relocating--best Catholic schools/family towns near Boston? (Quincy, Newton: house, buying)

[abby3804]

My husband is considering taking a job in Boston, near South Station. Currently we live in NJ, and I'm completely lost as far as where to start looking for a home. Any help would be appreciated.

Our top priorities are a good Catholic elementary school and a good place to raise a family.

Our budget would be in the mid $400s. Commute up to an hour would be fine.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[holden125]

It helps that the job is near South Station. There are a number of nice towns south of Boston with train service to South Station. You might want to look at Canton, Sharon, Walpole, or Mansfield. Bridgewater, Norfolk and Franklin also are nice (and may offer more for the money) but are farther. Since they're an hour from Boston, or close to that, on the train, the door-to-door time could be over an hour. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but it's a start.

I don't know about particular Catholic schools south of Boston (I'm more of a North Shore person) but there are tons of Catholics in that area, so I'm sure there are a lot of options.

[Beachcomber4]

I've heard good things about St. John the Evangelist in Canton not so great things about St. Francis in Braintree. To the south in Kingston is Sacred Heart which has a very good reputation. I'm not quite sure how you would verify any info on a Catholic School- does the archdiocese release testing data?

[CityGirl52]

Check Hingham too! They have the commuter boat right there for getting in to downtown Boston, it's GREAT AND also if you happen to have girls they have Notre Dame Academy right there, it's a private girls high school, you'd luck out down the road as it would be a really easy commute in to Boston for working & NDA's always been a wonderful, well respected high school. The town of Hingham was always quite nice to live in too. In fact, my parents almost bought a house there, they came extremely close to it BUT my father changed his mind. In the greater Boston area it's either that you're a north shorer OR a south shorer and my father was sticking to his guns with buying on the North Shore, trust me, he was as stubborn as they come! With you it'll be a different story coming from out of state, you won't have that issue at all! My mother still kicks herself to this day over that one!

Here's info on Notre Dame Academy high school:
Notre Dame Academy

Now see that, look at how happy & well adjusted looking the girls look on that site. They're certainly doing something right at that school, aren't they. Two of my cousins daughters went there, they've both done extremely well as a result of this wonderful education they received there. I'm sure IF there are private parochial grammar schools in Hingham or even in the town over from Hingham, like Weymouth that they're fine. I'm guessing you'd have to go to the next town over for grammar school, it wouldn't be as far as you think either, there's tons of short cuts thru Hingham & the south shore. So check it out, it would be ideal for you guys and your budget will be fine for this town I would say.

Archbishop Williams High School is in Braintree, that's another good school...Xaverian Brothers in Westwood for boys and Ursuline Academy in Dedham is quite a school too...there's a lot of possibilities, here's a good site to check out the Catholic schools in Massachusetts:

http://www.catholiclinks.org/schoolsmassachusetts.htm

Now these aren't Catholic institutions BUT still quite good, "Thayer Academy" in Braintree AND another good one with high marks for academia is "Tabor Academy" down in Marion, MA, I think that ones big bucks though, more than all the other private parochial schools mentioned here, I'm thinking that Tabor is like a prep school may be and in another category all together from the private parochial school route....

[maggiekate]

West Roxbury is nice and has the Holy Name school which is good. However, I think they almost
always do have a wai list. I am not sure but check out Norwood which is also a good town. Many Catholic schools closed because of money etc.

[abby3804]

Thank you all so much for the advice! I have a lot of areas now to start my search.
We have a lot of parochial schools here in NJ very close by, but I've heard that many are closing down in other parts of the country.

[LincolnDad]

Welcome.
If you live in the city Cathedral High School is very good and the closest to So Station. It is diverse and very progressive. The best combination to represent your interests may be Trinity Catholic in Newton; safest town in America, on the MAss Pike- short commute to Boston, one of the top local Catholic schools. My old school joined forces there back in the 80s (St. Patricks of Watertown) and it has withstood the years. It is an expensive area but you could look in neighboring Waltham as well as Newton and Watertown.

[LincolnDad]

When are you coming out?

[DotStag]

Milton has a couple of Catholic elementary schools, and is convenient to the Red Line that runs right into South Station. The nice thing about the Red Line is it is the subway, so it runs every 8 -10 minutes during rush hour. You're not stuck to a schedule like on the commuter rail. In Milton, you are 8 miles from downtown, which for me adds to quality of life because you can easily take advantage of all Boston has to offer. St. Agatha's school and St. Mary's of the Hills would be the schools. Of course, the trade off is that in the mid-400s you are looking at a smaller home that may need some work, as it is a pretty expensive town. Braintree or Quincy may fit the bill as well. Hope that helps.

[squeaky13]

We've been very happy with Blessed Sacrament in Walpole. Starts in PRK- to 8th grade. Children have spanish from K- 8th, technology classes, arts, science lab, hot lunch, gym and a great sports program- soccer, basketball, running and golf. Great community school