talk to me about schools / neighborhoods.

We currently live in North Baldwin. we paid top dollar for our home at the height of the market, have made some upgrades since...but we hate this area. I don't want DS going to school here. We would like to move before it is time to enroll him. (not as concerned with pre-k...but after that I'd like to be in a place where he can grow some roots.

We have been driving around and checking out some areas as well as looking up affordable homes on MLSLI. I have actually found some cute homes in or near the 300k range (our home was 415 when we bought it) That cost is way more livable for us. Anyway...I know that alot of people say that the baldwin school district is bad but when you look it up online it gets great ratings. So I want to hear from real people with real experience.

1) what is your experience with or knowledge of the baldwin school district?

2) what can you tell me about the neighborhood, affordability, school district etc. of the following areas: village of farmingdale, Merrick, bellmore, levittown.

We are a laid back, down to earth family. We don't want to be in a snobby area...but we also don't want to be in a shithole or spit and hit a bad neighborhood either. We want a safe area with good schools.

any other areas with affordable homes and good SD's?

Re: talk to me about schools / neighborhoods.

I think that unless you are living in Hempstead, pretty much any area of Nassau County is going to be fine.

You may need to deal with issues related to affluence though, which as a parent is scarier to me.

Although personally, I try not to speak negatively of any school district unless I live there.

I constantly hear $hit about the town we bought in, and 99.9% of the time it's from outsiders.

We are probably as white as they come, and my town has a lot of other cultures, and I have to say, I have not run into any issues yet. People who do not speak English as their first language, or who are a darker skin color than me are actually really nice to me in mixed settings with DS and only seem to have the best interest of their child at heart.

I guess we will see what happens when he is in school though to form more of an opinion (he starts Pre-K in Sept).

Re: talk to me about schools / neighborhoods.

I don't know too much about the schools in baldwin besides what I've heard (also from outsiders) BUT I do pass the high school every day as it is letting out bc I pick hubby up from the train. There has been a recent shooting at a football game at the high school...I saw a group of about15 kids all wearing black and red in the parking lot (those are not the school colors). It definitely raised some flags.

Re: talk to me about schools / neighborhoods.

It sounds like it could be outsiders coming onto the campus.

Several of my friends have kids who are recent HS grads and stated this happened on occasion. That 99% of the time when there was an issue like this, it was not from kids within the district starting crap.

I come from a mindset though that we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

If DS becomes part of the district and there's an issue with other kids, we will go to a plan B. Which will most likely not mean moving but looking at private school instead.

Right now we love all of our neighbors and do not feel pressured to keep up with the Joneses. Everyone around us is solidly middle/working class.

Re: talk to me about schools / neighborhoods.

I don't know much about Baldwin, but we are in north Bellmore and love it. There are definitely homes in the area in the 300s and the schools are great, from what we have heard and read.

talk to me about schools / neighborhoods.

I can tell you that I LOVE my area!! We decided on a house in Levittown, in the Island Trees SD. It's a quiet area but its close to many major highways (both North and South Shore highways...we're pretty much smack dab in between making travel relatively easy). There's a lot of shopping around. Our taxes are very low (for Long Island). The SD is small and has a good reputation (as do most on LI). We also looked into Levittown S.D, but liked Island Trees better and the taxes were lower.

talk to me about schools / neighborhoods.

My cousin graduated from Baldwin HS in 2007 and went to Lenox Elementary school.
The elementary school isn't bad but the HS was (and still is). A lot of gangs and violence happned when she attended. I would not send my child there.

Re: talk to me about schools / neighborhoods.