Which do you prefer: Belmont or Lexington? (Newton, Waltham: good schools, live in)

[semiurbanite]

Lexington schools seem to be extreme pressure cookers. It even made a New York Times article last year. Not sure Belmont is much better but no thanks i'll pass on both!

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/e...h-school-.html

[MassVt]

Belmont for me. More suburban-like, while parts of Lexington border on rural. Belmont also has better access to Cambridge and Boston via bus and commuter rail, which are lacking from Lexington.

[aries4118]

Is Belmont High going down?

https://www.boston.com/news/educatio...gazine-ranking

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Is Belmont High going down?

Belmont High is excellent. Rankings lists aren't worth the click.

[claiz]

That Boston Magazine list is strange - from what I understand it uses Z score approach than aggregate the component score, but they did not disclosure the percentage weight of each component. For Belmont (or more glaringly Boston Latin) to rank this low with such a high score in MCAS and SAT, the list must have put a lot of weight in small class size and student to teacher ratio (thus school like Dover and Wayland ranks really well).

Ultimately, ranking is a final output of a specific methodology, if you don't agree with the methodology, you should not be bothered by the ranking.

Short answer - Belmont High is fine.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

Belmont High is excellent. Rankings lists aren't worth the click.

Originally Posted by claiz

That Boston Magazine list is strange - from what I understand it uses Z score approach than aggregate the component score, but they did not disclosure the percentage weight of each component. For Belmont (or more glaringly Boston Latin) to rank this low with such a high score in MCAS and SAT, the list must have put a lot of weight in small class size and student to teacher ratio (thus school like Dover and Wayland ranks really well).

Ultimately, ranking is a final output of a specific methodology, if you don't agree with the methodology, you should not be bothered by the ranking.

Short answer - Belmont High is fine.

Cool. Good to know.

Are both of you familiar with Belmont High?

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

Belmont High is excellent. Rankings lists aren't worth the click.

Originally Posted by claiz

That Boston Magazine list is strange - from what I understand it uses Z score approach than aggregate the component score, but they did not disclosure the percentage weight of each component. For Belmont (or more glaringly Boston Latin) to rank this low with such a high score in MCAS and SAT, the list must have put a lot of weight in small class size and student to teacher ratio (thus school like Dover and Wayland ranks really well).

Ultimately, ranking is a final output of a specific methodology, if you don't agree with the methodology, you should not be bothered by the ranking.

Short answer - Belmont High is fine.

Hasn't there recently been a lot of administration turnover?

[Hiruko]

I'd like to add that Belmont's Belmont Hill neighborhood has more prestige than anything in Lexington. Also, forget public schools, go private if you can afford it.

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

I'd like to add that Belmont's Belmont Hill neighborhood has more prestige than anything in Lexington. Also, forget public schools, go private if you can afford it.

I think the brand of Belmont Hill is held in higher regard largely because of the school. But the reality is, to me, the matrix of neighborhoods immediately north of downtown Lexington are just as prestigious. East of Hancock all along Meridian.. I’d say it’s flirting with Chestnut Hill, Wellesley Hills, the Concord Academy area, Western/Wedmegere Winchester, and Belmont Hill as far as affluence and prestige. And, downtown Lexington is only bested by Winchester and Wellesley among that list IMO. Lack of train, though, is likely the biggest pitfalls of that neighborhood and Lexington as a whole.

I still voted Belmont.

Edit: For those that aren’t as familiar with Lexington, here is a great example of the homes in that specific area I referenced- https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-14408?view=qv

[chicagoliz]

Originally Posted by mwj119

I think the brand of Belmont Hill is held in higher regard largely because of the school. But the reality is, to me, the matrix of neighborhoods immediately north of downtown Lexington are just as prestigious. East of Hancock all along Meridian.. I’d say it’s flirting with Chestnut Hill, Wellesley Hills, the Concord Academy area, Western/Wedmegere Winchester, and Belmont Hill as far as affluence and prestige. And, downtown Lexington is only bested by Winchester and Wellesley among that list IMO. Lack of train, though, is likely the biggest pitfalls of that neighborhood and Lexington as a whole.

I still voted Belmont.

Edit: For those that aren’t as familiar with Lexington, here is a great example of the homes in that specific area I referenced- https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-14408?view=qv

If you can afford that house, you can afford to live anywhere.

Personally, I find Lexington overpriced. We originally looked there, but unless you could walk to the Lexington Town Center, you may as well be in Chelmsford. It's not that close to downtown, there is no train, walkability is just so-so. Belmont is significantly more convenient. And if I were paying in the $5 Million range, I'd be in Newton or Brookline.