Bristol area question (Waterbury, Southington, Cheshire: work, diversity, quiet)

[davfar]

Don't forget too that from Bristol, there are soooo many other schools to choose from. For high schools atleast, there is St Paul Catholic, EC Goodwin (if its open again), Southington is VoAg, and then all the private schools in WH, Farmington, Simsbury, Cheshire, and Litchfield County.

Also, it should be noted that Bristol is one of the larger cities in the state. If we're looking at test scores, I would shun the smaller towns with poor test scores. The more students there are, the lower the average will be.

[starsareours]

stay away from plymouth, the outlying areas might look like a nice rural town but it's pretty much a dump. terryville especially. the school system is laughable, and they already don't have enough staff or resources for their new high school (which was finally built after 20+ years of promising it to students.) thomaston is a step up but not by that much.

[sun]

Originally Posted by KH02

Schools are my top priority and i will settle for nothing less then the best.
I'm not saying Bristol is bad... its' just not for me and doesnt meet what my requirements for schooling are. As far as diversity, yes bristol is a good school for that.
But diversity isn't really on my list of considerations...

I wouldn't argue that Bristol may not be the best or for everyone.
My question stems from what exactly is the definition of the best?
Just because a child attends one of the better school systems, doesn't mean that they will test better or be a better student than one of those attending one of the other less desirable school systems
Most early learning starts in the home. Lots of students don't perform well because their parents don't help to tutor them or supervise their studies closely enough.
Sometimes a city will have unique programs and services that the "better" town systems simply don't offer or allocate enough money for. Even some of the better and more expensive private schools don't offer the same number of accelerated classes and services that some "lesser" public school systems might.
While I understand the reliance of testing as a measurement of a system, if a student doesn't perform or test well, why is it the system's fault and not the student's and the student's family?
That's the same as it is in the poorer districts too. It's also the quality of the students that the testing measures, and not just the quality of the school system itself.

[Coem]

I can't believe I'm actually going to defend something about Bristol since I couldn't wait to get out of that town after high school but.... I find KH02's dismissal of Bristol's public schools to be unfounded and a little snobbish. Plenty of my classmates went on to some of the nation's best colleges such as Dartmouth, NYU, Boston College. The valedictorian of the class before mine went to Harvard. Bristol's Central's AP courses and teachers were top-notch. This was ten years ago, but I can't imagine a lot has changed in ten years. Sure, there were a lot of drop-outs and kids who were just getting by, however these students were usually not in the same classes as those who were going on to college. I serioulsy don't think public schools in the surrounding towns are any better.

[KH02]

Thanks for everyone's opinions, but we have decided where to live and are most likely going the private school route instead.

[debct]

Originally Posted by KH02

I briefly have lived in Southington awhile back but was wondering if their were other towns surrounding Bristol with good school systems and low crime that were within a 20 min commute to bristol.

Plainville, schools are great. There are lots of things for kids to do. IT is quiet and safe.

[Lincolnian]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You are correct that Bristol schools are far from the worst, but they are hardly the best either. Bristol schools generally score under the state averages on the Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performance tests. Class sizes however are reasonable (about 20 students per class). Jay

Jay,

The reason why the scores are lower in Bristol is that Bristol has a greater range in incomes compared to surrounding communities. As a teacher, and resident, in Bristol who has also worked in other districts, I can attest that Bristol offers the same quality educational programs that many of the more affluent surrounding communities provide. Bristol also consistently outperforms other school districts with the same demographics.

Kids will face many temptations in their lives. More affluent districts like Farmington, Avon and Simsbury have their own unique problems such as extreme peer pressure, drug and alcohol abuse, and other problems associated with easy access to money and often too much freedom from parental supervision. Bristol students have to contend with dealing with kids who may be from a dramatically different family and economic structure than they experience in their lives. Drugs and alcohol are a problem in Bristol too but they are of a different type and kids have less access to the money. Students tend not to be as mobile as more affluent neighbors due to pure economics.

One major advantage of living Bristol from a parent's point-of-view is that the lower cost of living here affords parents the opportunity to have one of the parents work part-time or stay at home enabling them to be more involved in their children's lives. Private schools are available and affordable as well.

[JayCT]

Lincolnian - Thank you for your thoughts and the information on Bristol schools. It is very hard to judge a school system based upon statistics alone. There is nothing like first hand knowledge. Jay

[mt.]

Originally Posted by uconn99

What is so bad about the Bristol School System? I know its not the greatest, but it is far from the worst. If anything kids there have an advantage with diversity.

Lets get something straight, bristol has at least two blue ribbon schools and bristol is known for having good schools. bristol is about 90% white, not much of a diversity. i think your confused with new britain which is only about 60% white and is known for troubled schools.

[mt.]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

You should be able to find properties under $500,000 that are between 2000 - 2500 square feet in Cheshire, Wolcott, and Southington as prices are between $190 and $200/square foot. In Farmington, you will get house sizes closer to 2000 square feet. Lot sizes in Southington will typically be 1/3 to 1/2 acre. In Cheshire and Wolcott, they will be a bit larger. They'll be even larger yet in Burlington and Harwinton.

Southington and Cheshire have a greater percentage of properties with city sewer and city water than Wolcott or Farmington. Burlington and Harwinton are predominantly septic and well.

I'm glad that you're not discounting Bristol (I have extended family there). There are a lot of benefits to having a 5- or 10-minute commute!

you know you can find a that kind of house and lot and even a little more of both in bristol as well. keep in mind bristol is more suburban now, its not the little city it used to be.