Londonderry or Bedford?

[ManchVegas]

I don't have any kids yet (soon though!) but my neighbor's son goes to Peter Woodbury and both parents and kid seem to really like it - even saw him on TV last week, WMUR's weather guy stopped in so the class got their pic on the newscast. I don't really think you can go wrong at any of the elementary schools. They'll be less crowded now that grade 5 is leaving; McKelvie Middle becomes McKelvie upper elementary (grades 5-6) under the new system, and the new middle school gets 7-8.

[LoveLondonderry]

Hi,

I have lived in Londonderry for 18 years. All of my children are now out of the super school system. All but one of the elementary schools have been upgraded and that goes on the ballot next year. The high school, middle school has been expanded. I have watched our High School Marching band go from 187 to over 325. They have been selected to march in China at the Olmpics and have attended the Rose Bowl Parade 3 times. A wonderful organization.

The five orchards, Old Home Days, the community spirit. We have thoursands of acers of protected open space land where you can walk, cross country ski, bike and enjoy.

The taxes are high because we are currently paying for all of infrastructure but we have a simple opportunity to correct. Londonderry has over 1000 acres of industrial land located next to one of the fastest growing airports in the country (Bedford is subjected to the same noise depending how the planes are flying). When that is built out in the next 10 years as a community I think we will be sitting very pretty. If you want information about Londonderry, a new online news site has been established try www.londonderrynh.net.

Hope this helps.

[spokenlikeawheel]

Hi,

I lived in Bedford, NH for about 4 yrs actually, and just moved to Londonderry in Sept. 2007. After my divorce it just didn't make sense living there in the 4 bdrm I had, now that there was just my 8 yr old daughter and I, so townhome was the way to go, and Londonderry has plenty of them.
I also live in Londonderry about 16 years ago for a short time, but, I will tell you this: Londonderry schools are much more challenging and rigorous than Bedford schools...much more! And I believe Londonderry schools are better, but also bigger in population. More money goes into them, and that is something Londondery prides itself on.
Bedford JUST got their high school after many years, and politically it seems that schooling is not that high of a priority to many in Bedford..they'd rather the lower taxes.
Bedford is a great town though, and I did enjoy living there, but I must say, I enjoy Londonderry more. There's not so much snootiness as there is in Bedford. Though Bedford does have some incredible properties.
The tax rate is higher in Londonderry, but Bedford is catching up. When I purchased my home in Bedford, the tax rate was a big factor, and in 1 year, I saw my taxes pretty much double, so I'd advise to really be careful there, because taxes do change dramatically throughout NH it seems...well that's my experience.

Originally Posted by momoftwonh

Hi All,

I currently own a home in Nashua and we are looking to move to either Bedford or Londonderry sometime in the next 12 months . Londonderry seems slightly more affordable, but the Bedford schools seem to be superior to the Londonderry system. I hate to make decisions based on objective data alone and would really appreciate any first hand information that anyone has to share about the schools, community, social organizations, etc.

Thanks in advance!

[spokenlikeawheel]

My daughter attended Memorial School, and she loved it, it's a great school, and I've heard that many prefer it over Woodbury and Riddlebrook because of less snootiness ( kids too)...but then once they hit McKelvie, the snootiness is everywhere, so I'm not sure which is the lesser of two evils. I didn't want my child having to deal with it though.

Originally Posted by momoftwonh

Thanks so much for the input on Bedford. I think that we have decided that Bedford is the place for us. We have looked at a lot of information on both Londonderry and Bedford and it just seems that Bedford is a better fit. The schools sound wonderful by all accounts, and even though we have quite a while before middle and high school(kids are 3 and 1) it's nice to know that the facilities will be in good condition when we get to that stage.

We are anticipating spending between $450-500k on a home, and it looks like there is a decent selection in that price range, so hopefully we'll find something great.

I have one more question...we have friends who live in the Riddle Brook school district, they are quite pleased, but I have also heard great things about The Peter Woodbury School, I know less about Memorial...does anyone have any first hand experiences with any of the elementary schools in Bedford?

TIA

[bryfry]

Thanks for the recent updates on this thread. I'm generally interested in both towns and I have two kids aged 12 and 7, so your comments mean a great deal. Both towns have a lot to offer, but school is vitally important to us at this juncture. I want to make sure my kids are offered a decent education with emphasis on accelerated programs. Both my children are participating in them now, so it's imperative that they continue with that structure. Do any of these town schools offer advanced placement education?

[Strongasabear]

"Londonderry offers a wide range of honors and advanced placement classes including English Lit and Comp, US History, European History, US Government and Politics, Environmental Science, Calculus, Statistics, Computer Science, French and Spanish."

http://www.londonderry.org/assets/do...hs_profile.pdf

[bryfry]

Thanks for the link. It is very helpful.