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My wife and I are looking to move to Long Island soon to raise a family. Both of us make good money and can afford a house up to $2 million, so money isn't a huge issue.
We think we have zeroed in on the house we want. It is a beautiful, well-maintained house in Brookville close-ish to the Hicksville LIRR and with relatively low property taxes (~$29K, most houses like the one we are talking about are closer to $40K+ especially if zoned to school districts with higher taxes). The house is in the Locust Valley school district and not the Jericho school district (which I hear Brookville is typically associated with Jericho SD). If Locust Valley schools are top-notch, this seems like a perfect house to buy. Like I said, similar houses we've been looking at (mostly in the Jericho SD) either have higher taxes or aren't as nice. My wife and I love this house and feel fortunate that we can afford it.
Chances are high we will be sending our kids to Catholic school anyway (regardless of which SD we end up living in) but in case we opt for public schools, does Locust Valley provide a strong education or are we better off trying to make do with a house in the Jericho or Syosset school district? (where we would have to make some sacrifices on the kind of house we can buy, in particular, because school taxes are so high). Education is very important to us and if Catholic school turns out to be a horrible fit, we want public school to be an option.
Another important issue (and probably the bigger one) is "resale value", will the market be small if we have to or want to sell the house because a lot of high-end buyers have a "Jericho only" and/or "Syosset only" attitude? I have a real estate license and know that on Long Island, the reputation of the school district often matters more than the actual quality of the school district. Does Locust Valley have a positive enough reputation that the school district wouldn't be a huge dealbreaker in case we put the house on the market?
Similar question related to the Cold Spring Harbor/Lloyd Harbor area.
Are the Cold Spring Harbor schools considered "good enough"?
Or is this an affluent yet sleepy school district?
The area itself is kind of far from NYC but we found the CSH area to be very pristine.
Lloyd Harbor is a beautiful area. Has the privacy we've been looking for.
Commute is tolerable assuming I'm not living on the Neck.
My wife was reluctant to live that far out until we looked at a couple houses in Lloyd harbor and the northern part of CSH.
Similar question related to the Cold Spring Harbor/Lloyd Harbor area.
Are the Cold Spring Harbor schools considered "good enough"?
Or is this an affluent yet sleepy school district?
The area itself is kind of far from NYC but we found the CSH area to be very pristine.
Lloyd Harbor is a beautiful area. Has the privacy we've been looking for.
Commute is tolerable assuming I'm not living on the Neck.
My wife was reluctant to live that far out until we looked at a couple houses in Lloyd harbor and the northern part of CSH.
CSH is like a private school - graduating classes around 100, fairly homogenous, almost across the board wealthy populace. Across the board the kids I knew from there were truly nice and down to earth (went to CCD with some and worked with others when i got older). They don't choose a valedictorian/salutatorian - I think the top 10 make a speech at graduation or are in some way recognized. Personally I'd rather live there than in Brookville, which is really just a zip code, IMHO. CSH has its own cute little downtown, and is right near Huntington if you want a larger selection. I agree the Neck is too far of a commute. Forget something at the grocery store and you'll be sorry. CSH station will be easier than driving to Hicksville.
Not sure what exactly you're looking for in a school but when you're talking about the top 5 districts on LI you're kinda splitting hairs. Not worth making yourself crazy over.
St. Pat's would be your Catholic school and it's a strong school.
Similar question related to the Cold Spring Harbor/Lloyd Harbor area.
Are the Cold Spring Harbor schools considered "good enough"?
Or is this an affluent yet sleepy school district?
The area itself is kind of far from NYC but we found the CSH area to be very pristine.
Lloyd Harbor is a beautiful area. Has the privacy we've been looking for. Commute is tolerable assuming I'm not living on the Neck.
My wife was reluctant to live that far out until we looked at a couple houses in Lloyd harbor and the northern part of CSH.
Lived in and commuted from CSH for many years. CSH RR station is great, as long as you don't get there after 7:30-8:00AM; parking gets tough after that. And yes, the Neck is way too far! Keep in mind that if you go too far north in Lloyd Harbor, you will have to stick to the speed limit till you get outside the Village -the Village police tickets for speeding!!!
They have an awesome library and residents are very supportive of their community! When the new library was built (because the lease on the previous one was running out and couldn't be renewed), many residents donated $$ - several million, in fact, which kept the tax burden lower than it would have been without those funds.
The reputation of the SD continues to have an impact on home values, although even CSH real estate has been affected by the challenging economy.
Agreed that you are splitting hairs among the north shore schools- SYO, JER LV, and CSH, are all high achieving (although their student bodies are NOT identical) w/100% essentially going on to college. (fellow posters I know some years it is only in the high 90's for some of these schools).
SYO and JER are particularly high powered. CSH is not so small as another poster noted (more like 160 students per grade and not 100 but now I am splitting hairs). I would avoid OB as it is on the north shore but several notches below the others mentioned.
If you buy in Brookville and go the Cathoilc high school route (and you have boys) then Chaminade will be your best academc option. (I don't mean to stir up a hornets nest with this one).
CSH is like a private school - graduating classes around 100, fairly homogenous, almost across the board wealthy populace. Across the board the kids I knew from there were truly nice and down to earth (went to CCD with some and worked with others when i got older). They don't choose a valedictorian/salutatorian - I think the top 10 make a speech at graduation or are in some way recognized. Personally I'd rather live there than in Brookville, which is really just a zip code, IMHO. CSH has its own cute little downtown, and is right near Huntington if you want a larger selection. I agree the Neck is too far of a commute. Forget something at the grocery store and you'll be sorry. CSH station will be easier than driving to Hicksville.
Not sure what exactly you're looking for in a school but when you're talking about the top 5 districts on LI you're kinda splitting hairs. Not worth making yourself crazy over.
St. Pat's would be your Catholic school and it's a strong school.
First of all, the Cold Spring Harbor and Locust Valley school districts both appear to be better than I thought. Seems to be a hair-splitting exercise for most of the North Shore districts. There are just a lot of good ones.
From what I've seen, the "downtowns" that Huntington and Cold Spring Harbor have seem like extremely family-friendly places. Cold Spring Harbor, in the quaint, old-fashioned sense and Huntington with its wide range of options.
Cold Spring Harbor seems more down-to-earth than Brookville somehow..hard to explain, maybe it's the fact that CSH is farther from the city. But still house-wise, our favorite so far is the house mentioned in the OP.
If my family moves into the school district, we would potentially take away from "100% white" depending on how you define "white". Our kids are half-white, half-Asian.
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Isn't it, essentially, 100% white?
