[trebein]

I am wondering if anyone ever moved to Stratford CT or any other town from Bronx NY and want to move back . My family and I moved here back in July and already I am feeling that we should have stayed in NY. I mean I haven't been able to land a social worker job here ( I currently work for city of NY), most things are very expensive, many people are very rude and snobish. Even the schools are not all they were said to be. My kids were in parochial schools before our move, but are now in "supposedly good schools" here. However there curriculum is way below what my kids were already learning back in the Bronx. I want to enroll them back in a catholic school, but since i have not landed a job yet I can't do that just yet.

Please I'll like your opinion if you have eperienced this and how it was eventually resolved. Thanks

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Weesy68 is a poster on this board who recently moved from the Bronx to Stratford. Perhaps you could DM her to discuss the differences between CT/NY?

If you have any questions about Stratford, or the rest of Ct., feel free to post it here.

[Rich Lee]

You mentioned "curriculum" versus "quality of school." Here is a link showing that the state recognizes that steps need to be taken.

http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/po...ster.ppt#256,1, Secondary School Reform in Connecticut

One slide of the presentation (#11) shows six (6) bullet points justifying the reform:

• Connecticut has large achievement gaps, some of the largest in the United States;
  
• Achievement as measured by critical indicators (CAPT, CMT, NAEP) is declining or stagnant;
  
• Too many Connecticut college students require remedial coursework;
  
• Connecticut's high school diploma has low economic value;
  
• Graduates are often unprepared for the Connecticut workplace;
  
• Large percentages of 16-18-year-olds are entering Connecticut's Adult Education system.

This statistic caught my attention: in 2005, 26.2 percent of students received free or reduced lunches.

[Skatergirl]

I didn't find Ct that appealing once I moved there. I had always heard about its beauty and charm. I found the people colder than a canadian winter. The schools were okay. Nothing to rave about. I had children in different schools and moved to private. Wasn't thrilled with those either. I think NY is a great place. I've lived in Staten Island and Manhattan. Wish I could afford to live there again. One day. To answer your question, I thought Ct was cold, boring--except when we took weekend trips to NYC or Boston--and lacked so much of what I missed in a city. Yeah, people were so standoffish. Rude is a way to put it. I never got the idea that people will warm up to you in time. You're nice and friendly or you're not. It's that simple. I actually got used to passing someone around my neighborhood and being ignored if I said hello. At first I was dumbfounded that people would ignore me. I got used to it.l I didn't like it, though. I think you know in your gut if a place is a fit. No shame in going back to a place that you've gained more respect for. Seems like the Bronx fits you to a T.

Oh, and our resolution was to move. So very happy to be outa that state.


**Please don't bother with any flames dear readers. This is an answer to a poster's question about my individual experiences with wanting to leave Ct and not an attempt to incite any negative dialogue on my situation**

[ambarstone]

Originally Posted by trebein

I am wondering if anyone ever moved to Stratford CT or any other town from Bronx NY and want to move back . My family and I moved here back in July and already I am feeling that we should have stayed in NY. I mean I haven't been able to land a social worker job here ( I currently work for city of NY), most things are very expensive, many people are very rude and snobish. Even the schools are not all they were said to be. My kids were in parochial schools before our move, but are now in "supposedly good schools" here. However there curriculum is way below what my kids were already learning back in the Bronx. I want to enroll them back in a catholic school, but since i have not landed a job yet I can't do that just yet.

Please I'll like your opinion if you have eperienced this and how it was eventually resolved. Thanks

___
Trebein,
I am just posting for support. Didn't move here directly from The Bronx but from Westchester and have had a difficult time adapting. I lived in the Bronx 10 years ago and the way I feel now, I'd trade my condo for a project in Hunts Point! Yes, the schools are overrated and people in CT are very cold. In the year living here I have not made a single friend.
If you did not buy any real estate, then why just not move back? We all make mistakes and moving back to NY is not that difficult. That is in fact what I think the solution for my problem is: I am budgeting to move back and rent my current place in CT for the next 30 years or so-it might take that long for it to be worth what I paid for it.
Best luck, hope you come up with a solution that is suitable for you and your family.

[MomOfToo]

Trebein,

Maybe you just moved to the wrong town....we moved to CT 4.5 years ago-my husband from the Bronx, me from Westchester. We bought a condo in Danbury, we liked it there but knew we needed a house (we had alot of problems with our neighbors and noise) so we decided we needed to move where people were not nasty or snotty-just down to earth. We wanted to be closer to the NY border as well. We heard alot about New Fairfield being based on NY'ers. We found a nice house bought it and we love it here! Everyone is friendly, even the teenagers as they walk by you in the street say hello, when does that happen anywhere? The schools are good, rated high, many many people here are originial NY'ers. Two of my neighbors are originally from the Bronx. It took me 3years to get used to Danbury and only a few weeks to get used to New Fairfield. Alot of people here commute to NY. We live 3 miles from the NY/Brewster border so I still find myself in NY....the people are very welcoming here. NY'ers have a certain understanding between eachother that only NY'ers get, KWIM? I get it-I get what you are missing but I found it here. Its a cute small town, everyone I met so far which is alot is from the Bronx, Queens, Tuckahoe, Yonkers. I feel so comfortable here....if you want you can DM me if you have anymore questions. I find NF to be more like NY than CT, which is fine by me!

[andthentherewere3]

Originally Posted by MomOfToo

Trebein,

Maybe you just moved to the wrong town....

That's what I was thinking. The towns and cities vary widely in Ct. I've lived in Ct. 27 years, and there are some towns/cities I absolutely loathe, and some I love. People in some towns are more welcoming than in others.Some have good schools, some have rather poor schools. I admit I've noticed people here on the forum praising some school districts, while I was shaking my head, it just comes down to what an individual is looking for in a school system.

Jobs are scarce pretty much everywhere right now due to the economy, but hopefully you will be able to find something in Ct. soon should you wish to stay.

[KH02]

I agree, you may be in the wrong town.

But you also should have found a job here before moving. Yes, it is expensive we'll all agree on that.
I'd move back if you're unhappy.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by trebein

However there curriculum is way below what my kids were already learning back in the Bronx.

I forgot to ask, have you contacted the superintendent's office about your concerns? I know that historically, the system always erred on the side of caution when placing new students coming from a city environment(i.e.: "slower-paced" level).

[trebein]

Thanks everyone for your reply. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Ambar371, unfoutunately we did buy here in Stratford. And while I love having more living space than we did in the Bronx I can't help but worry that I am compromising my children's education by living here. My then 1st grader was already learning on 2nd and 3rd grade level while my then 2nd grader was learning in the 4th grade level back in their former school. But now they are in 2nd and 3rd grade respectively what they are learning is bascally 1st grade curriculum. Most days they come home with no homeworks and when they do it is only spelling. What happenned to science, language, arts, phonics, social studies etc? They don't even come home with textbooks only a piece of paper. My Kindergartener is only coloring things everyday, whereas when my older kids were in kindergarten back in the Bronx, they were already reading proficiently and making sentences with new words etc. I have been full of regrets on our move here when I saw their quality of education and service. I can't help but wonder where people are getting the notion that Stratford schools are top notch.

Stratford Resident: I spoke to the supritendent about it before my kids were even placed in this school. Originally I wanted them to be placed in Stratford Academy (magnet school) but they said it was full and my kids will have to be placed on waiting list. Now we have to wait and see if they will even get in next year.

As it stands now I am thinking of putting the house back on the market and see if we can at least break even and then move back to the Bronx before next school year. Please let everyone not get me wrong, Stratford is ok for some people but certainly not for me. I don't think I can wait 1-2 years. The job situation here is even worse. They only want to offer me $10/hr job a far cry from what I am currently earning in NY.

I have been looking around in the Bronx for another house and I am seeing many reasonably priced homes now, but the banks I have gone to ask for mortgage advised that it'll be better I sell this house first to avoid putting 20% down since they consider it an investment propert.y If no sale from now until June I may have to rent it out (which I dread so much since I don't want to be an out-of-town landlord). What to do? I only pray that we can get out now with minimal loss or none at all.