Hello John,

Depending on the age of your children. Grayhawk and DC Ranch both have elementary schools in the neighborhood. Both are in 85255 and both have great reports. 85262 zip is open enrollment, you can go to the Scottsdale District or Cave Creek District. Two good websites on schools are http://www.greatschools.net and the state site at http://www.ade.state.az.us and go to school report cards. I would love to help you and your family find a new home. Please let me know if I can help you

Hi John,

This is a difficult question and one that a realtor can't answer because what is "good" for you may not be what is "good" for another person. Meeting the specific school needs of a child is a very personal choice. My suggestion is to go to your state education website along with school district websites and research schools that meet your specific needs. When you google school district in your zip code it will pull up a bunch of links to your local school districts. Good Luck!

John,
If you are working with a realtor they should be able to gather all the information you desire. If you are not working with someone try Realtor.com and set in your area and then click on area information. This is a new feature and I think they list school phone numbers as well as address's. If you feel so strongly compelled about the quality of the school you want your child to attend do as much research on your own and ask alot of questions. The fact is no one will care about your child as much as you and they will probably just get you generic information so be specific about your concerns. Good Luck and Have A Great Day. Dedicated Darren Century 21 AZ Foothills

John

You have many good answers here. What's important to you and your children will always depend upon you and your children's situation, expectations and goals. Once you know what those are you will be able to go to parents of current students in addition to reveiwing the programming of the individual schools to make a comprehensive evaluation and good decision.

John-

I was hesitant to suggest this at first, given the bias that will soon become apparent, but I can see from all of our answers that it's a bit confusing. Some of the answers are even contradictory. So, if it would help, I would further suggest you contact Oxford Learning in North Scottsdale. Oxford Learning is a tutoring company run by my wife. They have contacts at nearly every School in North Scottsdale and North Phoenix, including the public schools, charter schools, and private schools like Notre Dame. If they don't have a local contact within the school your children might attend, they can certainly get one. They can put you in touch with PTO folks, teachers, administrators, whatever it is that you are looking for to help you make a more informed decision.

I've linked the contact info for our Scottsdale location if you want to give them a call.

Hi John,
My advice would be to find a Realtor who specializes in this area and is someone you can communicate well with. You can then have a one on one dialogue tailored to your specific needs for your family. I know it sounds like a commercial...but truly...a good Realtor is your absolute best resource and one of the wisest moves you can make when looking for the best home for your family.

My best wishes in finding the best home and the school for your children!

The answer really depends on your definition of "best school". Is "best" defined by low student teacher ratios? Available classes? After school activities? Standardized test scores? Drop out rates? Percentage of students receiving scholorships? Percentage of students going to college? Percentage of students accepted to college? Number of teachers with advanced degrees or credentials? Do your children have any special needs that one school may excel at?

Many people seem to use test scores to determine the "goodness" of a school. That's one way to measure a school, but only one of many. I recommend getting a list of schools you are considering and visiting in person, if possible. If not, calling the school's principal and/or counselor will probably provide you a much better insight into the school than looking at test scores.

Charter shools may be another option to consider. Sometimes they get a bad rep, but there are some very exclusive, very high quality charter schools available in almost all areas of the Phoenix metro area.

"Affordable" also means many different things to different people. What one considers affordable, others may not. The "density" of homes in these zip codes is high, and you are likely to find a wide price range. Affordability is largely dependant on your credit, income and down payment. Understandably you may not want to put all that personal info in a public place like this, but it's really difficult to define affordibility for you without it. You can search listed homes at many sites (one is listed below) to get an idea of what is available. Virtually every part of Phoenix has an excess of homes currently listed, so the choices can sometimes be overwhelming.

John, I currently live in 85255 so I may be a bit biased. My preference would be Scottsdale or Paradise Valley school districts. Much of 85255 is in PV school district. However, you really can't go wrong with either. But zip codes have great schools. You could check out our website at http://www.bergdobblesteam.com for complete school information and make your decision based on test scores. Good luck and if you need any help don't hesitate to call or email.

A bit more information would be nice. What are the ages of your kids? And specifically where in each zip code are you looking? Depending on the ages and subdivisions, the schools change dramatically.

85262 is not a Scottsdale school district zip code. However, Scottsdale allows open enrollment at all levels (assuming the desired school has space).

In my opinion, 85255 generally offers better schools than 85262. 85255 high school students will go to either Chaparral, Saguaro, or Desert Mountain, all of which rank well, though Chaparral is definitely the best of the three. To get into Chaparral, while living in 85255, the best way is to live in the DC Ranch area, and attend Copper Ridge, as that is the feeder grade/middle school for Chaparral.

One note about Grayhawk, which is in 85255. Grayhawk is in the Paradise Valley School district. I would highly recommend looking into Pinnacle high school, to see if that's the right school for your children.

Hey John
I am sure there are a few Realtors on Trulia, who live in this area, and have children in these schools.
This link will give you the test scores.
http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/go/AZ
Of course test score will only tell half of what`s really going on.