Which area is better? Franklin, Foxboro, Wrentham, Mansfield, or North Attleboro? (Walpole: houses, neighborhood)

[mvnagn]

My husband is considering a job in Attleboro, MA and I would like some info/opinions on the above named places. I am looking for good schools with a good sense of spirit and community. We have two kids, one will be in middle school and one in high school. I've looked online at several websites for info on the schools in the area but that doesn't give me any insight to the actual atmosphere of them. Same thing with housing. They all SEEM relatively similar so I'm looking for the things that would make one better than the other or unique from the others. Thanks in advance!

[Vetgirl2008]

We moved to North Attleboro over three years ago, and we have loved it. Most people I have come across are friendly and lack pretension, and there is definitely a strong sense of community here. The high school has a reasonably good reputation from what I understand. We looked in Foxboro and Wrentham, but we found a better home for a better price in North Attleboro, and so we purchased in a great neighborhood here. I think that Foxboro and Wrentham are considered a bit more affluent, but I didn't see a lot of evidence that their school systems, etc are really all that much better to justify the higher housing prices-you'd have to do your own research on that on. Unfortunately we are moving again-I am so sad to leave, I planned on staying here with my kids for at least the next 10-15 years!

[mvnagn]

Thanks vetgirl2008. Can you tell me how old your kids are and what schools you have experience with? Our last two moves have been to cities with a population of about 100K, great retail areas and plenty of food options. The only problem is that our houses are practically stacked on top of each other. I would like to our next house to be in a suburban towards rural community that is within 10 min of great shopping, etc. Any other insight or information you can give me would be much appreciated.

[CaseyB]

North Attleborough would be the least rural, but with the most shopping options. Rte 1 is full of shopping centers and the
Emerald Square Mall.

Wrentham would be the most "suburban/rural", but still has The Wrentham Outlets.

Foxborough has Patriot Place. And Mansfield has Mansfield Crossing.

You'd be close to stores whichever town you choose.

[WestonMassSAHM]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

North Attleborough would be the least rural, but with the most shopping options. Rte 1 is full of shopping centers and the
Emerald Square Mall.

Wrentham would be the most "suburban/rural", but still has The Wrentham Outlets.

Foxborough has Patriot Place. And Mansfield has Mansfield Crossing.

You'd be close to stores whichever town you choose.

Thank you very much for your information and links. They are very useful information! Reputation point coming your way.

[TAM88]

Originally Posted by mvnagn

My husband is considering a job in Attleboro, MA and I would like some info/opinions on the above named places. I am looking for good schools with a good sense of spirit and community. We have two kids, one will be in middle school and one in high school. I've looked online at several websites for info on the schools in the area but that doesn't give me any insight to the actual atmosphere of them. Same thing with housing. They all SEEM relatively similar so I'm looking for the things that would make one better than the other or unique from the others. Thanks in advance!

Looking at towns in the mighty Hockomock League.....a solid choice for sports.

But on a serious note, Franklin is going to be the biggest out of the towns you have listed. Not by a big margin, but it has the biggest population. Wrentham is going to be the smallest and most rural out of the list. Wrentham does not have it's own high school, it is part of King Philip Regional High School. The school is located in Wrentham (and they just completely rebuilt it) and Norfolk and Plainville are the other two towns that are part of it.

Franklin is in the process if building a brand new high school, so that's something to think about as far as school quality. All 3 of their Middle Schools are also fairly new. 2 of the 3 are less than a decade old.

You really can't go wrong with the towns you have listed.

[mvnagn]

Thank you to TAM88 and CaseyB for your help and input. I feel like I can now make a better choice based on my family's wants. The one thing I have seen mentioned two or three times in several threads is the "Hockamock league". What is this specifically? Is it run by the city, county? I'm going to look into it now but I'd like to hear more feedback from real people with experience and knowledge.

[CaseyB]

It's a High School sports division. Schools from that area belong to that league.

[thenewtexan]

Keep in mind the schools in the Hockomock League are predominately Division 1 schools, or very large Division 2 schools. Most of the enrollments are in the 1,000 to 2,000 range. If you're looking for a smaller town/school environment, you should consider schools in the Tri Valley League. Ashland, Bellingham, Dover $herborn, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Norton or Westwood. Medfield's girls hoops just won the state title on Saturday, and the crowd was very large and vocal for such a small town. Academics at most of these schools are among the best in the state, with Hopkinton and D-$ being nationally ranked.

[mvnagn]

thenewtexan, you are correct in stating that the schools in the Hockomock League are bigger than I would like but the other cities you recommend looking into are a little too far from Attleboro which is where my husband will be working. I would really like to stay within a 20 min radius given he will be driving in snow quite often. I was just looking into the Norfolk County Agriculture School in Walpole because my daughter is on the vet track at her current high school (with an enrollment of 5000 students) and this seems like it would be a good school to keep her on the same course.