[tryingCT]

Hi,

my wife and i have been renting in Milford for a few months and have grown quite fond of the city. My wife and I originally were looking to buy in the future in either Monroe or Orange because of the school systems however as first time home buyers we are finding it difficult to get a reasonable starter home(400+k for a ranch with 50's decor?). We looked at the CT DRG ratings and found that Shelton and Milford are next in line for DRG ratings, being both 'D' compared to Monroe and Orange 'B' rating. We like milford, we like the beach, the town, prox to rt 1 but are worried about the school system. We have noticed a wide range of private schools in the town. We are not doubting that the public schools are decent, but when push comes to shove during city budget approvals we are wondering if the public school system gets the support when there seem to be so many kids that do go to private schools in the town. meanwhile, the city has pretty high taxes so if you do end up sending the kids to private schools you're getting double whammied.

So on to Shelton, we do not know much about shelton other than the industrial semi-eye sore (sorry no offense) going up rt 110. of course it is not a beach town but the neighborhoods seem to be a little bit more rural, which is attractive to us. We are curious about the school system though? How are the public schools in Shelton compared to Milford?

thanks!

[JayCT]

Both Shelton and Milford school systems perform above the state average on the Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performance tests. Shelton schools though do appear to perform a little better on these tests though. Class sizes also appear to be reasonable in both systems. Here is a link to informaiton on the systems in all Connecticut towns:

Strategic School Profiles by District

For years, Shelton schools were considered to be less desirable than its neighboring Fairfield County communities. That though has changed significantly since the town was "discovered" as an affordable alternative to the pricey towns nearby and the towns tax base exploded bring in a lot of extra tax dollars for schools and services. There are many beautiful neighborhoods in Shelton. Check out Huntington and White Hills which are somewhat rural areas in the western and northern part of the city.

As for Milford, despite having a number of private schools in town, the school system is pretty good. Most of those schools are Catholic and parents send their children there not because of inferior public schools but because they wish to have their children learned their religion. I have however seen that like many communities, Milford has recently questioned the "runaway" school budgets of the past several years and looked to trim costs. I would anticipate that this will continue as hard economic times are faced in the years ahead. Good luck, Jay