Moving to Minneapolis...Questions

[mrforbes]

Hi,

We're planning a move from Brooklyn to Minneapolis (to be closer to our families - I'm from MN and he's from WI) and I have a few questions.

Any neighborhoods that are particularily good with schools, decent houses and outdoor space?

What's the preschool scene like? We have a will be 3 year old this summer and would like him to start preschool in the fall and of course, here in brooklyn preschool is a bit of a rat race. Would love recs on preschools! We're a kind of crunchy family (co sleep/slept, home birth, etc)

Also, I just read that in MN you can get an exemption from vaxs that is not medical - does the conscientious exemption allow you to just exempt from some vaxs? We prefer to wait a while to vax and then there are some we don't want to do - but maybe MN doesn't require all the same ones as NY?

[c'est moi]

i'm a fan of family scene in southwest minneapolis on the west side of lake harriet. there's nice stuff going on on the other side of harriet as well. i know lots of cool families that live in south minneapolis, but i'm not familiar enough with that area to say exactly where.

can't help you on preschools. my kid is not old enough for me to know about that stuff yet.

good luck!

[deditus]

There are very few places I wouldn't live in the TwinCities, but each neighborhood has a different vibe. I live in St Paul's West Side neighborhood (which is not really west) and I love it. I really like NE Minneapolis and most of my friends live in S Minneapolis. There is not much of a problem with open space here, there are tons and tons of parks.

We are homeschoolers, but I know a little about prek. There are some public school options, I'm not sure how they work in MSP, but in St Paul they are geared towards low income, ESL, etc kids, but they actually have a lot of spaces still open after they take priority children so I have heard that most who apply for prek get in.

I think for the most part the expensive private schools are fairly open as long as you have the money to pony up. If you are interested in something more like a small home daycare, there are a few of those around, too. I don't think there is much of a rat race, at least if you sign up in advance like in the spring or summer prior to starting.
 

I haven't heard of anyone having any problems with delayed or alternative vax schedules.

The API group is very active, so I would join the yahoo group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TwinCitiesAPI/

Originally Posted by mrforbes 

Hi,

We're planning a move from Brooklyn to Minneapolis (to be closer to our families - I'm from MN and he's from WI) and I have a few questions.

Any neighborhoods that are particularily good with schools, decent houses and outdoor space?

What's the preschool scene like? We have a will be 3 year old this summer and would like him to start preschool in the fall and of course, here in brooklyn preschool is a bit of a rat race. Would love recs on preschools! We're a kind of crunchy family (co sleep/slept, home birth, etc)

Also, I just read that in MN you can get an exemption from vaxs that is not medical - does the conscientious exemption allow you to just exempt from some vaxs? We prefer to wait a while to vax and then there are some we don't want to do - but maybe MN doesn't require all the same ones as NY?

[homebirthing]

My kids went to Dodge Nature preschool and we love it!! I live in W St Paul, and most of my friends live in S Mpls. I am a Saint Paul girl though!

[mrsfatty]

...conscientious exemptions for school are an option here! :)  I would ask the vaccination question in the vaccine forum (whether or not to list some vaccines and the exemption, or leave out that you've given vaccines and just give the exemption)...

[Dancianna]

I think it's hard to go wrong in the Twin Cities.  One place that you might want to check out is Northfield, with it's charter school, Prairie Creek Community School.  I wouldn't move there if I had to work in the Cities - it's almost an hour to drive from there to St. Paul or Mpls., but if your work is home-based and you want a community- and child-oriented and smaller-town atmosphere, you might really like it.

-Dancy

[lindsayjean]

Hello!  My daughter goes to preK at City of Lakes Waldorf school and we LOVE it.  I'm a fan of NE and S Mpls as well.  We live in north Mpls, which I do love, but the crime is a bit higher so I can't really recommend it after our house got broken into this summer.  

Definitely join the API list.... there are TONS of great playgroups, moms night out, etc and it's a really great place to ask questions.   

[mrforbes]

Thanks ladies - we're getting excitied. I joined the API list and that seems pretty active. We def. want to be in the cities, and Minneapolis for DH's work. It seems like there are some cool pre school options (I'm just looking for a 3  1/2 day option since I'm at home - just to help DS get used to the idea.) We're also exploring homeschooling/homeschooling coop options since DS has really bad, multiple food allergies. I also saw there was a listserv for that so I think I'll check that out.

[Annie21]

I live in South Minneapolis, east side of the freeway in the Pearl neighborhood and we love it. There is a lot of air plane noise, but the plus side is that the houses have all been equipped to deal with it, so we have amazing windows and insulation, which is huge in the winter here. Our schools options include Hale elementary, which is very liberal and all of my neighbors send their kids there, and they love it. The principal there has made a point of being open to GLBT families and has a school-wide curriculum supporting these ideas, so that is cool. Our other school option is Windom Spanish Immersion, which I think is the one we will go with, though our baby is only 1, so we have awhile to figure it out! For pre-schools, I love, love, love our preschool - it is called Jardin Magico and it is also spanish immersion. They do cloth diapers, organic food, and there is a part-time option. Check out their web-page, because there are two locations. One is in the Kindfield neighborhood, which I also really like, and coming from NY, you will probably want a walkable feeling. Parts of Kingfield are becoming that way. The other is in Longfellow, which is also a cool part of town, and closer to the Mississippi. If you are looking for walkable, though, I would suggest looking at Highland Park in St Paul or NE in Minneapolis or Windom or Whittier  or Uptown in Minneapolis. They all have the ability to walk to a grocery  and would have easy commutes to downtown Mpls.

Good luck and welcome!

[unruly3]

Hi, we are homeschoolers in the NE Mpls area.  Mpls is a great area for families and for homeschooling.  There are several groups and lots to do!

I Love living in NE, but South mpls is great as well and very very kid friendly.  Good Luck!

[Tine]

What everybody else said. :) You can't go wrong in this area!

I live in the Diamond Lake neighborhood of S. Mpls. (not far from Annie21 above *waving*). Annie is correct about the airplanes AND the houses. Nearly all of them have gone through a noise abatement process that includes new windows, insulation, and HVAC. Housing quality in this part of Mpls. is excellent.

We live within walking distance of Diamond Lake, Lake Nokomis, and Minnehaha Creek, and the entire parkway system (which includes dozens of miles of biking/walking paths). There's a wild space (Solomon Park -- marsh, forest, open grassy field, sledding hill) just out my window, and many other parks and playgrounds and waterways all around us. Several restaurants, a grocery store with good produce and a wide selection of organic/sustainable products, and 4 bus lines are also walkable from our house.

Hale is our neighborhood school, and we know many families who love it. Our DS (7yo) actually goes to a magnet IB school (Whittier), which is also excellent.

DD (4yo) attends Augsburg Park Montessori School (http://www.augsburgpark.com), which is 1.5 miles away in Richfield. We're in our 6th year there (DS attended too) and can't say enough good things about it. Top-notch teachers, authentic Montessori method, and affordable for the high quality of education it provides. APMS is considering expansion to include an elementary charter school. So if Montessori is your thing, you might want to keep an eye on that. :)

[evillager]

We moved from Brooklyn to Minnesota exactly a year ago and it was the best decision we ever made! We have a soon-to-be-three-year-old as well. Hope things work out as well for you as they have for us...

I am orignally from St. Paul and that's where we've ended up again. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this city. Haven't gotten to preschool yet, but my husband takes our daughter to ECFE, a very common early education program here, once a week. Friends with older kids all rave about St. Paul's public schools.

It might take you a while to get used to the fact that it isn't a rat race here. No stroller on subways, schlepping all your groceries on your back, elbowing on the streets. There is enough space and patience for everyone. Imagine that! There is no lack of family friendly, afforable activities here. Get here as quickly as you can! Good luck!

[mrforbes]

Glad to hear about the schools...DH is going next week to look at houses, thankfully he lived in Minneapolis for 5 years before we met. I'm originally from northern MN and he's from WI so our respective parents are excited. And yes, I can't wait to not schelp groceries! We're looking in a lot of the areas mentioned but I was wondering about the schools since greatschools only seems to rate on test scores. We're not really sure what we're going to do school wise yet - interested in homeschooling but also find school appealing, but DS has bad food allergies so we'll see I guess. At this point it doesn't seem to make since to live in a certain area only for the school district since we don't know what we want to do and our oldest is a couple of years away from that at least - right?