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My wife and I moved to Maynard a few years ago and love our house, our lot, the downtown and many people. However, we now have 2 kids, with one going to a preschool outside of Maynard and soon to start kindergarden. We moved to Maynard because of the value and the thought that we could be invovled with the schools (PTA, Education foundation, town politics, etc) so as to negate the middle of the road school system.
However, things have changed. We are now at an income level that we can afford to move to Sudbury and Acton, which are both top tier school systems in MA. And are feeling that if we can afford to move to such top school systems are we doing a disservice to our children by not? Would appriciate some feedback from individuals on this forum
1) has anyone done this move?
2) has anyone moved from a middle of the road school system to a better performing school system and regretted it.
3) Maynard has 450 kids in its entire HS (8-12) while these other towns have 1,000+
4) What are the feeedbacks on these 3 towns
5) anything else you can comment on?
I appriciate all the time and effort you will put into providing such feedback.
I can't really see a downside of the move. My best friends raised their children in Sudbury & I have several clients who live there and have heard them rave about the schools. There are plenty of activities & lots of parental involvement in the schools. We used to live in Sudbury & I like that you can feel like you're out in the country and have peace and quiet but very quickly get to a good restaurant & shops and so forth. It's also really nice that the town invests in trails & green spaces.
We're doing exactly this next month. We currently live in Bolton (bought our house six years ago when we moved out from Brookline) and are moving to Sudbury in November. Our kids are two and four and our daughter goes to preschool in Sudbury. We really like the families we have met through her preschool and have heard nothing but outstanding things about the public schools. We are thrilled about the move and feel like it's going to be a great fit for our family.
Actually, a co-worker of mine did exactly that for the same reasons. He and wife and young son had a great house in Maynard, and he decided to either pay for private school or pay for a house in Acton, so they moved to Acton and were very happy. However, co-worker got itchy feet, quit and moved out to Oregon to look for a new job/house while wife sold the Acton house. Turns out there were NO jobs in Oregon, so he came back, and they needed another house. He bought way too much house in Westford, found the school good but found the general environment very materialistic. Son got a golf scholarship somewhere, co-worker left wife to come out, move to Florida, and live like a beach bum.
But the housing thing, he really didn't plan it- he just by accident sort of caught the right waves of rising prices and neighborhoods.
You certainly can't go wrong with Sudbury or Acton. I prefer Acton for having "villages" and not as rural, but they're both wonderful towns and schools. Another co-worker praises Sudbury to the skies for its help with some autism services in the school. Best wishes.
As a resident of Maynard and a person with some insight into academic success, the school system is very important to me. You are on to something when you hint the surrounding school districts are huge. I have family in Sudbury with children who graduated from L/S. If they had a choice to do it over again, they are not sure they would make the same move. Large schools are not good for every kid and their is a significant down side to 24 students in a classroom. Lasting friendships did not exist for their kids in a super stressed MCAS driven district. In the end, their children attended the same type of college(s) that graduates of Maynard High attend. Green Meadow Elementary and Fowler Middle School do an excellent job. The new Superintendent of Schools Bob Gerardi is also doing an excellent job but he is still very new. A new state of the art high school will open in 2013. This coupled with the young, educated professionals moving in translate into very positive ongoing developments.
Maynard High School is small and close knit and with the exception of sports teams, the students have the same opportunities to excel as L/S and Acton students if they wish to do so. School advisors will go the extra mile for 70 kids which they cannot do for 300 kids in a 1000+ district. College choices depend in part on the profile of the class which one cannot predict in advance. Maynard High had 2 recent graduates who earned full scholarships to Wellesley and Smith with another planning to attend Princeton. The recent economy has families deciding between private colleges and State schools. I would recommend you contact the school Principal's directly and have a conversation.
I would caution you about the "highly educated, I will outclass you crowd" perception some like to perpetuate. This will not help your child and this mentality does not exist in more diverse communities like Maynard.
Thanks for your input. The issue currently is the following: MCAS Scores for Sudbury and Acton have 80+% are proficient or advanced. Maynard is mid 60% (for grade 3), For gr 8 maynard % for Math and Science are at 50%, the other towns are 20% better at 70%. Thank goodness in gr. 10 they get closer.
Being involved in Maynard (both gov't and private volunterring) it is a great town. The new HS passing with a vote of 90% for is great. And yes, more professionals are moving in. But, my taxes are approching $8k per year for the town is rediculous. Coupled with the rumor of a School Committee override does concern me.
The other schools are bigger. But they have more extra cirricular activites (both acedemic and athletic). Both me and my wife came from schools that limited our options due to the small town and we wish we could have done more.
Class warfare does not interest me but, what does is my children. And if we can afford to move to a community that consitently scores in the top 10 of school districts and out of an "average" district, shouldn't we provide that to our children?
No parent will argue with another when it comes to discussing what one parent thinks is best for her children. This is an emotionally rhetorical analogy and false pretense that clouds the conversation. Obviously, we all want what is best for our children.
I graduated with a class of 517 students. It was a city school. Some of my classmates went on to Ivy League schools, others went into the trades, still others community colleges. All paths brought the individuals happiness. There isn't time here to discuss the merits of the MCAS. Has anyone asked what price the kids pay? Speak with the High School Principals and Superintendents directly. Having graduated from a large district I would not want to send my kids into the maw. No way.
The benefit of hindsight puts things into perspective. As a young parent you need to get to know your kids once they finish potty training. I can only share with you my personal experience with a family member, who would not make the change if they had a do-over. They too wanted what they thought was best for their children. In the end, they were not happy with the enormity of the districts and their kids getting lost in the shuffle. Dig deeper when you look into L/S. Ask lots of questions. Good luck neighbor!
1. Regional relationships are not perfect marriages. For example, in the L/S district, Lincoln is not happy and behind the scenes is looking for another partner. Sudbury is not happy with Lincoln as military families from Hanscom come and go. There is talk of additional expansion. If you think your taxes are high now, you can expect school over-rides aplenty in L/S. Many Lincoln families send their kids to private schools. Ask around about this. Talk to families in these towns. There are lots of people who "used to live in Sudbury".
2. The new Superintended of Schools in Maynard is a top-notch individual with a laser-like focus on 21st century education. Talk to him about your concerns. I can assure you his answers will impress you. If not, your smarter than you were before.
3. Unless you are only interested in public opinion, it's not a good idea to solicit opinions from total strangers in this forum (including mine). They don't know your child. When it comes to the two most important and expensive decisions you will ever make: purchasing a home and educating your children; you need to do your homework. It's the same cast of characters over and over responding to these queries.
Happy In Maynard- thanks for all your input. I have been solicitating input from people who lived in Maynard and moved out due to schools, people in Sudbury & Acton, have discussed Maynard concerns with SC members and the former Superintendant (I have an appt. with the new one too), read the articles on Boxbourough wanting to full regionalize with Acton (starting at K) and Lincoln not being happy with the realationship, read data points from the state (which infomed me that both Acton and Sudbury grades are smaller then Mayanrd at the elementary school level until middle school due to the multiple elementary schools they have), saw the lower MCAS scores and SAT scores being 100 points lower at each testing component, saw no upward trend in MCAS scores in Maynard (they have been stagnet since 2003). The last part was to gather opinons of total strangers who may be more honest in a forum where their names are not used.
Maynard is a great town. The new HS is going to be fabulous (first hand knowledge), the sense of community is wonderful (Halloween at the Elks and the outporing of support of the family for the fire yesterday). We have a tough decision to make and I truely appriciate your input.
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Food for Thought.
