Seeking Any Information About Lawton, OK

I live in Lawton. I can't help you with the military aspect, but I can send you the links to the playgroups if you'd like. Just send me a message. :)

I grew up here in Lawton, and basically there are good things and bad things about any place. Remember that when you move- everything is what you make of it.

If you are military, there are lots of good things. Fort Sill is a beautiful post. There are decent places to shop there for the basics like food and the PX is good for one stop shopping, it's like a step up from a Wal-Mart. The atmosphere is friendly and everything is well-kept for the most part. Plus, there are lots of places on post to have a great time outdoors.

However, if you're not military you won't be able to shop there. And unfortunately, the shopping in Lawton isn't all that great. You can get the basics in town as well as on post, but if you are looking for variety or quality stores... sorry. Most people go to Oklahoma City or Wichita Falls. We have places like JC Penney in a little mall (Central Mall), but basically whatever you're shopping for, you will have very few options as far as stores. But it could be worse. You can still find most everything you need or want here.

Lawton isn't a huge town, but it isn't small either. It has three high schools, a university, four middle schools, and over a dozen elementary schools. From 7th grade on up, the schools are pretty decent. As far as grade schools, I guess it depends on where you live. Some are better than others. Although there are some options to live in a smaller town outside of Lawton, I would recommend staying in Lawton if you are planning on living here for more than a few years. The Lawton Public School system will better prepare your child for college, and because of the diversity it will better prepare your child for the world in my opinion. Plus there are more opportunities for extracurricular activities and exposure to new things in a larger school. There are some private schools too, nothing really special, I think public schools are better here comparatively.

There are lots of things to do here. Your best bet is to do exactly what you are doing and ask around. I know a great ballet center and there are plenty of other activities available for children here too, karate, swimming, that kind of stuff. Boy/Girls Scouts is a good idea and the suggestion of checking out the YMCA is a great idea too as was mentioned.

What really spurred my reply was that I wanted to tell you about the Wichita mountain wildlife refuge. It's my favorite place. This area is fairly unique. The plains landscape is beautiful and mostly preserved in the refuge. You can drive through, it's located just outside of town. There are great places to hike and some lakes for fishing. It's cool because there are free-ranging bison, longhorn, elk, turkey, etc. Everytime I go I see several types of animals right outside the car- you could almost touch them. Wouldn't recommend that though. There aren't many power lines or fences, it's nice there.

I could tell you more, but specifics other than what I have mentioned all depend on your interests I suppose. Email me if you like, ____@____.com. Especially if you need advice about neighborhoods or just a playdate for your child. There are a few really nice parks to visit. I have two daughters, 5 1/2 and 4.

M.

WE have been here at Fort Sill for about a year and a half. I don't know much about schools. My kids are 3 and 9 months. We live in Geronimo, just south of Lawton. We had a hard time finding a good home in Lawton that we could afford and the waiting list on post was almost 2 years for us. So, if you want to live off post, you might check out Geronimo. It's quiet. They have schools here, but I don't know how great they are here in Geronimo. The YMCA has great programs like sports and swimming for all age groups. My 3 year old has played soccer, basketball, and will play t-ball at the Y. You can sign up through MWR on post. They have a great lake recreation area on post called Lake Elmer Thomas Recreation Area (LETRA). We love it! I am in a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group that you might be interested in. Your kids don't have to be preschoolers to be in the group. WE will start up again in August. You can email me at ____@____.com and I will give you more websites for info to check out.

hi L.,
i moved to lawton about 6 yrs ago and i have grown to love it.
again with the schools it depends on were you move in lawton because of the school district it kind of dictates were you go to school.i feel that the east side is best because of Park Lane and macathur middle and high school.however the schools are good anywhere you go in lawton.Lawton christian and St.mary's are the private schools we offer i feel that st.mary's is a liitle less expensive but it is your choice,my friends children go to lawton christian and they love it the however the extra curricular activities are not the main focus.
we have several good hair salons in lawton this is not a question for me because i do my own hair.best eats are on cache road- Chili's, applebee's, outback, we even have a texas lone star grill you would enjoy :)lol, red lobster all kinds of good eats,for breakfast though i do have to recomend rise and shine its a little hole in the wall on cache and 16th but man it is great!!!swim lessions at the lawton ymca on gore blvd.my neice and nephew loved it, they also have the rinehart pool on ft.sill but you may have to be military i dont know.places to shop of course wallmart, but there are sveral small shops on gore and the mall downtown,we have to walmart stores one on quanna parker and 67th (WEST SIDE)and one on sheridian and ferris (Mid town)we have several movie places throughout lawton.there is a park in practically every neighborhood but the best is kidzone on 38th and elmer thomas
between ferris and cache road. and of course if you like parents night out we have several mommy daddy places, most are
holes in the wall but good company my husband enjoys the star duster on gore he and his buds hang out there on monday night's. Blondie's on cache and horseshoe on 2nd are good too.
for fanciness go to scooters on lee and 82nd to roudy for us but its busy.hey if you like you can contact me anytime for questions or where to go..i would love to answer any questions you have.

I have an 8 year old son and have lived in Lawton all my life. Let me tell you that over the last 15 years the way it has grown is wonderful. And as you have heard we do have a wonderful school system here and many choices. I graduated from Lawton Christian and also attended MacArthur High School. My son attended Douglas Elementary (more on the east side of town) for Kindergarden & beginning of 1st grade. I put him in Woodland Hills (west side) last year after Christmas and just love it. Of course this is where I went to Elementary school as well.
I live out on the west side of town in Pecan Valley. It is just outside of the city limits of Lawton and very quite neighborhoods. You are not sitting on top of your neighbors, there is plenty of space between the houses. I actually live in Cache School district which is about 15 minutes from Lawton. It is a small town. But I am able to send Alex to Lawton schools by using my parents address. You are able to use your babysitters, daycare, or just about anyones Lawton address to change school districts. Once that is done you can send your child to any school within the district.
Any questions feel free to ask away.

L.,
I have lived in Lawton for about 21 years. I am originally from the Austin/San Antonio area. While I miss the scenery and such, I have to admit that most of the people here are very nice.
There's a wide range of people, as we have over 100,000 people here. About 20,000 are military. There are folks here with urban and suburban backgrounds and some who never left sw ok.

If you want any information about any of the over 30 elementary schools, I would suggest you visit the Lawton schools web site. You can find it at www.lawtonps.org. There are two Great Expectations models schools. My children all attended Whittier, and many people I know send their chidlren to Hugh Bish.

The private schools are the School of Arts and Sciences, Lawton Christian, St. Mary's Catholic, Trinty Christain Academy and I thnk it's called Union Baptist.

The smallest of the three high schools is MacArthur. There's also Lawton High, and Eisenhower. I can't make any unbiased remarks about those because my kids are LHS alumni and their dad teaches there.I can tell you all three have a history of graduating National Merit Scholars.

As far as resturants and hair salons are concerned, I suppose it depends on what you have a personal leaning toward. The yellow pages can show you what's around. Many ladies I know vist Michael Landrum's, Tiffany's or the Fringe ( if it's still open.)

As someone pointed out, the shopping leaves something to be desired. But if you can't make the drive to Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, there's always the internet ( smile.)

I hope this is of some help. Feel free to get back with me.

S.

Hi L., my name is Kim and I too am a stay at home mom. I have a 6 year old in kindergarten at Pioneer Park Elementary School, a 3 year old and 7 1/2 month old at home. We moved here from Savannah, GA, so the shock was crazy. After living here for almost 3 years now, I love it. It's quiet, most of the time, there is alot of nature to explore as you've been told by some others. Shopping isn't that bad, yes, it's limited to 2 Walmarts, K-Mart, and the Central Mall, but it really isn't that bad. I do my grocery shopping on post, but everything else I find just fine off post. If you have a weekend free, go to OKC, there are lots of bigger malls and such there, or go down to Wichita Falls, there are some great places there too. As I said, my son attends Pioneer Park, which is on the East Side of Lawton. I think the school is great and my son loves it and his teacher. When we first moved here, we rented a place on the east side and looked around town awhile. Eventually about 3 months down the road, we bought our house here on the East side. There isn't anything wrong with the other areas of town, but this neighborhood is just really quiet and friendly too. My husband works on Ft. Sill and our house is just 5 minutes away with traffic and stop lights. I belong to the YMCA myself, it is a great place. They have all the sports and lessons you'd like. If you have any other questions, just let me know.

Lawton is great and all of the info is pretty much covered! One thing you won't want to miss is the Just Between Friends Children's and Maternity Consignment sales. They have two a year and the fall sale is coming up in September. It's a great place to sell your outgrown children's clothes and toys and stock up for what you need at a discounted price. Sign up and find details online at jbfsale.com/lawton.