school districts

DH and i are looking to buy...but we are not very familiar with the long island schools
we are on a budget some some of the areas that i know are good are out of our price range.

does anyone know of these districts which is the best? worst? any other info is appreciated:

westbury
east meadow
hicksville

Re: school districts

Of those 3, IMO East Meadow is the best (then again, I'm biased as I went there ). I've heard negative things about Westbury schools and mixed things about Hicksville.

We ended up buying in Levittown. I would check out out the Island Schools SD. The cost is about the same as East Meadow (less in taxes though) and I've heard very good things about the SD.

Re: school districts

I went to Island Trees, it is a great school district, it's one of the top schools in Nassau County. I second the PP, East meadow is probably the best out of those three, but definitely look into Island Trees.

Re: school districts

What makes a school district "good" (or "best" or "worst") is very subjective and depends on what matters to you... Do you care about academics (and how do you judge that? test scores? # of AP classes offered? % of graduates going on to a 4 year college?)? Sports? Music/Arts? Class size? Full-day kindergarten? After school programs?

Everyone has a different opinion, and this can be a hot button issue!

You can check out Newsday's school statistics or go on the various district websites or sites such as www.greatschools.com to get some solid info.

But if you are interested in learning more about those areas and getting some help with your search, please feel free to contact me. I am very familiar with all of those areas (my office is in N. Bellmore, which borders East Meadow, and I recently sold 2 houses in Hicksville).

As far as affordability, Hicksville has by far the lowest taxes (one of the lowest in Nassau), and if you commute to the city by train, it's a great area to be in. Hicksville home prices can be quite affordable if you are ok with a cape or an inline ranch (or a Levitt home, if you are interested in south Hicksville). It's near shopping, parkways, etc.

East Meadow is geographically a big area -- there are 7 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 2 high schools. Neighborhoods vary in terms of home styles and prices. Barnum Woods and the Parkway section are both close to North Bellmore (just on the other side of N. Jersusalem Rd.), whereas the Clearmeadow section is up north of Hempstead Tpke.

Westbury is also a large area with varying home values, so it's hard to generalize. Part of Westbury is actually in East Meadow schools (the Salisbury area). In Salisbury, homes are on the market in the $600K to $800K range. New Cassel is another neighborhood that's part of Westbury (north of Old Country Rd, just west of the Wantagh Pkway). Homes in that section can go for under $200K. So the spectrum is wide.

Feel free to contact me with any questions! [email protected] or (516) 587-7618 (cell), or via FM!

Re: school districts

i went to east meadow, and although i received a good education it is a HUGE district..on top of that, i feel as if the quality of the district has decreased in the past 10 years or so-i know a lot of people moved/are moving away, and although my bf and i recently purchased a home (we're both from east meadow), we didn't even consider buying there

Re: school districts

Westbury in Westbury SD - not so good.

Westbury in East Meadow SD - better.

Hicksville is decent.

Re: school districts

Westbury SD is not good.

We live in Westbury but are zoned to the Carle Place SD which is excellent.