Moving from MD to VT (Burlington, South Burlington: neighborhood, private school, college)

[MDVT]

My family is moving to the Burlington area from Maryland late March/early April. We are looking for a family friendly neighborhood with good schools and have narrowed our search to include Shelburne, Williston, and South Burlington. We have also considered Essex Junction. We want to hear about the "vibes" of these places and what type of people live there. I appreciated any input!!

[honestvter]

Move to New Hampshire, Taxes won't hurt as bad. Very Liberal school systems especially in Chittenden County. Shelburne , Williston have low test scores but the highest paid teachers in the state Avg. Salary is $77K for 9 month position. Don't be fooled by what is written by papers or ad agencies and DO NOT believe Realtor. As soon as our children our out of college 4 years we will be out of this state and I'm a 7th generation Vermonter! Our one saving grace was to send our son to a private school (Rice Memorial in So. Burl) Much better education (teaches both sides not just liberal and lets the child decide, core values to along with a code of ethics and have to have 80+ hours of community service to graduate.

[RunawayJim]

Originally Posted by honestvter

Move to New Hampshire, Taxes won't hurt as bad. Very Liberal school systems especially in Chittenden County. Shelburne , Williston have low test scores but the highest paid teachers in the state Avg. Salary is $77K for 9 month position. Don't be fooled by what is written by papers or ad agencies and DO NOT believe Realtor. As soon as our children our out of college 4 years we will be out of this state and I'm a 7th generation Vermonter! Our one saving grace was to send our son to a private school (Rice Memorial in So. Burl) Much better education (teaches both sides not just liberal and lets the child decide, core values to along with a code of ethics and have to have 80+ hours of community service to graduate.

Did you stop and think that perhaps the OP is moving to the Burlington area for a job? Some people don't have a choice as to where they move.

As for the OP's question, there have been some recent posts about the school systems in that area in other recent threads.

[momnh]

We live in Williston and really like it for a lot of reasons. It's in a convenient location off 89 but close to Burlington as well as to the mountains. And while the big box stores are at the exit, the village itself is very quaint as the school and library are right in town and therefore are the center of the community. I have a 1st grader who is doing really well there. He gets a lot of attention from an awesome teacher and is also enrolled in their enrichment program. He's made friends very easily since we moved here a year ago because it is a very family friendly town, and that has help us make friends too.

p.s. I moved from Manchester, NH because there was no way my kids were going to go through the school systems there. Not good at all, and not safe either!