Schools in Orange County, NY (New York, Monroe: house hunting, travel, houses)

[gbipot]

My husband and I are house hunting in Orange County. We have 2 kids one of which will be entering high school next year (2008). I've heard that Warwick High School is great but what's the skinny on the other area high schools? Valley Central, Washingtonville, and Minisink? I've been warned several times to steer clear of schools in Port Jervis but we aren't looking to move that far West anyway.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[OC-Gal]

Hello and welcome. The schools vary by location and what you are looking for. Schools in Orange County have become quite good with many having excellent music and art programs as well as school athletics and academics. Moderator cut: realtor soliciting

[joeymarine]

Originally Posted by gbipot

My husband and I are house hunting in Orange County. We have 2 kids one of which will be entering high school next year (2008). I've heard that Warwick High School is great but what's the skinny on the other area high schools? Valley Central, Washingtonville, and Minisink? I've been warned several times to steer clear of schools in Port Jervis but we aren't looking to move that far West anyway.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

gbipot-

I believe that you are more looking for information than someone to show you houses....

...the best 2 places to look at school information would be GreatSchools.net and SchoolMatters.com . Going to these websites may be the best way for you to get accurate info as peoples personal opinion of schools are going to be different based upon what they truely value. For example, Monroe-Woodbury has an amazing sports program and their acedemics can sometimes be hurt because of that (my personal opinion) while Warwick schools seem to be a little more well rounded. Once again, personal opinion.

Take a look at those links and if you still have questions I'd be more than happy to help you out with my personal opinion.

Good Luck!!!

~Joey

[homerjesse]

Hi,
The school district in Monroe-Woodbury is awesome. Academically, athletically and musically it is one of the best. We moved from NYC twenty years ago to find a place that is rural and yet culturally diverse. Monroe offers it all including local dance schools such as Orange County School of Dance that offer girls excellent training without having to travel to Manhattan. My first-born son is now pursing a music career after achieving a music scholarship at Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY; all attributed to the excellent teachers of Monroe-Woodbury.

[ckhthankgod]

From what I've heard, Monroe-Woodbury, Cornwall, Warwick, Pine Bush and Minisink Valley are the top districts among others. There are others that are good, but those seem to be the 5 I've heard good things about the most.

[former newyorker38]

i grew up in orange county ny and i went to the schools in monroe,warwick and then florida ny(ss seward).i graduated h.s from ss seward in 1989.

the ss seward school in florida ny was very small when i went there between 86-89 but they made it 3 times bigger when it underwent re-construction between 94-95.my younger brother went there between 94-00.he graduated in 00 from there.

its a nice school and a nice area.i lived there from 86-89 and then after being in illinois for a little while,i went back there and stayed from 90-03 for the most part.finally,i settled in goshen and then walden and then middletown.now,i'm in Pennsylvania.

yeah,warwick and monroe are probably a tie for best in orange county though.florida ny is quite improved from the former lil hicktown of the 80's-early 90's though.no pun intended towards country based folk.i'm towards that direction myself btw. : )

as far as overall living conditions and outside atmosphere i would say for myself,my favorite orange county towns would definately be Pine Island Ny and Florida Ny.I lived in Pine Island Ny from 81-86 and went to warwick school while living in that town and its definately my favorite amongst orange county towns.it is very peacefull and there are alot of onion fields and trails for atv'ing.same with florida ny,especially around the indiana rd territory.florida ny is very close to warwick ny and pine island ny is very close to both florida and warwick ny.it's basically right in between the two.

pine island ny is also very close to vernon nj,and vernon nj is a real neat lil town that has the skiing center and the famous "action park" as well.
action park is basically the vernon nj version of "great adventure".

[Mister Kite]

Monroe/Woodbury has a well-rounded program, but is very large. Pine Bush is also another great, but growing, option. Truthfully, Delaware Valley, just over the PA line is a great school to consider. As an independent observer, I've noticed that many of their kids not only have high test scores, but quite a few go on to Ivy League colleges with scholarship opportunities. You would also be only 15/20 minutes from Middletown.

Good luck!

[ckhthankgod]

What about districts like Highland Falls, Goshen, Washingtonville, Greenwood Lake, Florida, Tuxedo and Valley Central?

[Mister Kite]

Valley Central is another school that is gaining in scores and programs. The others? All I can say is to check here...

recordonline.com - The Times Herald-Record, serving New York’s Hudson Valley and the Catskills

This is the "School Report Card" that our local paper puts out every year. Hopefully, this will give you some idea of what you are in need of.

Again, I wish you luck and welcome you to our general area.

[Mister Kite]

And since this won't show links (sorry), here's the deal:

Go to www.recordonline.com ---> NEWS ---> ARCHIVE ---> top right, type in "school report card" ---> after "suggested pages" click on the first main link. All of the info you need to make an informed choice would be here. The archives also hold past report card info to compare.

Sorry about that.