My wife and I are moving to Wichita this fall. We live close enough enough now to make multiple trips to check out the local area.
Right now, were thinking about buying in the Andover or Maize school districts. However we are drawn to the college Hill area based off things to do.
How are the magnet schools within the Wichita district and is college Hill something to worry about for crime?
Posted May 8, 2019, 6:51 PM UTC
We moved to the College Hill area from Maize 2.5 years ago but elected to keep our daughter in the Maize school district. I don’t think that it would be bad to send her to a magnet school, but she was already attending Maize and we didn’t want to pull her out. We are planning to move back to Maize within the next year or two.
College Hill is great because it is close to downtown and so many restaurants. I don’t think you could find a better area to live when it comes to the attractions side of the city. Pair the location with the mature trees & the old houses and you have a nice neighborhood.
The down side of the area is if you go too far in any direction you can quickly get yourself in a bad area. While we feel safe in our home - we do hear gun shots frequently. They are never super close but enough that it can put you on edge.
Is the crime increasing in the area or is it static you think?
There are some real alarmists on this subreddit. Not calling this OP one, but crime in college hill is relatively very low. Wichita is a low crime city in general. Lock your doors, dont leave 20s on your dash, and get an alarm system (or even just a sign for one).
College Hill is easily a top 2 location in Wichita, and your deciding factor should be cost, not crime.
I agree with you - I don’t think crime in College Hill is high. It’s the areas surrounding College Hill that can be rough. I know each side of town will have bad areas - it just sucks that CH has so many bad pockets surrounding it.
That being said, I do think our area will be on the up and up sooner rather than later. The Douglas Design District, Central Market Liquor, and Revolustia have all brought a much needed facelift to the nearby streets. Hopefully people continue investing money into this area of town to improve it.
We really have enjoyed our time here and will miss it once we leave. It’s one of the last neighborhoods in Wichita that truly feels like a community.
I completely agree on all accounts. I just get defensive of my east side when over generalizations happen, especially with the crime troll pops up. Really the only area I'd worry about outside college hill is north west towards 13th/Grove, or way north towards the campus. But even then I'm never afraid to drive through at night.
College Hill is a wonderful neighborhood especially with the upgrades you mentioned happening up and down douglas, and the Q line. I swear that bus needs to come to Clifton Sq on weekdays, and extend to Edgemoor on weekends like normal.
I haven’t lived in the area long enough to give you a good answer. I can tell you it seems to get worse at the weather warms up, but that tends to be the same everywhere.
College Hill is the only neighborhood in Wichita that I would live in. College Hill Elementary was great for my kid, but that’s been a few years.
We moved a year ago. Previously our daughters were in two magnet schools (Black Traditional Elementary and Allison Middle School). Black was OK, and Allison was an awful experience. One of our main criteria when we were searching for a home to buy was getting out of the Wichita school district.
Our daughters are now in the Goddard school district and it's night and day difference. The teachers are young and excited about teaching and our kids don't hate going to school; pretty much the exact opposite experience as we had at the Wichita magnet schools where the teachers all seemed to hate their jobs and our kids hated going to school every day.
Keep in mind though, my daughters are both on IEPs and the magnet schools seemed to hate having to deal with them... which again, has been the exact opposite experience at Goddard.
If you want a good school for your kids (especially if they aren't top of their class), go for Goddard, Maize, or Andover.
Bostic Traditional Magnet is a great K-5th grade school!
Magnet schools in 259 select their students through random draw. Applications were due last January. So if you are coming this next school year, it's too late to ask about magnets. You can always apply next year, but there's no guarantee you will get in. If you do consider College Hill, the neighborhood school, college hill elementary, is a very nice school. If your kids are middle school aged, Robinson is the neighborhood school, and it even includes a very rigorous pre-IB track your students can try to get into. If they are HS age, East High is their HS, and has many if the top area students in their IB program. Other HS options in the future(again, January deadline) are Northeast Magnet, which is the only magnet HS, and is continually ranked in the top ten high schools on the state (and the only one in this area, none of the suburban schools are ranked that high), and a new program at Northweat High school open for anyone on the district ro apply for that combines HS and college classes, and students will graduate high school with over 50 college credits from Friends, at no cost to the student.
There is nothing wrong with WPS or College Hill.
No crime isn’t a big issue there. Subreddit alarmists need to stop taking the white flight pills.
I would definitely stay out of 259 if you have the option of going to Andover. It is close enough to Wichita that there really isn't much of a difference in terms of access to activities. If you do stay in Wichita, Horace Mann is a great K-8 Spanish magnet, though you probably wouldn't want to live close enough for it to be your community school.
Maybe look at Goddard also