[Guatmom2]

Looks like there is a good chance we will be relocating from PA to CT next year. Ideally looking to be located somewhere between Hartford, and Springfield MA. We have two children, one is a H.S. Freshman and the other is a 1st grader, so a priority is finding a good school district. There will be no family close by, most live in NY state. I am a stay-at-home-mom so I will really need to find a friendly community in which I can make friends and build a support network. One other consideration is that our youngest daughter is adopted from Guatemala, so we need to find a community that she would be comfortable in. Would love to get some recommendations as to what areas we should look into.
Thanks!

[NewJeffCT]

Welcome to Connecticut! You'll get a lot of good info on here.

Just Northwest of Hartford, you have Simsbury, which is a very nice town with an excellent school system. However, you don't have easy access to the highways for commuting to & from work unless you live in certain areas of Simsbury. However, the town has a lot of amenities in terms of good restaurants, shopping (both shared with neighboring Avon and Canton) and some town activities.

Northeast of Hartford, you have South Windsor. They have good schools there, though not quite at Simsbury's level, and a lot of shopping in the nearby Buckland Hills area. Easier access to the highways than Simsbury.

Just north of Simsbury, you have Granby and East Granby, both more rural than Simsbury and South Windsor, but both have very good school systems. Right on the border with Mass, you have Somers, which is another nice rural CT town with good schools, though not quite on the level of Granby and East Granby.

Simsbury and South Windsor are probably the most diverse of the towns, as I know Simsbury & Avon attract a lot of people who relocate for work and are pretty welcoming to people of all cultures... when I lived in Avon, our subdivision had about 150 homes and a good 25 homes were families of Indian descent and 15 of Chinese descent. (I'd include Avon on your list, but it's not quite North of Hartford). Not quite as sure about South Windsor in terms of relocations.

[ctwhitechin]

Agree with all above, if you don't mind just a hair south of Hartford we lived for 9 years in Glastonbury, better schools you will not find as well as a safe town. We have sold our home therecand looking to relo to PA or DE lol.

[Guatmom2]

Ctwhitechin,

Thanks for your response. Ironically we live in The south east corner of PA, right on the DE, Maryland border. Shop in DE all the time and we own a beach place outside of Bethany Beach, DE. We have been here for 13 years, so if you have any questions about this area please let me know, would be happy to answer them for you!

[Guatmom2]

newjeffct
Thanks so much for responding. I will definitely look into the areas you suggested!

[NewJeffCT]

Originally Posted by Guatmom2

newjeffct
Thanks so much for responding. I will definitely look into the areas you suggested!

No problem! You're welcome.

I should also add that two houses down from us at our old place in Avon, there was a family that had an adopted daughter, though she was from China. I think she's in 8th or 9th grade now, though.

If you do look at Avon, you can also try Farmington and West Hartford and Glastonbury above. Both offer more convenience than Avon (and Simsbury) and some very good school systems as well. West Hartford is a small city (60,000+) with a lot of diversity, great restaurants and shopping and easy access to highways. The downside to both West Hartford and Glastonbury is that they have higher property taxes than Farmington and Avon, but the school systems offer more choices (Glastonbury has an outstanding foreign language program, and I know West Hartford's is pretty good as well, plus their music program is very good, too.)

[parentologist]

Where will husband be working? Commuting can be an issue here, especially in the winter, so that it can make sense to choose to be near one of the highways if he's going to be commuting.

[Guatmom2]

Not sure yet where he will be working, probably downtown of either Hartford, or Springfield.

[parentologist]

You want to be near 91 and 84, for commuting purposes. Simsbury is lovely, but it is lily white, and far from any major highways. If your Guatemalan adopted daughter is very outgoing and sociable, well-liked by peers, the kind of kid you think is going to conquer the world, she would probably be fine anywhere. But some of the suburban towns with excellent school districts are most comfortable for blonde pony-tailed cheerleader types, not a great place for diversity, whether of skin color, nationality, ability, etc. West Hartford has excellent public schools, and about one third of the students are black, or hispanic, or recent immigrant families from all over the world. Plus it's on 84, not far from 91. Midway between Hartford and Springfield, close to 91, is South Windsor, which has decent schools. Farther north is Suffield, also close to 91, has okay schools. But for the combination of diversity and good schools, you cannot beat West Hartford. You can get an idea of the demographics of a school district by looking at the website greatschools - they have a pie shaped graph of racial composition for each district and individual school, along with free lunch statistics, and ratings for schools.

[Guatmom2]

Parentologist, thank you for your candid answers. This is the kind of information that we are looking for. Out of curosity, can you or anyone else tell me what the GRANBY area is like?