Tell me about Grafton (Boston, Worcester: real estate, home, job transfer)

[Tracyl]

Family with children thinking about moving to Grafton due to job transfer. How are the schools? What type of shopping is nearby? Where are the closest malls? Are there any activities for kids in Grafton or nearby areas? Would you consider this a middle class town? Any information about Grafton would be greatly appreciated.

[scarletfire]

Where in Grafton will you be working? Grafton school are fine but right next door is Westboro, with better per pupil spending, percentage of students attending college, and student/teacher ratios than Grafton. Lots of activities for kids, an active rec department,


Money Magazine named Westborough one of the 100 Best Places to Live 2005. Here's a bit more data:

In a 2004/2005 study by School Matters, a service of Standard and Poors, Westborough Public School system was rated as one of the top public school systems in Massachusetts that consistently outperformed peer schools on MCAS reading and math proficiency test over the last four years. Westborough was the only school system in Worcester County other than Harvard, MA to achieve this top state wide ranking.
Westborough was ranked 16 out of 204 school systems rated in the state of Massachusetts. In 2005, Money Magazine listed Westborough #36 in its survey of Top 100 Best Places to Live, citing the financial support and staffing levels found in the Westborough Public Schools. Graduation rates in the high school are consistently above 95% and the vast majority of these graduates attend a four-year college.

Westborough stores include Tatnuck Booksellers, Home Goods, Staples, Boston Interiors (furniture), BJ’s Wholesale, two Stop & Shops, Spices Indian grocer, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Landry’s Cycle, as well as smaller shops in the downtown area. The best mall in the area is the Natick Mall. www.natickcollection.com

The town has a newcomers club, civic club, chorus group, garden club, a nice pool/tennis club, plus the town rec dept offers ice skating, crafts, gymnastics, and karate for preschoolers; karate, ice skating, field hockey, junior tennis, Special Olympics, golf, fitness, jazzercise, flag football, basketball, ski & snowboarding, and horseback riding for school age children; fitness, fitness bootcamp, golf Tai Chi, jazzercise, ice skating, tennis, kick boxing, co-ed badminton, men’s 18 and over basketball, and men’s 30 and over basketball for adults.

Also, you can go to Massachusetts Town Information- MA Community data - Boston.com to view demographic info on any Massachusetts town.

Grafton Elementary School
105 Millbury St
Preschool-grade 3
Student/teacher ratio: 700/35
Expenditures per pupil: $6,831.

Grafton Middle School
60 North Street
Grades 4-8
Student/teacher ratio: 611/60
Expenditures per pupil: $6,831.

Grafton Memorial High School
24 Providence Road
Grades 9-12
Student/teacher ratio: 630/60
Expenditures per pupil: $6,831.

MCAS ratings:
Top-scoring 3rd grade districts on 2006 MCAS exams - The Boston Globe - Boston.com
2006 MCAS Results - The Boston Globe

Grafton 69.8 114 72 $7,206 N/A 14.6/1
Westboro 95.3 86 85 $9,375 563/594 9.7/1

[MAtoNC!]

I just moved from Grafton to the Cary area in NC. I grew up in MA on the North Shore close to Boston. I moved to Grafton because it was affordable. It ended up being too rural for me and too far from Boston. Worcester is the closest city and a lot of the surrounding towns are former mill towns. Boston, the 128 belt, and parts of 495 sustain the economy in MA. After no longer being able to afford these areas I felt priced out of MA. Hence the move to NC.

I agree with the previous poster that Westborough would be a better choice. I drove to Shrewsbury for Trader Joe's and Framingham for Whole Foods. You can Mapquest these to check distances. There are two or three restaurants in town besides pizza places, Burger King and Dunkin Donuts. For restaurants you would probably go to Westborough, Worcester, Shrewbury, etc.

Close by in Millbury this is the new shopping center:
The Shoppes at Blackstone Valley - Millbury, MA 01527 - Reviews: Shopping Centers & Malls
Read the reviews and see how there was not much in this area.
R.K. Associates, Inc., Dedham, MA, Commercial Real Estate Developer-Manager

If you like rural more than suburban this may be the place for you. It's a nice town in that sense. It has a gazebo on the town common and has that classic New Engand look.

If you have more specific questions you can send me a DM (direct message). Click on my username for the DM option.