[zmcbee]

First, thank you for taking a look at this thread!

My wife and I are contemplating a move to the Manchester area and have spent a ridiculous amount of time researching towns and schools. I've read every thread on South Windsor, Glastonbury, Vernon, Ellington, Bolton, etc with the knowledge (from countless threads and real estate agent conversations) that I didn't want to live in Manchester because of the schools.

The problem is that we are living in a VERY affordable Midwest suburb and don't want to downsize much from where we are now (~3000sf 4 bedroom home.) My wife would be working for Manchester Memorial Hospital and we would like to be close and the housing market (prices and taxes) seem much more reasonable in Manchester.

With that, here's my question. What do people, in general, think of the catholic schools in the area? Anyone sending there kids to any of the schools? If so, which of the primary schools would you recommend? If East Catholic High School well regarded?

Any help would be appreciated. I know many of you don't have positive things to say about Manchester, but I would still like to get your opinions..good or bad.

Thanks!

[Uconn97]

Manchester is fine. You'll find varying opinions depending on who is posting and what their agenda is. One of the things that I like about Manchester is the variety of housing the town offers. You have your older, central area of town with older homes, closer together. Then the southern end of of town maintains more of a rural feel with larger homes spaced further apart with some farms and wooded areas here and there. Since its sounds like you might want a larger home I would suggest looking in the south end. Check out the Bush Hill road, hillstown road, birch mountain road, manchester road and highland park areas and the streets off of them and I'm sure you'll find something you like. Manchester has easy access with interstates 84 and 384 running through town. There is also a ton of shopping and restaurants in town and a nice downtown area. All the retail helps manchester keep taxes a little lower than the surrounding towns. If you have small kids, check out the Lutz Museum and you can hike/bike on paths in town or Case Mountain is a nice location for that as well. There are a few grittier areas of town, but I would say these are the exception, not the rule. Realize that many who post don't live in Manchester or even know the town that well, they only know whats near the highway and around the shopping areas. Manchester also has a high rental rate, but I don't think thats neccessarily a negative - depends on your view. most of the complexes are well maintained and some are considered luxury rentals. Many are concentrated around the mall area.

As far as catholic schools - I don't have a ton of info. We have looked into St Chris in East Hartford and St. Bridgets in Manchester. Both seem very good and we have met parents that have had no problems with either. I know a lot of people who went to East Catholic, the latest person I know to graduate from there was in 2001 (someone I work with) so I don't have anything more current than that to tell you, but I haven't heard anything negative from anyone who went there if that helps. Jviello posts on here regularly and lives in Manchester so he might have more to add or a different perspective. Ask more questions if you have them. Good luck.

[JayCT]

East Catholic is very well regarded. I know people that have sent their kids to East Catholic and were generally pleased (they are sending multiple kids there). I also know some who sent their kids there and found it to be no better than the public schools in Glastonbury. In fact they feel it lacked some of the amenities and found it to be expensive since they charged for everything.

We also know people that moved from Glastonbury to Manchester and tried the public schools but ended up changing to the Catholic schools. I am not sure what they were thinking but it ended up costing them more.

I know others who send their kids to St. Chris in East Hartford and Assumption School in Manchester. Both are very pleased with them. It is your call whether you should do this or not.

Personally we spent the extra and bought in Glastonbury. There is a wide range of housing choices here but comparable homes are pricer here than Manchester. So far we are very pleased with the schools here and feel it is worth the expense. JMHO, Jay

[Uconn97]

Zmcbee - I'll direct message you some more info - thanks

[zmcbee]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Jay. I have read many of your posts in other threads and value your opinion. Glastonbury is certainly on our list, but distance to the hospital from the area of Glastonbury we really liked is a concern.

[vvolin]

No idea about the Catholic schools in the area, but we have been in private schools for 6 years in South Florida and I would just like to share our take on the financial burden. The school our daughter was in since preK costed $13,000 a year and I now it would cost us $15,000 for 6th grade today if we still lived there. Our younger daughter would have started the same school this year, so that was another tuition, bringing the total of school cost to just shy of $30,000.

We have done this calculation more than once, as we moved in South Florida as well. Private school is expensive (Catholic school maybe be a little less so, I don't know). In the end, when you consider the 13 years a child is in school, and maybe multiply it by 2 if you have two children, it seems more financially sound to buy a more expensive property where there are good public schools. That's what we did and we now live in Glastonbury. Unfortunately, this was not an option is South Florida, where no public schools are good enough for my standards.

Good luck with your choice. It is never an easy one. As for Manchester, I like it, it is lively, it has some very nice neighborhoods. If you can find a good schooling option, I think it would be a good choice.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by vvolin

In the end, when you consider the 13 years a child is in school, and maybe multiply it by 2 if you have two children, it seems more financially sound to buy a more expensive property where there are good public schools. That's what we did and we now live in Glastonbury. Unfortunately, this was not an option is South Florida, where no public schools are good enough for my standards.

You're not alone. Many folks in Cheshire claim that they're out of here as soon as the youngest one graduates.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by Uconn97

Manchester is fine. You'll find varying opinions depending on who is posting and what their agenda is. One of the things that I like about Manchester is the variety of housing the town offers. You have your older, central area of town with older homes, closer together. Then the southern end of of town maintains more of a rural feel with larger homes spaced further apart with some farms and wooded areas here and there. Since its sounds like you might want a larger home I would suggest looking in the south end. Check out the Bush Hill road, hillstown road, birch mountain road, manchester road and highland park areas and the streets off of them and I'm sure you'll find something you like. Manchester has easy access with interstates 84 and 384 running through town. There is also a ton of shopping and restaurants in town and a nice downtown area. All the retail helps manchester keep taxes a little lower than the surrounding towns. If you have small kids, check out the Lutz Museum and you can hike/bike on paths in town or Case Mountain is a nice location for that as well. There are a few grittier areas of town, but I would say these are the exception, not the rule. Realize that many who post don't live in Manchester or even know the town that well, they only know whats near the highway and around the shopping areas. Manchester also has a high rental rate, but I don't think thats neccessarily a negative - depends on your view. most of the complexes are well maintained and some are considered luxury rentals. Many are concentrated around the mall area.

As far as catholic schools - I don't have a ton of info. We have looked into St Chris in East Hartford and St. Bridgets in Manchester. Both seem very good and we have met parents that have had no problems with either. I know a lot of people who went to East Catholic, the latest person I know to graduate from there was in 2001 (someone I work with) so I don't have anything more current than that to tell you, but I haven't heard anything negative from anyone who went there if that helps. Jviello posts on here regularly and lives in Manchester so he might have more to add or a different perspective. Ask more questions if you have them. Good luck.

That's about the best I could say it. LOL

I would just add that Eastern Manchester offers some "larger" homes and space as well. Then again, many consider the Highland Park area "South" so...There are some newer neighborhoods being built on the Bolton line by Shady Glen at the North tip of the Highland Park area. They seem to be the 500K-1M range though.

East Catholic has a great rep so far as I know.

zmcbee: Welcome to Manchester. It's not a pefect place, but it's a good place to live with lots of variety and access to everywhere. Feel free to DM any questions.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by zmcbee

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Jay. I have read many of your posts in other threads and value your opinion. Glastonbury is certainly on our list, but distance to the hospital from the area of Glastonbury we really liked is a concern.

Glastonbury borders Manchester. It is very convenient to the hospital. Our home in Glastonbury is less than 7 miles from Manchester Hospital. It could be as little as 3 miles if you looked for a home in East Glastonbury. All you do it head straight up Manchester Road which turns into Main Street in Manchester. You do not even need to get on a highway. the same can be said for South Windsor, Vernon and Bolton. All very convenient. Jay