Info on Orange County, Ulster and Sullivan school districts.

[ARLEEN]

My Family Which Include 4 Children From 3-14 Years Old Would Like To Know About Monticello....the Housing Seems Affordable....we Will Be Taking A Trip There To Investigate If This Place Would Be WHere We Want To Live.....

We Are Also A Family Of Police Officers....

Can Anyone Share Their Opinion With Us,,,,thanx

[winnie]

I would advise against monticello. My cousin-in-law's husband is taking some criminal justice courses and applying for police jobs in the area. He says there is a lot of drugs in the area, domestic violence and assault.

To give you the low-down on Monticello - the area has a brand new casino there and is experiencing some growing pains. While the cost of living appears cheap, the taxes in Sullivan County are disturbingly high. The schools are not the best. Ellenville NY is also not a great place to live, niether is Port Jervis.

If you are interested in the area and obviously wanting police jobs I would suggest a few different options. Middletown is the county seat of Orange County and there is the courthouse and Sheriff's office there. A couple good places to live in the area are Minisink Valley (just west of Middletown), Greenville NY, and the areas to the west of Middletown that do not have Port Jervis school districts. The housing there is not as cheap as Monticello but the taxes are less and you have better schools and access to better jobs.

Eastern Orange county brings a lot of job opportunities for security/police work. You should find the pay to be pretty competitive. I have heard starting base salaries as low as 56K/yr and as high as the mid 60K, with some correction officers I know making 6 figures a year with OT. That salary would enable you to live anywhere in Orange County you choose. Just so you know, that is info from people who have applied for jobs, so I have not researched it myself, but it sounds like a reasonable salary for this area.

Stewart ANGB in Newburgh NY http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/jobs.html might have some DOD security jobs open as well.

Also FYI- there are 2 major correctional facilities across the river in Dutchess county. Downstate and Mattawan sp?. There is a Psychiatric facility for the criminally Insane in Goshen NY. There is also a prison in Wallkill NY on rte 208. I am sure there are others, those are the ones that pop off the top of my head.

Not sure if you are moving from out of state, but some needed info if you are: One catch is that in NYS if you bring your firearms here upon your move you are in violation of the law. You cannot possess handguns here without a permit. You are expected to leave them with a FFL back in your state, get your CC permit (took DH about 4 months and you must appear before the judge) and then have the FFL dealer send the handguns to you. Not sure if they speed things up a bit if you are in a career that requires you to carry, they very well might. Of course you can call the town clerk in Middletown and speak to the pistol permit officer there who can advise you of the latest and greatest procedures to make sure you are doing things the right way. That was the procedure 2 years ago when we moved here but things can change.

If you are moving from another county in NY i am unsure of the procedure. I think you have to give a change of address at the Town Hall and file some forms but the Pistol Permit officer can let you know.

Some really great school districts are Minisink Valley, Wallkill, Monroe Woodbury, Pine Bush, Valley Central. Warwick is pretty good as well. you can look at the report cards for the schools and get a feel for the schools that are experiencing some difficulty.

[neilbartdude]

I totally agree with Winnie on the schools topic. I have a child attending Port Jervis High School and I could not be less pleased with the administration, the teachers, the student's behavior (no discipline at all) or available resources. Port Jervis is a Title I district with a designation of " In Corrective Action". According to the No Child Left Behind Act, you as a parent are supposed to have a choice of schools if you are not satisfied with your child's education. However, since there are no other schools to transfer to in the district you do not have a choice. I was told that a district such as Port Jervis should make an agreement with neigboring districts such as Minisink Valley or Eldred to allow students to attend those schools if necessary, but no money is available to pay for this option. I thought Federal Funds were being given to Title I schools for this express purpose as well as hiring better teachers and improving quality of resources. I have seen no evidence of that. Where are the federal funds actually going? I understand all of the above applies to Middletown and Newburgh as well. Now, I am not knocking the towns of Port Jervis, Middletown or Newburgh - there are many wonderful people living in these towns, and I actually like living in Port Jervis. I am just referring to the educational defiencies in these towns. Someone needs to address these issues quickly, I am currently attempting to get something going with Albany regarding this issue and I wish more of you out would do the same.

[WJD]

Originally Posted by lexlex

I grew up in Ulster County and went to school in Saugerties and i thought the educational standards were amazing. I moved to AZ and there was a huge difference in school quality. Yes, the schools are older, but the teachers have many years of experience not to mention the regents exams are a great idea.

I would have to agree with lexlex.
I also went to school in Saugerties.
Here in CA, where my son was a teacher the quailty is no where near what I had.

[winnie]

I am going to post this link here as it is good stuff for people new to the area:

http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/press...70110/home.htm

Check you school district out - are they in good standing or need improvement?

[Hill Billy]

Not only should you check out the State education department web page BUT you should also check out www.ppinys.org."Just the Facts" to see how New Yorks barely average schools and SATS and reading scores compare to the other 49 states..25 other states do a MUCH better job at public education at a FRACTION of the cost..

[msbzness]

My sons go to NFA and are on the football, track, wrestling teams and even play for the district band.
Oh and they hare on the honor roll nd hvae been on the honor roll from elem school at fostertown to south jhs all the wy up to nfa.
My eldest son is entering 12 grade in sept and has had allkids of college offers come his way.
I understand what you all mean about the past violence but I wiould not say enrolling your child in NFA is a dangerous thing. My children have never been attacked or brutalized. They have to walk through the city of Newburgh to get hoe to New Windsor when I or their father are unavailable to pick them up fro practice.
Have any of you attended school there RECENTLY or personally know of children that attend school there?
We can look at stats all day long, while some of that info may serve as predictors--remember stats change and there are always variations.

[arb892]

do Not....i Repeat....do Not Put Your Child Or Children In Middletown High School. It Has Been My Experience As A Parent Of Two Teenagers Who Were In The Middletown High School. The School Will Destroy Your Childrens Morals. Recently There Was A Stabbing On The School Campus. The Student Was Stabbed In The Throat. The Female Students Dress With Cleavage And Pants That Look As If They Have Been Painted On. The Dress Code Is Not Inforced And The Teachers...although May Be Very Quallified Have To Spend Most Of There Time Telling Students To Be Quiet. middletown Highschool Is A Penetentury, The Students Are Lost In The System And The Administration Couldn't Care Less. I Can't Sell My House Because No One Wants To Live In Middletown School District. Does That Tell You Anything? Make It A Military School ...tax Payers Would Be Happy About That.

[LP1]

Monticello is a very depressing area to visit and from the other comments I am also reading, I agree and think it is correct to say that the violence and drugs may be a deterent to move there and a problem to deal with when living in this area!
Port Jervis, Middletown, Newburgh are all big city school distircts.

Some good choices are: Warwick, Minisink, Greenwood Lake, Tuxedo, Monroe, Washingtonville, and PIne Bush. Best of Luck to you and your family!

Chester is also an option! Even Vernon, NJ is a very good choice!

I work in the schools as a substitute teacher and so I have first had experiece with the students and climates in the schools!