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True about Cinnaminson being a single k-12 district, but as far as I know, Mt. Laurel only goes to Lenape, and Marlton only goes to Cherokee, so you get the same effect.
You get the same effect in that the kids you go to middle and elementary school with will be the same kids you go to high school with and pretty much all of the kids in those schools will be from the same town.
What you do lose is the continuity of administration, counsellors, etc. The Lenape Regional schools are entirely independent of the Marlton and Mount Laurel districts. They have different administrations from the top down, report to different school boards, etc. I am sure there is strong collaboration between them, but they are administratively different.
Personally, I think this has little effect on anything. My kids are in a district where as soon as they hit high school they go to a large regional school with kids from multiple towns. However, I can see where having the smaller self-contained district could be a distinct advantage when we are talking about a child with special needs.
Thank you for all the input and suggestions. We have spoken to quite a few school districts and found that Cinnaminson doesn't have a specific autism program, yet. However, Mount Laurel, Evesham, Cherry Hill, and Moorestown have autism programs that are supposedly very good. After communicating with the directors at all of these districts we are considering:
Mount Laurel, Evesham, and Shamong (because they send their kids to Mount Laurel).
We saw a house in Mount Lauren in Larchmont Estates. What are you honest opinions about this section of Mt. Laurel?
Thank you for all the input and suggestions. We have spoken to quite a few school districts and found that Cinnaminson doesn't have a specific autism program, yet. However, Mount Laurel, Evesham, Cherry Hill, and Moorestown have autism programs that are supposedly very good. After communicating with the directors at all of these districts we are considering:
Mount Laurel, Evesham, and Shamong (because they send their kids to Mount Laurel).
We saw a house in Mount Lauren in Larchmont Estates. What are you honest opinions about this section of Mt. Laurel?
By saying Shamong "sends their kids to Mount Laurel" do you mean for the autism program or in general? Shamong is its own PK-8 district and then the kids go to Seneca High School, which is part of the Lenape Regional system. Kids from Shamong will most likely never step foot in the same school as a kid from Mount Laurel.
With that said, Shamong is a very nice area, but is also pretty rural. The school district is highly ranked and Seneca, which is the regional school for them is also one of the best in the Lenape system. There really isn't anything bad about Shamong unless the rural aspect is an issue.
Larchmont Estates is a nice development. I know exactly what homes you are talking about. Kids from that area go to Larchmont Elementary, which according to ranking sites is the lowest ranked school in Mount Laurel. Now Luhts that posted above I believe lives in the Larchmont area and her kids go to that school and they have been VERY happy, so I would take the ranking with a grain of salt.
If you google Larchmont in Mount Laurel, you will come up with a lot of things, including threads on this forum. The Larchmont development was ground zero for the equal housing laws in NJ and what became known as the Mount Laurel Decisions. One section of Larchmont contains a large concentration of HUD low income and Section 8 housing. For this reason a lot of people consider the area along Larchmont Blvd. between Route 38 and Union Mill Rd. to be the "ghetto" of Mount Laurel, in particular the section along Willow Turn and Delancey Place. This image extends somewhat to the Larchmont school as well.
Now, the section you are looking at (south of Union Mill Rd.) is considered a nice area and it is what the entire Larchmont development was originally slated to be. I wouldn't necessarily let any of this sway you one way or the other, I just wanted to let you know the background of the area.
This is our first year at Larchmont Elementary so perhaps a bit early for me to judge, but yes my son has had no problems there, there seems to be teacher stability and the new principal is young and energetic - he wants the school to do well. Honestly I do have one complaint and that was the Christmas concert, but apparently it was done the same way it always is. I am on the PTO and the ladies there have been very welcoming, although a couple of them are leaving and we will need new blood (hint, hint).
There are quite a few townhome developments around Larchmont school so yes, there are some lower income families, but there doesn't seem to be any more crime in our area than any other one.
We also have Larchmont swim club nearby which is great in the summer. We spent quite a bit of time hanging out there last year.
I graduated from Cinnaminson HS and now live in Mt. Laurel. I think the elementary schools are about the same in all 3 towns in terms of resources and class size. I've subbed in them too and they're all wonderful. Now people are pointing our that Cinnaminson has its own HS just for Cinnaminson residents. This is nice but I think they're are benefits to regional HS too like Cherokee and Lenape. The biggest being a recognizable name, variety of programs and sports, and facilities. I suppose you just need to think do u want your kid to be one of 200 or 900 when they graduate?
I suppose you just need to think do u want your kid to be one of 200 or 900 when they graduate?
There's the thing... my friend lives in Medford and is sending his kid to Holy Cross because the kid likes Basketball and he wont make the team at Shawnee.
I vote for Marlton.
If only to encourage less people to live in Mt Laurel, as that area should, ideally, have the sprawl returned to farmland and woodlands eventually (50-100 years).
Mount Laurel's RE taxes are actually a little bit less than Marlton's. Both towns are very similar. Can't go wrong with either.
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