NEED BEST SCHOOLS/Family Friendly Suburbs outisde of Baltimore!!!! (Columbia: transfer, best school districts)

[jmatzuga]

My husband is possibly getting transferred to Baltimore. We currently live in Raleigh, NC and love it. We have 2 kids, 8 and 3. From what I have read it looks like most families live outside of the city in suburbs. What are the most popular suburbs???? I am a Pre-K teacher for children with Autism. Does anyone know about the school systems Pre-K's? We need good school systems in a nice, family friendly area. My son plays on a travel baseball team, so we also would love to know of a good baseball league. Thanks for your help.

[cbrc5ed]

You might like the Harford County area (where I'm from), like Forest Hill, Jarrettsville, Fallston, Bel Air, Abingdon. It's what you describe, very family friendly. There is a Pre-K thru High school special ed school called John Archer. John Archer School
Plenty of Rec and Travel Baseball teams. The school system here is very good, especially those schools west of the Route 40 corridor.

Others include (Baltimore County) Towson, Timonium/Lutherville, Cockeysville, Perry Hall, White Marsh, Hereford, (Carroll County) Westminster, Hampstead, Manchester. Also check out Howard County. I'm not too famliar with the southern Counties like Anne Arundel so I won't comment.

BTW, cost of living up here is alot more than North Carolina! And you'll have to get used to the longer winters and more snow

[Linksnut]

Harford, Carroll, Howard, and Baltimore counties all have good subdivisons with good schools for families. Howard, as a rule is the most expensive, Carroll least. You should consider the commute involved with each area, as commutes around Baltimore/Washington can be nasty. A short one could be a big factor determining in your area of concentration.

[SmokeyLisa]

Try Howard County depending on how long of a commute you are willing to have. You have the Cedar Lane school which is a special education school plus several of the schools in the county offer pre-k for several.

Ellicott City/Columbia/Clarksville might be your best choice because of its proximity to either Baltimore or the cedar lane school.

[Tallybalt]

School districts in Maryland are county-wide, and as a consequence are very big, so people don't necessarily talk about the best school districts, but the best actual elementary/middle/high schools.

As counties go, Howard County is considered to have the best scoring schools, and in terms of feel, Howard resembles any prosperous North Carolina suburb. But a large portion of Howard County is Columbia, whose schools are not as "good" as many Baltimore County or Carroll County schools.

I would say the "best" schools are found in these suburban areas:

1. Howard County outside Columbia and Elkridge.

2. Towson, Hunt Valley, Cockeysville, Timonium/Lutherville, Phoenix, Sparks, Monkton, Hereford in Baltimore County (all these suburbs are along the I-83 Corridor stretching north of Baltimore City).

3. Bel Air/Forest Hills in Harford County

4. Liberty/South Carroll in Carroll County

The best schools in Anne Arundel County tend to be down in Davidsonville, which is a Washington suburb rather than a Baltimore suburb.

Mind you, at the end of the day there will be only minor differences between the "best" schools in all these suburbs.

[are you kidinme?]

Let me put in a vote for Anne Arundel County. The best schools in AACo are actually not in the Davidsonville area, but in Arnold/Severna Park. The elementary schools in the Broadneck area are some of the best in the state and the High Schools are in the very best as well. In addition, there are outstanding community services. Do some investigation and take a visit. AACo. also has more miles of waterfront than any county in the state. It is correct to say this is not a Baltimore suburb, although it borders Baltimore. It is focused on Annapolis and DC. (this is good)