How long of a drive is too long?

[CheerfulYank]

My DS is only 2, but I'm putting serious consideration into where I want him to go to school. We live in rural Minnesota, and our local public school (state I'd suppose you'd say ) is very...adequate, but that's all it is.

I very much want him to have a classical education. I also want uniforms, and if possible, the year-round school system.

Minnesota is the U.S. leader for charter schools, and there are several that have the things I'd like for him. However, they're all at least an hour away. We might consider moving at some point.

So basically...how long of a drive is TOO long?

I think that you are being a bit precious in wanting an 'excellent' school. The most important factor in academic success is parental support. You can do that quite well at an adequate school; for that matter, you can do parental support BETTER when DC attend a local school than a far away one (because you're not wasting time and energy on the commute).
I lurk on an American board (mothering.com) and most those ladies would say 45minutes is the limit, they home-ed if it's any further for little ones.

Even a mere 45 minutes each way means 3 Hours of driving for you each day. No, no, no... Obviously you'd have to give up work to do that, too; is that going to benefit your family? What happens when you get home from the school run and see your DC's violin or swim kit on the kitchen counter? Won't it be fun to do an extra 1.5 hours driving? No, no, no...

I went to an American primary school with an "excellent" academic reputation; I hated it and was miserable and did terrible academically because I was badly bullied which they didn't recognise at all. The worst part is that my niece had the same experience at same school 20 years later!!