Unfortunately, due to the large increase in personnel at Eglin, Niceville High School is no longer offering new waivers for students who are not zoned for Niceville High School. Do not make your decision to move to South Walton based on the possibility of obtaining a waiver for Niceville. It's not going to happen. I know several families who have had to move to Niceville from South Walton just so they would be within Niceville High School zoning. To be honest, there are many benefits of living in South Walton, but there are many struggles as well. High school has been a struggle for our family. My children are bright, studious, and good kids. We have done our best to provide them with excellent education opportunities, but we've had to go the private and charter school route, and those options are limited here as well (and not perfect either).
You have to decide if the benefits of living in South Walton outweigh the challenges. In our experience, not just the education options are limited, but also extracurricular activities as well. One example is that South Walton High School has limited athletic teams available and many of the smaller sports (wrestling, rugby, lacrosse, field hockey, swimming) also are not available, or have limited availability, within the community. There are many other things that the high school and community lack that larger schools and communities expect to be readily available. College options are also limited. There are plentiful good paying summer jobs, but not a lot of opportunity for education and good paying "real" jobs for young adults--something that is important to think about if you'd like your college-age kids to have the option to live nearby. I don't mean to be negative, but as I've said, this has been, and continues to be, a real struggle for a family.