<p>Kindergarten is a very important year, especially when there are only 16 students/class and there are only 2 classes. ~80% of them go through K-12 and it´s a lifetime of friendship that money can´t buy. Even when the graduating class becomes over 100, they all know who the lifers are.</p>
<p>If you are looking at Somerset county, then you may want to consider Bridgewater as many of the major roads go through this town - Rt 78, 287, 202, 206 and 287.
That makes this town seem very urban, but in fact it’s quite the opposite. It’s merely very convenient to get places from Bridgewater. </p>
<p>When we were house shopping, we were not entirely sure how long my husband would stay at his job so we asked for a town that was convenient for many major roads. We looked at a map with our realtor and it quickly became clear that Bridgewater fit the bill. </p>
<p>Also, our property tax rate is better than most of the town mentioned in this discussion. That said, property taxes in NJ are just crazy and this is one reason we are encouraging our kids to move out of NJ when they are ready to leave the nest. </p>
<p>I can’t speak about the local public high school since my kids did not attend there, but people do speak highly about it and this is not true for all the local high schools. True, Ridge High in Basking Ridge is better, but then you will pay much, much more for a house there. Depending on the size house you need and your budget, this may be a non issue for you.</p>
<p>I would assume if the OP is looking at Mendham than a similar type of environment would be Chatham, Madison, and Summit. If the private school in Summit has accepted your daughter already, than any of these towns are doable. In the event that your daughter should get into Pingry or Newark Academy next year than again any of these towns would work. The taxes in all of these towns are high but I would imagine you are familar with our taxes already. </p>
<p>You may be accustomed to doing alot of driving so if Mendham is really your dream location than go for it. It really is a beautiful area.</p>
<p>Basking Ridge… beautiful homes but many of the new developments have the houses close to each other. When you sit out on your back porch or deck you can hear your neighbors conversation. It really depends if you are looking for an older house with charm or a newer house that is top of the line everything. It could all be found in Basking Ridge. Personally I think Summit is wonderful because you have a great walking town with restuarants and shops (some stores have been empty due to the economy) but Chatham is pure charm. </p>
<p>I hope you have time to really spend some time in each of the towns so you can see how they are each so different. They all have there own personality.</p>
<p>I was just about to write what Momma-three wrote about each town having its own personality. Not only looks-wise, but the people that each town attracts. They are very different.</p>
<p>You can actually live in Somerset County and have a Princeton address (Montgomery Township). This doesn’t entitle you to the Princeton public schools, however. Not sure where in Somerset county your husband would be working–getting up 206 from Princeton can be an extreme headache. Another town to consider, very green with good school district and not mentioned so far: Metuchen.</p>
<p>Metuchen is a fine town but it is not Mendham, Princeton, Summit, Chatham.</p>
<p>Liberty Corner and Martinsville are also nice, although a bit more rural than madison/summit. Pingry is located in Martinsville.</p>
<p>If commuting to NYC is a consideration then look for towns that have their own RR station and a house that is within walking distance. Typically there is a 4 year waiting list in the commuter parking slots. Consider too; Westfield and Cranford in Union county, both are great towns with very good school systems, close to Manhattan and commuter friendly.</p>
<p>^^^^^ I forgot Westfield…great town and very good public schools.</p>
<p>Martinsville is part of Bridgewater. Pingry is on the Bernards Tp./Bridgewater line, but is actually in Bernards. Liberty Corner and Basking Ridge are locations within Bernards Tp.</p>
<p>I would think carefully about a twice-daily commute between Mendham and Summit. Using the school’s buses (if available) would definitely be worth considering.</p>
<p>I meant to mention that Bridgewater has a train station for easy access to NYC.</p>
<p>It’s also right next to the location of Pingry. I live 5 minutes from Pingry. It’s a very pleasant drive. The campus is lovely.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.njmonthly.com%5B/url%5D”>http://www.njmonthly.com</a>, there are a lot of info about NJ towns/schools/doctors… </p>
<p>Lots of people here mentioned about Pingry, assume you are looking at Pingry, I will suggest Bedminster and Far Hills. Both are within 10 mins to Pingry and both have the lowest tax rate in NJ. They are very nice town, lots of people from city bought their second house there just for weekend. Compare with neighbor Basking Ridge, housing price at Far Hills and Bedminster are more cheaper but have the same living quality.</p>
<p>Far Hills and Bedminster are known for their extremely wealthy communities; if there are “affordable” sections they are not likely to be as attractive as the other more rural estate-like areas. And the same is true to a large extent of the more built-up Basking Ridge, as another poster indicated (though certainly some nice houses there with a bit of variety in price points I suspect). If one is going to pay “normal” upper-middle-income prices–and I’d put that anywhere up to about $750,000 in this area other than in some Essex County towns where you pay less for a lovely house in a lovely neighborhood but balance that out with taxes and fewer county amenities)-- one might as well live in a town where that’s the norm. Or choose a place like Summit where that price won’t get you into a really nice house in a really pretty neighborhood but where there is a truly appealing and somewhat walkable town center as well as decent transportation (though prices in the prettier neighborhoods are of course very high). That said, there are a lot of attractive developments in the Route 78 corridor towns and a good real estate agent will know how to target the ones that fit a given client’s tastes and needs.</p>
<p>As much as I am a fan of the private schools in the area, which offer excellent education and social and athletic opportunities, I have to say that with tuition having gone up as much as it has in the last decade or so, you are going to be exposed to heavy-duty affluence in the school community. Unless you are in that category yourself, it might be nice to live in a community where you were the norm rather than the low-end (all things are relative!) in order to retain a sense of reality and feel privileged, as most of us are, rather than deprived.</p>
<p>If you are considering public schools, the change in Gov. has precipitated a big shift in funding for public ed. It’s caused most school board of education’s to cut programs (including music, sports, AP classes, etc.) Some communities (few) made cuts but passed budgets which increased property taxes but most budgets were defeated and the cuts were made deeper. I’m in Morris Cty, lived here most of my life. </p>
<p>[N.J</a>. school district officials say Gov. Chris Christie budget cuts will force program, staff cuts | NJ.com](<a href=“http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/nj_gov_chris_christie_budget_c.html]N.J”>N.J. school district officials say Gov. Chris Christie budget cuts will force program, staff cuts - nj.com)</p>
<p>amandakyak,</p>
<p>Your post perfectly expresses why we’re not looking very seriously at public high schools. I have called several in Somerset County and Morris County and the tone has been very disturbing. The receptionist actually hung up on me at one of them! The basic message is that they really don’t want new students, are very challenged meeting needs of existing students under the tightening budget constraints. It just feels really thorny to send our daughter into 11th grade in this atmosphere, despite the fantastic stats of many of the schools.</p>
<p>At this point, we are probably going to rent initially and give ourselves time to figure out the various towns. The big question is where DD will go to high school. That will most likely put us in Bridgewater/Basking Ridge or Summit/Morris County. I’ve been pleased with some of the rental options we’ve found.</p>
<p>If you would like to consider an outside-the-box high school option, she could just take classes at Rartian Valley Community College and complete an associates degree while finishing high school. RVCC is very open to having high school students attend and in fact, many do so she’d not be the only young teen there. </p>
<p>RVCC has articulation agreements with many of the area colleges/universities including Cornell, so transfering would not be a probelm at all as this community is well regarded by four year schools. </p>
<p>If this idea is at all interesting to you, PM me for more info.</p>
<p>mountain lakes passed its budget this year and tends to have very good support for its public schools-- however the taxes are a bit crazy and its a bit further than the other towns you are looking at.</p>
<p>I’ve lived in NJ for 25 years and have found every town has it’s own personality and demographics, so figure out what sort of community you want to live in and you can narrow down your choices. There are some very high income areas in NJ that have a wide range of housing prices and if you are not in that income bracket, you may feel out of place. (I would put Millburn/Short Hills in this bracket). There are also some very WASPy areas and areas that I classify as ‘Stepford’ (ie/ no working mothers). The high schools also have different reputations with regards to arts, academics and sports. I would say most of them have good academic programs for motivated kids. Frankly we moved out of Millburn/Short Hills before my oldest started school, as I found the academic competition a bit too cut throat and wanted her to do the best she could and not have that pressure. If you are looking for private schools, there are many and lots of difference price points. </p>
<p>Please PM me if you want any private insight.</p>
<p>Sewhappy - We are in Randolph, this district passed their schools budget which still had to make cuts but kept all music, sports, APs. Basically the cuts by the state transferred over to our property taxes. Problem being, next year’s cuts (and there will have to be unless the teacher unions roll over which is unlikely) will be constrained by additional legislation by Christie that caps property tax increases to 2%. </p>
<p>Commutable to NYC (although it’s a bear on a slow train), ok driving to Warren, Bridgewater to the south or Jersey City, Hoboken to the east. Pretty suburban/to rural feel, most 3/4 - 1 acre lots. We lived for a spell in Maplewood/S.Orange and that town is beautiful, depending on what side of the tracks you live, your elementary public might be fine but you will need to think private for HS. Nice older character homes, mine was a 1907 victorian (oh, I loved that house!) with postage size lots. </p>
<p>Also, as far as privates for a junior, I have friends in privates - some had issues coming in as a frosh with fitting in…some exclusionary snobbery, expecially flamed by status conscious kids of extreme priviledge. </p>
<p>You can PM me if you want any other info. Good luck!!</p>