The hill schools all offer private bus service in NJ and I know they added a lot more buses for social distancing.
It’s not cheap but it’s reliable.
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Congratulations @jcparent ! What great news. I know one family that commutes to Spence from Alpine (I’m sure there are others). As I also mentioned, there is a family with three kids that take the bus from Saddle River, so if you are committed, it’s possible. I also knew a family from Englewood who commuted to Dalton, but then moved into the city. One option for your wife might be to rent an apt in the city and buy a house in NJ, so that she can still feel connected to family/backyard, etc.
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Yeah I did get the bus schedules. The Horace Mann bus schedule from Englewood Cliffs seems doable but Riverdale is lagging (52 min for RCS vs 46 min for HM and also Englewood Cliffs has two stops for HM with shorter stop being only 36 min). It is definitely a reliable option but something that requires some thought on tradeoffs - commute to Newark Academy and Kent Place would be much shorter living in Chatham/Summit/Madison (assuming they get in), although commute to Pingry (if they get in) would be 30min or more only counting time on bus so not that far off from Hill school commute.
Thank you @parentofnicekid. Spence said they will connect us to a parent who commutes from NJ suburbs so curious to see what their arrangement is. Nightingale connected us to someone as well but they had a unique setup as they left super early and left kid at a parent on UWS and they then took a bus from there. UES does not seem doable from outside the city at all tbh but I am interested in what the Spence parent from NJ says about their transportation. I would love for my daughter to attend Spence but wife claims it has a “mean girls reputation”. I think that is dated information she is getting from co-workers who attended or new Spence girls in the 1990s.
I would recommend giving it a try for two years. If you wife can’t stand it, then move your daughters to a NJ school. It will be a lot easier to move them from Spence/Riverdale/HM to a NJ school than vice versa and it gives your wife a “out” if she feels like she can’t deal with it.
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@parentofnicekid That is a good idea that I had not considered, thanks!
Would your wife consider living on the UWS? Since Spence and Nightingale are just on the other side of Central Park, it’s a pretty easy commute. Tons of UWSers send their kids to HM and Riverdale, some by private bus, others by subway. It’s also a bit easier to get to NJ from the UWS compared to the UES.
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Thanks @gotham_mom that is a nice tactical point too, now I have a couple of arguments in my quiver 
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