Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How long of a commute is your husband willing to take? I'm thinking if you moved to Rockland or North NJ by Rockland, you could get the kids to Westchester easily and avoid George Washington Bridge/Tappan Zee traffic for your husband to get to Cranbury. It would still take at least an hour each way though.
Also, there is no easy way to get to Cranbury via public transportation. As the previous poster stated, there is a train to Princeton Junction, but you then would need a car to get to Cranbury as there are no buses going in that direction.
How long of a commute is your husband willing to take? I'm thinking if you moved to Rockland or North NJ by Rockland, you could get the kids to Westchester easily and avoid George Washington Bridge/Tappan Zee traffic for your husband to get to Cranbury. It would still take at least an hour each way though.
Also, there is no easy way to get to Cranbury via public transportation. As the previous poster stated, there is a train to Princeton Junction, but you then would need a car to get to Cranbury as there are no buses going in that direction.
Pay no attention to this. Sure, your husband's commute will be a little easier (but still awful), but for your kids you will now have to drive over the Tappan Zee Bridge, which connects New Jersey/Rockland to Westchester. This is an absolute nightmare. Two days a week there will be an accident and you won't get your kids to school on time. The other three "normal" days you will just be sitting in the typical awful traffic.
Tappan Zee is bad, but not as horrific as the GWB. It also depends on what time kids need to be @ school. If school starts at 7:30, traffic won't be at it's peak heading over there.
I actually have the opposite commute, from cranbury to white plains. So I'm guessing that this would be even worse with all the traffic going toward the city? Would GWB or TappanZ be a better bet?
Many thanks to AnNYYankee, Newtoli and Rubygreta for your very helpful replies. I think that definitely closes the "Westchester" option! Newtoli you mention that living in North, New Jersey may be an option. Do any nice communities spring to mind? Also, did you mean that you knew people from New Jersey who sent their children to Manhattan?
RubyGreta - yes, I had thought of Philadelphia but unfortunately the French-American school only goes up to 8th Grade and my eldest will be returning in 12th! Would have been great otherwise!
Anybody else know of any French families in a French or bilingual system in NY? Especially in NJ area?
With many thanks!
I went to HS in Manhattan years ago, and commuted in by bus, left at 4:30AM and started school at 8:00AM, I'd drive in with my father who worked in Manhattan at the time, on return I went to the Port Authority and caught the 2PM bus to Oak Ridge, NJ took almost 1 1/2 hrs, would get home around 4:30/5:00. I was living in Sussex Cty at the time. Also I'm sure that the cost of transportation has gone up since then..........I'd buy 5 tickets at the Port for 5 trips, cost $15.00, one way. Is going to a bilingual school very important? Both schools in Pa and NJ are in my opinion very good, it could save you a world of grief, unless you lived fairly close to NY over the NJ line say Fort Lee/Hoboken and you would still be able to commute to Cranbury, NJ
If you have younger children, there is Lyceum Kennedy in Ardsley (goes up to grade 5) which has a main campus in Manhattan. It's a well established school. Ardsley is much closer to NJ than towns near the FASNY campuses.
Since you have an older child, it's possible to have him take a school bus to the FASNY campus in Mamaroneck depending on your town's busing policy. Same as Lyceum Kennedy. Busing may be an option to allow you to live closer to the bridge to NJ and still go to a suburb French School.
Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately we do have to restrict ourselves to French/Bilingual schools otherwise it will be complicated to come back to France. My youngest will be too old for the Lyceum Kennedy. We are now considering the option of living in the Westchester area and my husband spending several nights a week in the Cranbury area.
Is the commute always long and awful or can you pick your time and ensure a better journey? What's the journey like to Newark?
The trip to Newark won't be fun either. The ramp from the Deegan to the GWB gets backed up like crazy during rush hour. Then once you get onto Rt-80 in NJ the road splits to the NJ Turnpike which takes you down to Newark. This area near the ramp to the NJ turnpike is usually a bottleneck during rush hour.
what about the princeton french school Ecole Francaise de Princeton
I don't know the school personally. my daughter is on the waiting list for the lycee francais as we are moving back to the states after 4 years in Geneva. She is only 4, but we hope to keep her French skills!
commuting from princeton to cranbury should not be too bad. My dad worked there for about 10 years and commuted from freehold to cranbury.
Thank you for your answer. The French School of Princeton only goes up to age 10 and my children are all older! Good luck with your move!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
backward
