You are definitely going to enjoy MA! The teacher needs to look into the requirements here, as they are more rigorous (thankfully!) than many other states.

As others have mentioned, giving a dollar amount (for rent or purchase) would help us. Greater Boston is prohibitively expensive, but once you get outside of 495 things are more affordable. Littleton and Shirley have a lot to offer, or you could look further out near Northampton. I’d stay away from Springfield though.