When I bought my house, my realtor didn't give me a heads-up about the local school. I was so emotionally overwhelmed with delight that we'd found a big house, I likely wouldn't have paid it any attention. (Though I should have)
Four years later and that child who we carried through the front door now busts through it dropping a backpack and gabbing about her school friends. We're lucky; Sutterville Elementary (http://schools.scusd.edu/sutterville/index.htm)%20is considered one of the City of Sacramento Unified School District's gems in their somewhat tarnished crown.
Interestingly, I've met students whose parents are driving them from Rosemont and Downtown, attracted by the quality of education and great reputation. These folks either want to relocate to the vicinity of the school, or wish they could. And advertising these homes as "within walking distance to Sutterville Elementary" or referencing it as the "home school" is a tremendous plus for area sellers.
(Homes in Arden Park (near Mariemont Elem), Del Dayo (Del Dayo Elem) and Land Park (Crocker Riverside Elem) experience this kind of emotional response from homebuyers too.Naturally there are others too.)
So how did Sutterville become one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2006 Exemplary Schools awardee? Is it the neighborhood kids who come from a neighborhood of larger, more affluent households? Or did the student body come because the school was a success?
Plus, if the neighborhood of families created the quality of scores, how is it that much different from East Sacramento which has tremendous affluence but a less-than-stellar reputation in their home schools? Are they sending their kids to private school at that bigger of a ratio?
I don't yet have the answers. I'm going to work on it. But I do know this: If you want to support your home value, volunteer, donate or somehow contribute to your neighborhood school. Make it a success and get the word out. Sutterville is a classic example of how a good school can make a neighborhood more desirable and home interest expand to a greater population.
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