[miker78]

Hello everyone, this is the first time I am posting on this forum and looking for some advice from some locals. It is very tricky to visit an area on a weekend and get the "real feel" of the neighborhood.

I am from long island, ny and thinking of relocating to central CT. I am 27, married, with a five year old daughter. After looking at many homes, I found one off Great Swamp Road in North Glastonbury that I am really interested in. I have heard great things about Glastonbury and hoping all those great things apply to Northern Glastonbury as well.

In driving through the area, I noticed quite a bit of apartments and run down houses off of Griswold Street, near Naubuck School. I am concerned for my five year old daughter, who will be attending Naubuck School, that she will be exposed to a rougher group of kids as compared to other areas.

I would love to hear first hand experiences from the North Glastonbury area as well as the Naubuck School. Thanks.

[Dragondog]

That is Glastonbury's low rent area- for most of the town is not cheap.
Naubuc school will have more in the way of 'diversity' then some of the other schools in town- but I would not call it rough of tough.

[miker78]

Thanks, do you live in that area or do you know anyone around there?

[Dragondog]

I live in nearby Vernon- I in my youth lived a few miles away- and know the area very well-

[mels]

Have no fears, there are no “rough” areas of Glastonbury. The area you see by the highway is the only non-aesthetically pleasing area. Glastonbury is a nice town, on the affluent side. Their school system is excellent, lots of shopping in town, plenty of restaurants from fine dining to casual mom and pop places... I also know the area well, so if you have any more questions about the area, fire away.

[angiolettobabii2]

There really are no 'rough' parts of Glastonbury. I went to Naubuc school until 3rd grade and I didn't notice a real difference between there and Hopewell (another elementary school in Glastonbury) when I moved into Hopewell's distract. I hope this helps you out. Any other questions, feel free to ask!

[TMS1220]

My kid's went to Naubuc School. It is a more diverse school because there is more affordable housing on this side of town, however, I would not be concerned. Housing is more affordable, however, it is still up in price, since Glastonbury is a noted to be a more affluent town. I live right off of Griswold Street. Good luck to you.

[cool_mommy]

I worked at Naubuc School. My children were not in attendance as I lived in another town. The school is diverse. I had children of many different backgrounds in my classes. I found that many of the teachers taught the students about the different cultures and would often have the parents in to share even more information about their cultures. The school is incredible. The teachers and administrators really do care about the children and it shows. The programs that are offered to the children are far and above many that I have seen. They also have a first rate special education pre-school.
I can not remember a time or circumstance that wasn't positive. I would have been delighted if my children could have attended Naubuc.
With all of that being said, I am aware that a new school has since been constructed in Glastonbury and many of the teachers have been moved around. I doubt that has had a negative effect on Naubuc.

[JayCT]

coo_mommy - Naubuc School is excellent. Our kids are there and the experience has been great. The teachers are wonderful (none that I know of have left, in fact Naubuc is the only one of the existing schools that added kids in the redistricting) and the adminsitration is excellent too. The new Principal is yound and energic and fit in well with the staff and kids. He goes out on the playground and plays football with the kids at recess. The kids just love that.

You are correct that Naubuc is a diverse school and this has been an excellent experience for our kids. Our kids have friends that are Equdorian, Chinese, Israeli, Indian, Polish, Italian, Irish, spanish, Puerto Rician and Black. My child was just telling me this afternoon about a new kid that started yesterday who is from Iraq. My son is sitting next to this boy and has been asked to be his buddy and show him around. There was an article in the local paper on how the childs father was an interpreter for some soldiers from Glastonbury and they helped the family relocate here. The boy does not speak a lot of English but my son says they can communicate just fine. What a great experience! I doubt we will find this in many other schools in town.

I also want to say that the parents at Naubuc are very very involved in school activities. We recently ran into a mother of a child that relocated to another school district. She wanted to stay in Naubuc but wanted a bigger house. They bought a house that was suppose to be in the Naubuc district under the redistricting plan but in the end the neighbors fought it and the street was redistricted to a different school. The mother was very disappointed and said she could not believe how much more involved in the school and fund raising activities the parents at Naubuc are than the school her child now attends. Don't get me wrong, she said that the other school is very good but she said she sees a difference and misses Naubuc.

Anyway, I know the original post on this thread is old but I thought I would just comment anyway. Jay

[vvolin]

I let people with direct experience with Naubuc answer your question. But I can tell you this. My daughter attends the school at the opposite side of town, Nayaug, the new one. Rough children? Come and visit us one day: you will see the cliques in action. No, we do not have any diversity there, and it is a real loss. But we do have all the roughness that comes when children are not exposed to diversity, are not taught tolerance, acceptance, openness. And when it comes to academics, it is still all a matter of finding a good teacher. My daughter didn't and I am here wondering if it was a good move to come to CT last year.

Do not let the demographics scare you. Glastonbury is too affluent across the border to have the issues of some neighboring towns. Even in the "rougher" area of town, roughness is a very relative term. Actually, the north side of town, with a little more diverse demographics, provides the opportunity to learn to deal with different people, different socio-economic situations. Who knows, maybe the cliques have less ground to grow there.....