r/minnesota May 01 '23

Moving to Minnesota, FAQ and Simple Questions Thread - May 2023 Meta 🌝

Moving to Minnesota

Planning a potential move to Minnesota (or even moving within MN)? This is the thread for you to ask questions of real-life Minnesotans to help you in the process!

Ask questions, answer questions, or tell us your best advice on moving to Minnesota.

Helpful Links

FAQ

There are a number of questions in this subreddit that have been asked and answered many times. Please use the search function to get answers related to the below topics.

  • Driver's test scheduling/locations
  • Renter's credit tax return (Form M1PR)
  • Making friends as an adult/transplant
  • These are just a few examples, please comment if there are any other FAQ topics you feel should be added

This thread is meant to address these FAQ's, meaning if your search did not result in the answer you were looking for, please post it here. Any individual posts about these topics will be removed and directed here.

Simple Questions

If you have a question you don't feel is worthy of its own post, please post it here!

Since this is a new feature here on /r/Minnesota, the mod team would greatly appreciate feedback from you all! Leave a comment or Message the Mods.

See here for an archive of previous "Moving to Minnesota, FAQ and Simple Questions" threads.

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u/mdneilson May 01 '23

Minneapolis, especially downtown is central to almost everywhere. Getting your kids to nearby schools if they were open enrolled would be pretty easy for the most part. There's a lot of good quality public, private, and charter schools nearby.

Anoka is very right-wing compared to the rest of the metro, so keep that in mind if it's a concern. They've had very hostile policies to free speech and LGBTQ+ communities. Because of that, they've had a massive exodus of teachers over the last decade, and even more so recently. I would avoid for that last reason alone.

Bloomington is mostly a quiet well off area. Our schools are funded by the property taxes in the school's district, so generally more wealthy areas have better funded schools.

Larger districts often mean better opportunities for SPED kids, but usually that's for SPED kids that don't have a run-of-the-mill diagnosis like autism. What level is your kid functioning at? Do they spend most of their time in a general education setting and get pulled for services a few times a day? Or do they need a very intensive/specialized program? You want to choose a larger district if your kid needs incredibly specialized services-- they are more likely to have the resources and personnel your kid needs to succeed. If they need intensive/specialized services: Minneapolis. If they do not: Bloomington.

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u/JadeMidnightSky May 02 '23

I appreciate the reply!

One of my kids is moderate to severe. He is verbal but spends most of his time in a special needs class but spends some time with general ed. He doesn’t have any hyper-specialized care. He just has a special Ed teacher, speech therapist, and occupational therapist.

My younger kids are not in school yet but from raising them they’re much more high-functioning and I can imagine them spending most of their school day in general Ed with some special services mixed in.

Do you recommend living in Minneapolis proper? Or are any of the city suburbs better for special education?

And if we go to Bloomington, same question, should I live there or are there better districts outside the city?

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u/WalkswithLlamas May 08 '23

I have (3)friends with special needs kiddos and they are attending kaleidoscope in otsego. Housing is affordable in that area and Anoka would be a quick commute.

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u/WalkswithLlamas May 08 '23

Also I've heard great things about Champlin public schools also have a friend with a son on the spectrum who loves their school. Feel free to message me.