to poshr - I'm in the same situation!! (Chester, Drexel Hill: private schools, property taxes)

[J&A'sMOM]

Hello -

Please let this be for Poshr and not for the mainline vs. moorestown debate. Thank-you in advance for your cooperation.

We've been considering relocating for 1 year. We almost moved to Westchester County NY - but now we are waiting for a relocation package for Philly!! I just spent 9 hours last weekend with a realtor in the Mainline area and 4 1/2 in NJ. My PA realtor was totally awesome and the whole mainline area is beautiful and I found the people to be very nice!!! All of the towns are very close together and there are sooo many private schools I can't even start to tell you. Some are over $25k/year and many are in your (and my) price range.

The communities in the Mainline area are all pretty close together and I didn't really feel that one was better than another. Nor could I really tell when we left one and drove into another one, unlike many other places. So whether it was Devon, Villanova, Paoli, Newtown Square, Wayne (which I loved) Upper Merion, Haverford, or others I really liked them all. I'd say Wayne and Gladwyne were my favorite.

What you need is the "Independent Schools Greater Delaware Valley" booklet on all the private schools in the greater Philly area which includes NJ. Look on their website and maybe they'll have ordering instrucitons for their booklet. http://advis.org ADVIS - The Association of Delaware Valley Schools - Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware My realtor gave me the booklet.

I also toured Moorestown, Medford, and Haddonfield the day after I toured the mainline area in PA. You'll have to go and see for yourself - both areas are very nice and I could live in either place. Haddonfield has a really great feel to it - really "cool" - but we took a wrong turn and drove into a pretty run down area one block away from the town line. I liked the Mainline area better because it's more like the area I live now and it's a larger area with more small beautiful towns to choose from. Otherwise both are exceptionally nice. NJ taxes are very high - except for Medford which is just too far out for us and not easy to get to the airport.

If my DH accepts this offer and we're off to PA I will go and visit The Episcopal Academy, and Friends School - Haverford. Those will be my first two visits.

ps - you can e-mail me if you want on this site - my dd is 4 and my ds is in 1st grade.

also if you ride horses your only 15 minutes away from some of the most beautiful horse country I've ever seen

[orrmobl]

Who was your PA Realtor if you don't mind me asking?

The Inquirer does a yearly school ranking and I believe they include private schools.

From 2006 Philly Mag report:

Bang for Your Buck
Fifteen high-value schools that offer — based on tuition dollar or tax dollar spent — the best overall mix of high SATs, AP classes, and number of teachers. (• indicates a public school.)

1. •Masterman High School
2. St. Joseph’s Preparatory School
3. •Conestoga High School
4. Holy Ghost Preparatory School
5. •Central High School
6. The Baldwin School
7. The Haverford School
8. The Shipley School
9. The Episcopal Academy
10. Germantown Friends School
11. William Penn Charter School
12. Germantown Academy
13. Devon Preparatory School
14. • Cherry Hill High School East
15. Academy of Notre Dame de Namur

[J&A'sMOM]

Thanks for the information. I can't wait to find out if we're moving. I am a little concerned that The Episcopal Academy may be too large for my son. I'll check it out. Your list is really helpful and I'll be looking at those schools too. All of those schools are listed in my booklet so I have their info. Can I give you my realtor info - or is that against the rules of this forum? She's with Prudential @ Haverford Station Office.

thanks again

[orrmobl]

Your welcome - you can post it if its easier or you PM me with the info if it makes you more comfortable.

Thanks!

[Tone509]

Originally Posted by J&A'sMOM

Can I give you my realtor info - or is that against the rules of this forum? She's with Prudential @ Haverford Station Office.

Sharing realtor information publicly would constitute advertising. As a non-realtor, you can certainly feel free to DM a member with that information.

[Poshr]

Thanks so much for your post J&A'sMom - it's really helpful to us!
We were considering living somewhere on the NJ side, so it's great to know that the taxes are really high.
My husband is really keen to live near a train line, so Wayne would be a good choice. We'll definitely be looking into that ADVIS website you suggested - it looks really helpful. I haven't looked at it just yet, but I'm hoping they could send us a brochure like the one you picked up.
And my daughter is crazy about horses,so it's awesome that there are horses so close by!
Is there a particular suburb that is "the most beautiful horse country"?
Thanks once again!

[orrmobl]

Malvern and Chester Springs, not sure about Devon and Berwyn (Home of the Devon Horse Show), maybe West Chester, Chadds Ford, Ridley Creek State Park...

[J&A'sMOM]

Poshr
I'll DM you with some more info. Good Luck!!

[Sassygirl18]

Just an FYI re: property taxes. They are definitely high in NJ. They are equally high in some PA towns. It really depends on the town. For example, I live in Cherry Hill, NJ and pay about $8,000/year. I would pay the same if I moved to Drexel Hill, Swarthmore, Elkins Park and some other PA towns I've looked into. There are, however, some PA towns with lower taxes..you just have to shop around.