Waltham (schools etc sanity check) (Newton, Lexington: apartment, renting, house)

[BosYuppie]

Me, spouse and 2 year old currently own in one of the holy grail, "gold plated" towns that everyone fawns over. There is a lot to like about where we live, we bought at a pretty good time 5 years ago and location is good for city commutes but we simply feel we want more house and a little more privacy. The quarantine has driven this home for us, as we both will probably be working from home more often even after the "new normal."

When we look around, location and culture wise we are really feeling Waltham, probably north side or Brandeis/Cedarwood area so we can have more space. We think we can get plenty of house and have reasonable commutes plus a little easier trips to the north and northwest where we tend to go for leisure. We love the Moody Mile, we also really like that the city is more diverse than some of the tawnier suburbs. I saw an FB group for the school community and appreciated that most of the announcements were bilingual for example.

The big question of course is the "downgrade" of the schools. Our parenting style isn't so much the Russian Math/Helicopter type, but we would like to keep our child engaged in learning and social activities. We aren't even so concerned about K-8. I'm personally curious about the high school experience, it seems that the statistics are trending in the right direction, and I know a new facility is being built which should help as well.

Anybody have recent experience with the Waltham public school system? Are we going to truly regret leaving a top tier school system for a "medium tier" one? Any really serious complaints or safety concerns for children coming up there? Success stories?

[bugelrex]

How big is your current house vs dream house?

I worry more about the teenage peer group more than the school academics. Eg if teenage pregnancy, gangs, drug use is a "accepted" thing then an impressionable teen is going to have major issues

[BosYuppie]

Maybe they're just really good at keeping a low profile, but googling for "gang activity in waltham MA" does not return much at all. The most credible result seems to be from 2007:

“Our gang activity is very limited,” said Detective Sgt. Tim King, Waltham police spokesman.

“We hear of people with some affiliations to MS-13 (a violent gang mostly made up of Salvadoran and Central American immigrants), but it’s not an organized group and hasn’t taken a stronghold here.”

(https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/x587892939)

And yes, I did read about the SWAT team incident on the south side recently.

Also, teen pregancy seems to be below state average. According to the 2016 birth report (latest I could find), waltham has 5.9 teen mothers per 1000, below the state rate of 8.5.

These stats don't scream "Dangerous Minds" to me. Of course these are city stats, not school stats. Would be interested to know what percent of people send their kids to private school there.

[BostonBornMassMade]

I figure given your level of concern and involvement your child would be fine. Waltham schools are serviceable and probably noticeably above national average. It’s might be nice for your child to sort of float to the top and get a different world view (if you’re white he’d be a minority at Waltham High, let alone 15 years from now). It honestly might be advantageous for college placement to see someone a bit more standout than in a Westin or Sudbury or Topsfid where they might blend in a bit more.

I knew kids from all different town and elks of life going to a private school but living in the city. Never heard a bad peep about Waltham. We had one Waltham kid at our HS (it’s noteworthy he attended private school not Waltham High) and he was a half Nigerian half English kid who was very well rounded- athletic smart and funny. Pretty straight edge.


All this being said Waltham High performs below MA state averages in every category:

http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/mcas/ac...orgtypecode=6&

http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/reportc...code=03080505&

Diversity: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/profile...orgtypecode=6&

45% Latino 39% white 10% black 4% Asian 2% mixed race

[charolastra00]

Waltham schools get a bad rep in the suburbs because the schools aren't *as* good, but they're certainly not bad. I have quite a few coworkers who could have left Waltham, but chose to stay because they grew up there themselves or because they appreciate the (relatively) short commute to just about anywhere else. It certainly doesn't hurt that even 5 years ago, Waltham was pretty cheap. Oh, how things have changed! My Waltham apartment has more than doubled in 10 years.


Cedarwood is a great area, and you get the benefit of free/cheap events at Brandeis (which would just be a walk), Bentley and Lasell (short drives). I'm not familiar with Bentley's outreach to the public schools (though I'm sure it exists!) but Brandeis does a lot of outreach around STEM at all grade levels. I have a coworker whose daughter spent a few summers in high school working in labs over the summer at Brandeis. She ended up getting into Brandeis, working in one of those labs she had been involved with in high school, and the head of the lab helped her network into a really phenomenal biopharm research job right out of undergrad. Clearly, there are tons of opportunities for motivated students/


Bentley and Brandeis both have great, full-ride scholarships for Waltham High kids, and it certainly helps to have involved parents help a long! One of the things that makes Waltham's schools less prestigious is there's a lot of racial and economic diversity compared to the top districts. A higher percentage of students aren't supported as robustly by their parents as kids in Newton, Weston, or Lexington. That can both put your child at an advantage comparatively, and it can help them learn more about others who are less fortunate. While there's nothing wrong growing up in one of the wealthier towns, the differences you didn't pick up on can hit you like a ton of bricks when you go to college.

[Awalker34]

I live in Cedarwood and love it here. We moved a few years ago from near Moody street as this neighborhood was better for our kids. Our kids aren't school aged yet but we plan on sending them to public schools and know a lot of similar families in the same boat. The mixture of being close to the city and having a great neighborhood to walk around and having Brandeis right there (there's a walking cut through from Cedarwood and it's a great campus to walk around) is great. Our kids love the parks within walking distance as well. All the families we know of in Waltham schools have only good things to say and that if you're an involved patent you'll be fine, but we haven't experienced the schools yet so can't really comment. Cedarwood is great as it does a ton of neighborhood events (picnics, dad's night outs, Halloween party etc). Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.