[kd83]

Originally Posted by movin2dallas

ok just talked to the hubby, the co. is actually in Bloomsfiled....??? What do you think about Simsbury...as good or better than avon/farmington???

same league as glastonbury/avon/farmington..if you drove through avon, farmintgon, simsbury and didnt know where you were youw ould think you were just in different parts of the same town lol. Granby has some beautiful homes as well but is a bit more spaced out/rural and the school systems arent "supposedly" as good. Simsbury is high class tho in non-fairfield county standards its one of the nicest towns in the northern connecticut area. Simsbury is slightly closer to bloomfield but farmington is still fairly close. bloomfield/farmington travel is around 11.3 miles and simsbury/bloomfield is 7.4 miles, while avon/bloomfield is 8.1 miles. So all 3 are still an option. Where in bloomfield will he be working. I am currently working in bloomfield at a small 3rd party disability insurance company on blue hills ave. Bloomfield itself has some very beautiful homes but bloomfield high school is the pits. You have the option of northwest catholic which is in west hartford on the bloomfield/west hartford border. That being said West Hartford is also a bordering town of Bloomfield and very nice with Hall High school being much better than Conard. Northwest is the school I taught at and its a pretty good school but diverse taking in kids from all surrounding towns. Costs less than 10 grand a year and doesnt require that your kid be catholic but its a heavily catholic environment. I'm atheist myself, hence I'm not working there anymore.

[BigHouse9]

Simsbury has a better school system that either Farmington or Avon but is much more secluded than Farmington would be. I find Glastonbury to be the best of those 4 towns. Much more convenient to everything although Simsbury would be a much easier access to Bloomfield. My brother was in the same spot you are in and narrowed his choices down to Simsbury and Farmington. He eventually chose Simsbury and LOVES it there. Great for his kids and family and a beautiful town. I love the town run golf/tennis/swimming/skating area at Simsbury Farms.

Someone may have posted this already:

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...d=487245&rfi=6

[mels]

Originally Posted by movin2dallas

I just thought that it wasn't a lot of money for the area???? So I looked at Glaston bury and the houses in the 300-600 range did not look as nice for the $$$$. Are the schools better there or what why is it more money???

Glastonbury is an affluent town with a reputation for excellent public schools, hence the housing cost.

As mentioned already, Fairfield County (southwestern CT) is close to NYC so many commuters live there, hence the high price tag. Not neccesarily better than other places in CT, just much more expensive as is every town in close proximity to NYC.

[Whaler0718]

I'm not kidding when I say this: Hartford.

Hartford schools spend more money per capita than any in the state. They have an excellent honors program for high achieving students. And graudates are heavily recruited by excellent colleges.

Why? Because the people on this board don't think they're any good. The statistics aren't encouraging: few who start graduate, fewer yet go to college. But these statistics are in your favor: as somebody who has the choice to go to "excellent" suburban districts, you undoubtedly belong to a culture of success and education, and will demand the same from your child.

The fact of the matter is that so many children in Hartford do poorly because they come from troubled homes, often with parents who do not speak English and who work multiple jobs and, thus, have little time to spend teaching their children. Moreover, even if they did have the time, the parents don't have the resources, having not achieved academic success themselves.

I have several colleages--I am an attorney in Hartford--who sent their children to Hartford schools. Their children have gone on to attend the best colleges, and they have a wonderfully full view of the world, with a true appreciation for their good fortune in the genetic lottery. Moreover, they have positive things to say about their teachers--and their peers. Finally, they were at the top of their classes, and were showered with praise and attention that they would have undoubtedly missed in a school packed with high-achieving students.

The best colleges will not admit more than a handful of students from one high school. By sending your child to a "top" school, you're actually hurting their chances of getting into one of the best universities... unless you're confident they'll be one of the best students in that district. And that's an incredible amount of pressure to put on a child.

[movin2dallas]

That was very thought provoking...thankyou Whaler. Something to ponder. So your saying to consider downtown areas of Hartford?

[mels]

Personally I prefer the west end of Hartford over downtown. The west end has a nice neighborhood feel to it (west end = Elizabeth Park, near UConn Law and that area).

[kd83]

Originally Posted by movin2dallas

That was very thought provoking...thankyou Whaler. Something to ponder. So your saying to consider downtown areas of Hartford?

If you decide on doing that keep in mind that there are a lot of high schools in hartford and they are all very different boats. Bulkley, Buckley, Weaver, Hartford High, Prince Tech, The new magnet school, etc. As whaler is right that they'll stand out amongst the rest of the school most of which are lower level kids that barely stand to graduate high school, you might want to think more along the middle of the road then skipping from simsbury/avon/farmington schools right over middle class schools to the pits of hartford. While I had a friend graduate from Bulkley and is now doing very well for himself as a Uconn graduate, he didnt exactly have it easy to get where he is. I'm not saying a kid should have his life laid out on a silver platter, but thats why theres so many other schools inbetween. Hartford is a bit extreme for someone who isnt used to the area and how things work. Not a place to just get thrown into if you're already situated in a certain type of environment.

[Whaler0718]

Well, that may be fair, that you'd have to ease yourself into the idea of Hartford b/c it's a vastly different environment than the suburbs and, frankly, most of the kids I know who went through Hartford schools were expressly given the option by their parents to either choose to attend Hartford or go to one of the regions many excellent private schools (Kingswood Oxford in West Hartford is the most likely alternative).

And, I should say, the poster who mentioned the differences between Hartford schools is on the mark. Hartford Public High School has, as I understand it, the best reputation. I live in the West End, love it, and encourage you to take a look. You'll find a wonderful sense of community, and it is a neighborhood served by Hartford Public and one of the city's best elementary schools, Noah Webster--I'm not sure what age your child(ren) is(are).

[JViello]

Originally Posted by Whaler0718

Well, that may be fair, that you'd have to ease yourself into the idea of Hartford b/c it's a vastly different environment than the suburbs and, frankly, most of the kids I know who went through Hartford schools were expressly given the option by their parents to either choose to attend Hartford or go to one of the regions many excellent private schools (Kingswood Oxford in West Hartford is the most likely alternative).

And, I should say, the poster who mentioned the differences between Hartford schools is on the mark. Hartford Public High School has, as I understand it, the best reputation. I live in the West End, love it, and encourage you to take a look. You'll find a wonderful sense of community, and it is a neighborhood served by Hartford Public and one of the city's best elementary schools, Noah Webster--I'm not sure what age your child(ren) is(are).

The West End of Hartfor does have some really really nice neighborhoods and homes. Hartford is not all "ghetto" like many cruising by on the highways and watching the news think.

This is the UCONN Law School and indicative of the archetecture in the West End.



http://hartford.omaxfield.com/westend.html

http://www.westend.org

[inguiruth]

Thank you so much, that area looks beautiful and alive, since we are moving from California we are looking for some place beautiful and also not so rural.

We are definitely going to look around the West End.
Ruth

Originally Posted by JViello

The West End of Hartfor does have some really really nice neighborhoods and homes. Hartford is not all "ghetto" like many cruising by on the highways and watching the news think.

This is the UCONN Law School and indicative of the archetecture in the West End.



Hartford's Neighborhoods | West End

WECA - West End Civic Association