Moving north of Concord/Merrimack county - Kearsarge district (New London: transplants, buying a home)

[movingtoNH2010]

Hi all, I've been reading the posts on N.H. - we are in the process of buying a home in the Warner area - very excited - rural, quiet, etc. Any information on what the kids do for recreation? I've tried finding a park and recreation site - are all sports/extracurricular activities through the school district? What about winter time? Do the skiing areas have night skiing? Pat's peak (I think is the name), Mt. Sunapee.... is this something people go do after school in the winter? Or get out of school early to go ski (ski club)? I'm now focusing on the schools and recreation for the kids. How are the schools at welcoming new children??

Thanks so much for any advice/information.

[ynot67]

Simonds Elementary School

this is the school website. Mt. Sunapee and Ragged Mtn are both great ski areas, there is also wildcat football WildCats Programs (http://www.kearsargefootball.org/programs.html - broken link)
which is not run through the schools, also a great soccer program and British soccer camp in the summer. Beautiful library in town and Charlie Macs Pizza is great. You are also a quick drive to Concord , the capital and there is a lot to do. also seveal local Karate studios

[movingtoNH2010]

thanks for the info!

[Mark-faf]

I drive school bus for the Kearsarge District. It's a good school system, there is a new (his 2nd year) superintendent and he seems great. I have a 6th and 2nd grader in the system. There is a winter activity session after school once a week in Feb./March for about six weeks. There are many choices, one of them is skiing at Mt. Sunapee. My sons are involved in soccer. There is an area soccer league in the fall:

Merrimack Valley Soccer League - New Hampshire Official Website.

The school sponsored sports start in middle school. My older son took karate in Andover, Andover Academy of Self Defense, for three years. The owner/instructor is David Stepp, highly recommended.

Students from "away" should have no trouble blending in. My experience is "new kids" are sought out by existing students looking to find a new friend. We have a lot of transplants here in New London, I suspect Warner isn't much different.

By the way, Market Basket in Warner is the best supermarket for miles around!

Mark

[movingtoNH2010]

Thanks so much, Mark. That supermarket is 5 minutes from where we'll be living, so that is great! Also the gas station so close is a plus. Glad to hear you have two kids in the school system as well. Coming from Massachusetts, we really are looking forward to finding a nice community with welcoming people. We hope to stay for a very long time!