Towns in Westchester w/ GREAT Public Elemenatry Schools (can you recommend?) (Yonkers: real estate, houses)

[alexamommie]

Hello,

OK we we have 1 child that is 2 years old and have just found out that we're having TWINS! We can no longer afford living in Hoboken and having to send all 3 kids through private school so, we're considering moving to Westchester County and could really use your help on towns to live where they have GREAT public elementary schools. We're also looking for a great preK Montesorri school too.
My husband would like to be close to a train line as he works in the city and I would like to live in a town where I don't feel too isolated where there's a good community of people and activities as well as some sort of downtown shopping area? If I can't have everything listed here then I would say that my #1 choices would be the good public elementary schools and being close to the train line.

Thanks for any suggestions. If you have names of specific schools it would be super helpful as I know there's always waiting lists for the good ones.

[dma1250]

General price range?

[lgsdss]

we're also moving from the hoboken area. so far i have found that we really like larchmont, eastchester, and scarsdale- both have nice walking town and great schools.

[karen824]

I agree, I think we need to know your budget and price range before we can suggest anything. If you're moving from Hoboken because it's too expensive, I'm not sure there's much in Westchester that would be affordable--unless you go quite far north. Maybe Croton-on-Hudson?
Also, are you thinking of public elementary schools or private? You mentioned a waiting list, which makes me think private? There wouldn't be a waiting list for public schools.

[mead]

It doesn't really matter for Westchester with the price range I guess. Everything is expensive, there are only degrees of how expensive it will be.

There are towns with good public schools like Pelham and Eastchester where you can find houses for $600k.

However if you're looking into moving to a town with excellent schools like Bronxville or Scarsdale expect to pay more. The cheapest house you will find in Scarsdale will probably be around $700k. Bronxville is even more expensive.

Originally Posted by karen824

I agree, I think we need to know your budget and price range before we can suggest anything. If you're moving from Hoboken because it's too expensive, I'm not sure there's much in Westchester that would be affordable--unless you go quite far north. Maybe Croton-on-Hudson?
Also, are you thinking of public elementary schools or private? You mentioned a waiting list, which makes me think private? There wouldn't be a waiting list for public schools.

[Viralmd]

Chappaqua, Katonah, Bedford and Bedford Hills all have great schools. But very pricey real estate.

[alexamommie]

Well coming from Hoboken, we are looking to buy a 4 bedroom for just a little over 1M. We really like Scarsdale because of the schools but have heard that the people in the town are 'snobby'. I'm not sure if this is true but I would like to find a friendly town to raise our family so that our children learn to be nice to everyone.

[alexamommie]

Does anyone know if there is usually a waitlist for preschool private schools in the Westchester area near Scarsdale, Yonkers, New Rochelle, etc??? If so, does anyone know what how long they're typically for? This waitlist business is stressful!

[mead]

I think most average people in this area would say people in Hoboken are snobby, so I wouldn't be too concerned about this.

I would focus on whether you would actually like living there. Hoboken is a fairly urban area where you can walk out of your front door and go and do something at any hour of the day.

Scarsdale on the other hand is the suburbs. Don't get me wrong, Scarsdale is one of the nicest suburbs in the country and has a nice little downtown, but the vibe is completely different.

Originally Posted by alexamommie

Well coming from Hoboken, we are looking to buy a 4 bedroom for just a little over 1M. We really like Scarsdale because of the schools but have heard that the people in the town are 'snobby'. I'm not sure if this is true but I would like to find a friendly town to raise our family so that our children learn to be nice to everyone.

[alexamommie]

Is there an area in Westchester that is known to have young families and where they might be a bit more social, perhaps have block parties and events of such? Maybe I'm dreaming...