Just perusing the us news rankings and it looks like the larger schools dominate?
Le Mars living?
- Thread starter CheapClone1202
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Just perusing the us news rankings and it looks like the larger schools dominate?
Generally schools in the wealthy suburbs have the best schools. But you are not correct in size being important for "better" education
Decorah High School is #1 in the state. Google says their are 571 kids in the high school. I'm pretty sure Waukee has more than that in each K-5 grade.
Gilbert has 470ish kids in it's high school and is ranked above Ankeny, Johnston and Waukee
I mean I guess in qualitative terms they may have an argument. But I'm not thinking top teachers are sticking around in small towns to make 20 grand less for the same job. I participated in 3 varsity sports, a handful of non sport activities and graduated as a 2nd semester college student in terms of credits.
Get a little acreage south of Lemars and commute to Sioux City.
Sounds ideal to me.
Sounds ideal to me.
Le Mars is my hometown and spent my life there until college. For what it is, it's a nice to town to start a family in. However, a young couple may struggle to live there as there really is not a whole lot to do and the nearest city (Sioux City) also struggles on having a lot of options for entertainment. On that front it is getting better, both Sioux City and Le Mars. Omaha and Sioux Falls are also relatively short drives away.
It is also a very blue collar town due in large part to the ice cream factory in town being the main employer. You get a lot of working class people in town and not a whole lot of business in town that I'd consider white collar unless you work in the corporate office at Wells or any of the banks/insurance places in town.
Overall the town is really nice and relatively safe, but you would have to think long and hard about being there as a young adult. Great place to settle as a family, but completely different when you're young and could live anywhere you want.
You could go to work for Wells Enterprises, Inc., makers of Blue Bunny Ice Cream. I knew a young lady back in the day who made quite the career working in their corporate office. But I don't know what your field is. And, as has been noted, Sioux City has made a lot of improvements over the years and is close, with a lot of entertainment options. For schooling, Le Mars can be beneficial if you have kids. I learned a lot of lessons about small towns after making several moves after college. There are a lot of things to appreciate, such as young professionals hanging together. You can make a lot of friends. It's not hard to end up being invited to many civic groups. It's also good you know how to spell the name of the town correctly. I know that impresses locals. I get tired of people bashing northwest Iowa. Lots of Cyclone fans and the Iowa Great Lakes are not too far away from Le Mars.
That's why I said almost always instead of always. Notice #2-5 in the linked website are all large schools.
LeMars is my hometown. I think Joefrog nailed the progression of things as it's a great town to raise kids.
Last step after the kids are gone is to move to Dakota Dunes and save some taxes.
I grew up there but have not lived there for 15-20 years but still have a ton of family who do on my side and my wife's side so we're back 5-6 times a year.
There is a lot of money in Le Mars, mainly because of Wells and they put a lot of money back into the town. Between Wells corporate and the banks in Le Mars, it probably wouldn't be hard finding a good paying, white collar job. I would have had no issue moving back and raising my family there but my wife and I wanted a little buffer. Le Mars is pretty much a mirror image to Carrol, 1 private and 1 public school and a nice clean town where you can find a decent job.
At our school they do the dual enrollment through the community college but most of classes taught at high school by teachers with a Masters
Harlan if you dont mind the drive. Glenwood or Underwood areas. I am referring to schools.
It varies for us. Some at the HS, some at the CC and even some at a local small college. Daughters boyfriend started ISU pushing 50 credits. Daughter was slacking and had 21. Son had 25 (28 if you count the one class he took over the summer before ISU started).
All had internships in their major before college classes since local businesses will help tremendously to get more and more degreed people back to the area.
The ability to actually participate in these opportunities.
Got to play varsity basketball, football, baseball, cross country and band and probably wouldn't have made a C team cut on any of them at say Valley.
For what it’s worth- Lemars has, what many consider to be, the #1 steakhouse in Iowa. Archie’s Waeside is a local treasure and if nothing else, you can drown your sorrows in a terrific steak now and then.
Back to the OP, I think it depends on what your 5 year plan is. I lived in smaller Iowa town right after college and convinced my now wife to move there with me. We knew we were pretty serious, but had no intentions of settling down there long term or starting a family anytime soon. We still bought a house because it was cheap, built up equity, and were able to use that money to buy a home now in a larger city out of state. If we would have moved to a bigger city right away, I don't think we would have been able to afford the house we are in right now at this point in our marriage.
I can't speak for LeMars directly, but there can be an advantage to living in a smaller town for a few years to save money on cost of living expenses early in your life. Sure, you'll sacrifice some social opportunities, but it depends on what your goals are.
I can't speak for LeMars directly, but there can be an advantage to living in a smaller town for a few years to save money on cost of living expenses early in your life. Sure, you'll sacrifice some social opportunities, but it depends on what your goals are.
It just boils down to needs and wants. Figure out the needs for the two of you. Once that is met see what your wants/interests are.
I complained about my40 minute commute to work (30 miles) to my nephew in the twin cities. He informed me he had as long of a drive, but covered 3-4 miles only. He said they were an hour from most things downtown. I could make downtown from my home in Iowa in under 2 hours.
What you will miss out on is the big city bar scene and doing some things on a quick whim. Those may be offset depending on the person. I don’t drink so the bar scene isnt my deal. I like to bike/walk/hike and there is plenty usually around rural communities.
Just figure out what suits both of you best and go from there. Work is 50/50 will all the WFH going on.
I’m from Cherokee. Don’t live in NW Iowa that young.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
This discussion almost always boils down to:
1. Small schools offer more opportunity for a wider range of activities. Might be academically limited for a variety of reasons.
2. Bigger schools offer more academic opportunities/more course offerings in bigger districts.
Probably opinions of all stripes about district partnerships with local colleges.
For my money, my small district high school was absolutely terrible. We went through a math teacher literally every year. Our social studies guy couldn't do basic facts (or coaching), and the place was just criminally hostile towards learning. I wouldn't put my kiddo into a thing like that.
But bigger schools have so many kids, that's tough, too.
This year is hopefully not the future for schools and probably not the best to judge academically. Two of my elderly relatives are teaching math this year because teachers quit right before the school year started with concerns about health and safety. Friend in neighboring district told me they have a PE teacher teaching high school chemistry. Not sure how they get away with that unless the DE is waiving all kinds of requirements due to teacher shortage.
Husband and I lived in a large urban area right after we got married but the only time we did anything due to the area was when people came to visit. Traffic just usually not worth it.
I do think the decision probably should be more about what time of your life you will be in whether young and carefree or raising little ones where education and vicinity to relatives and friends becomes more important.
Husband and I lived in a large urban area right after we got married but the only time we did anything due to the area was when people came to visit. Traffic just usually not worth it.
I do think the decision probably should be more about what time of your life you will be in whether young and carefree or raising little ones where education and vicinity to relatives and friends becomes more important.