Please help...opinions on Waterville-Benton

[hheatherlyn]

Thanks so much Tina- I found a home in Benton so my son would go to the Benton elementary school if I don't put him in Mount Merici. I couldn't find any reviews of that school so until I can tour Benton elementary and talk to some people, my first choice is going to be Mount Merici. I'm trying to get all these things done from Pennsylvania in a short amount of time so its difficult. I'm excited to move to Maine and we have the rare oppurtunity to pick anywhere in the state to live (not that we would actually get stationed there, its still the final decision of the chief) but I fell in love with a house and my husband thinks I might be shortchanging us cuz we can pick anywhere and I picked Waterville/Benton on the basis that my dream house is there. What do you guys think? Where would you live in the state if you could live anywhere?

[BacktoNE]

My concern with putting your son into the Benton school is that he will continue on through the Fairfield school system, which is not good at all. You can pay tuition to have him in Waterville or Winslow however.

As I said previously, Waterville is a nice area and convenient to so many things. If I could live anywhere in Maine, it would be right on the coast, but that is way out of reach financially.

[hheatherlyn]

Thanks backtone, our real estate agent told us we could send our son to Waterville high school eventually (he's only 3). It seemed like a good school, alot of sports, etc. I would also love to live on the coast but unless we win the lottery soon I think that will be out of reach for us as well. I'll have to settle for driving there instead. How nice it will be to actually be moving in a car instead of sitting in 5 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic for hours to go just 10 miles. Thank god we got out of Miami. I love Maine!

[mollysmiles]

Heather, we used to live in the Bangor area, and we loved it. If you're not interested in a city that size, there are many smaller towns nearby. Housing is not usually a problem either, if you were looking to rent for a bit so that you could look into the area a bit more. I also really like the Ellsworth, Blue Hill area, but Ellsworth traffic in the summer can be difficult to take....but of course, that's all relative too. Five cars at one of our three stoplights in Washington County is enough for me now! Washington County is nice, but I'd be surprised if your hubby were assigned here....we've gotten about 4 new troopers in the last year, guys moving up from local PDs, and a new trooper having moved from MA. Ellsworth may actually have an opening, a friend of ours just made detective. Good luck, and take your time looking around. But if you decide to stay in the Waterville area, I agree with the other posters, it's a nice area!

[BacktoNE]

heather, your DH doesn't know which barracks he'll be assigned to? Hmm, not sure I'd buy a house just yet then. Waterville would be great if he's assigned to the Augusta barracks, but other than that, it will be out of reasonable driving distance.

If he does get assigned to Augusta so that you can proceed with your move to the WTVL area, there is also Erskine Academy in S. China. It's a private high school that you could eventually consider.

I think you'll be happy with the Waterville school system. It isn't perfect, no place is, but they've always had a good curriculum, they are accredited and have an excellent reputation with the best colleges. Very important when your son gets to that age.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[shawnr1123]

yes waterville is nice. Just stay away from the south end and parts of the north end lol