Kingswood Oxford isn’t bad
Forget about shameless shilling ( I love shameless shilling!!) I almost just drove to two Ivy League schools to collect the kids : Get in the car.
@Charger78 - How do I get a steaming coffee cup?
Seriously- Best of luck to the OP. We all have great plans (and dreams) until life and children intervene. Take something away from all the great comments you’ve received here and wing it like everyone else. That’s what (sane) parents do.
Well, to everyone, I wish there was a way to delete this post for it seems to have caused some aggressive controversy. My husband and I made the decision to plan this out because we want our home that our kids are raised in their whole lives, and a community that they will grow with over the years. For both of us grew up in such a situation. I was only searching for private school recommendations, and perhaps should have left out the personal information. I understand the unpredictability of life, but there’s nothing wrong with having a game plan.
A lot of you have given great advice but I think it’s silly for me to expect a perfect recommendation to arise. Yes this is “real” as the aggressive poster questioned on the previous page, and I appreciate everyone’s time.
Thanks again, and I suppose this forum can be put to rest.
Yes, @Celia86 community as a target rather than particular school . . . it’s true that some areas stand out for the happy constellation of educational opportunities, sometimes both public and independent, that are located nearby. And I don’t think it’s wrong to try a choose a community based on educational aspirations, even in the long term – Machiavelli wrote something to the effect of how parents owe their children a better place to grow up than a worse one. Living somewhere in the Princeton area and numerous well-chosen communities in the northeast part work here in Jersey. There will be some higher ed of note in these areas as well as K-12 options. I have been to the West Hartford area and that seems interesting from this standpoint. And when you look at what the Foote School does for HS “placement” services here on page 21, it suggests that east and north from Greenwich/Stamford there are hot spots for abundant choice: http://issuu.com/footenews/docs/secschl14___15
We had our kids in private school-- actually 2 different ones. Thank heavens for busses and carpools. Really, OP, relax. There is no guarantee your eventual kids will even get into these schools you are targeting, so choose where you want to live in an area that has access to several private schools.
Right-- although of course you can’t count on even HAVING kids, let alone what kind of student your kid will be, I don’t think it’s that unusual to pick where you’ll live based on access to good schools. My parents did that way back in the 50s: picked a good public school district-- which wasn’t so great by the time I was really in school-- so they switched to private schools, which wasn’t so hard, since we lived in a major city. So what you want is a place that has a RANGE of good schools, so you can find a “fit” for your kids, whatever they are like (academic, athletic, artsy, learning issues, whatever). As OP pointed out, that’s easiest in cities-- but cities are expensive. Short of that, you have 2 options: suburbs (which may require lots of driving and may still be expensive, but probably not as expensive as cities), or near colleges. You’d be surprised how many good schools are around colleges (maybe in response to demand for good schools)-- like around Princeton, around New Haven, or in the 5 college area in Massachusetts. We ended up in the 5 college area (because of our jobs), and our son has been lucky enough to have been a day student at a series of fantastic private schools in the area (now a day student at a BS). If he hadn’t ended up being so academic, though, there’s a large range of different types if schools in the area: progressive, artsy, those focused on learning or behavioral challenges, academic, athletic, single sex, coed. I think that ends up being true in many college communities-- and housing prices are significantly lower than Boston or New York. Just saying there are different types of communities that might appeal. Still, if focused on schools, don’t ONLY focus on the “highest ranked,” even if you also want to include them in the list (for some of the reasons ChoatieMom pointed out). But I think there are MANY areas that have many good schools, with “good” having many definitions. Just be in a place with as much choice as you can manage.
Its not unreasonable to pick a house based on location of the best public schools, but doing so based on the locationog the best private schools seems a bit of a stretch.
You never know ! she could be a TIGER MOMMY !!! I always encourage looking!!! Best to you OP and welcome to the forum(S) !!!
@PhotographerMom ~O) ~ O ) Eliminate the spaces in between.
The emojis on here have been so wack these days… :-/
Thank you so much, @skieurope !! I received an awesome tutorial from @Charger78 this morning, too! I’m a little overwhelmed by all the choices so I think I’ll keep my smiley faces old school . I LOVE the steaming coffee cup though!
Honestly, I thought this was a fake thread/trole (sp) bait when I first read it. But since others have chimed in already, I’ll share this clip from a recent “Ask the Dean” post here on CC:
“Admission officials at the most sought-after colleges and universities are usually familiar with the ‘best’ high schools—both public and private—and are always on the lookout for the top students from such places. They may even have a long-standing relationship with guidance counselors at these schools which can help seniors at admission-decision time. However, the Ivies and other ‘elite’ colleges are always besieged by applications from these well-regarded high schools which can make it hard for any single student to stand out in a crowd. A student at a more obscure high school, on the other hand, may benefit from being the only applicant from his or her senior class to a particular college (and sometimes the only applicant in years … or ever) which can be a plus as well.”
To highlight the key phrase; “However, the Ivies and other ‘elite’ colleges are always besieged by applications from these well-regarded high schools which can make it hard for any single student to stand out in a crowd.”
Think about that.
Something else to consider…having friends with kids in areas like Princeton/NJ, NYC; Northern VA/DC; and Cambridge, MA…is the “pressure cooker” atmosphere in these areas. A friend with serious Harvard ties who lives in one of these areas considers the “What can we do to get our pre-schooler into Harvard?” sensibility and overall TigerParent/competitive nature of many of the parents she encounters to be one of the least desirable aspects of living there.
Hail Pennsylvania!
-7D
~O)
Sorry - just practicing! LOL I wanna be more like PhotographerMom.
1 Like
^^^ Doesn’t everyone? 
But seriously, I do appreciate that you need to think about children in the abstract when planning where to put down roots. So go somewhere with “good” public schools (whatever that means to you), and then plan to adapt your plans according to who your kids turn out to be. That’s what parents do, in every facet of life.
And thank you, ChoatieMom, for saying what I’m sure many of us were thinking…
testing to see if this works (y). If so, its supposed to be a thumbs up. If not, epic fail.
Nope- fail
so will try coffee ~O)
Does this work? (~~) or **==
Nope
(^^^)
testing
Ah, I guess not!
I thought I was the most “fretful” - but I think OP may have the prize now. Although it does make sense to put down roots where you think it would be a nice place to raise a family, I think you’re planning a bit ahead of the game.
OTOH, what a great thread it would be: “Please Chance My Unconceived Hypothetical Children for Ivy League Schools - Will Chance Back!” Now that I think of it, that ties in directly with all the threads on whether privilege and academic achievement/merit are now hereditary privilege in many ways.
:-bd thumbs up : - b d
ok, skieurope, howzabout a comprehensive list???
:-bd
if not… 
Whoo hoo!!
I can’t; it’s a private blog to which CC does not allow linking, and we are already way off topic.