[vicky8]

My husband and I are considering making South Ridgefield area our new home, moving from NYC and Westchester. We noticed there are several elementary schools -- is there a ranking among the schools? How does Branchville compare with the others?

Are there different neighborhoods in Ridgefield and if so, I'd love some anecdotal information about each.

Also, how does Ridgefield compare to Wilton in terms of people, i.e. type of profession? Does a majority of people in Ridgefield commute to NYC?

Thank you kindly.

[JayCT]

Ridgefield is a beautiful town with great schools. I doubt that you can go wrong with any of them. There may be small differences in class size and the social makeup of the schools vary slightly. The curriculum offered at each school is the same and I am sure the teachers are all top notch. In general I have found that schools within most upscale Connecticut towns like Ridgefield are all good and there is little difference in the quality of education offered.

Out of the 11,000 workers in Ridgefield, only about 600 residents commute to Manhatten. Most people in Ridgefield work in town, Stamford and Danbury. Some work in Norwalk, Greenwich and White Plains as well.

Wilton is a really wonderful town with excellent schools and amenities. In general I believe Ridgefield is a more well rounded community than Wilton. It has been voted a number of times as the best town of its size in the state. Wilton is a little more New York oriented than Ridgefield probably because it is located closer to the city. Jay

[jdhall1]

I'm a little bit some partial toward the Ridgebury and Barlow Mountian area because they are closer to I-84, I-684 and the shopping that greater Danbury area. Additional benefits of the area is that they are close to the beautifical Ridgefield golf course and there is are 3 parks that form a sort of greenbelt of about 1200 acres of dedicated open space. As a realtor, I can not discuss schools spefically, but I just got my hands on an article by Forbes Magazine that ranks Fairfield County as a whole being #6 in the country for getting your most bang of your buck in terms of educational quality.

[jumper]

As a 14 year Ridgefield resident ,I have some thoughts. The schools are full of energy, happy places and the students score well when tested. Branchville school is probably the oldest building, but well maintained. The core curriculum is all the same, but some schools have differing focuses. One will be arts driven, another music. It changes from year to year. It is thought that each program adds something different to the student's development.
Math and sciences classes are well organized and are very sound.
Our children went to Farmingville, and my partner's to Barlow. Recently, a good friend moved to town and their children will attend Branchville. The
parent's seem to think it'll be a good thing.

[kristiv]

As a Ridgefield resident for 19 years one thing I have noticed is that if you talk to any group of parents inevitably you will hear that the school their child attends is "the best." I think this speaks highly of the school system overall. There is a great loyalty which is fostered by such events as back to school picnics and you often will find that when people move up in housing they try to stay within the same school district. That said, your location in town might be selected as much by your daily needs as anything else. If you have children who will be participating in sports, for example, you may want to consider how long it will take you to get to the field/rink etc. Same thing for your own work and leisure activities.

[movingct]

Most of the workers in Ridgefield work in White Plains, Somers, Greenwich, Danbury or Stamford. A few do work in NYC. Most people have a profession in business such as a manager, vice president, etc for a company. Quite a few work for IBM, GE, etc, etc.
Best of luck.

[Bob The Builder]

Vicky

I have a good friend who is trying to push me towards Ridgefield so I went there twice a week ago to check things out. Why Ridgefield instead of Fairfield?

Bob The Builder