Appleton Public Schools Stereotypes: Appleton West is the worst school according to people I know with experience there, via their own kids, or teachers who teach there. It is more of the inner city attitude, and there are more poor families that attend there due to it's location in the city. Obviously this also means that the school is the least safe of the 3, however, I don't know anyone who says it is not a safe school. Appleton East is the mid range school, probably the most middle class of the three. Appleton North, by far, and not even close, the best of the three. It serves mostly the kids in the suburbs of Appleton and the new housing developments/suburbs on the North side of Appleton. I have had 2 kids go through there, and their sports, theater, music programs are second to none in Appleton. They have the fewest discipline issues, least "gang" activity (if that is what it is still called these days), etc... I'm not 100% certain of the elementary schools that serve North, but I know that Huntley is one of them. Einstein is their middle school, which like the high school has the best opportunities to not be involved in the inner city crap. If I were going to make a choice based on school districts, NORTH is the one to pick, and it isn't even close. If sports is your thing, Kimberly is the place to go outside of Appleton, however, when a school is known for being very competitive in their sports programs, it is also harder to crack the starting line-ups on teams, if you are a below average athlete, sports will take a back seat because if you aren't the cream of the crop, there will be no place athletically for your kids. I know parents who have had kids that are athletes, and those who have kids who are not athletes. Even those who have athletic kids that have participated on those teams say that the stress related to competing in that district can be pretty severe. I guess it depends on your views on high school sports...