charons-voyage t1_j8r4md7 wrote on February 16, 2023 at 10:29 AM

If your budget is under $700K and you want “excellent” schools within an hour to Cambridge, you’re in a tough spot. Most public schools in MA are pretty good. Good parents raise good kids. I would look at Quincy. We got our house for $600K in a quiet neighborhood. Our kids are still in daycare but all our neighbors sent their kids to NQHS and they are all in quite successful careers now (engineers, finance, law, etc). I work in biotech and know a few people who went to NQHS.

Sprucey26 t1_j8r88vq wrote on February 16, 2023 at 11:17 AM

“Good parents raise good kids”

Could not agree more. We are in Massachusetts. You will get a great education in pretty much most schools here as long as you have parental support at home.

modernhomeowner t1_j8rab93 wrote on February 16, 2023 at 11:42 AM

This is the tale of my two brother in laws. Same school system, the same activities, everything. One was challenged by his parents, went on to get a master's at MIT. The other one, the parents gave excuses for his laziness, got high daily in college and flunked out. It's not the school, it's the parents who make the kid.

Two kids I went to school with,(I went to a highly rated school) one graduated top 5, spent all his time in the music suite, went to Julliard; still at 38 years old playing gigs for near quarters in Manhattan. Another kid, graduated in the bottom half, didn't go to college, but had spent all his time in the business wing of the high school, started a concrete business at 18, and a real estate business a few years later; if I had to guess he makes more a day than the top 5 kid makes in a month.

I think the real key is to nurture your kid and find a house within budget; being stressed about money isn't good at all. Being able to save in your retirement plan, 529 plans, etc will pay off better than almost any public school compared to another.

PabloX68 t1_j8rokav wrote on February 16, 2023 at 1:57 PM

There's a lot to be said for going into the trades.

smokesmokesmokes t1_j8rpk43 wrote on February 16, 2023 at 2:05 PM

Did the kid get high daily in college or the parents?

cheerocc t1_j8zdkxr wrote on February 18, 2023 at 1:15 AM

This is 100%. It all starts at the home and if the home fails, there's a high chance it will fail the kids as well. I went through the Chelsea school system, not known for a very good school system at all but we had two very good parents that pushed us to succeed. Long story short, all three of us graduated from the Chelsea school system and all got our degrees from college and now live in Topsfield, Andover and Stoughton (my younger bro is still single so school system for him doesn't matter, unlike my sister and I who have kids).