After going through some serious ups and downs with Chicago Public Schools and being a believer in participating in the public system, schools were a huge factor in our move.
We started looking in Lake Oswego because the schools are exceptionally good.
Alas, it was just too suburban for these city kiddies. So I needed to find a quality school in the city of Portland. We had navigated schools in Chicago so I had a bit of experience with school spreadsheets. I used scores from the following sources to start to get a picture of where the “good” schools were: Great Schools, Oregon Live, US News and World Report
What I had really learned though was that all data aside schools just have a feeling about them and sometimes the ones on the way up have more energy than the ones who have made it to the top. One of the schools that my children attended in Chicago had a principal who made himself very accessible to the parents and staff. He was an exceptional communicator and I saw the difference that made within the school community.
Sadly, Principals need to be politians and I was looking for one I could believe in. Whether through luck or research we ended up in a happy place. When I asked my daughter what the best part of the move was she said “my school.” Full disclosure the day is almost an hour shorter here and there is an additional recess but I’m going to put one up in the win column.