Lexington MA, School Reputation (Value vs. $$) (Boston, Cambridge: how much, house, neighborhoods)

[3dmg]

Hello Everyone, hope you are all doing well.
I have a question for those familiar with Lexington MA. Recently I have been looking at the neighborhoods there and interested in finding out more about the school districts. It seems that you need a minimum of $1 million to have a decent home (for that price you can very well get a beautiful home somewhere else). But it seems this price is driven by how great the Lexington Schools are, at least that is what others are saying. I am sure there is some merit to this. But the question I have is as follows: Is it really worth it? I have no way for trying to judge myself if I don't go to the schools and see for myself, but this is not feasible (can't go whenever I want and 'sit in' on classes while they are happening). If you are familiar with this area, can you please weigh in or direct me to resources where I can read for myself? I appreciate your help!

[brainbree]

Lexington schools aren't good per say. It's more just that school-oriented people move there and so high quality peers result in a good learning environment for your children. If your children are incredibly self motivated and you as a parent facilitate that you can do well more or less anywhere.

Dozens of kids each year go to top tier schools out of Boston exam schools. Each year there are also a few who go to the top tier out of the surrounding cheaper suburbs (think Quincy, Braintree, Melrose, etc.)

What I've found is that the kids who do the best had the best parents. It's hard to tease out what exactly the cause is, but overall I'd say that if you have the money to spend, go for it, but if you're going to become house-poor to go to a place like Lexington your kid will probably suffer in the end.

[robr2]

The quality of Lexington schools is driven by the high expectation of involved, prosperous families. High achievement is expected and the high school has been described as pressure cooker. Now there are plenty of well adjusted LHS graduates but there is plenty of competition among the top students. LHS is considered a feeder school to Harvard.

What often occurs though is the top 10% of the each graduating class is pretty much the same and the top colleges can pick and choose from those kids. There are only so many 4.5 GPA, 12 AP class, oboe playing, cross county, Eagle/Gold scouts that a college can accept.

I know parents in Lexington that sent their kids to private high school, my town's high school, or the vocational school Lexington is part of. Each of those have turned out happy and successful in what they chose to pursue.

[Amontillado]

Originally Posted by brainbree

Lexington schools aren't good per say.

Oh, I don't know. Maybe the kids come out knowing a little Latin.


But "Is it really worth it?" is an unanswerable question. It has to depend on how much money you have, and how much you value education versus other things you might spend cash on, and what you perceive the alternatives as being. Plus you'd never make the decision to live there just on the basis of the schools--you'd be thinking of the kind of house you'd have, how you'd commute, the socializing you'd do, and vague things like "how you feel about the place". The Lexington schools are good, but you wouldn't be abusing your kids to have them in schools in lots of other towns. In fact, people might say "We moved to Lexington for the school system", when really there were other things that attracted them more, but mentioning the kids' education is a simple way to dodge talking about everything else.

[brainbree]

Originally Posted by Amontillado

Oh, I don't know. Maybe the kids come out knowing a little Latin.

I don't understand. Are you implying that because Lexington produces kids that know a little Latin, that's proof that it's a good school?

[wolfgang239]

Originally Posted by brainbree

I don't understand. Are you implying that because Lexington produces kids that know a little Latin, that's proof that it's a good school?

Woosh.

[mwj119]

The town's location(location, location), housing stock, reputation, and beauty have far more to do with the price tag than the schools. That's why it takes $1M to get into Lexington, as opposed to $600k in Acton. That is why Bedford is more expensive than Westford.

"Is it worth it" depends on how much you like the town, and where you work. If you have a dual income household, and one works in Cambridge, the other in Burlington, then I would say yes it's worth it. Or you want your kids to go through a big school system with a ton of opportunity and a large network. Or you want a little more room as far as yard and sqft compared to a Belmont or Newton, but still want to maintain proximity to a mess load of commercial activity along 95/in Burlington/on Lexington's main street.

I think to point to Lexington's schools as the reason it's one of the $1M towns is pretty out of touch, as Concord (on the northwest side of town) is a $1M town, as is Lincoln to the South, along with a slew of other towns in that general area.

[matrix5k]

FWIW my wife's coworker lives there and she says there a lot of tiger moms. A lot of kids basically come home from school and lock themselves in their rooms to do homework or play video games. They get burnt out and have little to no social skills cause all they do is study. Of course there are many well rounded kids, but this is what I hear about.

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

FWIW my wife's coworker lives there and she says there a lot of tiger moms. A lot of kids basically come home from school and lock themselves in their rooms to do homework or play video games. They get burnt out and have little to no social skills cause all they do is study. Of course there are many well rounded kids, but this is what I hear about.

I don't mean to be combative, as I'm sure you have a sizeable enough sample size to make this assumption/assertion.

I know a lot of people from Lexington, or that live in Lexington. Normal as can be. Great sports programs, arts, town facilities.

Any well established affluent suburb, with top notch testing within district, in a competitive metro, has what you've described. This isn't a Lexington "thing". Lexington doesn't- not the town, nor the schools- force kids indoors, or force them to be introverts, or force them to be anything. That starts at home. And this is not meant to be a slight, as Asian culture is fantastic, and seemingly breeds success. But anyone who has been around certain Asian subcultures knows that what you've described is not outside the bell curve. And because Lexington schools are somewhere around 40% Asian, it doesn't surprise me that homework and technology are at the forefront of what some Lexington students do on a regular basis. That's not a bad thing, but it doesn't mean your child needs to or will follow suit.

[bugelrex]

Compared to acton, its probably not worth it. Compared to "insert average school district " it probably is worth it as you are buying your kids "peer group"