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Old 08-15-2008, 11:35 PM
 
Location: Amherst
123 posts, read 472,437 times
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Oh, and one other option to consider. Hancock and Lanesboro share the Mt. Greylock Regional high school and have their own, perfectly good elementary schools. Hancock's is so small that they tend to set up a specialized curriculum for each child, which sounds neat. Both towns, while more remote, have cheaper housing. And I have heard of people living in Pownal, VT and paying a fee to the the town to enroll their kids in the Williamstown schools.
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Old 08-16-2008, 05:13 AM
 
Location: Maine
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I've heard, though have not verified, that VT will pay Williamstown tuition, or even Pine Cobble (expensive private school in W'town.) Each kid has a certain amount of money for education, and parents can choose where to apply it -- of course that amount would not cover the entire cost of Pine Cobble. DH learned that to send our son from pre-k through 6th grade there it would cost $85k. Over my dead body!
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Old 08-16-2008, 05:46 AM
 
Location: a warmer place
1,748 posts, read 5,506,125 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenos View Post
Oh, and one other option to consider. Hancock and Lanesboro share the Mt. Greylock Regional high school and have their own, perfectly good elementary schools. Hancock's is so small that they tend to set up a specialized curriculum for each child, which sounds neat. Both towns, while more remote, have cheaper housing. And I have heard of people living in Pownal, VT and paying a fee to the the town to enroll their kids in the Williamstown schools.
Yes Lanesboro elementary school is very good. Our Dr. chose this over Pine Cobble. She had nothing but good things to say about it. They are a bit remote, Lanesboro less than Hancock. There is a lake, the mall and lots of strawberry picking to be found. It would be a good choice.
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Old 08-17-2008, 10:33 AM
 
34 posts, read 126,127 times
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Thank you very much for all the help. All of this information makes things so much easier.
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Old 08-17-2008, 08:21 PM
 
1,316 posts, read 3,890,566 times
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Originally Posted by kaday View Post
Lenox is a little further south but the schools are much better. Williamstown as well (plus the bonus of being near an elite liberal arts college). If I had my choice I would choose Williamstown. We have friends, very academically oreinted in Williamstown and very happy (highschool age kids in Mt Greylock). I'm not a huge fan of North Adams but it does have some cute shops and restaurants and MOMA. I think if you look around at other towns a bit you can do better (in terms of schools). I should add Lenox and Williamstown are more expensive. You can school choice of course but then it is the luck of the draw.
So childfree couples would not want Len or Wmstn because houses and taxes are higher due to schools?
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Old 08-17-2008, 08:26 PM
 
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Originally Posted by litlux View Post
I would echo the Willliamstown option, since it borders North Adams and the two are a sort of the odd couple of the Northern Berkshires. The difference is that in North Adams you can almost buy a mansion for $300K but you will get far less house for the money in Williamstown.

I can not give you info on the merits of the differing school systems, and that is often pretty subjective in any case. In terms of the children's classmates, I quite honestly would prefer to be in school with the Williamstown children rather than North Adams. There are very many poor, uneducated parents in North Adams whose attitudes don't reflect high goals for achievement. The remnants of the factory workers who used to populate this community still linger on, and hold it back.
SO per square foot Adams is the best bet? How close is a whole foods?
Is the shopping strictly blue collar in NA? how much snow did you guys get?
thanks
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Old 08-17-2008, 08:29 PM
 
1,316 posts, read 3,890,566 times
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Originally Posted by litlux View Post
There certainly is a streak of clubbishness around here, as well as that sort of insular stand-offish attitude among large numbers of people who have lived here all their life. But there are also a lot of interesting people who are anxious to meet other interesting people, those whose idea of worth do not depend on where you were born, or what your place is in the pecking order.

You might say that it's no different around here than it is in any small town or city, or large one. Some people are just blind to making new friends, and others are open to it. But find them you will, it just takes time. Children help shorten the process, too.

I would say the people in the Berkshires are among the nicest you will meet. They just aren't very likely to invite you over for coffee. Strange, I know. Still can't figure it out.

they all made cyber friends instead..they don't sneeze all over their antiques when they visit..lol
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Old 08-18-2008, 07:32 AM
 
Location: a warmer place
1,748 posts, read 5,506,125 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 12buttons View Post
So childfree couples would not want Len or Wmstn because houses and taxes are higher due to schools?
I think Lenox has lower taxes because of some hospitality tax they factor in for tourists (hotels, restaurants). This tax if I remember correctly directly benefits the schools. I could be wrong though. I don't know about Williamstown. The taxes there never bothered me as we had moved there from NJ.
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Old 08-19-2008, 05:35 AM
 
Location: Amherst
123 posts, read 472,437 times
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So childfree couples would not want Len or Wmstn because houses and taxes are higher due to schools?

The taxes in Williamstown are significant. They may or may not be so high as to discourage a child-free family from living there. The real concern about taxes, I think, is that they may need to go up a lot in the future.

Mount Greylock, like all the other regional high schools in Western Mass, does not have the tax base to keep it running over the long term. Part of that is due to the declining wealth of this region as a whole, but the main reason is that when these regional high schools were set up there was a lot more money at the state level to subsidize them. Used to be that the cost of transporting students from the remote, poorer towns was paid by special grants, which have been dropped from the state budget for years now. So Williamstown, like the core communities which host the several regional high schools west of the Quabbin, has to subsidize the education of all the towns around it.

What makes Williamstown exceptional, however, is that Williams College has stepped in with grants to keep MGH afloat. There is concern that if the local schools fail then they will not be able to recruit and retain professors with children. How much Williams College should be acting like the lord of the manor footing the bill for the village school is a point of considerable debate right now.

WC is increasingly wealthy, increasingly subsidizing the town, and increasingly bigfooting around local politics, securing its rights to develop as it sees fit and to effectively run the town in a paternalistic fashion.
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Old 08-20-2008, 08:14 AM
 
543 posts, read 697,370 times
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I'm amazed at how many think that smaller affluent towns have better schools.The State mandates per student spending,teachers are generally paid more in larger towns,there are more activities in larger schools.At the end of the day,its what the kids do when they are at home,that molds them into successful people.If your worried about who your children are socializing with in school,you've already lost them.
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