[mfc1267]

Hello,
I have lived in Stamford all my life, its getting waaaaaaaaaay too expensive living here, Im fortunate to be a SAHM but its a struggle......With that being said, the schools here in Stamford are not good, the only school that was great was the neighboring school for my soon to be kindergartener, however, the wonderful city of Stamford, has now decided to redistrict the this elem school, which is literally a hop and a skip away, the other school that my son will be districted to is NOT in a good location, and was once a "bad" school....the middle school and high schools have also been redistricted, this is frustrating to our community, the city pretty much blind sided up without notifying us properly so that we could have the chance to challenge of fight their decision, the meeting we had with the Board of Ed was the night they had already made their decision, pretty swift huh?
Well, my husband and I were talking to others, they tell us they moved from Stamford to the Redding area, I don't know if its a wise thing to consider?? The most important thing to me is that my children get a great education opportunity where we decide to move to.....what I do know is that the schools here in Stamford (esp middle and high school) are not good....the other thing is I can consider catholic school, but as I said Im a SAHM and its a struggle, not worth going back to work to only pay a sitter, my kids are still 2 and 3.5......Im also concerned b/c the house we remodeled (and not knowing about the redistricting of the schools, I wouldn't have remodeled my house to a bigger house), those people who will consider buying our home will most likely be with young kids (we have a 4-5 bedroom colonial), Im certain they will be looking at the school district, and will not purchase our home b/c of the district. If it does sell, how are the schools in redding???? and what's the home market like (we have a 4-5 bedroom colonial, 2.5 baths, 2800 sq feet), we don't need this much space, we can live in 2000 sq home.
Just wondering if anyone has any input...sorry for the long post.
thanks! M

[notjustamom]

Schools in Redding are definitely better than Stamford, in fact most of the towns surrounding the Redding area have better schools than Stamford. (unless you are seeking diversity, and by "better" I mean the schools have higher ratings with higher test scores, etc.) A lot of people leave the Stamford and Norwalk area (ourselves included) and move up the line because they are seeking good schools, and the towns are small and family-friendly. The only thing you might miss is shopping, Redding is far more rural than Stamford and you'll have a little further to drive for shopping and amenities.

[JayCT]

I am sorry to hear about your situation. Unfortunately you do need to keep up with local happenings to know when things like this are going to occur. It is sad that it was kept so quite and happened so quickly.

The schools in Redding are excellent with students performing well over the state averages on the Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performance tests. Class sizes are reasonable (around 20 students per class) as well. Certainly better than Stamford. I agree with notjustamom though. Most of Redding is a pretty rural town and there is no where near the conveniences that other towns in the area have, let alone Stamford.

Have you considered Fairfield? It is a beautiful town with excellent schools and lots of shopping restaurants and entertainment options. Home prices are more reasonable there and there is a wide range of housing options. Just a suggestion, Jay

[mfc1267]

Notjustamom, unfortunately they didn't have postings in the paper about this whole redistricting ordeal, that's what has upset so many of us....it was a shocker and surprise to many of use taxpaying residents...I felt they should have sent out a letter to the streets that were effected, it was just several neighboring streets.......it was a mess........Thanks for to you and Jay for your input, that's what I wanted to hear.....for me surprisingly I like the rural towns, I don't mind taking a short ride to the shopping areas,......Im definitely considering Redding, thanks for your input.
Much appreciated....I needed to hear some positive feedback.