Most people have heard that school zoning for your real estate can affect the value of your property. This is very true in most cities in the United States, and is generally most noticed in densely populated areas. A large percentage of States have implemented a grading system for schools, to help parents decide where they want to live and in what school zone. What we always do when selling a home or buying a home for a client is to get in touch with the local school board and get a full report. This can be done by writing a letter to the County School Board for your desired area. Inside most School reports you will find a list of various important details that will give you a general overview of student and teacher quality.

The primary focus should be on average Grade Point Average, Dropout Rate and College admissions from the school. In a lot of states like Florida they use a standard grading system, similar to how students are graded. If you are lucky enough to be in a state with a grading system, then you simply have to look at the list to see what the local schools are scoring and you can make a simple decision based on a simple grade.

After figuring out the schools quality, you need to figure out what neighborhoods are zoned for the schools that you like. This can be tricky, in Clearwater Florida for example, they currently have something called school choice. With a program like school choice, parents are required to choose three schools that that would like to attend, and if there is an opening at the school you choose, the student is placed there. If you don