When to move for better schools?

[Anonymous]

Our oldest child is starting K in the fall in Mont. Co. The local elementary school is pretty good (albeit very large) and we think that it will be fine. We are most anxious, however, about after elementary, and particularly high school. Our local high school is just not as good (or safe) as we would like it to be. So we would like to move to a better district (w/in Mont. Co.) but we can't afford it now and we are unsure if we would even be able to sell our house because of the housing market.

So we are trying to decide if it makes sense to wait till we can afford to move (even if it's mid-elementary school and means uprooting the kids) or to wait it out and see if things change by the time they are starting middle/and or high school. I guess I am wondering at what point it is going to be harder on them to move- when they are young or when they are older and have an established group of friends.

[Anonymous]

MoCo has lots of magnet programs at the middle and high school levels, and perhaps you wouldn't need to move at all. Some of them (in math/science and in communication arts) are pretty hard to get into. But for others you just fill out a form checking the magnet middle/high school program you want, no essays or anything.