Rye, North Hampton, Exeter: schools etc. (Londonderry, Portsmouth: appointed, house, neighborhood)

[promenade]

Hi--I'm a NH native who has lived in NY and MA for all of my adult life. My husband and I and our two boys (ages 9 and 6) are considering a move from the North Shore of MA to the NH seacoast. It's not a huge jump, but I have a few questions--I need to separate idyllic childhood memories from the reality what living in that area is like in 2008! I'm from Exeter, and know that the schools were great in my day, but it sounds as though there are complaints about the educational quality at the middle school now. Also, the middle school seems HUGE at approx. 1300 students (my kids are in a small neighborhood school now). The size of the Rye elem. and middle school seem better, but I'm wondering what it's really like to live in Rye. Is there a huge split between the Beach Club-type crowd and the rest of town? Our price range is about $500k, and I know that doesn't go so far in Rye. Curious about N. Hampton, as well, since I don't know much about it. If anyone has any personal experiences with these communities and the schools, I'd love any info you'd care to share! Thanks.

[Suzet2262]

Originally Posted by promenade

Hi--I'm a NH native who has lived in NY and MA for all of my adult life. My husband and I and our two boys (ages 9 and 6) are considering a move from the North Shore of MA to the NH seacoast. It's not a huge jump, but I have a few questions--I need to separate idyllic childhood memories from the reality what living in that area is like in 2008! I'm from Exeter, and know that the schools were great in my day, but it sounds as though there are complaints about the educational quality at the middle school now. Also, the middle school seems HUGE at approx. 1300 students (my kids are in a small neighborhood school now). The size of the Rye elem. and middle school seem better, but I'm wondering what it's really like to live in Rye. Is there a huge split between the Beach Club-type crowd and the rest of town? Our price range is about $500k, and I know that doesn't go so far in Rye. Curious about N. Hampton, as well, since I don't know much about it. If anyone has any personal experiences with these communities and the schools, I'd love any info you'd care to share! Thanks.

Welcome the NH Forum promenade. Everyone here is very helpful, so I am sure someone will be able to answer your questions. I dont live there yet, otherwise I would be happy to help....lol

[Valerie C]

Wish I could help promenade, but I've never lived directly on the seacoast. I do know people in North Hampton, however, and they are very happy with the schools.

[NH2008]

We're looking into all the same questions. From what I understand, Hampton Falls is great and doesn't have the same snobby reputation as Rye but still has great schools through middle school. I don't think any of the high schools on the NH Seacoast are too impressive. Someone on here pointed me to York, ME as the closest town with a highly rated school system that goes K-12. Unfortunately, York is in Maine and farther north - about 80 minutes north of Boston. But it does look like the best school system in the area. Good luck!

[Valerie C]

It's not one of the school systems that you asked about in your original post, however, I'm told that one of the best districts in the area (though not directly on the seacoast, but close) is Oyster River, which encompasses the towns of Lee, Madbury and Durham. Taxes are quite a bit higher than surrounding towns, however, people I know who live in these towns there say it's well worth it in the quality of education--people chose to move to those towns BECAUSE of the schools.

I live in Londonderry, which is well known for it's excellent school system AND it's higher than average taxes. The two seem to be intertwined, along with general house values, that while softer than a year or two ago, are still higher than average for the state in general...

[J Sepanski]

Hi, I'm a realtor in the NH Hampshire Seacoast area. I relocated 7 years ago to North Hampton from CT, and before that had lived in NJ, NY and also PA. We faced all the questions you are raising when we came here.

My kids have went through the North Hampton School from 4th and 6th grade and my daughter is currently a senior at WHS. It has been a good experience for her and she is doing very well on her college appectances, and we very pleased with the way it worked for her. Our son is following a different path and is a soph at SJ prep in Danvers as it seemed like a good fit for him to be there.

Each town in the area has pluses and minues in different areas and for the price range you are talking about can find things in each town, of course depending on the town,
500,000 will buy different levels of property. Obviously the biggest +'s to Rye and North Hampton is that they are on the water, which is a wonderful part of leaving on the seacoast, being able to be at the beach in minutes with a parking pass.

The school in North Hampton the school is k-8, and they operated the 6,7 & 8 grades are operated in a separate manner than the lower grades to provide more of a middle school environment. The small size of the school has +/- also as by the end they completely outgrow it, but that well outweighed by how well the staff knows them and that attention that they are given.

We really love it here and my best advice to you is do what we did and spend some days exploring the towns, both by visting the schools and looking at some homes in each town. That's the best way to start to narrow it down.

Hope this helps a bit.

[farmbythesea]

Hi all,
I am also considering a move to the seacoast from the northshore of ma. I have many questions and concerns that are very hard to find out unless you really know an area. Schools are very important to us, as well as like minded people who are somewhat politically liberal and socially/environmentally conscious. I am impressed with the reputation of the exeter schools but I too wonder if the middle school seems too large and about regional school vs. smaller. I have been following some posts about north hampton school and I am very intrigued. I understand it has a strong social/emotional emphasis which sounds incredible (very charter or private school like), but perhaps not as strong academically compared to other seacoast schools? not sure how important this is at the k-8 levels. And what about the high school? I heard that north hampton might become it's own district? Also, would anyone be willing to give their opinion of area in general, compared to boston suburbs and perhaps how the people might be any different than boston suburban folks? I'm sure many people have move up from ma but I'm not originally from new england. Politically? more friendly? healthier life styles? are seacoast folks more active & outdoorsy? I am a little disappointed that the area doesn't have a trader joes or whole foods. Although, hanafords is a good option, at least. And the farmers markets seem great! I would appreciate ANY info! thanks so much!!!!

[dognh]

First, a comment about schools. There are a lot of questions on this board about this school district or that, which is better, etc, etc. IMHO too much emphasis is being placed on the district doing all the work for you (the student). Kids can excel anywhere with the right parental involvement and love for learning.

All of the school districts you mention are good and will afford you child the opportunity to excel. However, if you have a delinquent child, bad parents, no school district will make a difference.

As far as the towns outside of school, there are a few pros & cons.

Pros
Rye -- low property taxes, high property values, beach, upscale
N.Hampton -- high property values, beach, larger population, more activity, closer to retail, etc.
Exeter -- Quintessential NE downtown, community oriented, culture, different types of homes/geography, good property values, less summer traffic, convenient to grocery stores

Cons
Rye & N. Hampton - summer traffic, farther from interior NH (depending on where you work), expensive.
Exeter -- farther from beach/Portsmouth, slightly lower property values, high property taxes

[Annabelle]

I'm a native of the north shore of MA and have lived in Exeter for 10 years, having moved here when the kids were in middle and elementary school. I think some of the responses you have received are right on. I would guess that half of the people I have met living/working on the seacoast grew up on the north shore and relocated over the border into the "seacoast" to get away from the awful rat race that Mass. has become over the past 25 years. Some have relocated just recently and many have relocated to this area over the past 25 years or so. Politically, the seacoast towns do not lean heavily on one side or the other. There is a thread somewhere on here from after the elections in Nov. that lists the Obama/McCain totals for area towns so you can see which towns tend to lean a bit one way or the other. Where you live a short distance away, you should visit various towns often to find your best fit.