Schools in S. NH (Manchester, Nashua: rental, condominium, mortgage)

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by bavariantransplant

So Pinkerton Academy is good and the towns that feed into that are ... Derry, Chester and Auburn.

The list so far for a search area solely based on schools with solid academic records and large scope of resources:
Hollis
Bedford
Windham
Amherst
Hampstead
Chester
Auburn
Exeter
Lee
Durham
Madbury
Londonderry
Derry

Madbury, NH to Hollis, NH - Google Maps

Windham just built a brand new high school but I believe the taxes are one of the highest in the state.

[Valerie C]

Tax rates are set in November of each year, just before the final tax bill for the year is mailed to residents. The first bills in June are based on the previous year's tax rate. In many towns (perhaps all?) homeowners have until (the beginning, I believe) of March to file an abatement IF you disagree with the valuation of your home.

Originally Posted by NHartphotog

Exeter has good schools, but they should--property taxes are beyond insane. People buy here when their kids need this school system, and sell the moment the kids age out.

Originally Posted by bavariantransplant

Exeter higher then $20.00 per 1k value?

If I recall correctly, Exeter's 2011 tax rate is just about $25 per thousand

Originally Posted by bavariantransplant

So Pinkerton Academy is good and the towns that feed into that are ... Derry, Chester and Auburn.

Pinkerton is considered a good school (but being the largest HS in the state, so-so students can get 'lost' in the system. Campus is HUGE, those with physical challenges may find it overwhelming... Also remember that property taxes in Derry are over $27/thousand, just something else to keep in mind for your search...

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

Windham just built a brand new high school but I believe the taxes are one of the highest in the state.

Windham's new HS is nothing short of amazing. What a fantastic environment for learning! I was impressed seeing the kids walking through the halls with their school-issue Mac laptops instead of struggling with overstuffed 3-ring binders and heavy textbooks. I believe this 2012/2013 school year will have the first graduating class (how exciting!) Previously Windham students were tuitioned to Salem, and any student who started at Salem finished out their HS career at Salem. (I think Bedford did the same routine when they were transitioning out of Manchester West). Salem runs on block scheduling--4 long class periods per day vs. the traditional shorter 6 or 7 periods per day.

[bavariantransplant]

Thank you for your posts, they have given me information that I would not know otherwise.

Originally Posted by maire8

If you're considering Amherst (or Mont Vernon), make sure to read up on Souhegan High School's "principles." Souhegan was created based on a somewhat unique premise, guided by the views of Ted Sizer and the Coalition of Essential Schools.
The basic result of this is that students there have some freedoms that students in most other high schools don't (including calling teachers by their first names, walking the halls without passes, etc.), and students also have a real voice in decisions that in most districts are usually made solely by the administration and/or school board.

Some parents love this, and some don't. Some kids do well with this, and some don't. So it's good for prospective residents to be aware of this before deciding to relocate there.

Wow, I wonder how many parents are blindsided by this. I would really have a problem with that, we are more tradionalists. Thanks for the info and because of it you have saved all parties involved a lot of heartache.

Originally Posted by C2ShiningC

From your first post, I am assuming you have done a search and probably read my other posts, but just in case you haven't:

Thanks for reposting, the information mirrors what I have heard and read, that Londonderry has the same pitfalls of any school but if the parent/child makes education a priority they will have a very positive HS experience.

Originally Posted by Valerie C

Windham's new HS is nothing short of amazing. What a fantastic environment for learning! I was impressed seeing the kids walking through the halls with their school-issue Mac laptops instead of struggling with overstuffed 3-ring binders and heavy textbooks. I believe this 2012/2013 school year will have the first graduating class (how exciting!) Previously Windham students were tuitioned to Salem, and any student who started at Salem finished out their HS career at Salem. (I think Bedford did the same routine when they were transitioning out of Manchester West). Salem runs on block scheduling--4 long class periods per day vs. the traditional shorter 6 or 7 periods per day.

Wow, interesting, Mac laptops. Windham really looks appealing to me, its even closer to Boston then Londonderry (every minute counts).


Would you consider Hollis to be a worse commute to downtown Boston then Londonderry? Windham? Google maps says Hollis is further but accounting for commute traffic, is it better or worse?

[SMUR]

Originally Posted by bavariantransplant

...
Would you consider Hollis to be a worse commute to downtown Boston then Londonderry? Windham? Google maps says Hollis is further but accounting for commute traffic, is it better or worse?

I don't know much about the commute (I'm new around here), but my wife and I were surprised by how much we had to drive to get to Nashua from Hollis. Not only does it get farther if you end up on the west side of Hollis, the driving also gets slower due to the topology, especially around Proctor Hill/Rocky Pond roads (much of that might already be Bedford).

[Kramer68]

I would think Hollis is worse than Londonderry, Windham etc... because it's much further away from 93. You'd have to take Rte 3 to 495 to 93 and I don't see how they can be quicker to just going straight down 93. If the commute to Boston is a huge factor I would stick to Londonderry, Derry, Windham and maybe Pelham.

[GotBackHome]

Originally Posted by bavariantransplant

Would you consider Hollis to be a worse commute to downtown Boston then Londonderry? Windham? Google maps says Hollis is further but accounting for commute traffic, is it better or worse?

just like any other town: depends on which side of Hollis you're in! If you're near Broad St, it's maybe 15 min to Rt 3/I93. If you're on the far side near Milford, much longer. but the same can be said of any town! if you're closer to the highway, it's quicker; if you're on the far side, it's longer. Location location location.

[Morris Wanchuk]

Originally Posted by bavariantransplant

Would you consider Hollis to be a worse commute to downtown Boston then Londonderry? Windham? Google maps says Hollis is further but accounting for commute traffic, is it better or worse?

If you are commuting to Boston, why not just live in MA?

You are going to get taxed even more than if you just lived in Massachusetts. Plus, there are towns closer to Boston that are more affordable and have significantly lower property taxes than Hollis or Londonderry.

[GraniteStater]

Concord just finished the massive school construction and consolidation project with "state of the art" schools. I'm sure property taxes will continue to trend much higher as a result, though.

[avlis13013]

Two Nashua schools just received $90k for laptops. What, they're not MacBooks so they don't count?
Actually I think tablets loaded with textbooks makes much more sense than Macbooks or netbooks.

[Newdaawn]

I might suggest you look into Dover NH schools but then I noticed that you will be commuting to Boston. Dover is about 15 minutes outside of Portsmouth. My daughter teaches 6th grade there and feels it is a great system. My grand daughter graduated HS there and got accepted to all the colleges she applied to. She is attending Northeastern an maintains a high gpa.