does this exist? (Hope: credit, school districts, college)

[KellyFG]

do not choose port jeff if you need special ed services.

Rocky point, wading river, Lake Panamoka are all areas that might suit you.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by KellyFG

do not choose port jeff if you need special ed services.

Rocky point, wading river, Lake Panamoka are all areas that might suit you.

Thanks Kelly I forgot that one, Near the North Shore, Lake Panamoka in Ridge would also be a great choice.
Panamoka is a real tight knit community with a swimmable lake and a country feel.

Longwood schools have a terrific sports program too.They tend to get a l bad rep due to thier diversity but Id have no issue at all sending my kids there. I know many parents there who are very happy with the schools.

It was actually our 2nd choice when we moved out here.

I would stay away from Wading River/Riverhead schools.

crooks

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

One problem with Seaford and Massapequa that the OP mentioned -- OP's words, not mine -- cookie cutter houses. I grew up in Massapequa, have in-laws in Seaford. Some of the houses have been *cough* improved upon, but driving through some neighborhoods, you can still tell they are all came from the same split.

Agreed, although very nice, safe towns, it doesent get any more cookie cutter and dated(or "improved")than SE Nassau.

Massapequa??????????????????to throw someone from Ohio in to the heart of the ButtaFucco would be cruel and unsual punishment.

Love ya Sean, and I love my family who live there, but I think we've become desenitiized to our Lawnguylandese over time.
Talk about culture shock.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...hat-fucco.html

crooks

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by Crookhaven

Agreed, although very nice, safe towns, it doesent get any more cookie cutter and dated(or "improved")than SE Nassau.

Massapequa??????????????????to throw someone from Ohio in to the heart of the ButtaFucco would be cruel and unsual punishment.

Love ya Sean, and I love my family who live there, but I think we've become desenitiized to our Lawnguylandese over time.
Talk about culture shock.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...hat-fucco.html

crooks

Oh no, I totally agree. There is a lot to be said for everything on the South Shore east of the Wantagh Parkway.....but the blandness of most developments will drive you nuts. Massapequa is probably the worst of them. I hate the Buttafucco-than-you attitude too, but that's pretty much limited to Massapequa. In all of these towns, the nicest areas are generally the oldest....the ones between Sunrise and Merrick Road. Areas to the south had the misfortune of being salt marshes prior to the death of sensible design.

If you can get passed the vinyl sided concrete lawn grossness of Seaford Harbour, I think it's a perfect fit. Aside from the 1992 McMansion architectural disasters, the scenery is otherwise very nice. I think JRP might have the best suggestion in this thread, though. Sayville is perfect, I'd pick it over Seaford 99 times out of a hundred. Maybe not waterfront for $600k, but like he said.....it's a narrow island. I live pretty far inland and I can be at Jones Beach before anyone even reads this post!

[flowergarden]

I'm not a midwesterner, but I went to school in Wisconsin. You are in for culture shock - I'd heavily suggest that you move to the North Shore if possible. You've gotten good advice here. Anywhere from Northport, Stony Brook, Mt. Sinai, Miller Place would probably be a good fit. I don't know enough about Rocky Point to comment (sorry crooks!). You said you have 5 kids, so I assume you want some space. Mt. Sinai and Miller Place will give you more house for the $$$. They have lots of new/newer 4 to 5 br homes in the 600's and 700's. Drive by Mt. Sinai harbor and you 'll be sold. It's really beautiful. There's a 1970's house with a water view that's been on the market now for a long while listed at 679K. Needs renovations though. If you want a newer house so you can focus on raising your kids rather than renovations, then Mt. Sinai and Miller Place would be good choices. No gifted programs in the lower grades, but definelty lots of honors and AP classes available and fairly reasonable school sizes. Stony Brook and East Setakauet have older, more expensive homes but a more culturally diverse population. I think there is a total pull out program for gifted students in 3 Village school system (that's Stony Brook and East Setauket). However, I don't like that whole concept, as some children are "gifted" in math, but not in English or visa versa. A total take out program doesn't allow those children to be challenged in their own strength. It also bleeds all the smart kids out of the regular classroom, essentially talking out any higher level thinking that all children benefit from. Ok. my two cents!

Bottom line is it's very different here than where you are from. Choose a place that you think you can be happy. All the north shore towns are awesome in that there is easy beach access. Cedar beach is rocky, but only a mile away and really just beautiful. Many beaches are accessible for local residents. You don't need to have private access - but it certainly is nice.

Good luck!

[S.I.B.]

Originally Posted by Walter Greenspan

First off, making the best of it, you'll need to understand the local geography:

What people refer to colloquially as "towns" are actually villages and hamlets, which are within actual towns; and, because villages and hamlets are referred to as "towns", then, many times, the error is compounded when actual towns are referred to as "townships".

http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-y...-glossary.html and http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...-resource.html may be of some help to you in understanding the geography of "Lawn Guyland".

http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...you-think.html may help you understand the great geographic confusions caused by non-conforming ZIP Code postal zones.


Then, making the best of it, after you arrive, you might want to know about things to do on Lawn Guyland:

Here are two sites that offer weekly eMail newsletters: LongIsland.com and About Long Island NY, and, here's what could be the best site: Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau and Sports Commission.

Saying one "needs to undertand" this information is a huge stretch at best. You can live your whole life on LI referring to "villages" and "hamlets" as "towns", and I guarantee you will not be any worse off.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by Smash255

I think its the case in some areas, but as far as Massapequa goes I would say it isn't the case south of Merrick Road. Some areas in Massapequa you do have some homes with beach club rights, most of which will be outside the price range, but saw one online for $575,000 to the Jomarr beach club Assoc.

Good point, but then again, most of those homes weren't spot built but built as subdivisions as well. You won't see the same house one next to the other, but it will reappear on this block and that block. Over the course of years people have added and altered the original homes giving them each their own unique signature. Some are lovely and others are ostentatious. The thing that matters most is that the homeowner is happy and that I don't have to live there and look at it LOL

In all fairness, it would really help if the OP gave us an idea as to the style of home they prefer. My preferences lean toward the antique housing stock, shingleside, and more traditional so my examples will tend to show that bias.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by flowergarden

I'm not a midwesterner, but I went to school in Wisconsin. You are in for culture shock - I'd heavily suggest that you move to the North Shore if possible. You've gotten good advice here. Anywhere from Northport, Stony Brook, Mt. Sinai, Miller Place would probably be a good fit. I don't know enough about Rocky Point to comment (sorry crooks!). You said you have 5 kids, so I assume you want some space. Mt. Sinai and Miller Place will give you more house for the $$$. They have lots of new/newer 4 to 5 br homes in the 600's and 700's. Drive by Mt. Sinai harbor and you 'll be sold. It's really beautiful. There's a 1970's house with a water view that's been on the market now for a long while listed at 679K. Needs renovations though. If you want a newer house so you can focus on raising your kids rather than renovations, then Mt. Sinai and Miller Place would be good choices. No gifted programs in the lower grades, but definelty lots of honors and AP classes available and fairly reasonable school sizes. Stony Brook and East Setakauet have older, more expensive homes but a more culturally diverse population. I think there is a total pull out program for gifted students in 3 Village school system (that's Stony Brook and East Setauket). However, I don't like that whole concept, as some children are "gifted" in math, but not in English or visa versa. A total take out program doesn't allow those children to be challenged in their own strength. It also bleeds all the smart kids out of the regular classroom, essentially talking out any higher level thinking that all children benefit from. Ok. my two cents!

Bottom line is it's very different here than where you are from. Choose a place that you think you can be happy. All the north shore towns are awesome in that there is easy beach access. Cedar beach is rocky, but only a mile away and really just beautiful. Many beaches are accessible for local residents. You don't need to have private access - but it certainly is nice.

Good luck!

Absolutely.

Mt Sinai-Miller Place-Sound Beach-Rocky Point-Shoreham-Wading River(swr schools) are all excellent choices.

crooks

[totallyfrazzled]

In general it's easier to get "waterVIEW" on the North Shore, simply because the South Shore is flat and unless you're bayfront (in which case the 600K is not even in the ballpark) you're looking at a canal instead. Also the OP should be aware that it's no longer a slam-dunk to get homeowners insurance if you are close enough to the water (canal or bay) to be able to see it, especially on the South Shore where the elevation is so low and flat.

It would help to know what kind of waterview the OP would like to have: would just a canal be okay? bay or sound? small or large pond or lake? river (thinking Nissequogue Overlook here)? marshland (watch out for killer mosquitoes) ?

For instance there's a beautiful small lake/large pond in Brightwaters, surrounded by lovely homes. But you won't find any 600K houses there. What you may find are (though the first 2 are on the canal; the third seems to have a view of the lake):

MLSLI.com – Long Island Real Estate – Find A Home in Nassau, Suffolk & Queens

MLSLI.com – Long Island Real Estate – Find A Home in Nassau, Suffolk & Queens

MLSLI.com – Long Island Real Estate – Find A Home in Nassau, Suffolk & Queens

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by flowergarden

I'm not a midwesterner, but I went to school in Wisconsin. You are in for culture shock - I'd heavily suggest that you move to the North Shore if possible. You've gotten good advice here. Anywhere from Northport, Stony Brook, Mt. Sinai, Miller Place would probably be a good fit. I don't know enough about Rocky Point to comment (sorry crooks!). You said you have 5 kids, so I assume you want some space. Mt. Sinai and Miller Place will give you more house for the $$$. They have lots of new/newer 4 to 5 br homes in the 600's and 700's. Drive by Mt. Sinai harbor and you 'll be sold. It's really beautiful. There's a 1970's house with a water view that's been on the market now for a long while listed at 679K. Needs renovations though. If you want a newer house so you can focus on raising your kids rather than renovations, then Mt. Sinai and Miller Place would be good choices. No gifted programs in the lower grades, but definelty lots of honors and AP classes available and fairly reasonable school sizes. Stony Brook and East Setakauet have older, more expensive homes but a more culturally diverse population. I think there is a total pull out program for gifted students in 3 Village school system (that's Stony Brook and East Setauket). However, I don't like that whole concept, as some children are "gifted" in math, but not in English or visa versa. A total take out program doesn't allow those children to be challenged in their own strength. It also bleeds all the smart kids out of the regular classroom, essentially talking out any higher level thinking that all children benefit from. Ok. my two cents!

You're new to the area and not in the 3V's so there is a little misinformation in your post.

The gifted program in the 3V requires testing in 3rd grade; the parents ultimately decide whether they want their children in the program or not. The testing will weed out the children who are ahead of the curve on some subjects but solidly at level in others.

It is a very small scale program. Considering that there are 125 children at 4th grade level in my daughter's school, only 3 went to Mount for the program. .02% -- That's hardly bleeding. There are children who could have moved but whose parents kept them in their home school. Around here, that is more the issue. Many parents would prefer the gifted program be available at each school so children aren't removed and sent elsewhere.

My SIL had the opportunity to place one of her children -- in her case, Mount was the child's home school. She decided not to send then child as her concern was that seperating the child from their peers would cause more stigma than than benefit. Go figure.

Conversely, there were 2 children in my youngest's 1st grade class who were reading at 4th grade level. They were given materials for their level, but within the classroom, they were bored. Sometimes bright students can bring more to the table, othertimes excessively bright students are left standing in the lurch all the while intimidating the heck out of the students who are performing at grade level (or within a few months of it in either direction) This is where IG does make a difference.

During 2nd grade, the children were to write a paper on anything which interested them. One boy at my daughter's table wrote a wild story involving his mother and pizza, another child wrote about a favorite activity, my child wrote about a place we visit. The papers were about 2 pages long. The children were to read them aloud within the classroom for the parents. The 4th student at the table stood up to read. He had written a 17 page paper on snakes which was incredibly detailed and well written. Not bad for a child for whom English is a 2nd language. It didn't surprise me as this boy was one of the children I mentioned from the 1st grade class.

His intelligence and ability did intimidate children in the class. He was miles ahead of anyone in the class; why hold him back?

One thing I have noticed here is that there are many bright parents who are employed by the university, who are well-educated professionals -- doctors, BNL scientists. Their children (many, not all) seem to have been graced with the same DNA.

The children who are IG certainly belong there. They are strong across the boards. While having a balanced class with children of all levels is ideal, when you have a child who is too far ahead of the curve, retaining that child in the regular class is a disservice.

FWIW -- my children are good students but never IG level at that age. My friend's son is one of the 3 who is in IG; he went from being bored to challenged.

Society is concerned with bringing the underperforming students up to speed, but that can't be done at the sacrifice of the exceptional student.