Home and Schools in Essex and Bergen County (Elizabeth, Union: condo, crime)

[CircleGuy]

I am looking to move out of the city and I am interested in cities that are no more than a 50 minute train ride to Penn Station. The towns would need to have good to above average schools and it is important that the schools have honors and ap courses for a high schooler. Any information would be great!

[leelunie]

I've lived in Bergen County my whole life, more specifically East Rutherford. We are about a 15 minute train commute to Penn Station. I definitly would not recommend our towns high school, but the town of Rutherford has a great high school. You will find that the more expensive towns are the ones with better school systems. Case in point, Ridgewood, Fair Lawn, Paramus, to name a few that are within your commute time, the higher up you go in Bergen County the nicer the area and the better the schools, but I am not sure of the commute times, you would have to look into that, Some of those towns are Montvale, HoHokus, Pomton Lakes, Wycoff, and Cedar Grove. I hope that helps.

[CrazyJerzyKidUNO]

When looking in Bergen County just stay away from

Hackensack(a little bit of crime and bad schools)
Englewood(bad schools)
Teaneck(crime and horrible schools)

Anything else is good.

[ira]

Originally Posted by CircleGuy

I am looking to move out of the city and I am interested in cities that are no more than a 50 minute train ride to Penn Station. The towns would need to have good to above average schools and it is important that the schools have honors and ap courses for a high schooler. Any information would be great!

I know I sound like a broken record with my Ridgewood pitch but ... we have recently moved here and I love everything about this town, other than high housing prices and high taxes. Although I have to say...I can definitely see where my tax dollars are going. Schools are unbelievable, city services are great, etc.

As far as commute, it is definitely w/in your time frame. It takes about 45 min to the Penn Station. If you look at Bergen County and you want reasonable commute to the city, you can look as far north as Allendale but not any further. It will take over an hour to get to the Penn Station from places like Ramsey and Mahwah (although both are great towns).

Other places I would suggest looking at: Glen Rock, Ho-ho-Kus, Wyckoff.

[JR86]

(In Essex County)
Short Hills
Millburn
Livingston
South Orange
Summit(technically in Union)

-even the worst schools in NJ offer honors and AP. I went to Elizabeth High School (which I think was ranked 300th in the state) and I had honors and 4 AP courses (got college credit for 2). It's really more about looking for a good environment, extracurriculars and good teaching/making sure your kid has the right attitude.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND ELIZABETH HIGH SCHOOL by any means, I'm sure it would've been much easier not to have to worry about gang fights outside school and have better facilities, extracurriculars, a sense of normalcy, etc... My point is simply that it's more about being determined, focused, and taking advantage of the opportunities that are there.

[jerseymoves]

Glen Ridge! Great Schools... our high school ranks among the Newsweek top 100 nationally. We love it here. We are next door to Montclair with shops and great places to eat, movie theaters and my personal favorite...a Williams-Sonoma. The midtown direct takes about 25 minutes and the town even operates free jitney service... although you really don't need it because the town is tiny and very walkable. I have younger children but I know people with children in the HS. 98 % go on to college and they get into some impressive schools. You can go to the town web site if you want to see a little photo tour and link to the schools. www.glenridgenj.org . If you want any more info you can send me a message and I will to help you out.
Good Luck.

[saralee]

What's your price range? That would enable people to answer appropriately.

SL

[springcheer]

We are currently in search of a home, and our realtor recommended River Edge (in Bergen County). You might want to check it out, too. It meets all your criteria.

[CircleGuy]

This is great information and I really appreciate it, coming from the city to a more suburban location is going to be a big change but I think we are going to love it. Luckily we will be selling our condo in the city and price will not really be much of an option. That said we are looking for something reasonable but we definitely will not be hindered by pricing.

[COOLIDGE AVE]

Teaneck has excellent schools !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!