relocating to st.croix

Ric and I have lived on STX for 2 years. We're in our 50's with kids and grandkids in Kentucky and Turkey.

Public high school is going to the tricky. Please take the time to come down for a visit to see if STX is going to be for your family.

Ric and I like it here and are comfortable about our safety. The beaches are great and the snorkeling and diving are first rate. Great restaurants and most normal foods available, but perhaps not in the quantity or variety you're used to. Food is maybe 20-30% more. Junk food is expensive. Rum is cheap. For us it all works out fine.

Please, please, please bring the whole family down before you make a final decision.

Hello Ken & Carrie,

The response concerning the school system varies by public vs. private and elementary vs. Junior/High School. What grades would your children be in and also were you considering public or private or both?

Islanders accept mainlanders in general. However because of tourism and because of seasonal workers there is a high level of turnover in terms of new people so there is a level of initial 'standoffishness' that you might pick up on. A little of this is cultural too and affected by thoughts or misconceptions of the ‘other group’ – I think this goes in both directions. Again, in general islanders are welcoming and helpful to mainlanders. In a work place, particularly if the mainlander has come in as a manager and even more so if there have been several managers coming and going there sometimes is a level of animosity - things usually settle down after a few weeks/months depending on how folks are treated/changes made. Young children and school age teens might make jokes, tease new kids and not just mainland kids (white or black) but kids from other islands too; but mostly they are friendly. Many mainlanders find that in socializing mainlanders tend to 'hang out' together and various groups of islanders tend to do the same (often based on where the islanders are originally from - i.e. the USVI or other Caribbean islands). In some areas like church, volunteering then everyone comes together and interacts on a more neutral plane.

I have encountered crime a few times; at bars, sparsely populated areas at night, while driving through a bad area at night. I’ve had drugs offered in daylight in populated areas; just say no thanks and that’s that. I have friends that have had their car stolen (two friends on two different occasions – one about 7 years ago and the other about 11 years ago) and had their homes broken into (recently, last couple months). This is on St. Thomas. Crime happens everywhere, however my biggest issue with it is that I feel the community is small so someone knows who is doing these things and I don’t feel the police force does a very good job managing/controlling it.

Beaches are great. You can visit the beach guides on our other site if you like http://www.vinow.com/stcroix/beaches_stx/

The grocery shopping; depends on where you are comparing it to. If you are used to 24 hour super Wal-Mart and having Sams, Costco, Target, Kroger’s, Albertsons, Walgreen’s etc. etc. all in a short drive from home... then you will likely be disappointed by the lack of variety in shopping choices. We have K-mart, we have a couple stores like Sams and Costco and we have a few supermarkets. Sometimes you might not find what you are looking for, sometimes the brand you want might not be available, some things/brands might just not be carried here.

Meats and veggies - I have had friends and family when visiting comment that we don't have the diverse cuts/quality of meat and variety that they do in 'wherever, USA' that they are from. In terms of veggies & fruits, because everything is brought in you might find that sometimes the veggie/fruit section looks quite sad and fruits pricey. But we get the regular stuff; oranges, apples, strawberries, plums, nectarines and we also have the local fruits like mangos, coconuts, plums, mesple, soursop, sugarapples, papaya, star fruit, tamarind, kenips, gooseberries, guavas, guavaberries… 🙂

There is a grocery list with prices on this site, it’s from last year but will give you an idea: Scroll to the bottom of http://vimovingcenter.com/cost_of_living/

Electric is expensive but again depends on where you are comparing it to, phone is ok, cable is ok, cell service is ok, gas for stoves is ok, buying water - well depends on how much water you find yourself buying. You can find prices for these in the same cost of living section mentioned. Again from last year. There are electricity outages for short time frames (a few minutes to a few hours) from time to time… lately its been a couple times a week, or so it seems, but that’s not usually the case.

Gas Prices: It is like $2.80-$3.00 on St. Thomas... on St. Croix like $1.95-$2.00. (There is a refinery on St. Croix thus the lower prices.)

What type of job will your girlfriend be looking for, what field? As well her son?

There are school buses, but I don't know that they go everywhere on the island and I don't know whether the private schools have them.

--Islander

Hello
I just wanted to thank islander and Linda for responding, you were very informative! Alot of what you said is the way I had imagined it. We will be relocating from a medium size town in Ohio. The children are in grades 7,8 and 11 (I think...). The school system is going to be our biggest concern up front. I was wondering if anyone had a bad experience (or good experience) comming from the mainland and putting their children in the public school system there. The crime issues seem to be as they are in every major city in the USA, i believe that because the islands are smaller, you all hear about it more often. Bottom line is we are going to visit before we make our final decision, but i believe the positive things on the island are going to outweigh the negative things.

I thank you again, and if anyone else wants to add anything more, we are all ears!!

take care!!

Ken

KEN
An hour ago my server had problems and my "advice" (a well thought out piece of advice, I thought) was swallowed up in cyber space. I will try again.

What I tried to say had to do with the Virgin Island public High Schools.

I have had no children go through the Virgin Island Schools, either public or private. What I am saying has only to do with what folks have said to me here, and what has been discussed on this web site.

First of all , you should go through the archieves of this web site. Then you should read articles in the "Daily News" and the St Croix Source. Check to get web sites

This will give you a better picture of the "public Secondary Schools on St Croix and St Thomas.

The opinion of most seems to say that you should try to put your children in private schools at any cost....

Being a teenager is a difficult thing to do.If you are moving here and expecting your teenagers to be as "flexable as you"...you are making a serious mistake.

Learn a lot more. Do not put your kids in the public secondary schools (7th through 12th). If you cannot afford the cost of private high schools on St Croix, maybe this is not the best move for your family.

Thank you for your input professor, you offically scared us away. lol, not really, but you advice has made us search deeper for even more information. we are proceeding with caution...thank you very much!!

Ken and Carrie

My kid is the main reason I'm waiting until she graduates before my wife and I make the jump to STX. Nothing at all against the islands, but like right now my 12 year old daughter is doing competitive/travelling cheerleading (2 time National Championship team) and experiencing a lot of different states in the US. As much as we love to travel (affordably) she's been to more states than many her own age. Locking her down on an island right now as a pre teen just doesn't seem fair, and it would cost a fortune to go back to travel the states once there.

I am planning a trip next year with her so she can also experience the islands.