SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

Munchkn16 Posted: Jun 21, 2007 05:47 PM

SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

FH and I are hitting a bunch of open houses this weekend. Can someone tell me about Farmingdale, East Meadow, Levittown, and Wantagh schools?

You girls are the best! TIA!

EJSD2006 Posted: Jun 21, 2007 05:51 PM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

i'm from east meadow and LOVE the neighborhood, but just be leary of the school district...they have no budget and all the teachers are up in arms. if the good teachers leave, then the bad teachers willl eventually bring down their rating. awesome area though so if you buy there, make sure you attend all town meetings with regards to the schools!

LitBallerinaGirl Posted: Jun 21, 2007 05:54 PM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

Farmingdale I think has a few different school districts. Some people go to farmingdale, and some go to plainedge, either way they are both good as far as I know
Wantagh is a good neighborhood and a good school district
Levitown I don't know too much about, but I do know that it's not great.
E. Meadow is alright.

LB and DC Posted: Jun 21, 2007 06:08 PM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

out of all those, wantagh is the best - unless you get a house in the island trees school district (that's upper levittown). island trees is a very good school district.

blu6385 Posted: Jun 21, 2007 06:51 PM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

Posted by LB and DC

out of all those, wantagh is the best - unless you get a house in the island trees school district (that's upper levittown). island trees is a very good school district.

i'll agree island tress district is goo ... i graduated from there ... honestly i havent heard the best about the other levittown school districts but there not horrible ...

missK Posted: Jun 21, 2007 07:14 PM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

I moved to Wantagh 2 yrs ago and fell in love. My area is so nice. People are nice schools are good and the price is avg. The best thing I think is my area all the older people are selling and at least on my block there is a turnover of old to young people. Its great. Three of my friends also moved here too

Summer07Bride Posted: Jun 21, 2007 07:41 PM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

Hey Rachel

Here is what I know about the different districts:

Farmingdale - not much

East Meadow - as a previous poster mentioned the teachers have no contract, which definitely causes tension in the school between the teachers and the administrators. I subbed there for a bit and I can tell you that many of the teachers are highly dissatisfied. Side note: Taxing is weird in E. Meadow due to NUMC and the jail.

Levittown - biased since I grew up in Levittown. I went to MacArthur HS, which is definitely the better high school in the Levittown district (no offense to Division). (MacArthur zoning: Southern State (South)- Hempstead Turnpike(North) - Wantagh Ave(East) - Center Lane(West)) Very friendly community no matter where you live though. Free access to 9 community pools.

Wantagh - amazing schools. The principal at the middle school is wonderful. :) I believe this is the most expensive area of the ones listed.

Jumbles Posted: Jun 21, 2007 07:47 PM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

Im from Levittown , i went to Island Trees and it's a great district , taxes are a little high though and there is no basements , but i love where i live im close to everything, FH and I are trying to stay in this area

ChristineAaron08 Posted: Jun 21, 2007 08:02 PM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

Farmingdale-not the best
East Meadow- good (fh is from there ) Levittown--not the best
Wantagh schools- good, but not in levittown sd

JMO on what I read and heard- we are always talking to people about good vs bad schools

ejm1219 Posted: Jun 21, 2007 09:08 PM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

I don't know why people keep saying that Levittown schools are not the best. i don't know what it is compared to. If you look at test scores by district they are very comparable. In all honesty, for a special needs child, Levittown is the BEST school district out of the three!!!! The others don't even have as many services.
I personally think all three schools are very comparable. If you look at the median prices of homes, homes in East Meadow, Wantagh and Bethpage are more expensive than Levittown, which can be what people base their opinion on. I just moved to Levittown and love it. The people here are so nice and it has a lot of great features other towns don't have!!!

Munchkn16 Posted: Jun 22, 2007 08:00 AM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

thanks for all the help, girls!

smplynluv Posted: Jun 22, 2007 08:12 AM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

FH graduated from E. Meadow HS and many people in his family live there. I love the town and he even wants to stay around it. I would say thumbs up for East Meadow. Don't know much to comment on the others.

Trishthedish Posted: Jun 22, 2007 08:16 AM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

I've been researching schools myself. My mom works in for a school district so she helps me out a lot.

I can tell you that Farmingdale (where I reside now) is not the best district. I want to move out of Farmingdale b/c of this.

Wantagh is a great school district.

Levittown - Island Tree's is the best district in Levittown. Division is okay. Macarthur High School is much better than Levittown. As for their elementary schools, I can't say much b/c I don't know.

East Meadow from what I hear is okay.

The worst district that you posted is Farmingdale.

You should check the weekend report card in Newsday. This will tell you their ratings and scores, etc.

HTH...

SeaMaiden Posted: Jun 22, 2007 08:30 AM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

WHOA..Im from levittown and a division ave graduate...i have to say, my eduacation there was excellent and (most) of the teachers were absolutely amazing, i was inspired to go into the field i am in from the teachers i had, they were great and really pushed their students. As for the test scores-they incorporate the special needs school scores with the rest of the school. Thats why the numbers are lower, justifiably so. as per the mcgarther comparison, my only knowledge is that there is student rivalry for some reason i dont know, lol. probably a mets/yankees type thing.

but after moving away from the area i realize how great it was and how thankful i was to grow up there, it is VERY safe, you can walk around at any time of the night outside, everything is close, the people are very nice, my family has lived there for 50+ years. I know the surrounding towns are nice but i dont know their schools very well. i do know some people from east meadow that had an excellent education and are very successful now.

Erica48 Posted: Jun 22, 2007 08:38 AM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

Levitown- nice area, has a good school district. (My best friend is a teacher in the district and they get paid very very well- it's one of the higher paying districts)

Wantagh- Nice area, good school district (my favorite of the 3)

East Meadow- Not so great ( my friend is student teaching in east meadow high school and says the school is absolutely horrible) and i currently live in east meadow and my one complaint is there are A LOT of bums around and i mean A LOT!!!!! I've been approached in my car while waiting at traffic lights (on prospect ave and east meadow ave, on prospect ave and hempstead tpke. and on east meadow ave and hepstead tpke) SEVERAL times!!

cookiemonster Posted: Jun 22, 2007 08:41 AM

Re: SWR: House hunt continues! Need neighborhood feedback!

I'm from Wantagh and I had a great experience growing up there - although it makes me sad to go back now because so many of the little stores I grew up with are gone I agree that the Wantagh schools are better than Levittown but none of them are 'bad.' Wantagh tends to be most expensive south of Sunrise Highway (by the water) and least expensive on the areas that touch other towns (Levittown, Seaford, N. Bellmore). I grew up in the area that sends kids to Wantagh Elementary School (lol, then Wantagh Middle School and Wantagh High School, both of which are off of Wantagh Avenue...creative!!!), and it was nice and safe.