Maybe consider a Montessori school? There is a public one in Manchester-Mill Falls Charter School.

https://www.woodlandcommunityschool.org/

https://www.lafayetteregional.org/

https://www.heartwoodeducation.org/

To my knowledge screens are pretty much in kindergarten/ grade 1 for a lot of schools in southern NH now.

Top Ranked New Hampshire Schools

#1 Academy for Science and Design (ASD) 486 Amherst Street, Nashua, New Hampshire 03063

#2 Hanover High School 41 Lebanon St. Suite 1, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755

#3 Windham High School 64 London Bridge Rd., Windham, New Hampshire 03087

#4 Lebanon High School 195 Hanover St., Lebanon, New Hampshire 03766

#5 Oyster River High School 55 Coe Dr., Durham, New Hampshire 03824

#6 Hollis-Brookline High School 24 Cavalier Ct., Hollis, New Hampshire 03049

#7 Bedford High School 47b Nashua Rd., Bedford, New Hampshire 03110

#8 Hopkinton High School 297 Park Ave., Contoocook, New Hampshire 03229

#9 Profile Senior High School 691 Profile Rd., Bethlehem, New Hampshire 03574

#10 Souhegan High School 412 Boston Post Rd., Amherst, New Hampshire 03031

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/new-hampshire

https://www.highmowing.org/ checks all your boxes.

I worked in Stratham—elementary school is great, middle school is fine, high school is Exeter and that’s got its ups and downs like all high schools. Stratham downside: not walkable in ANY WAY unless you happen to live on the one street the school is on, in which case your kids can walk to school. But otherwise, it’s got people speeding down 108 and 33 all the time, and a bunch of random, separated fancy neighborhoods.

We moved to Bedford for the schools (I went to Glastonbury schools in CT; Bedford reminds me a lot of Glastonbury). They are excellent with my special needs youngest kid. Solid schools, though the housing prices and taxes are high (which there is of course correlation there).

a family friendly school district.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Exeter

Exeter. I'm biased, because I graduated from there.

There is a Montessori option, a charter school as well as public options.

There are a few feeder towns, so you can find a more affordable living option other than right in town.

1. MA

2. NJ

3. NH

Makes sense. I got into Rutgers off my 3.97 GPA, when their average incoming was 4.0. I would have gone there for Fall 2024 and been quite happy there instead of winding up suing assholes at UNH, if only NJ's fair housing act wasn't discriminatory against age. This does spread joy.

Had also gotten into URI but a lot of the folks there wound up being quite ignorant, so the 27) is no surprise. Same shows at UVM and UMaine, very ignorant cultures full of unconstitutional social rules.

I work public schools in Maine in this region.

I am going to say this and take it however you want.

The schools themselves don't matter, you can be a good student at any school and you can learn at whatever school you go to. The parenting is going to push you much further than the teachers ever will.

Lake Region has a vocational school attached that pulls students from Fryeburg and Sacoppe Valley. It's "easier" to attend if you go to LR.

You may hear that each school sucks from people who have attended each, but I can't say it loud enough that your school is what the student and parent makes of it.

If you have a specific question about programing I can answer them.

Absolutely Massachusetts. NH has little to nothing to do for children and the people up here suck.

I'm sure Mass can educate your kids much better.

Our governor ran on “don’t Mass up NH” so ya we’re pretty ignorant here in general.

Go to Mass please

New Hampshire. New Hampshire is less restrictive to kids, and has a much broader array of educational opportunities. So if public school isn't working well for your kid, not only does NH have a lot of charter schools, but Education Freedom Accounts can be used to send your kid to a private school, or even pay for homeschooling expenses.

NH gives kids more freedom. It's easier for a kid to get a job in NH. You can get a drivers license 6 months earlier in NH than Mass. The "Youth Operator License" is much less restrictive in NH than Mass. If you're under 18 and get a traffic ticket in Mass, they really throw the book at teens (automatic license suspension and huge fines). Also, in NH underage drinking is now a "violation" (not a criminal offense), in Massachusetts underage drinking is a misdemeanor that will get you a criminal record.

This is our first time doing the lotto as well. Even though the application allows for up to 6 schools, you don't have to pick 6. Montessori, Mauro, and Barnard are all solid choices based on my research and anecdotal information from other parents. I don't know anything about Jepson or Daniels, though. I don't know about attending a Pre-K in the suburbs but if that option does exist, it would be through an interdistrict school, so look those up. And my unsolicited opinion is that if you pay property taxes in New Haven, keep your kids in the New Haven Public School system and be engaged in the school/community here. By part-time Pre-K, do you mean half days or only a few days a week? Check out EBJ for the latter.

Many of those programs had open house days. You may have already missed them.

The programs you are looking at from the NHPS lottery are every school day (same holiday schedule as regular school, including surprise snow days), full day-ish (hours will be specific to that school) and include lunch and snacks. The cost to you is absolutely free of cost. If you are a family who would be paying full price daycare this could save you perhaps $15,000-$20,000 per year. Depending on the school you may be asked to supplement the official free food with further snacks on a volunteer basis.

My lived experience is the quality of instruction is very good. The teachers are NHPS employees getting union benefits and paid training. We were very happy with our experiences. Our first kid struck out in the lottery, and our second kid got a preK3 slot (which then guarantees you a slot for the next school year in the same program unless you want to make a change). We eventually put both kids in the same school.

If you are 100% sure you want part time preschool the lottery is not the program for you. These are full time, five day a week slots (barring holidays and other school closed reasons). Kids get designated nap times in accordance with state rules. I will also tell you, parent to parent, there is a big difference between a two and a half year old and a three year old and your kid might be ready for full time preschool by the time fall rolls around. You can always decline your slot if you decide you don’t want it.

I can specifically speak to ECMS which you listed as your first choice. We had overwhelmingly positive experiences. It was the right place for our family.

Frankly this is an amazing program and supply does not nearly match the interest. As such you should have a plan B and plan C and plan D for preschool. This especially applies if you are pretty sure you want part time preschool.

I joined the school lottery last academic year for pre-k 4. We were placed with Barnard and, we have had a great experience with them. All of the pre-k teachers are wonderful and, I have decided to keep my child at Barnard for kindergarten as well.

Pick wherever. If it doesn’t work out you’ll get dozens of calls from nhps reminding you that you can do it again a year later.

We LOVE Elm City for pre-K through 3rd (what we have experience with) Have heard it’s less great at the middle school age (but hear that about most of the schools) but we value the close knit, inclusive, progressive values so much will likely stay especially with (gestures vaguely) going on in the country.

For private pre-k, you can’t do better than Westville Community Nursery School just a block or so away from Elm City. They have part time and lots of financial aid options/Care4Kids/scholarships, etc.

By reputation, Tabor (Marion) and Thayer (Braintree) are probably the best and closest co-ed high schools to Plymouth. NDA is a good all-girls school in Hingham. For all-boys, you’ve got BC High and St. Sebs, but the latter is more like 40-50 miles away.

My kids are at that Catholic school now- it’s called All Saints Catholic Academy, and they love it! I find it truly diverse, racially and socioeconomically (unlike schools such as Worthington Hooker where you get some racial diversity but overall a lot of wealthy Yale affiliated parents).

It's worth noting that Amistad and Elm City Prep are both Charter schools. That means they are quasi-public schools operated by Achievement First, a non-profit company that works somewhat outside the board of Ed. While some people love this model, it's controversial. They are very results driven and I understand they work the students and teachers pretty hard to see those results. I do not speak from experience, just what I've heard from friends who are parents and teachers.

I've heard excellent things about East Rock. All the schools are pretty diverse.

Those were all great points to mention! It's great hearing a student's opinion. I'm glad you mentioned the switching schools part, that is ultimately what I'm trying to avoid with my son. That can indeed be difficult for a young child as I also know from personal experience. So if you went to Amistad until 2016, that would put you around my age I think? I went to Wilbur Cross and graduated 2015. Since my son is multiracial(Black and White from me, Ecuadorian from his dad), having minority teachers would indeed be a plus. I do remember my middle school experience in North Haven and how out of place I felt being a mixed race student at a pretty much all-white school. I didn't realize how important it was to me to have teachers that "looked like me" until I experienced it at Wilbur Cross. Such a good feeling. Thank you for your reply!!

Be aware that you need to live in the Hooker district in order to attend that school.

Pretty sure Worthington Hooker School is considered the best.

I have good friends who have been very happy with East Rock, but I don’t have specifics. If you’re looking for coverage at the end of the day, you should ask the school about after school programs. Most public schools in NHPS have inexpensive after care. Working parents are generally supported and we did pickup around 5 pm on most days.

One of my children attended Amistad from Kindergarten (2012) to 3 grade (2016). Since they are a charter, they are big on standardize testing, the better they score, essentially the more funding they try to secure. They would take the kids to rallies to support this cause as well. Obviously precovid. In my opinion they put a lot pressure on the kids. My child was on the bus by 6:15 and dismissed at 3:45, thats a full work day. They would ask me constantly if my kid could stay after school to prep for an upcoming test, to make sure they scored in the “green”. My kid was stressed. They have a rigorous curriculum and highly praise the students who could read and do math above grade level, etc. While my kid did well, my heart ached for the kids who worked just as hard but didn’t exceed grade level. These kids got nothing. They are very big on awards, prizes, ribbons, etc. and they weren’t acknowledged. There were very little opportunities for socialization since they do run a tight ship. There would be days I picked my kid up and her shoes would be untied. I would ask my child why she hadn’t tied her shoes and she would literally say “Mom, I didn’t have the time to stop and tie my shoe”. They are very particular about the uniforms, shirt being tucked in, having a belt, etc. almost slightly militant. While I understand the ideology behind being presentable and putting their best foot forward, their also just kids. I think some families appreciated that type of regimen, I found it unnecessarily overwhelming. When she was there, there was also a lot of teacher turnover. This made me question the work culture and how that potentially impacted the kids. Each one of my kids teachers left after a year or two. Please keep in mind that this was my experience and its been about 6 years since she left. My kid is now in high school so I’m sure leadership has changed and perhaps some of the curriculum.

As far as demographics, the student population was a lot more diverse then the teacher population.

Ultimately it just wasn’t for us. I know kids that have done well at all 3 of your choices. I decided that she could receive just as good of education elsewhere with out the pressure. We moved to Cold Spring a small local private school.

Good luck!

speaking as a former child who grew up in the exact area that you are currently in, I can advocate for bathesda nursery school for a pre-k option. As for education past that, I went through hamden's public education system and while It certainly has its problems(not particularly good administration), it has some excellent teachers that have shaped me into who I am today.

Don't get overwhelmed. Apply to the magnet schools if it's not too late. Don't expect to get in, but you never know. If you're ok paying for private daycare/nursery school then personally, I'd stick with what I know rather than moving to another private program (unless you have a good reason to move).

In your neighborhood you will probably be in Spring Glen Elementary, which is an excellent K-6. There are plenty of good reasons to send a kid to a private school, but (my opinion) I wouldn't consider that option unless my child really needed something they couldn't get at public school. They are more likely to have friends in the neighborhood or nearby, which is a huge lifestyle impact. HH kids come from all over the region. HH is also very sports-oriented, so that's great if your kid ends up liking sports. Or it could be bad if they end up hating sports.

You might also be in the Ridge Hill district. That school gets lower scores than SGS, but I know a lot of parents who love it because of the very small class sizes. If you are an involved parent and your kid does well in academics, they will do fine. You can always consider private school later if you need to for some reason.

Good luck!! And really, don't worry. All these school options are just fine for young kids. When they get older is when you really need to evaluate alternatives.

Hit me up if you want to discuss my experiences in more detail.

When he is entering 6th grade, please look into ESUMS. It is one of the best magnets in CT from 6th to 12th grade.

Neighborhood Music School, Leila Day and Bethesda are all well respected preschools in that area.

I went to Neighborhood Music School, Cold Spring School, and Hamden Hall from pre-k through 12th grade.

Feel free to message me, I grew up in nh/Hamden private schools, I can answer some questions!