Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi there,
Me and my family are planning on moving from Queens to Long Island. We are trying to decide on a neighborhood and are considering school districts first. The districts we are looking at are: Half Hollow Hills, Harborfields, Elwood, and Northport. Any advice about these districts and the neighborhoods in these districts will be greatly appreciated. We are looking for a 4-5 bedroom home in the 650's range. Thanks!
I am only familiar with the Greenlawn/Elwood area (I live in Elwood). In those areas I would recommend the Salem Ridge area (I believe this is a Huntington PO Box) in Harborfields or Old Chester Hills area (Huntington P.O. Box) in Elwood. I hear Fort Salonga in the Northport area is nice but I do not have any first hand knowledge... DM me if you want more info.
Hi there,
Me and my family are planning on moving from Queens to Long Island. We are trying to decide on a neighborhood and are considering school districts first. The districts we are looking at are: Half Hollow Hills, Harborfields, Elwood, and Northport. Any advice about these districts and the neighborhoods in these districts will be greatly appreciated. We are looking for a 4-5 bedroom home in the 650's range. Thanks!
As was previously mentioned, more information would be helpful in order to make somewhat meaningful suggestions.
If high RE taxes are a possible issue, the Northport-E.Northport SD generally has somewhat lower taxes.
Property size can have an impact on available areas and will have an impact on price.
If you like a small school disctrict, Elwood's the one, followed by Harborfields; both Northport-E.Northport and Half Hollow Hills are quite large, with HHH being the largest.
Some SDs have more diversity than others.
Newer housing stock is more plentiful in HHH.
Would you like to share some of your other preferences so we can better inform you?
Thanks everyone! Here is some more info...we have 4 children so we will definitely be using the school system! We would like to stay around the 15K Tax budget / be on an acre lot / in a family friendly community. My wife really prefers a farm ranch, but we are open to colonials. We like the idea of privacy, but do not want to be too far from shopping either. We really like the Old Chester Hills neighborhood, but have gotten mixed feedback about the Elwood school district. Many have told us that it is small, does not offer much in terms of AP courses, and is always in jeopardy of being taken over by a larger district - any truth to this? Also, there has been talk of adding housing that was once occupied by a dairy, increasing traffic in the area and straining the school district.
All that is true about Elwood. However, also consider that HHH just closed two elementary school buildings, Northport district school taxes may be heavily impacted by LIPA wanting to lower their assessments and Harborfields is getting overcrowded in my opinion. All are good districts.
Personally, I would tell you to try Huntington. There are many choices as far as types of neighborhoods and levels of property taxes. The schools are very good, in spite of the very old bad reputation that some people keep pushing - unwarranted now and only based on the Hispanic population moving in the southern corner of the district along with the South Huntington district. However, students in our high school get an excellent education, lots of AP classes available, millions in scholarships received for college, and students get into all the excellent colleges/universities as do those in other districts.
All that is true about Elwood. However, also consider that HHH just closed two elementary school buildings, Northport district school taxes may be heavily impacted by LIPA wanting to lower their assessments and Harborfields is getting overcrowded in my opinion. All are good districts.
Harborfields is getting overcrowded? Isn't enrollment down and expected to continue to decline and that's why they're renting out the top floor of the primary school?
Last edited by TheImportersWife; 12-30-2013 at 08:44 AM..
Originally Posted by 7CatMom All that is true about Elwood. However, also consider that HHH just closed two elementary school buildings, Northport district school taxes may be heavily impacted by LIPA wanting to lower their assessments and Harborfields is getting overcrowded in my opinion. All are good districts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheImportersWife
Harborfields is getting overcrowded? Isn't enrollment down and expected to continue to decline and that's why they're renting out the top floor of the primary school?
You are correct. HHH and Harborfields both grew tremendously and are now experiencing declining enrollment as is much - if not all - of the North Shore of Long Island.
I am no expert but Harborfields WAS a 2600-student district and then swelled up to about a 3600-student district and is now settling back towards 2600. I think the decline started about 7 years ago.I think Harborfields' excellent reputation (which it has maintained BTW) might have been one reason for its tremendous growth. I suspect those families are staying in Centerport, Greenlawn, etc. despite the fact they are no longer having kids.
Thanks everyone! Here is some more info...we have 4 children so we will definitely be using the school system! We would like to stay around the 15K Tax budget / be on an acre lot / in a family friendly community. My wife really prefers a farm ranch, but we are open to colonials. We like the idea of privacy, but do not want to be too far from shopping either. We really like the Old Chester Hills neighborhood, but have gotten mixed feedback about the Elwood school district. Many have told us that it is small, does not offer much in terms of AP courses, and is always in jeopardy of being taken over by a larger district - any truth to this? Also, there has been talk of adding housing that was once occupied by a dairy, increasing traffic in the area and straining the school district.
I happen to like smaller districts because if your kid is so-so at sports, etc. he/she will still get an opportunity to play at the variety level. Then again, I went to a small district so that is my prejudice. As far as the talk about being taken over by larger districts is concerned... not going to happen. See the Southampton/Tuckahoe districts merger vote this year as an example of what happens when a merger isn't popular in one of the merging districts... There is zero to no chance of Elwood voters approving a South Huntington or Huntington merger, lol. On a final note- the Dairy Farm proposal continues to be talked about and it certainly isn't popular (for traffic reasons) but it is an over 55 concept that wouldn't impact the school district.
IMHO, The main drawback to Elwood is the high taxes so you need to be on top of your assessment.
Agreed that Elwood voters would not go for Huntington/ South Huntington in a consolidation. Huntington does not even border Elwood. A few years ago during Elwood's public consolidation discussion/exploration it was evident Elwood's leadership was not at all interested in S. Huntington but was eyeballing Harborfields... and Harborfields was not interested. Now that the enrollment of both has declined and Harborfields is no longer bursting at the seams (at least presently in the elementary/intermediate grades) I wonder if Harborfields might now consider one day taking in the entire Elwood school district? Of course I don't see much economic upside for Harborfields in absorbing an area with no commercial tax base (despite incentives and nothwithstanding the other similarities between the districts). Here is a 3-4 year old thread on the topic, there were other threads as well:
Last edited by Quick Commenter; 12-31-2013 at 06:30 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
