Buying house in good for family NJ suburb

[kosb]

Search for any random listing in each town in Zillow/realtor or any site.. they would usually have school ratings from Great Schools/Niche. You would would now see what I am talking about. All the other towns have 4-5 ratings for elematary/middle/high school. Fair Lawn is 8-6-8 (elem, middle, high respectively).

[HudsonCoNJ]

Ok. I've heard Great Schools and Niche have questionable criteria. I usually just check how schools rank for SAT scores. Montclair and Glen Ridge are actually ranked a bit higher than Fair Lawn by that measure. But all the towns mentioned here I think were in the top 100, except for Rutherford.

[46H]

I think Montclair runs the elemantary schools as magnet schools (not based on location). You rank the schools in order of preference for your child. Do some research about this if you choose Montclair. You might buy a house walking distance to a school you like and not be able to attend that school. Most school systems in NJ run the elementary schools as neighborhood schools - you go to the school associated to your address.

[kkumar13]

Originally Posted by HudsonCoNJ

Ok. I've heard Great Schools and Niche have questionable criteria. I usually just check how schools rank for SAT scores. Montclair and Glen Ridge are actually ranked a bit higher than Fair Lawn by that measure. But all the towns mentioned here I think were in the top 100, except for Rutherford.

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

I am also very confused about the school rating. Not sure how to judge the school districts.

I have been using Niche and great schools to check whether schools are good or not. But I keep hearing mixed opinion. West orange, SO, maplewood don't have very good ratings if you go by great school but I keep hearing in forums that the schools are good. I have a two year old and having a good school district is a must but with mixed reviews its hard to make up mind. Buying a house is life long commitment and I want to be reasonably sure of my decision.

Any opinion specifically on schools for these communities -
1. Fair Lawn
2. Maplewood
3. West Orange and South Orange
4. Montclair
5. Cedar Grove
6. glen Ridge
7. Little Falls

Thanks

[HudsonCoNJ]

Originally Posted by kkumar13

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

I am also very confused about the school rating. Not sure how to judge the school districts.

I have been using Niche and great schools to check whether schools are good or not. But I keep hearing mixed opinion. West orange, SO, maplewood don't have very good ratings if you go by great school but I keep hearing in forums that the schools are good. I have a two year old and having a good school district is a must but with mixed reviews its hard to make up mind. Buying a house is life long commitment and I want to be reasonably sure of my decision.

Any opinion specifically on schools for these communities -
1. Fair Lawn
2. Maplewood
3. West Orange and South Orange
4. Montclair
5. Cedar Grove
6. glen Ridge
7. Little Falls

Thanks

Not suggesting that this should be the ONLY thing you look at when evaluating a town's school district, but it's probably one of the few objective measures out there:

https://patch.com/new-jersey/howell/...-school-ranked

[Dabaomb]

Originally Posted by HudsonCoNJ

Not suggesting that this should be the ONLY thing you look at when evaluating a town's school district, but it's probably one of the few objective measures out there:

https://patch.com/new-jersey/howell/...-school-ranked

SAT scores and the # of National Merit Scholarship Semifinalsts that a school produces are good factors in determining overall academic rankings of a school.