What's the best area of NM for schools, low crime, etc.?
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You're going to have to give us more info if you want some serious advice.
Do you hot summers and warm winters, mild summers and mild winters, or cool summers and cold winters?
Do you close proximity to a major city (within 50 miles etc)?
Quantify "low crime".. for example El Paso only had something like 5 murders last year, but it's El Paso.
More info is more helpful
Do you hot summers and warm winters, mild summers and mild winters, or cool summers and cold winters?
Do you close proximity to a major city (within 50 miles etc)?
Quantify "low crime".. for example El Paso only had something like 5 murders last year, but it's El Paso.
More info is more helpful
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The schools here are horrible, unless you can afford private and even then. Even the resort type places have comparably high petty crime rates. If I had to do it over again, especially with kids, I would never move to NM. The rural areas are horribly racist and backwards, there are little to no jobs etc.
The riding is great. What passes for culture is interesting but mostly for viewing, not for taking part in.
Just my two cents, but I have been here for 15 years.
Greg
The riding is great. What passes for culture is interesting but mostly for viewing, not for taking part in.
Just my two cents, but I have been here for 15 years.
Greg
I like the change in season but I don't like alot of snow. I do enjoy mild summers and mild winters. As far as crime, low drugs(i guess that's not happening being close to the border), low murder rate, low burgleries.Bat Guano said:
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For ABQ: Crime in is generally over hyped, and there are good schools with good programs for motivated students with parents who are involved with their kids
http://www.greatschools.org/new-mexico/albuquerque/high-schools/
http://www.greatschools.org/new-mexico/albuquerque/high-schools/
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And they have already had 9 so far in 2011...Bat Guano said:
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Everyone keeps telling me that the schools are good for motivated students with motivated parents and to be honest, I don't see it. My kids could not be more motivated, (they are straight A students) we could not be more motivated to see them do well. Even with the hours of extra work daily they are actually years behind my sisters kids in CA. We teach to the low low end here, even at the good schools, at least the schools in Taos have this mentality that nobody should be left behind, we buy these text books and year after year I watch the classes not get even half way through, mired in the one kid that does not get it. If you try to speak up and get better things for your kids, you are labeled a trouble maker and "just another rich white guy" trying to change things," people are ok with crappy schools because their kids will not go away. I hear all the time from locals here that they do not want to see their kids succeed in school because they will want to go away.
We have a statewide almost 60% dropout rate. Are you kidding me, 60%? Doesn't reek of good schools to me.
We are a very poor state. We buy the cheapest text books and programs on the market. Have you guys checked out what they teach for Math? If you haven't you would be amazed. Google "Everyday Math" then check out Spiral Learning, basically not teaching anything to mastery, doing a day here and there on a given subject and then moving on, hoping that next year they pick it up. You end up starting all over, every year. Everyday math would never be touched in the richer states, CA doesn't use it neither does NY or MI or any other state with high ranking math scores. Where do you think NM's math scores rate? Yeah you guessed it we are in a race with Alabama and Arkansas for the very bottom, every year.
I would educate my kids anywhere but here and had planned to. Can't sell our house and can't afford to walk away. No way in hell knowing what I know now, would I willfully come here with children.
We have a statewide almost 60% dropout rate. Are you kidding me, 60%? Doesn't reek of good schools to me.
We are a very poor state. We buy the cheapest text books and programs on the market. Have you guys checked out what they teach for Math? If you haven't you would be amazed. Google "Everyday Math" then check out Spiral Learning, basically not teaching anything to mastery, doing a day here and there on a given subject and then moving on, hoping that next year they pick it up. You end up starting all over, every year. Everyday math would never be touched in the richer states, CA doesn't use it neither does NY or MI or any other state with high ranking math scores. Where do you think NM's math scores rate? Yeah you guessed it we are in a race with Alabama and Arkansas for the very bottom, every year.
I would educate my kids anywhere but here and had planned to. Can't sell our house and can't afford to walk away. No way in hell knowing what I know now, would I willfully come here with children.
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The dropout rate is absurd- and it's not a financial problem Albuquerque schools are actually very well funded; the money is just wasted. The schools here have a bigger budget and, I think, more administrators, than the rest of the city put together.
My wife teaches at a private school though and it's fantastic, even though they get far less money per student than the public schools. If you move to NM, I'd highly recommend that route.
I wish schools everywhere would give AT LEAST as much special attention to the top 15% as the bottom 15%. THOSE kids are the future of our economy and nation.
That's awful what you mentioned about parents not wanting their kids to be successful. How'd you wind up in Taos, anyway, Greg?
My wife teaches at a private school though and it's fantastic, even though they get far less money per student than the public schools. If you move to NM, I'd highly recommend that route.
I wish schools everywhere would give AT LEAST as much special attention to the top 15% as the bottom 15%. THOSE kids are the future of our economy and nation.
That's awful what you mentioned about parents not wanting their kids to be successful. How'd you wind up in Taos, anyway, Greg?
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I came to Taos because of cheap land and an idealistic thing that I thought this would be a great place to raise kids, you know the mountains, the river, plenty of freedom to home school, build your own thing etc., what I thought was a lack of crime. I had visions of my kids riding their bikes through town just like I did in LA 30 years ago. That is decidedly not the case.
The thing with parents not wanting their kids to leave goes back to when this was an agricultural place, they didn't want to loose the labor, that was not very long ago and the mentality persists, but it takes on a more twisted guise.
Don't get me wrong, I have very good kids who are into the mountains and all that goes with it. Forest loves to fly fish and there is something really cool about a ten year old waist deep in a freezing stream for hours at a time. Haley is a rippin' skier and a nice sort of innocent mountain girl, but we have worked very very hard to keep them that way, it would be easy for them to be racist and jaded, it is what they see at school, on the bus and in our little town.
Maybe it is just a sign of the times, but kids here are doing drugs sooner, drinking earlier and getting into more trouble than I ever did, I think many of them see it as a dead end street and more and more I am afraid that they are right.
The thing with parents not wanting their kids to leave goes back to when this was an agricultural place, they didn't want to loose the labor, that was not very long ago and the mentality persists, but it takes on a more twisted guise.
Don't get me wrong, I have very good kids who are into the mountains and all that goes with it. Forest loves to fly fish and there is something really cool about a ten year old waist deep in a freezing stream for hours at a time. Haley is a rippin' skier and a nice sort of innocent mountain girl, but we have worked very very hard to keep them that way, it would be easy for them to be racist and jaded, it is what they see at school, on the bus and in our little town.
Maybe it is just a sign of the times, but kids here are doing drugs sooner, drinking earlier and getting into more trouble than I ever did, I think many of them see it as a dead end street and more and more I am afraid that they are right.
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I was at a B&B in Taos last weekend. The owner said the town is basically controlled by a few families descended from the Spaniards that settled there hundreds of years ago, and are very resistant to progress, development and change. Sounds almost feudal.
Man...the local Taos kids though are some absolutely phenomenal skiers. It's hilarious seeing 8 year olds hiking the ridge for some double-black-diamonds, or laying out elbow-dragging carves, or geeky high-school girls hucking 15' drops.
Man...the local Taos kids though are some absolutely phenomenal skiers. It's hilarious seeing 8 year olds hiking the ridge for some double-black-diamonds, or laying out elbow-dragging carves, or geeky high-school girls hucking 15' drops.
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Feudal is pretty close. The families that run things don't get along but sit on the same boards, run the same governments. You should see our school board, they very openly oppose anything that benefits white people. My kids go to the charter school, started by parents and really a pretty good school, but is part of Taos School District http://www.taosschools.org/
see Taos Charter School listed on there anywhere? No, you wont, they wont recognize us in any way because it is the "white" kids school. Actually it is a great mix, kids from every back round but there is a predominance of white kids, so we don't even get listed on the web site.
Just this morning I talked to the school bus driver who was 20 minutes late for the 4th day in a row. I just asked him what time he was going to show up? His answer to me? "I don't have to answer to you people!" Not much doubt who "you" people are. We didn't talk about his 15 minute stop at the Trailer Park on Wednesday on the way to school. I called his boss who asked me what he was supposed to do. Bus drivers are hard to come by you know. Funny place.
Taos Ski Valley is the saving grace of the place, the kids rip and it is a good place to be. Thats what we do, just stick to the mountains. I think all those hours sitting on the chair lift is why my kids are in good shape.
see Taos Charter School listed on there anywhere? No, you wont, they wont recognize us in any way because it is the "white" kids school. Actually it is a great mix, kids from every back round but there is a predominance of white kids, so we don't even get listed on the web site.
Just this morning I talked to the school bus driver who was 20 minutes late for the 4th day in a row. I just asked him what time he was going to show up? His answer to me? "I don't have to answer to you people!" Not much doubt who "you" people are. We didn't talk about his 15 minute stop at the Trailer Park on Wednesday on the way to school. I called his boss who asked me what he was supposed to do. Bus drivers are hard to come by you know. Funny place.
Taos Ski Valley is the saving grace of the place, the kids rip and it is a good place to be. Thats what we do, just stick to the mountains. I think all those hours sitting on the chair lift is why my kids are in good shape.
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I have to say, IMO, the public schools in Albuquerque are pretty terrible.
Yes the Albuquerque Academy, grades 6-12, (private) is a dream school...makes me want to go to high school again...if my daughter had not been accepted there, we would have left the state.
It is a very selective and exhausting application process though, and the school itself is expensive. The acceptance rate in 2010 was 47%. The entrance exam is very heavy on math.
My other daughter goes to Sunset Mesa, k-5, also private, very good, and expensive.
Yes the Albuquerque Academy, grades 6-12, (private) is a dream school...makes me want to go to high school again...if my daughter had not been accepted there, we would have left the state.
It is a very selective and exhausting application process though, and the school itself is expensive. The acceptance rate in 2010 was 47%. The entrance exam is very heavy on math.
My other daughter goes to Sunset Mesa, k-5, also private, very good, and expensive.
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I moved away when my first child reached school age
I was raised in Farmington, moved to ABQ when I was 12. I graduated from West Mesa H.S. and then moved away for college. After law school, I moved back. I missed green chile, riding motos with my father, mtbing with my brother, mild winters and beautiful blue skies. I stayed until my oldest daughter turned 6 (after her first year of school as a kindergartner.) At that point, I decided I did not want to raise my children in a climate of gangs, drop outs, high teenage pregnancy rates etc. I could not afford private school as a young associate in a law firm, so I moved my family to Boise, Idaho. It had all things I loved about Albuquerque (other than good chile) and my family, but it didn't have the gangs, crime etc. It was the best move I could have made. 11 years later, that oldest daughter is getting ready to graduate from high school and she has not had to deal with all the crap that I had to deal with in high school in ABQ and I graduated 23 years ago.
In some ways I have the best of both worlds, because I return to ABQ a few times a year and my family keeps me stocked with chile.
As a final note, I will say that as good as the riding is in Idaho, it is as good or better in N.M. Also the road trip from Boise goes through some great riding spots: Park City, Moab, Cortez/Durango, Gallup,Farmington, or Taos (depending on which route you take).
I was raised in Farmington, moved to ABQ when I was 12. I graduated from West Mesa H.S. and then moved away for college. After law school, I moved back. I missed green chile, riding motos with my father, mtbing with my brother, mild winters and beautiful blue skies. I stayed until my oldest daughter turned 6 (after her first year of school as a kindergartner.) At that point, I decided I did not want to raise my children in a climate of gangs, drop outs, high teenage pregnancy rates etc. I could not afford private school as a young associate in a law firm, so I moved my family to Boise, Idaho. It had all things I loved about Albuquerque (other than good chile) and my family, but it didn't have the gangs, crime etc. It was the best move I could have made. 11 years later, that oldest daughter is getting ready to graduate from high school and she has not had to deal with all the crap that I had to deal with in high school in ABQ and I graduated 23 years ago.
In some ways I have the best of both worlds, because I return to ABQ a few times a year and my family keeps me stocked with chile.
As a final note, I will say that as good as the riding is in Idaho, it is as good or better in N.M. Also the road trip from Boise goes through some great riding spots: Park City, Moab, Cortez/Durango, Gallup,Farmington, or Taos (depending on which route you take).
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