Temp Relocation w/ Golden Retriever and 12y/o boy

Tammy, I'm relatively new to the board, as well, but wanted to suggest scrolling down through the threads and look through the VI's MOST WANTED bit. There's a couple of links in there you might find helpful on the crime question, and there are loads of helpful folks on here that will answer the rest. Just keep checking back.

Hello Tammy,

Welcome to the board.

Click on the home link at the top of this page and then from there choose Moving with Pets and Education/Schools and Housing/Apartments and Island Living (and from there crime) to read up on the topics you are seeking information on.

As for finding a place with a large dog... it will be tough but it’s not impossible. You might consider getting a realtor to help. Check the classifieds in the Source and Daily News.

12 years old = 7th grade... Is that right? Really investigate this. The public junior high schools here are limited to two choices, Cancryn and Bertha Boschulte. I'd have some serious inhibitions about sending my child to the public junior high schools on St. Thomas particularly if they: hadn't attended public elementary school here so weren't familiar with the culture, didn't know other kids that might be there, were weak in terms of socializing, were not mature enough to deal with peer pressure, had anything less than great self esteem, didn’t have good study habits, could not defend themselves well if met with verbal attacks and prevent them from becoming physical. And if your son is white, then being able to adjust easily to being (very likely) the only white student in a classroom, if not the school. I didn't even mention the educational factors that might be less than stellar. Just investigate it well. The education link I mentioned above has a list of schools with websites, if the schools have one, and telephone numbers.

There are sports, beaches, movies for his entertainment. What type of things does he like to do in his free time?

--Islander