Backwater We Are Not

I was looking for something small and friendly and real, but with three kids in tow and decades of having lived inside the Beltway one of the criteria I laid down when we were deciding where to move for our retirement home, is it had to be a college town. From the adult perspective, a college town has at some level almost anything that you will find in a major metropolitan area. I was thinking of plays, music, art, sports and even a museum or two or three Also, university faculty and graduate students generally demand good public schools and those demands translate into solid education opportunities for our children.

So far we have been very pleased with the elementary schools in Bozeman. And this year with a high school freshman and an exchange student attending Bozeman high school we have been amazed with the vibe, the spirit, the diversity of programs and ideas, and the intellectual challenges available there.

So it was not particularly surprising the other day when it came out that US News and World Report rated BHS the best high school in Montana.

On the state level, the report ranked Bozeman High School as No. 1. 

"I think it's actually pretty cool," said Bozeman High freshman Levi Merwin.

The report named Bozeman in the top 1,000 high schools across the U.S. at No. 731 -- and first overall in Montana. Students at Bozeman High said they think that's due, in part, to the close relationship between the students and community.

"They try to help out and be nice to everyone that they meet and try to help in the community," said Bozeman High freshman Sam Keshinshian.

Others said it came down to the great teaching staff.

"We have really good teachers, so we do learn a lot and we are really, a lot of us are really smart," said Bozeman High freshman Emily Tonkinson.

Our freshman and exchange student
participated on Bozeman High's award
winning "Hawkers" speech and debate
team this school year.

I thought to check to see how Wakefield High School, which is where our kids would have attended in Arlington, Virginia, stacked up against Bozeman. Arlington likes to claim everything it does is "world class." They certainly spend like it is. Arlington public schools expenditure per pupil is close to twice what is spent out here in Bozeman. It is no coincidence that our property taxes here on a dramatically bigger house and an immensely larger lot and scenic views are a little more than half of what we would be paying back in Arlington. We are 731 and Wakefield is 1,257. Check. And mate.
 .