[Limey109]

I've looked around this site trying to find out what I need, but it seemed like registering and asking outright might be more effective, and quicker.

So, my family and I have been working overseas for a few years and we're due to come home soon. We've lived in a lot of different places, but the North-East was always our favourite, as it just felt like home.

What we want is privacy, peace & quiet, and good schools for our kids (they're elementary & middle school age currently, but high school is approaching). Rural CT appeals, a lot, but we'd equally look at the bottom edge of Mass or even the part of NY state which borders that area.

Can anybody recommend a really nice, quiet area with good schools? I'm assuming that the NW CT corner is best for us, as we're drawn to CT and it's a little less populated in that particular spot, although please correct me if I'm wrong

I've looked at Zillow, they have the great schools ratings on their site etc. But it all seems very hit and miss.

So really, if anybody living in the countryside within that area, can say to me that, "My area is peaceful and I'm really happy with the schools" then it was help us enormously. As would anybody steering us away from a worse school zone etc.

Any comments will be gratefully received.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by Limey109

So really, if anybody living in the countryside within that area, can say to me that, "My area is peaceful and I'm really happy with the schools" then it was help us enormously. As would anybody steering us away from a worse school zone etc.

My brother currently lives in Torrington and has lived in Norfolk. The Litchfield County area is peaceful, but many of the public schools are average or below. The town of Litchfield has some of the better high schools: Wamogo Regional and Litchfield HS. Wamogo serves Warren, Morris and Goshen. Mills Regional High School serving Harwinton and Burlington is also well-rated. So I would recommend these towns: Litchfield if you can afford it, otherwise the Wamogo cluster.

My brother's son attended private school and graduated from a charter high school in Winsted. They were happy with the charter school. My cousins also attended the public schools in Torrington which are middling.

The Housatonic Valley Regional High School serves smaller towns like Caanan and Falls Village. It get a 7 out of 10 rating, but mixed reviews. If you can afford private schools, you might consider the Indian Mountain or Salisbury schhols.

[JayCT]

There are many great rural parts of Connecticut to consider. A lot would depend on your price range, what you expect for your budget and how far you want to be from major cities or towns. Northwest Connecticut is beautiful and there are MANY nice towns to consider there. I would not trust the school ratings on Greatschools.com. As has been discussed here MANY times their ratings are questionable at best. We have seen well regarded schools here rated poorly and questionable schools given good ratings. I would look at testing scores on the Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performance Tests. I look for schools that perform at or above the state averages on these tests. I also look for schools with class sizes as close to 20 students as possible. A link to information on schools in Connecticut is below. Jay

State Department of Education - CEDaR

[RunD1987]

New Milford or Litchfield probably be your best choice...be curious to see what happens to New Milford now that they have a Democratic mayor.

[NewJeffCT]

depending on how far west you want to live, you can get some pretty good schools - in terms of test scores, Nonnewaug Regional does pretty well (Woodbury and Bethlehem) and Northwestern Regional as well (Barkhamsted, Winsted, Colebrook and New Hartford) as well as Pomperaug Regional (Southbury and Middlebury). Not great, but definitely above average for the state and CT typically scores among the best for public schools in the nation.

[goldenage1]

It also depends on the kind of experience you want for your kids. The regional high schools are fairly small. Northwestern is under 800 students, and not diverse (about 97% white). It does seem to have decent offerings in languages (Spanish, Italian and Chinese), and it does have AP classes in science and calculus.

The Mount Everett Regional High School in Sheffield Massachusetts is even smaller: about 300 students. Would your kids thrive in a small school, or would they be bored by the lack of things to do in town?

[Limey109]

What great replies, thank folks.

In answer, I think my kids would thrive in a smaller school as they're a pair of boys who enjoy one-on-one interaction, and love being active and entertaining themselves on outdoor things. I'm sure I'll see some changes in their teenage years but I'm not going to worry about that yet, and hopefully I'll find them a few outdoor things that hold their interest as they continue to grow up.

We're living in a big city right now and ironically all they want to do is get away from it to have their fun. Regarding diversity, they've already done four years in Italian state school, they've completely figured out the language (better than I have...) and they get good grades, so I think they'll always be open minded around others who are different from them.

Thanks for that link JayCT, I'll take a proper look at the info contained later on.

Am I right in assuming that these areas are far enough away from NYC that their communities are of permanent residents, rather than having lots of empty vacation type homes?

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by Limey109

Am I right in assuming that these areas are far enough away from NYC that their communities are of permanent residents, rather than having lots of empty vacation type homes?

Yes. There are scatterings of summer vacation homes along the lakes and weekend homes of well-off New Yorkers. Most of the communities are permanent residents. It is good to hear your kids know Italian, as many Litchfield County families orginated in Italy as few generations back.

There is plenty of outdoor recreation from hiking and canoeing to skiing (when there is enough snow).

[Hedgehog11]

Fyi, Northwest Regional, region 7 is located IN Winsted but Winsted kids do NOT go to it. It covers Barkhamsted, New Hartford and Colebrook.

[basehead617]

Originally Posted by Limey109

Am I right in assuming that these areas are far enough away from NYC that their communities are of permanent residents, rather than having lots of empty vacation type homes?

Actually, it really depends on the town and if you mean the extreme northwest or not. if you mean the northernmost towns (Salisbury, Norfolk, Canaan, etc). the vacation home presence is low. if you mean in the 'southern northwest' (Roxbury, Washington, Bridgewater) it's EXTREMELY high.. some estimates say 30-40% of homes. The latter school system (Region 12) is shrinking due to demographics but is considered the best in that region of the state.

All of the above are very rural, but there is a noticeable uptick in activity in the summer and on weekends when more homes are being lived in.