Moving to East English Village

**grumpyoldlady** · July-07-12, 01:05 AM

Back in the mid 80's when time for Kindergarten rolled around, we opted to send our son to a private church-affiliated school in the area of 7 mile and Gratiot. His teachers were wonderful, but when he started coming home using the same language and grammar the little kids [[who were then still the minority in the school) did...."he be goin' wit us" for example, and talking about how some of these kids openly discussed the illegal drug dealing their older brothers did, we decided it was time to get him out of there for 1st grade. Again...the teachers were great, but the negative influence was too overwhelming..and this was in a PRIVATE school! Think LONG AND HARD about putting your child in the DPS system, or even in a suburban school...they are getting just as bad in many areas. And I don't even need to get started on the safety issues. Teachers can't teach any more. They are too busy trying to keep themselves and other students alive.

**scottn55** · July-07-12, 08:53 AM

Originally Posted by grumpyoldlady

Back in the mid 80's when time for Kindergarten rolled around, we opted to send our son to a private church-affiliated school in the area of 7 mile and Gratiot. His teachers were wonderful, but when he started coming home using the same language and grammar the little kids [[who were then still the minority in the school) did...."he be goin' wit us" for example, and talking about how some of these kids openly discussed the illegal drug dealing their older brothers did, we decided it was time to get him out of there for 1st grade. Again...the teachers were great, but the negative influence was too overwhelming..and this was in a PRIVATE school! Think LONG AND HARD about putting your child in the DPS system, or even in a suburban school...they are getting just as bad in many areas. And I don't even need to get started on the safety issues. Teachers can't teach any more. They are too busy trying to keep themselves and other students alive.

I don't need to think "long and hard" about putting my child in the DPS system because, as I stated in a couple of previous posts, I never considered it an option. From the tone of your other post I gather that you think I'm crazy or perhaps even stupid for even considering this neighborhood. Trust me when I tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. By all accounts St Clare of Montefalco operates a great school and, were I to move to EEV, this is almost certainly the school I would enroll my child in when the time comes. I'm not some starry-eyed hipster moron who thinks it would be "cool" to live downtown and I most certainly am not going to put my child in a situation which would be unreasonably dangerous or would compromise their educational opportunities. So tell me, please, how the situation I've described would be "very negative" for my child. I'm well acquainted with the problems facing the city and its schools and any decision that I make regarding where to locate will take that into account.

**swiburn** · July-07-12, 11:12 AM

Well, until you've moved to Detroit, this is all just "mindless conjectural."
And what makes you think this St. Clare School will be there in 5 years? Catholic schools bordering innner cities do not have a good chance [[See Holy Rosary, Holy Redeemer and St. John Vianney in Flint)
Check back in four years, if you indeed move to Detroit.

**poobert** · July-07-12, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by swiburn

Well, until you've moved to Detroit, this is all just "mindless conjectural."
And what makes you think this St. Clare School will be there in 5 years? Catholic schools bordering innner cities do not have a good chance [[See Holy Rosary, Holy Redeemer and St. John Vianney in Flint)
Check back in four years, if you indeed move to Detroit.

I know St. Clare's enrollment is steady. Yes, it could close, but the world could also end tomorrow. One has to be cautious but you can't factor in every variable in the known universe. St. Clare also doesn't border the "inner city." It is in Grosse Pointe bordering the far east side. "Inner city" has actual meaning, and it is not "the City of Detroit."
St. Joan of Arc is very close by too.
One thing that hasn't been brought up is the challenges of raising a child in the suburbs.
One of my best friends has a young kid in an inner ring suburb, and, well, he may be the last kid in that inner ring suburb. The suburbs are aging rapidly - this isn't 1975. There aren't loads of kids around anymore. Her entire area is grumpy old ladies and some pervy old guys. The kid has no friends to play with except when they visit my house, ironically. It's actually pretty sad. Frankly, that is NO way to raise a child, with nothing but four walls and video games.