanor Roosevelt HS which was ranked as one of the best schools in the nation. Of course, I graduated in 1992 and I have no idea what the schools are like now.

 

[kom526]

Data in schoolmatters.com and mdreportcard.org supports your statement. Not only that, but the Calvert County school system ranked amongst the highest in the state. That is a pleasant surprise to me. I mean, I didn't expect it to be as bad as, say, Prince Georges County, but I didn't expect its rankings to be that high. Any reason for that?

Thanks,
Chuck

Calvert has a higher starting salary for 1st year teachers vs. what St. Mary's offers. Since the salaries start higher more teachers apply there hence a better student to teacher ratio. Personally I feel that the Calvert County Commissioners have made education more of a priority than the "slash, burn and build" commissioners of St. Mary's. Just my .02.

 

[huntr1]

As someone else pointed out, you need to look at the individual schools. I grew up in PG county and some of the schools were horrible, but some were very good. I went to Eleanor Roosevelt HS which was ranked as one of the best schools in the nation. Of course, I graduated in 1992 and I have no idea what the schools are like now.

I graduated from Douglass (also in PG) in '90. It was one of the better PG schools then. It (along with pretty much every school in PG) sucks now.

 

[janey83]

My family moved here in '98, and not too long after I started going to Great Mills High, people at my dad's work kept saying "should have moved to Calvert....better schools...." :shrug: I mean, it wasn't that bad, but every parent wants their kids to have the best opportunities.

 

[Merlin]

Data in schoolmatters.com and mdreportcard.org supports your statement. Not only that, but the Calvert County school system ranked amongst the highest in the state. That is a pleasant surprise to me. I mean, I didn't expect it to be as bad as, say, Prince Georges County, but I didn't expect its rankings to be that high. Any reason for that?

Thanks,
Chuck

It is my understanding that the nuke plant pumped a lot of money into the school system as part of thier dealings for building there.

 

[willie]

It is my understanding that the nuke plant pumped a lot of money into the school system as part of thier dealings for building there.

The plants first tax payment equaled the entire budget for Calvert County.

 

[SkinkTyree]

As a product of the Calvert County public school system, I can vouch that it provides a pretty good education. Especially now that my wife is a teacher in Florida public schools and when you compare what we had to what her students have, there's no contest. But I can name multiple teachers I had at Calvert County schools (many of whom are still working) who were downright excellent.

As for places to live, I think the most convienent place is the central part of the country around Prince Frederick. You've got the most variety of stores and services within a close distance there. Seeing that I no longer live there, I don't know how the prices go in that area. But Prince Frederick, Huntingtown, Port Republic and St. Leonard are good options if you want convenience. Dunkirk and Lusby are up and coming, and Lusby isn't too far a drive from Lexington Park, but I still perfer the central part of the county.

My parents are going to be selling their 5 bedroom in Port Republic (they've had that house forever) in a few years and moving down to Florida, but you would probably want something sooner than that.