I'm in the midst of waiting for orders for our next duty station. As many of you know, it's not official until it's on paper! Trying to plan and look forward to your new life when you don't have paper orders can be difficult if there is more than one potential duty station. I try to plan as much as we possibly can. I have an 11 year old step-daughter who has lived with us full-time since our marriage 6 years ago. Everytime we move, our highest priority is finding the best possible school for her. Sometimes this can be difficult because you have to consider housing costs, as high performing schools are normally located in more expensive areas and are not close to base, which can make the spouse's commute a little longer. In any case, a great school is always what guides our final decision on where we live.
I use two great tools to help me in this process:
http://www.greatschools.org/
http://www.schooldigger.com/
You can get a decent sense of the quality of a school from these websites.
I then go to the local school district website to see if it has a way to check your school assignment according to your potential address. This is an example of such a site:
http://gis.mcpsmd.org/gis/PublicLocator.asp
If you are looking for off-base housing, I like to use http://www.militarybyowner.com/ to get a feel for the housing options near the base to include prices (rent or buying), schools, and distance from your particular base. It helps me narrow down my options. I found our current rental home through Craigslist though. Ultimately, it takes a lot of footwork to get what you need for your family.
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