Final three suburbs Acton, Andover, Westborough, help us pick one - south asian family with kids (Boston: to rent, houses)

[tamilgirl07]

Hi Everyone,

We are Indian family and have two kids 5 and 2 year old.

Our requirements are:

Great school system
commuter rail (Hubby works in downtown boston)
$400000 to $450000 single family home budget.
community activities for kids

After reading through this forum and visiting few towns we have narrowed it down to three suburbs. Acton, Andover, Westborough. I am going more towards Acton or Andover. I would love to hear from you guys about these towns. For the first year we want to rent and then may be buy a house. I know schools are great Acton. How about schools in Andover or westborough?? How do these schools compare to the one top ranked schools in Lexington or Concord??

Please replies are much appreciated and help us a great deal. Eagerly awaiting for replies.

TIA

[bbekity]

Best schools out of the bunch would be Concord and Acton all of which have trains. Acton is a bit less pretentious and the high school is less clicky. It is also more multi cultural and more diverse economically than CCH. CCH has a very charming downtown to walk around and the Beede Center is the neighborhood's Fitness Center which is on the High School's property. AB has an indoor gym and pool and what is also nice is the elementary, jr. high and high school are all next to each other. Westborough doesn't compare and Andover is so far away and has it's own competition with Phillips Andover Academy.

[SuperSparkle928]

I grew up in Andover (so I may be a little biased), but personally I think it outweighs Acton and Westborough significantly, and Philips Academy was wonderful.
Commuter rail right to Boston.

[tamilgirl07]

Originally Posted by bbekity

Best schools out of the bunch would be Concord and Acton all of which have trains. Acton is a bit less pretentious and the high school is less clicky. It is also more multi cultural and more diverse economically than CCH. CCH has a very charming downtown to walk around and the Beede Center is the neighborhood's Fitness Center which is on the High School's property. AB has an indoor gym and pool and what is also nice is the elementary, jr. high and high school are all next to each other. Westborough doesn't compare and Andover is so far away and has it's own competition with Phillips Andover Academy.

Can you explain what you mean by competition with philips andover academy. Are there places to avoid in either of towns?? How is it to be in Andover?? Being close to lowell should we be conserned about that?? Is acton town very boring as such, for shopping where is the closest we have to go??

[tamilgirl07]

Purely based on schools will it be acton or andover??

What about sharon schools compared to these schools?? IS people in sharon welcoming to other cultures??

[tamilgirl07]

Originally Posted by SuperSparkle928

I grew up in Andover (so I may be a little biased), but personally I think it outweighs Acton and Westborough significantly, and Philips Academy was wonderful.
Commuter rail right to Boston.

Thanks for the reply. Can you tell me which elementary school should I look at?? Did you go to phillips academy. Is it helpful if kids are going to public schools.

[bbekity]

With so many excellent schools to chose from, I don't see the need for spending your kids college tuition on private schools k-12. It's only a choice you can make from asking around, talking to the administrators of the schools you are interested in, spending a little time in each town you are thinking of to get a feel for the people, see if the stores suit you, housing is affordable, parks and rec for your kids, houses of worship you are interested in....too many important factors that strangers here can't help you with on paper. Hopefully you will settle on a town where your kids will grow up with the same kids, going to the same schools and be part of a community for a long time to come. Can't ask for much more.

[tamilgirl07]

Originally Posted by bbekity

With so many excellent schools to chose from, I don't see the need for spending your kids college tuition on private schools k-12. It's only a choice you can make from asking around, talking to the administrators of the schools you are interested in, spending a little time in each town you are thinking of to get a feel for the people, see if the stores suit you, housing is affordable, parks and rec for your kids, houses of worship you are interested in....too many important factors that strangers here can't help you with on paper. Hopefully you will settle on a town where your kids will grow up with the same kids, going to the same schools and be part of a community for a long time to come. Can't ask for much more.

Thanks for the reply. Your last part of the reply is what exactly we are looking for. We don;t have any friends in any of the suburbs i listed, hence asking here. As any parent would say I want the best for my kids but the housing budget is limited. Not looking for private schools. Acton, andover or sharon, any more replies much appreciated.

[bbekity]

Sharon isn't close to any of the other towns except Westborough? Sharon is prodominately Jewish and very welcoming to all I would assume. From my experience I can tell you that there is a large Indian population in Acton as there is also Asian, Portuguese, Brazilian, Jewish.........It's a very big area and the high school is huge. The elementary I mentioned eventually filters into the Jr. High next door and then the high school all sharing the same block.

[tamilgirl07]

Originally Posted by bbekity

Sharon isn't close to any of the other towns except Westborough? Sharon is prodominately Jewish and very welcoming to all I would assume. From my experience I can tell you that there is a large Indian population in Acton as there is also Asian, Portuguese, Brazilian, Jewish.........It's a very big area and the high school is huge. The elementary I mentioned eventually filters into the Jr. High next door and then the high school all sharing the same block.

So out of all the four suburbs the schools in Acton is better?? Good to hear that Acton is very multi cultural. We are currently live in North Quincy / Wollaston area. Do you think Acton will be very quiet lifestyle from here?? How is commute from acton in to south station via train?? Door to door how long does it take.

Thanks for the replies