[Lalalally]

Originally Posted by BHuntsman

I haven't considered New Fairfield but I will look into it. How is the traffic pattern between New Fairfield and exit 8/9?

During rush hour you have a double whammy: Route 37 (which becomes Padanaram Road/North street when you cross over to Danbury) is heavily traversed. Not standstill mind you, but it does get busy. Route 39, has a lighter commuter traffic pattern out of NF, but it does also pass right in front of Danbury HS about 3 miles after you cross over the town border. It tends to be slow in the hs area during morning commute. Once you make it onto 84 (NF from its southern border is about 5 miles from the highway -- from either 37 or 39, it doesn't natter which -- and those are the 2 main arteries out of town), it's easy. It's a very nice town, but small. A tight knit community, but all in this area tend to be. We love it because both my husband and I were born and raised in NYC -- so living here has been a refreshing, slower paced place to call home and raise our children. There's lots of small town charm (town functions tend to revolve around the firehouse, churches, or the library Lol!), but you're still very close to Danbury and Brookfield and all their shopping options and amenities. We've always had very nice neighbors who take a lot of pride in where they live, and you get to know everyone rather quickly, especially if you have kids! But... you can find equally nice places which are a lot closer to exit 9. Good luck!

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BHuntsman

The property taxes in Newtown are a huge turn off. I did a search on tax rates and it seems Trumbull and Monroe are in the same boat when it comes to taxes. I'd prefer to commute 10 minutes more to save 5k per year. Shelton's tax rate makes the town very attractive, but I'm wondering if it comes at a non monetary price (school quality).

Shelton schools perform above the state averages on the Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performance Tests so I think their schools can be considered good. The link below will give you links to information on all schools here in Connecticut. Shelton did have a reputation of being one of the less progressive towns in Fairfield County. They rarely spent money on upgrading town facilities or school;s. It was a sort of old-fashioned Naugatuck Valley attitude. That changed over the years as more and more affluent people moved in from lower Fairfield County. You may still come across some of the old-timers who want things to go back to the way they use to be., There are many nice sections of Shelton like Huntington and White Hills that would not be a bad commute for you. Check them out. Jay

State Department of Education - CEDaR

[Raider111]

Originally Posted by BHuntsman

The property taxes in Newtown are a huge turn off. I did a search on tax rates and it seems Trumbull and Monroe are in the same boat when it comes to taxes. I'd prefer to commute 10 minutes more to save 5k per year. Shelton's tax rate makes the town very attractive, but I'm wondering if it comes at a non monetary price (school quality).

Well you don't nor should spend in the 500's in Newtown anyway. You can get a nice 3-4 bedroom there in the 300's. 500's and up would be better spent in Redding/Easton and below.
What could possibly be so bad about Shelton schools?

[NewJeffCT]

Rank in the state of some of the town SAT scores in the most recent year. This is out of 190 public schools statewide last year. Also, keep in mind that Connecticut public schools are generally considered top 5/top 10 nationally, so even an "average" school will be above average nationally.

Joel Barlow High School (Easton/Redding) 12
Newtown High School 27
Brookfield High School 32
Pomperaug Regional High School (Southbury) 33
Trumbull High School 40
Masuk High School (Monroe) 57
Bethel High School 62
Shelton High School 86
Danbury High School 110

[FutureTown]

NewJeff, may I ask where you got those numbers? I'm just genuinely surprised Newtown's SAT scores are higher than everyone else's in that list.

I had a feeling Easton would be the best. I forgot they shared a high school, however.

[NewJeffCT]

Originally Posted by FutureTown

NewJeff, may I ask where you got those numbers? I'm just genuinely surprised Newtown's SAT scores are higher than everyone else's in that list.

I had a feeling Easton would be the best. I forgot they shared a high school, however.

Each year, the Hartford Courant publishes a list of the public schools in the state and their associated SAT scores. I just dump the list into Excel so I can sort, filter, consolidate, etc

They have the last 10-12 years on their website, but I only have the last four in Excel. Been too lazy to go back farther.

[SeaDoo342]

If you go to conncan.org, you can compare all of these high schools. Their methodology uses the School Performance Index, which is a compilation of CMT and CAPT data in reading, writing, math and science...

If you type in all of these high schools, they rank as follows:

1) Barlow (94.2)
2) Masuk (92.1)
3) (tie) Oxford (91)
3) (tie) Pomperaug (91)
5) Brookfield (90.8)
6) Trumbull (89.4)
7) Newtown (88.3)
8) Shelton (83)
9) Bethel (82.8)
10) Danbury (63)

I think this is a good indication of which schools are best. According to this list.....Barlow, Masuk, Oxford, Pomperaug and Brookfield have the best performing high schools in the area... I also looked it up and they all have an above 90% grad rate with around the same % going off to four year college.

Compare Schools | ConnCAN Report Cards

[BHuntsman]

Thank you so much for these rankings. I will keep this in mind as our home search continues.

[BHuntsman]

Can anyone shed some light on Ridgefield? More expensive but people seem to rave about it on this forum. Worth the commute to exit 9?

[SeaDoo342]

Originally Posted by BHuntsman

Can anyone shed some light on Ridgefield? More expensive but people seem to rave about it on this forum. Worth the commute to exit 9?

No prob...Ridgefield is more expensive and a nice town but probably not worth the commute when you have other towns with excellent schools closer by... Can't hurt to check it out though, see if it's worth it to you.