Switching from private Montessori to public school (Boston, Cambridge: apartment, how much)

[snapplegate]

Despite our best efforts, we can no longer afford to send our two children to a wonderful private Montessori school in downtown Boston. Additionally, our apartment in the same neighborhood is very small (2 bed, 1K sq ft), and we feel that a house and yard would be best for them at this stage. We are considering moving to the suburbs, and are wondering if anyone has any thoughts on what might be the best area for a family like ours...

I have a lot of reservations about "traditional" education. I went to public school (in the West, not in MA) and have endless memories of wasted time, no choice about what to do when, surrounded by students with "school sucks" attitudes...right now my kids are quite young, but they *love* learning and *love* going to school. Are there any innovative public school systems in the Boston area? Or maybe the question really is, what are the most innovative ones?

I see lots of test rankings and data linked to "best" public schools, but I worry these schools are simply best at teaching to the tests?

I would love to hear from anyone that can recommend a public school that would work well for a family who:

-highly values the arts and education
-although native English speaking, values foreign language learning and exposure to other cultures
-is liberal leaning politically
-is looking for a house w/yard with a max of $900K
-has become accustomed to walking EVERYWHERE
-hasn't owned a car in 10 yrs (we use Zipcar)

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!!

[snapplegate]

I should add that despite the fact that we would prefer a town with some walkability, we know we will have to become a car family if we should make this move. But, I know some towns have town centers and a lot don't. We would prefer a town center. Any thoughts would be most appreciated. Thanks!!

[gf2020]

Newton, Milton, buy a car.

[kingeorge]

Newton, Belmont Lexington, Concord, Arlington.

Belmont has the best music program in the area and starts serious music education in third grade. Cushing area or Downtown area are both very walkable. Most middleschoolers walk to school as well as older elementary kids. You will find very cosmopolitan atmosphere where many parents are foreign born, well traveled, and speak multiple languages.

Newton is pretty same in vibe to Belmont, but much bigger town and spread out into many villages. Some areas are more convenient than others. Both Belmont and Newton are mecca for academia, doctors, lawyers, and high tech.

Arlington is on the recent upswing and is becoming super cool place to be. Schools are good and getting great. Very walkable, interesting community that is becoming Cambridge extension. Your budget would have some good mileage there.

Concord and Lexington are both amazing with great schools, atmosphere, quality of living. Commute might or might not work. They might be better suited for someone needing to be in Cambridge on a daily basis. But, you can not go wrong with Lexington or Concord, Both are very finest and desirable communities.

Personally, I would not go to Milton as it is not as strong in schools. Nice place, but for your budget you can do much better. If for some reason you do prefer to stay to the south of Boston I would look at Cohasset or Hingham only.

Newton, Brookline, Cambridge, Arlington, Belmont, Lexington and Concord are well to do but with plenty of newcomers and tend to be more international in their nature, than other areas in Eastern MA, that have mostly well-to-do local people. You should decide what appeals to you more.

I also think that Brookline would be fulfilling many of your wishes but you would probably need to look at TH and less into SF. I forgot to add Winchester which has walkable downtown area, is very beautiful town with great schools. Lincoln is amazing in every aspect, but probably too rural for you at this time. And so it Sudbury.

My advice is to go out and explore, talk to parents on the playground, check towns newspapers...Get good info and feel for places that interest you, and then see what sticks.

Good luck.

[Scriptkitten]

Concord and Lex are really great places to live.

[semiurbanite]

Just curious, do you know parents with kids in the schools and have you talked to them? Don't bother looking at standardized test scores in a school with diversity - MCAS is best at measuring a lack of diversity. When our kids were younger we shopped around briefly in some of the surrounding suburbs but every time we ran back to our urban neighborhood with renewed appreciation for where we live. Many families have a hard time relating to how much a family can benefit form being able to walk to literally everything you need. You get out more, you do more, your kids get exposed to more.

We decided to stay in Somerville and so far the experience in the schools is very good. The diversity and walkability are all there, and the combination of high income parents like professors, tech workers, and non-profit types combined with artists and immigrant families from Brazil and Haiti makes for a divers and non-corporate mix.

For 900k you can buy a single family with a small yard near Porter, Davis or Union (we have a SF in this area), you might just have to wait for the right one to come onto the market.

Here is some interesting data on the schools that you may find interesting:

Click play at the bottom
mcasdata

MCAS scores controlled for income (found this on another site)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1O...ew?usp=sharing

[snapplegate]

Wonderful! Thank you so much for the thoughtful responses. We don't know anyone living in the above towns. Most people we know are staying in the city, and those who have moved have mostly headed to Wellesley or Chestnut Hill area of Brookline. But Wellesley isn't for us, and we're priced out of Chestnut Hill, I think. We will spend more time checking out Newton, Belmont, Lexington, Arlington, and maybe Concord.

Again, thank you all so much for the insights. It's very hard to make these kinds of decisions when you're not from around here.

[semiurbanite]

We have friends that bought in Chestnut Hill for under 900k last year. A nice 2000 sqft single family home.

[snapplegate]

Thanks, Semiurbanite, maybe we will keep Chestnut Hill on the list. Also, I appreciate your data on Somerville. We love Porter and Davis, so I'll keep an eye on those neighborhoods. Thanks!

[alex_toth]

You might have trouble finding a walkable part of Lexington at the $900k price point. There's a lot you can buy but not a ton that is walkable. The houses near Lexington Center are super expensive. You might want to add Winchester or Melrose to the list. It's probably hard to live there completely car-free, but you can find stuff near the train stations at that price point. There's not much diversity to be had in those towns is the only downside.

Arlington definitely fits the bill, and even parts of North Cambridge might be a great fit. Cambridge has some very unique programs the public schools run (Mandarin immersion, public Montessori school, etc.) They spend a ton of money on their schools so if your kids are motivated they can probably get a lot out of it.