Looking for good school districts (Newark, Union: houses, buy, living)

[RAINBOWWAVES]

What about all those Mexicans that stand on Broad? I lived in Pal Park for 7 yrs, on Brinkerhoff and on 9th...the elementry school was good.

[Bri0528]

I would say stick with Bergen county. The school systems are great. Ridgewood and Glen Rock are top rated and quick commutes. And the towns are beautiful, especially Ridgewood. Westwood and Washington township are great too but you will have more of a commute.
Good Luck

[NJGal]

West Windsor Plainsboro regional school district is # 1 in NJ....both about 30-40 mins from Newark International about the same form Philly & about 45 mins from NYC from Princeton Junction train station ( Amtrak/NJ Trainsit North East Corridor) & about the same from Rt 130 /Rt 32 Park & ride to Port Authority.
Communities also have commuter buses/shuttles to the trains station
Great family oriented-neighborhoods & communities for families with kids & near excellent shopping & amenities & the Princeto area.

[RAINBOWWAVES]

The top school is Carlstadt...my son was totally reading by age 5. It also has only 5,000 ppl...

[ira]

Originally Posted by NJGal

West Windsor Plainsboro regional school district is # 1 in NJ....both about 30-40 mins from Newark International about the same form Philly & about 45 mins from NYC from Princeton Junction train station ( Amtrak/NJ Trainsit North East Corridor) & about the same from Rt 130 /Rt 32 Park & ride to Port Authority.
Communities also have commuter buses/shuttles to the trains station
Great family oriented-neighborhoods & communities for families with kids & near excellent shopping & amenities & the Princeto area.

NJ Transit Train from Princeton Junction takes an hour or more to Penn Station in NYC. Amtrak is too expensive for an every day commute. You might as well charter private plane every morning :-)

The school district is great. Its just too far from the city.

[njchick]

Cresskill, Demarest, and Tenafly have excellent schools. Northern Valley area of Bergen County, which includes Haworth, Old Tappan, Norwood, Closter, Northvale, etc. have good schools. Cresskill, Tenafly and Northern Valley Demarest and Old Tappan have highly rated high schools.

[RAINBOWWAVES]

Carlstadt is just 10 mins from NYC...

[Cat05]

Rainbow--I suspect that the age your son began reading had much more to do with him and your family than with the schools. At 5 he can't have been in school for very long before he started.

[Cat05]

I've been neglecting this discussion, so now that my 3 year old is happily watching Elmo I will try to catch up.

Yes, visiting the areas before deciding where to move is a great idea. Thanks.

I actually was already using the great schools site, along with the schools report cards on the board of ed site. I like the great schools site a lot, though sometimes their ratings leave me a little confused. I wish they said how they arrived at them. But overall they present a more thorough picture than the report cards do.

I'll take a look at Palisades Park, Carlstadt, and Hackensack.

People seem to have vastly different takes on Ridgefield. Weird.

Tenafly, Creskill and Demarest all look great, especially Tenafly. If I drove I might move to the area, but I don't. An hour to get to the mid/west side of Manhattan doesn't work for us. I wish they had trains!! I see from their website, though, that there is a bus to the ferry. I'll have to try to estimate how long that would take.

Rainbowwaves--I hope you didn't take my comment to be in any way negative about your child. You hit a bit of a nerve since I also started reading young, in kindergarten. However my elementary school was a pretty poor one overall, in spite of a few highlights, so my first 6 years of school were below par, and pretty unpleasant.

[RAINBOWWAVES]

what i meant was that by the time my son finished kindergarten, he knew how to read. They also do computers which i believe, because of starting so young, he is now a computer genius with his own business. For such a tiny town, the schools are unbeatable. I think the schools in all of Bergen are of very high standards.