Kids in STX

Have you make a pmv? I was there and there are several schools but highly recommended is the St. Croix Country Days, and Good Hope. You can see it on-line the have all the info there. Good luck!!

Many large companies, Hovensa, for example, bring prospective employees down for a short stay to see the island. If yours will not, consider a visit anyway. From the tone of your questions, I think this investment in time and money is a necessity for you.

Country Day & Good Hope are great private schools. I have heard lots of good things about AZ Academy. Where you are located on island is going to determine where you send your child. Country Day is Mid-Island, AZ is right outside Christiansted town, and Good Hope is in Frederiksted. My sisters are I all went to Good Hope although we lived closer to Country Day. You're right - we don't have a sex offender registry down here, at least not one accessible by the internet as far as i know. I have lived here all of my life and we never had any problems. Like any other place in the world, St. Croix is going to have its good sides and bad. There are TONS of kids down here for your child to play with, including other activities for them to be involved in. Plus, the fact that your child will get to live in the Caribbean is an awesome experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. Hurricanes do pose more of an issue - you're right, when one hits here, we cannot evacuate. The trick is, like anything else, to be prepared. You may be out of power for awhile, but eventually it will be ok. Our houses are made of concrete and most have hurrican shutters. Being in Hurricane Alley, we're all aware of what to do when disaster strikes and there will be many resources to help you. It's a big move - good luck!

Nobody has explicitly said so I will - plan to send your kids to private school or home school. The public schools here ARE NOT a good option at all.

Thank you all so much for your responses. I appreciate your frankness! I saw Country day on the web and fell in love with it right away. Hubby will be in the refinery. Not sure where we should live!?! Are there specific areas that it would be advisable to avoid? We're trying to make arrangements for a "prospecting" trip beforehand. We're so excited about this once in a lifetime chance to live in the Caribbean! Thanks again. Bostonian what is "pmv"?

pmv is pre move visit.

Good and bad areas are very very close together, its a small island. Rent price alone can be a indicator, if its higher there's a good chance it either has a fabulous location or a good neighborhood, but not always. You pay for what you get unless you get lucky. Explore when you come for pmv. Its always good to be close to work, especially with hovesa, where you tend to work long hours.

I'm very very glad no one has had any problems with sex offenders but they are definitely down here, there was just a case in the paper last month where one guy was even bringing in minors. Like stateside you will have to use caution.

I'm also from south texas and the hurricane situation here is going to be worse and better. Good news is most house are made of concrete. Bad news is most roofs aren't. Electricity will be slower to get on after a bad hurricane. Omar just passed us by last summer and some people had electricity back on in a few days some took weeks or about a month. If it had hit us dead on we all probably would have been looking at a weeks to months.

Evacuation is hard because, its going to be alot more expensive and are you going to leave EVERY time a hurricane gets close?? How many hurricanes did we have in the caribbean last year? Best to weather it out and if you can't hack it, leave after, long as the airports open.

As far as crime goes do a search on the word crime for all dates, you will get plenty of reading material.

If your husband's grade level qualifies, I would recommend asking to look at camp housing and then asking for it during negotiations, it is a secure gated community and many of the children go to one of the private schools. You would sacrifice the island living style since it is next to the refinery but that trade-off may be worth it.