[lindasmith6677]

We are looking for a house with good public school system. Our dilemma is: Westchester tax is too high and still growing, Greenwich location is good (my husband work in Westchester and I will likely work in the Manhattan) but high school quality drops (at least seen from the scores), Darien/Ridgefiled/New Canaan/Westport schools are great and tax are low but the commute is longer than Greenwich (I suppose, please correct if I am wrong). We really don't know what area we should look at for our next house. All advices are welcome.

[texan2yankee]

If you can give us a price range that you are considering for your home purchase it would help with suggestions. For example, are you planning on spending $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 for your home or $350,000-$500,000.

Also, you may want to consider renting and taking your time to explore the different towns. There are some great deals out there. Renting is significantly less expensive than buying right now.

[lindasmith6677]

we are considering low 1mm. why is renting is less expensive? we'd like to be careful instead of rushing into a house but trying different towns with two small kids is a little bit of hassle.

[JayCT]

I do not think that the quality of schools in Greenwich is poor by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, they are excellent. Class sizes are reasonable (around 20 students per class) and test scores on the Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performace tests are well above the state average. While towns like Westport are slightly better in test scores, you must remember that Greenwich is a large town (almost a city) and a bit more diverse.

The links below will give you information on schools and districts throughout the state. Remember even though there are a few towns that have higher scores, Greenwich is still considered top notch. It is all a matter of how you look at it. Greenwich is still considered one of the top towns in the country to live. If you can find a home there that meets your needs, I would recommend you go for it. Jay

Strategic School Profiles by District

Strategic School Profiles by School

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by lindasmith6677

we are considering low 1mm. why is renting is less expensive? we'd like to be careful instead of rushing into a house but trying different towns with two small kids is a little bit of hassle.

You can afford Darien or New Canaan. Keep in mind the farther out you go, the cheaper it gets. Fairfield is a decent town but is past Darien. The commute time from the Darien station to Grand Central is about 60 minutes.

Taxes in CT will be less and in my opinion the towns are nicer, and people friendlier.

[texan2yankee]

There are several reasons houses are less expensive to rent right now. The housing market is very, very slow in Connecticut due to the economy. Fairfield county is highly dependent on the finance industry. We all know what has happened to these businesses. Prices of homes are also dropping of a cliff so people are reluctant to buy a home right now.

Because Greenwich, Cos Cob and Old Greenwich real estate sales are hurting, many owners are choosing to rent their home rather than take a loss on a sale of their home. Sales have dropped over 70% in January and February from last year at this time in these towns, I was told. Try Realtor.com and put in the rental option instead of sale option. There are hundreds of rentals of beautiful homes available. Most of these rentals would cost 2-3x/month more to own than rent. Just a suggestion.

If your children are too small to go to school yet, there are other towns like Stamford, Norwalk and others that also have beautiful rental homes while you take your time to find your perfect school system and home to plant your family.

[lindasmith6677]

thanx everybody for your advice. does anybody have experience of comparing Greenwich and Armonk, commute wise, and school wise? Can we find anything decent (3-4beds, 1/4 acre) in eastern middle school district of Greenwich? Is there any concern over Greenwich high school? I read previous comments that 30% of high school kids are pulled out to go to private school? why is that?

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by lindasmith6677

thanx everybody for your advice. does anybody have experience of comparing Greenwich and Armonk, commute wise, and school wise? Can we find anything decent (3-4beds, 1/4 acre) in eastern middle school district of Greenwich? Is there any concern over Greenwich high school? I read previous comments that 30% of high school kids are pulled out to go to private school? why is that?

Because of some excessive wealth in town, many send their children to exclusive private schools.

[sgfludd]

Lots of kids here go to boarding schools as well. My husband teaches at an independent school in Greenwich - and he gets tons of recommendation letters for kids leaving the area for boarding schools. It's like a family tradition around here it seems. Else - or the parents need a break!

[CT to Wake Forest]

There is not a thing wrong with Greenwich High. In fact a primary reason that Staples High in Westpor has better test scores is there is almost no diversity. Greenwich has diversity coming from the Western (Byrum) part of town. It is not until the high school level that the children from the entire town meet up at one high school.

Many kids attend college prepatory schools in wealthly towns because their parent can afford that luxury.

Armonk is the country and a bit out of the way and Greenwich is metropolitan and very convenient. It all depends what you like.