Schools in Scituate and the commute to Boston (Hingham, Hanover: neighborhoods, school district)

[danial1]

I may be relocating to the Boston area. Based on previous threads it seems Scituate may suit our needs in terms of housing prices. Now I wonder whether the schools have a good reputation and what the commute to the D Street/West Broadway area of Boston is like. What parts of town have good elementary schools? Can I take a train or do I have to drive? Any help would be appreciated.

[holden125]

I have a fairly low tolerance for commuting so take it with a grain of salt, but I think the Scituate commute is tough.

By train, you'd have to get to the station in N. Scitutate or Greenbush. Once on the train, it's almost an hour to South Station and then there is another 15+ minutes from there to the Broadway station (only 1 stop) and then walking down to D St, which is three long blocks from the T stop. The Greenbush line also runs more infrequently than some other lines (e.g. no train between 6:38 PM and 8:25) so you'd have to organize around the train schedule.

Driving might take even longer. Scitutate is somewhat removed from the main highways (you'd have to drive across Norwell) and Route 3 and the SE Expwy are both notorious for rush hour traffic.

I don't know the schools well, but I think they are quite good. There's a tendency around here to suggest that a district is "not good" just because it's slightly less well regarded than such top performers as other nearby towns that are in the top 1% of the country. In any event, my understanding is that Scituate's schools are good by most, if not all, measures.

[clevedark]

I don't have personal experience with the schools in Scituate, but I have several friends who have their kids in various Scituate public schools and they are pleased with the education their kids are getting. I have several friends in Scituate who send their kids to various private schools because they don't think the schools are right for their kids, for different reasons.

I don't think you have to worry about which school district to move to for a couple of reasons--one, there isn't that much of a difference between Scituate neighborhoods, and two, when one school gets overcrowded the district lines get redrawn.

It's a fine community--more laid back and country and outdoor oriented than the western suburbs. That translates to less sophistication and competition in the schools, but there's nothing wrong with that.

[Beachcomber4]

Scituate has very good schools. Parents consistently come out to support them when times are tough.

[snowlover7]

Scituate has a pretty bad drinking problem and plent of DUI's in the local paper to back it up. It used to be more of a blue-collar town, but has drawn more people there because the surrounding towns of Hingham, Cohasset & Norwell are much more expensive to live in.

[snowlover7]

when you can't aford Cohasset, go to Hingham...when you can't afford Hingham, go to Norwell...when you can't afford Norwell, go to Hanover... when you can't afford Hanover, go to Scituate...