Family with School Age Children moving to the Boston Area (Cambridge: low income, 2014)

[AdiKaba]

I will start a new position in the Kendall Square area. I am moving from the Midwest with my family. I have two school age children (Pre-K and Elementary school). We plan to rent (budget $2500 - $2800) in areas with very good school districts. Where are the good places to live with 45 mins to an hour commute to Cambridge? We like what we read about Arlington. Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

[sal1181]

Arlington, Belmont, Winchester and Watertown. All great towns with good schools and close to Cambridge

[kingeorge]

Your best bet are the usual suspects, Arlington would offer good schools and pretty easy commute. Excellent amenities for family as well. Belmont would offer better schools, good commute, and family friendly and safe area with great amenities.

Watertown has not as highly regarded schools, OK not great, but would still be doable if you find some good rentals there. Although with other two I doubt you will have an issue. Both towns offer better schools and fit and that regard.

Make sure you understand lead issues when renting with kids under 6, if applicable. And also consider that RE is crazy and moves fast. Do not take much time to make decision, especially if good fit. Most landlords expect first, last and security whne signing the lease, so be financial prepared (by law they charge 3x rent and a new keys, anything else should be suspicious). Try to avoid RE agents and fees if possible, unless you have trouble getting your foot in the door and finding something on your own. I think your budget is doable in Arlington and Belmont if you accept that most places for rent are in older two families, with decent ammenities but nothing will be very big, newly built, or luxurious. Budget for heat, and higher COL in general.

Good luck.

[Japanfan1986]

Winchester! I'm from Medford and all of the teachers at my schools were jealous of Winchester. IIRC a big reason was the kids get such a good education that when it comes to taking standardized tests rather than having to teach the tests the teachers could more or less just have the kids stare at the walls during the prep periods and they'd still get amazing scores. I also remember some people thought folks in Winchester were snobs, but that's probably just jealousy again. For what it's worth it's a pretty nice area in addition to the aforementioned school system.

[kingeorge]

Originally Posted by Japanfan1986

Winchester! I'm from Medford and all of the teachers at my schools were jealous of Winchester. IIRC a big reason was the kids get such a good education that when it comes to taking standardized tests rather than having to teach the tests the teachers could more or less just have the kids stare at the walls during the prep periods and they'd still get amazing scores. I also remember some people thought folks in Winchester were snobs, but that's probably just jealousy again. For what it's worth it's a pretty nice area in addition to the aforementioned school system.

Winchester is great town all around, but commute to Kendal is not!

Anyway, Belmont is higher ranked school district. Makes best US high school list every year--one of few from MA. I am little bit amused by your screen name, and if it is true, you do not know that Japanese princess attended Belmont High some time ago. School was chosen with care for sure.
Cheers.

[Whatsnext75]

Somerville is convenient. Are arlington schools good? I've heard mixes reviews. Winchester has great schools but it's pricey. Basically anywhere near kendall with good schools will cost you plenty. Highly desirable part of the state these days it seems.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by kingeorge

Winchester is great town all around, but commute to Kendal is not!

Anyway, Belmont is higher ranked school district. Makes best US high school list every year--one of few from MA. I am little bit amused by your screen name, and if it is true, you do not know that Japanese princess attended Belmont High some time ago. School was chosen with care for sure.
Cheers.

Belmont is a better commute to Kendall for sure, especially the parts that you can rent for under $2800. I don't think you can definitively say the schools are better, though. The U.S. News algorithm like Belmont a little better but the Boston Magazine algorithm like Winchester better. I think there's enough separation to say Lexington has better schools than both and is reasonably convenient to Kendall.

Best Public Schools in Boston 2014

[Beantown_mama]

Commuting to Kendall from Winchester is pretty convenient. You can go back roads through Cambridge via Tufts.

[semiurbanite]

For someone coming from out of state, I would urge caution in using these "lists" the pick a school. Visit the schools, talk to parents, look at the data in a controlled manner. That's a much better indicator than some standardized test scores or sites like greatschools or schooldigger that really just measure socio-economic status and steer you toward a generally privileged and homogeneous school system.

Alot of talk about Belmont and Arlington here. Here are All Belmont and Arlington elementary schools sorted by grade, subject, and % advanced on MCAS for the Non-Low Income group. I threw in a couple of urban Somerville and Cambridge schools for comparison Full disclaimer we live in Somerville with kids in the schools.

When you control for income, it's pretty amazing at how much the school all really start to look the same on paper. Basically - its the SES of the student that drives success, and schools in these wealthy districts end up getting a lot of credit for simply being in the right place.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B28...ew?usp=sharing

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by semiurbanite

For someone coming from out of state, I would urge caution in using these "lists" the pick a school. Visit the schools, talk to parents, look at the data in a controlled manner. That's a much better indicator than some standardized test scores or sites like greatschools or schooldigger that really just measure socio-economic status and steer you toward a generally privileged and homogeneous school system.

Alot of talk about Belmont and Arlington here. Here are All Belmont and Arlington elementary schools sorted by grade, subject, and % advanced on MCAS for the Non-Low Income group. I threw in a couple of urban Somerville and Cambridge schools for comparison Full disclaimer we live in Somerville with kids in the schools.

When you control for income, it's pretty amazing at how much the school all really start to look the same on paper. Basically - its the SES of the student that drives success, and schools in these wealthy districts end up getting a lot of credit for simply being in the right place.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B28...ew?usp=sharing

I wouldn't recommend Somerville for someone from the Midwest without a pretty big disclaimer. If you're open to living in a high-density city (Somerville is the highest density in the state) and willing to accept less space for more money, Somerville offers a lot of cultural opportunities and easy access to Kendall Square. Most of the people from the Midwest I know (like my wife) don't really like towns with the density of places even like Belmont, much less Somerville. It's definitely not for everyone but is worth considering.

As for the schools question, I think it's a tough question to answer definitively. There is a strong correlation between demographics and test scores, but using that to predict how the district will serve your particular children is tough. State standardized testing is, for the most part, a pretty low hurdle for most parents who want "great schools". There may be more appropriate metrics. Talking to parents and teachers is certainly going to give you more information (probably biased, but equally so), but that's a lot of work.