natick area good schools (Framingham, Sudbury: apartment complexes, house, neighborhoods)

[mlg36]

My husband's company is relocating to the Natick/Framingham line somewhere right off of the pike. We have 2 young girls, one in 1st grade and the other in preschool. We can only spend around $400k for a house. We want to be within 20 minutes commute to work. We want to avoid Framingham, but are considering Natick and Southboro which seem to have good schools. My 1st grader is a great student and I want her to be challenged in school. My main priority is good public schools. We want a town that will support the public schools and values education highly. We realize we will be the poor people in town, but I can handle that as long as our girls get a great education! Any advice on towns, schools and neighborhoods would be greatly appreciated!

[scarletfire]

I'd say Southboro, Holliston, Holliston, Hopkinton You might even find something cute in Sudbury if you don't mind a smaller home. It's a great community with lots of involvement in the schools, a town pool, nice trails, lots of sports & arts programs for the kids.

[natickmomof2]

We live in North Natick in a house around the price range in which you are looking. Our daughter just started kindergarten at Ben-Hem school this year. We have been very happy with the schools so far. The PTO is very active and it seems like the curriculum is strong. The whole district has full-day kindergarten, so I think that first graders will really be able to dig in to the academics and your daughter will be challenged.

We love Natick as a town. It is a great place to raise a family. There are activites on the common all summer - we love to go down, have an ice cream and watch some music on summer nights.

[mlg36]

I read something about one of the elementary schools having a higher than expected enrollment this year due to some new apartment complexes and that they might be redistricting soon. Is this something I should be wary of, and are some elementary schools in Natick considered better than others? Thanks for the info!

[natickmomof2]

I read that as well. They did add another kindergarten to my daughter's school, which is great because she only has 19 kids in her class. I think people are mostly concerned about the redistricting because it might mean that their child would have to change schools. I honestly don't think that any one elementary is better than the other - but people are very loyal to their schools and might tell you that theirs is the best. My niece goes to Memorial in South Natick and they love it there.

[Parsec]

The kindergarten class at Ben Hem was overcrowded on the 1st day of school this year, so they moved one of the teachers over from another grade that was less crowded. Overall, enrollment was lower than expected at Ben Hem though, so I don't foresee any overcrowding issues in the future. I think the Wethersfield neighborhood (Ben Hem Elementary and Wilson Middle) is a great place for families with young kids -- especially if you like chatting with neighbors. You'll meet many people just by taking a stroll after dinner (it has the highest percentage of sidewalks out of any neighborhood in Metrowest).

natickmomof2: I wouldn't worry about redistricting if you live between Rt-27/9/Oak St. -- your kids will likely stay in the BenHem/Wilson district. If anything, they'll move more kids from South of Rt-9 into the BenHem/Wilson district due to overcrowding at Brown.

[natickmomof2]

Parsec - I thought that they actually hired a new teacher, at least that was the impression I got from the letter they sent out to the Kindergarten parents. My daughter stayed with her original assignment, so I never really asked about it.

We live super close to Ben-Hem, so I have no worries about redistricting.