[shel218]

My husband are relocating to Vermont and have to live within 30 minutes of the Grand Isle Ferry (due to work requirements). We have looked at homes in the Grand Isle/South Hero area as well as Milton. From my understanding the schools in the "Islands" are quite small but in high school you can choose a school (and I've heard Essex is the place to go) but I was looking for some feedback on Milton schools. And any feedback on living in either area would be beneficial.

[68vette]

If your husband has to be within 30 min of the ferry, does that mean he will be working in NY? If so why not live on that side of the lake. I don't know how the schools are, but it is much more affordable than the Vermont side. If you need or want to be on the Vermont side, there are more options than Milton and the islands. You can add Colchester and parts of Essex to your list. We live in Malletts Bay and it is only about 20 min to the ferry. Most kids in the islands come to Colchester for high school. The school is good as well as Essex High, but depending on where you live in the islands, it can take an hour or more to get to or from school in Essex. The islands are nice, but there is little development and living there requires travel to shop, etc. Home prices tend to be higher as well.
Schools are a subject that is difficult to talk about. What may be a good school this year or in the past, may change in the next few years. Milton and several other towns are going through budget issues with their schools now, and the rest of the state will follow suite in the next year or two. How this will effect things, no one knows for sure. The goal is not to have quality go down, but it is impossible to say that will be the case. In Colchester we have had several teacher positions cut in the past year. One way to offset the cuts was to have virtual classrooms (teachers in other states who teach the class through a internet connection, much like web conferencing)that are much more affordable. Some like this while others hate it.

[shel218]

Thank you 68Vette for responding to my post. We actually live in New York now and his job is in Vermont. We are excited about the move to Vermont but it is quite stressful because the housing market is much higher than where we are now. We are trying to find an area that is great for kids, affordable, as well as less than 30 minutes to the ferry. We are trying to actually stay within 20 minututes to the ferry because I have another 30 minute drive to work on the New York side. We have recently started a more serious search in the Colchester area.