[PinkPrimrose]

My family will be moving to West Hartford soon. We have two school age girls. I would like to know more about the middle and high schools there. I have read bad things about Sedgwick middle, such as gang like activity. Are we talking clicks or drugs, violence and promiscuity? My number one concern is keeping my girls safe. Both testing results look good but I have been unable to find ‘incident’ reports. What can you tell me about the schools' atmosphere?

[JayCT]

While I do not live in West Hartford, but I do know a bit about the town and have not heard anything about gang activity at Sedgewick. Where did you read this? I strongly doubt it is anything to worry about. The problems with clicks, drugs, volence and promiscuity occur in most middle and high schools to some degree (even private schools), it is a matter of watching your child closely to be sure they are not getting involved. Generally West Hartford schools are among the best in the area. I would not worry about it. Jay

[BagongBuhay]

PinkPrimrose - I don't believe you'll get a real honest answer in a public forum like this to your question. Incidents like these don't make it to the West Hartford News or the Hartford Courant because there is no criminal activity, so really, it is more an "environment" issue. Suffice it to say that there is a long standing rivalry between KP and Sedwick which carries into Hall and Conard...just your typical town school rivalry issues. Each school has its problems, some worse than others. Like Jay said, keep a tab on your kids and they should make it okay.

[bassholic]

Where are you moving from? The problems you speak of sound like the "typical" middle school and high school problems that kids should experience while going through life. FYI i am moving to the W. end of Hartford in a week, so i know nothing about the area since i am coming from DE.

[joymorsels]

We moved our 7th grader from another region of the country to Sedwick in February of this year. They did an amazing job of helping her fit in socially. Her counselor spent time with her getting to know her and then went out into her new team (there are 4 groups of students in the 7th grade) and found a girl that she thought my daughter would get along with. It was a wonderful fit and my daughter quickly found herself a group of smart, independent, polite girls that I am very pleased with. We've had no problem with cliques or gangs of any sort. We are also happy with the academics at Sedgwick. My daughter is a very strong student and, although not quite as challenging overall as her previous school, she has finally found an English teacher that is pushing her. All and all, we are very happy and are looking forward to sending our younger child when it's his turn.

[PinkPrimrose]

Thank you for your responses. I have been in the process of moving from Alabama to Southington temporarily. We are still looking for a house in West Hartford. I am including both school areas in my search based on your responses and based on my visits to the schools. KP was friendlier and better looking but I was not turned off by anything I saw at Sedgwick. Also, my 7th grader has a slight learning disability does one school have better accommodations than the other?

[Skatergirl]

I had children in the school system in W.H. I would highly recommend Hall h.s. Good rigorous academics and good sports programs. I had a child at King Phillip m.s. The m.s. was okay, but a lot of innapropriate social interactions between boys and girls. I wouldn't call it gang activity, but more like groups of kids identifying with each other hanging out. Nothing too different from when I was a kid in school. Pretty much the typical stuff. I wasn't overly impressed with this school. I was with Hall. There is a private catholic school near hall. I've only heard about it 3rd person, so I won't make any commentary on it.