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Ayer and Lowell and Salem probably have better schools than 96% of America. These strings are all about splicing hairs to contrast similar shades of unfathomable affluence.
Spoiler: every school in Massachusetts that's not Lawrence, Winchendon, or Holyoke is probably just fine.
It's been several years since I lived in Natick, but my kids really enjoyed the Global Child program at Ben Hem. It's more than just a language program - they learn about different cultures too. I don't remember any lottery, but maybe the program we chose had enough spaces. It's held in the school, so they can participate whether they are "walkers" or Extended Day kids. If they're walkers then you just pick them up after the program is done. If they're Extended Day then they'll be escorted to the program, then back to Extended Day when it's done and you can pick them up normally at 5 or 6pm.
As for the elementary schools in general, we liked them more than where we live now in Sudbury. The school administration is by far more organized in Natick and there is less corruption and "personal agendas" at the school committee level. The test scores are obviously higher in Sudbury, but I think that's a result of families who hire private tutors for their kids starting in 3rd grade when MCAS testing begins. There seemed to be more dual-income families in Natick with both moms and dads involved in the school, whereas in Sudbury it's all stay at home moms. Since my wife and I both work we related more to the parents in Natick. Last year my wife was one of two working moms in our daughter's class so it was hard for her to click with any of them. The middle schools are the real reason we moved, but we were really impressed w/Ben Hem and enjoyed our time there. If we could do it all over, we would have stayed a little longer and waited to see how things played out at the middle school level. They seem to be improving from what I heard (my old neighbor works there and keeps me updated on what's going on at Wilson).
Natick seems like a great town, close to Boston and lots of great houses. Wiith such expensive houses (high tax base) 800k - 1.2mm why are the schools ratted low?
Natick seems like a great town, close to Boston and lots of great houses. Wiith such expensive houses (high tax base) 800k - 1.2mm why are the schools ratted low?
Natick is a pretty diverse suburb. There are houses there that sell for $1M+ and you can also buy a small condo for a couple hundred thousand. There are blue collar residents. There are white collar residents. Natick residents come in all shapes and sizes and have various levels of income. We talk about "adjusting for income" a lot when the subject of Somerville schools comes up. I'm sure if you did the same for Natick test scores that you would get a bump in the results although not necessarily as much as you do in Somerville.
Natick is well located for commuting into Boston. The town obviously is home to the Natick Mall (Collection) which is right next to the Shoppers World (strip mall type layout) in Framingham. This makes life very convenient but what I like most is that the residential parts of town are mostly segregated from those commercial business areas. Some people whine about being too close to the malls but the mall traffic has negligible affect for me personally, even during Xmas shopping season.
Great feedback, thank you for all your comments. How do you all feel about racial diversity in Natick? Is it slowly starting to get more diverse than years past?
Great feedback, thank you for all your comments. How do you all feel about racial diversity in Natick? Is it slowly starting to get more diverse than years past?
I see a lot of Asians - Chinese and Indian- in particular moving into my neighborhood in the last 3 yrs. Most are professionals (professors, engineers, finance, etc.). When I go to town events at the Natick Center on occasions, I see mostly white folks. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation.
Natick isn't so insular that people stare at non-white people as if they are from outer space --- I've been to towns like that. It's pretty natural to hear people speaking non-English at local stores.
Great feedback, thank you for all your comments. How do you all feel about racial diversity in Natick? Is it slowly starting to get more diverse than years past?
We went through the labyrinth of selecting a town in the Greater Boston Area a few years ago with school aged children. We chose Natick, and I've never regretted it. What others have said definitely rings true here - the town is diverse not only by nationality, but socially and economically as well. Just from an observational standpoint, I'd say that Indian and Chinese nationalities are the most prominent minorities, and socio-economically its very much a mix. I'm from a blue collar upbringing who works in a white collar job, and I and fit right in. Natick is a melting pot where people tend to be open minded and intelligent, and nobody is particularly impressed with what you do - whether you're a public servant or a doctor.
The schools are, in my few years of experience in both elementary and middle, beyond what we could have hoped for. I don't think the scores from various websites are the best measure of quality, as these tend to weigh primarily on test scores. As someone said, some less-diverse towns have a higher population of people who will give their kids every advantage possible to do well. I feel Natick, with a higher diversity in nationalities, income, etc., may not be the highest in test scores due to, for instance, some kids struggling with the language barrier, or some coming from less-challenging districts in the country or world. However, I do appreciate that my children have an amazingly diverse group of friends.
In my opinion, what makes Natick a truly great school system, beyond even some of the surrounding towns, is the true and genuine passion of the teaching staff. The schools and community are very open and communicative, and every teacher I've met displays a true passion for what they do. We see it in the classroom, we see it in the extracurricular activities that are run by teachers - so many of the programs are led by a talented individual who makes that activity a priority in their life. Multiple teachers have commented that Natick is the most desirable district to teach within in the area - not sure if this is due to pay, or opportunity, or the overall organization of the district.
I'm not familiar with the language program you mentioned, but can say that the elementary schools offer varying after-school programs, and the language activity is likely one of those. We've also participated in gardening and technology classes. In middle school (which is 5th-8th in Natick), even more extracurricular activities open up. The school dismisses around 2, and many students stay another hour for an extracurricular or to finish homework. In regards to language at that level, 6th grade offers mini-courses in the three languages offered (Spanish, French and Mandarin) to give the students some exposure to all before selecting one in 7th grade, at which point they have a daily foreign language class year-round, and this continues as an option through high school, with relevant cultural activities and field trips.
Feel free to PM me if you have other questions.
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