Albemarle County Schools offer academies at each of the high schools. Any County student is eligible to apply, but if you live outside the district, you are responsible for your own transportation. I don't often write this type of story, but this is one of those things on which I find myself educating my incoming buyer clients; many choose which school district to target before they arrive, but don't consider the academies as they don't know about them. If you're in the Charlottesville - Albemarle area, and want to learn more about these … [Read more...]
Look Beyond Test Scores When Evaluating Schools
School quality matters with respect to home values; this is inarguable. Zestimates and locality assessments matter to a certain degree when evaluating home values. What about school ratings on websites? Take the following email exchange from one of my (very smart) clients. (I've anonymized the schools for this post, and I apologize in advance for how it breaks up the story, and I've edited a bit for readability): "We've noticed that () Elementary seems not to get the same sort of notoriety around here as some of the other schools, right. … [Read more...]
Why Are Albemarle County Schools Building a Fiber Network?
Why is Albemarle County building their own private fiber network? I noted in early 2014 that Albemarle County Schools were looking for money to build a dark fiber network; now it's real. Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that the school division is building "its own private network." Broadband access increases property values, that's simple. Why not parter with a company that actually does this? Like Ting/Blue Ridge Internetworks, Centurylink or (shudder) Comcast? Why? So the schools can: 1) provide access to those who don't have … [Read more...]
Albemarle and Charlottesville Raising Taxes, Schools Closing and More
A few things to know for Monday - from Charlottesville and Albemarle seeking tax increases, a grocery store is moving, and Albemarle County's lost week of school. … [Read more...]
How to Pay for Albemarle County Schools?
It costs nearly $12,000 per year to educate a kid in Albemarle County Schools. This year, the County Schools are facing a proposed funding gap of nearly $7 million and the cry from many parents, administrators and citizens has been to “fully fund the schools. (including emails from the schools' email distribution newsgroups).†Rather than repeat myself, this is a story I wrote three years ago and it's still relevant. Schools matter for housing values. Period. People move to the Charlottesville area all the time for the schools. Schools. … [Read more...]
No High School Rankings in Albemarle County Schools?
Albemarle County is in discussions about whether to stop ranking students. In response to calls from parents to stop reporting class rankings to college admissions offices, Albemarle County Public Schools is in the process of reviewing its policy. Currently, Albemarle reports class ranks to colleges and universities in deciles, but many parents feel that doing so paints students below the top 10 percent negatively in the eyes of selective universities. Questions - - Does *not* rewarding kids for achievement disincentivize them from … [Read more...]
Verify your School District Before you Buy a Home
There's nothing worse than buying a home, a large part of that buying decision being the school district, to then find that you're not in the school district you thought. (hopefully before you close) It happens. "School District" is one of the most important criteria identified by my buyer clients searching for homes - school districts matter. Better schools = higher home prices. Bad data entry happens. To all of us. Trust. Then Verify. A client emailed me the other day about a new listing … great home, great location, great school district … [Read more...]
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