Schambo1

Hi! I am currently in the process of planning our move to New Jersey in July from the U.K, for a minimum of 3 years, that is my husband, myself and our two sons aged 4 and 6. This is all a bit daunting considering I have never actually been to the U.S., but also very exciting. I have come across this Discussion Forum this morning and it looks as though a lot of my questions regarding the education system have been answered in the Wiki.

My husband will be working in Piscataway, so we are looking for a suitable area that will be within roughly 0.5 hours commute to the office and 1 hour from the airport. Finding a suitable Elemenatry school will be paramount and from there, we will look to rent a property within the catchment area. If anyone has any suggestions of towns that they would recommend in this area, I would be hugely grateful. I have been advised that Princeton may be a liitle too far as a commute to Piscataway.

Sooo much to do - but what an opportunity!

Sue

Hi and Welcome to BE,

Congrats on your upcoming move, I'm sure it's exciting and daunting all at the same time. I'm not in NJ but I know we've got a few members in that area who I am sure will stop by soon. In the meantime have a search through the forum and read through some of the other threads.

Sue

Jerseygirl

Hello and welcome to BE.

I am not too familiar with the Piscataway area...my daughter went to high school in Martinsville...the surrounding area seems quite nice. I live in Morris County...it takes me 30/40 mins to drive to Newark Airport. There are loads of threads about NJ...if you use the Forum Search Engine (located at the right hand side of the blue bar above the threads)...you should be able to find them. When you click on the tab...go to Advanced Search. If you have a problem locating them...give me a shout.

I recommend that you visit the area before you move. We spent 2 weeks looking around and finding a school for our daughter. Unless you use private schools...where you live will determine which schools your children will go to.

jeffreyhy

Piscataway is just north of New Brunswick, a pretty congested area in the densly populated corridor between NYC and Philadelphia. You should be able to find a place that is easily within an hour of Newark Airport (I can't bring myself to call it 'Liberty') most times of the day. Being within 1/2 hour of work could be difficult during commuter hours unless you live very close. A few miles can take a long time in heavy traffic.

Regards, JEff

Schambo1

Hi Jersey Girl,

Having a problem locating the Search Engine you're talking about (sorry - please forgive me as I'm so new to this!)

Also, some of the places that have been recommended to us are as follows:

Shrewsbury
Little Silver
Middletown North
Colts Neck
Holmdel

Does anyone know anything about these places? Also, wondered whether anyone can briefly explain the Report Card System so that I can choose a suitable Elementary School for my boys. Even better would be if someone could recommend a good Elementary School....

Thanks again guys for all of your help.

jeffreyhy

Northern Monmouth County - expensive places to live, especially Colts Neck and Holmdel.

If your child goes to public schools, which school they will attend will be dictated by where you live - your street address. You could have a choice of private schools.

Regards, JEff

EDIT: Holmdel is the closest of these towns to Piscatawy. Town center to town center (geographically) is about 18 miles. The commute is going to be longer than 30 minutes. Nice area, though. Mostly commuters to NYC.

Jerseygirl

I can't help you with schools...my daughter went private. Private schools are very expensive....start around $20K per year. Englishmum has made some good posts/threads in the past about researching state schools...I'll see if I can find them for you.

As Jeff said many areas of NJ are very expensive. Usually expensive areas mean good schools...as property taxes fund the areas schools.

jeffreyhy

http://education.state.nj.us/rc/

Regards, JEff