HELP! Looking for some advice on nice towns with good school systems and decent taxes!!

[Don Corleone]

In general, Southeastern NH is a great area (my neighbors are going to flay me alive for letting the secret out). Brentwood, Stratham, East Kingston and Kensington all share Exeter high school (some have their own middle school, all have their own elementary) with Exeter. Only Stratham has anything like a 'downtown' in the sense I think you mean, but the taxes are lower than Exeter.

I live in Kingston, which shares Sanborn regional school district with Newton. Rather scenic, if quiet. Schools are better than you would imagine. People go to Schooldigger and see the "2" or the "4" and assume they know what's up. A large part of where school rankings come from is not just the assessment testing raw scores (NECAP), but how well they fulfill "No Child Left Behind" mandates. What many people don't realize is NCLB actually requires improvement of not just the scores, but the derivative of the scores.

Sanborn has been declared a school not in compliance. This is not because of low test scores, actually Sanborn does relatively well in that regard and makes overall improvement year-over-year. What hurts Kingston is that they haven't improved specfically on the low end of the rankings, as required by NCLB. For example, let's say your scores come back and NECAP tells you 30% of your 4th graders read above grade level; 45% read at grade level; 15% read slightly below grade level and about 10% read significantly behind grade level.

Now, let's say the school district next door has numbers at 5%, 60%, 30%, 5%. You would think that the first district, with 30% of the population reading above grade level, and 75% reading at or above grade level would be ranked higher. You would be wrong, as the NCLB places emphasis on the underperforming students. Town A would be ranked lower, as its 10% underperforming popluation is higher than Town B's 5%.

Now, let's suppose Town C had the exact same scores as Town A in year 1. But in year 2, Town A remained identical. Town C moved to 25%, 45%, 25% and 5%. You would think that with the decline from 75% to 70% at or above Town C would now rank behind Town A. Actually it would rank above Town A. Why? Because Town C exhibited more improvement in the underperforming category. In fact, Town A, because it made no improvment in that category, would be ranked as "not in compliance", regardless of how well the rest of the town did.

In short, NCLB, either intentionally or unintentionally rewards funding your special education department at the expense of the rest of the school district (assuming a constant budget). Schools are faced with three options: raise their budget, divert a larger portion of their budget to special education programs, or find themselves sliding down the rankings list (and possibly declared 'not in compliance').

I apologize for getting off on such a tangent, but I think it's important that people understand 'school rankings' are a pretty complicated matter. Websites like Schooldigger and GreatSchools don't factor all of this into their rankings (though I will grant that GreatSchools does make a lot of objective data lilke student/teacher ratios available).

Kingston could probably stand to fund its education budget a little better, as teachers are relatively low-paid. They recently completed the construction of a new, nice high-school (because the old one wasn't handicapped acessisble and was risking the school losing its accreditation). Given today's economic woes, I suppose I understand the town's collective decision to withold budgetary increases, though I would make the argument that capping budgetary increases to inflation is short-sighted, when you consider the price of fuel doesn't have any such cap.

In short, I'd recommend you look around for a few towns that appeal to you outright. Look at their tax basis and the services they provide (Kingston plows the roads every storm and we have trash collection, our fire department & police department are professional, responsive and friendly (unless you give them reason not to be)). Save the education question until you have a short list, as its a lot trickier and there's a lot more research to go through than a simple ranking on a chart.

[Kelticnomad]

Hello just saw your post. Best Hidden Gem IMHO is Holderness (Squam Lake ). Homes for prices vary. The new tax rate is 13.40approx set in December 08. AS as resident you get to use a private secluded beach on Big Squam Lake. On your search check out the town budget for schools I mean price per student. Holderness Public school is compared to private school education because of the high amount of money it spends per student, High level of volunteerism and it has pre-school to Grade 8 and after school programs. I beg to differ on Interlakes (good people there) School system. It has a very low funding ratio per student and it shows, crowded computer learning classes and not enough computers for kids. Holderness is roughly a 2-5 mile ride to the college town of Plymouth which has a very lovely New England town feel. Best of luck to you

[Kelticnomad]

The only thing about the Holderness-Plymouth NH area is jobs. If you're in the trades, a teacher just to name a couple you're ok...I'm sure others here on our lovely NH Board (love it) will know of other job situations to help you if thats a concern .

[kimberlybug]

wow, some great info here, thank you!

kelticnomad, my husband is a plumber and i am home with the kids for the time being, but my background is in teaching.

we took a drive out to some towns west of manchester this past weekend. we really liked peterborough but will have to look closer at the school systems in that area.

this weekend we will be checking out belmont and surrounding areas , up to winnipesaukee if time allows, if anyone has any info / input we'd appreciate it.

thanks again!

[Kelticnomad]

There are so many lovely towns in NH. I think its going to depend how you feel when you arrive. So your husband is a plumber ..me thinks thats great for moving to NH. As a former career counselor I'm always checking latest research on hottest careers. Info is available on the Bureau of Labor Statistics.gov site. Plumbers, electricians are up there in high demand. Holderness is next door to the home of Plymouth State University. A new woman president came on board couple of years back and I think she's doing a good job. Her leadership has helped the community also. good luck

[knoxgirl]

We are in Henniker and have three kids in the school system. So far, we are pleased with the teaching quality, low class size, computers, art class, languages, music, etc... Parent involvement is good.

We've enjoyed Pat's Peak so much as well as all the good restaurants. Being a college town is a plus, I think. Concord shopping is within 30 minutes if you need bigger stores, but there are several small grocery stores in Henniker, an Ace Hardware, great library, banks, gift shops. The people are very nice and always helpful.

For the cost of housing in NH, Henniker is a solid little town.

[BF66389]

Taxes really depends on the value of a house as well- not just the rate. Hollis & Brookline share an excellent middle & high school. They have a fairly high tax rate- but there are plenty of reasonably priced homes where the taxes would be under $5k.

Hollis residents are very involved in the town government process; I think you'll find a direct cost/benefit relationship for taxes here- the administrative functions are very lean...but the services functions are excellent. Having been involved in local government before in two other areas- I have been VERY impressed.

[GregW]

Nice town, good schools, low taxes. Pick any two.

[Valerie C]

I don't agree with you often Greg, but kudos to you when you get it right

Originally Posted by GregW

Nice town, good schools, low taxes. Pick any two.