[katerinaver]

Hello,
I am a future grad student thinking of applying to SIT (Bratelboro) I apologize if I spelled that wrong!
Is anyone familiar with that area, how is it for kids? I have a 3 year old.
Would appreciate some feed back about that area.
I have never been to Vermont so any information would be useful!
Thanks!

[nhrocky]

It's been a while since I've had a 3 yr old, but I am familiar with Brattleboro. There is Memorial Park, it has a kid's swimming pool and a larger pool, ice skating rink, picnic area, 2 softball fields, playground and you can ski, snowboard or slide on the hill during the winter. There are several choices for pre-school if you wish, Hilltop Montessori, St Michael School to name a couple. For winter, there's cross-country skiing at the golf course, the x-c club is the Brattleboro Outing Club. There's KidsPlayce, an inside play area in downtown Brattleboro. I'm sure the library has a reading time for young children. At the Retreat Farm there's a petting zoo. The Brattleboro Recreation dept is always running programs for all ages and usually has special programs during school vacations. February vacation week is filled with activities for Winter Carnival. The SIT campus is on Kipling Road up off Black Mountain Rd and is definitely is rural. It's right near Naulakha (http://www.landmarktrustusa.org/naulakha/index.html - broken link), Rudyard Kipling's VT home. There are several orchards in the area for picking strawberries, blueberries and of course apples.

Here's the calendar from today's Brattleboro Reformer. They run the calendar every day, so you can usually find something to do.

[arel]

In the summer, there is a sand beach, with lifeguards, a few minutes away at Spofford Lake in New Hampshire. There are also swimming holes on the West River, in both Dummerston and Guilford, towns adjacent to Brattleboro. But they are unguarded, and also, in my own opinion, not as much fun as a lake beach.

There are other lake beaches a little further away.

There are several state parks nearby.

Even in Brattleboro proper, there are hiking trails.

And, yes, there is a children's room at the library. BTW, Brattleboro has a wonderful public library, with lots of public events.

The SIT campus is in one of the more rural sections of Brattleboro. You can see mountains all around. It is quite beautiful.

If you yearn for a more urban environment, just go downtown. Brattleboro's downtown has a very urban feel, even if the feel is only for a few blocks.

[katerinaver]

anyone else familiar with SIt institute and that area?