Centereach/Selden

How are these areas? I looked them up on the great schools website the neighborhoods I am looking at appear to be decently rated until high school. So I am curious how people who actually live in these areas feel about the schools and neighborhoods.

What is your favorite neighborhood in these towns?

Is there any specific area that I should be staying away from when looking at these towns?

I have a DC who is entering K in the fall so my two most important things are decent schools and safety.

Re: Centereach/Selden

DH is from Centereach. He says that the schools are pretty good. There are 2 high schools, he says Newfield is probably the better one. Sorry to be so vague, but what I can see from living there myself for a little while, I'd say the area is pretty much middle of the road.

Centereach/Selden

I grew up in Selden and Currently live in Centereach...myself and my Dh both graduated from Centereach and went on to decent colleges. They have alot of activities and clubs in both high schools, as well as some good sports teams.

My son is almost starting Kindergarten next year, he will go to unity drive which is where he is attending pre-k. I like the school. No complaints what so ever.

If you have more specific questions you can PM me.

Re: Centereach/Selden

my FH grew up in Centereach and went to high school there and IMO he's very smart. as well as his brother who has 3 master's degrees. his family still lives there. its a very nice area but i know it gets a bad reputation for some reason.

Centereach/Selden

There are certain parts of Selden that are not so great, but Centereach is fine from what I know of and I have many friends who live in those areas and love it.

Re: Centereach/Selden

I grew up in Selden. As far as the schools, I thought that they were fine. I graduated and went on to get a Masters degree and am currently teaching. They had a lot of activities available to me and I felt like I left with a decent education. As with any school, it is what you make of it. I took many AP classes, played sports, joined clubs, etc.
If there is a specific area that you are looking at in either town, feel free to FM me and I can be more specific. I wouldn't say there are any awful parts of either town but some are definitely nicer than others. Good luck!

Re: Centereach/Selden

Thanks for the info everyone will definitely be FMing with questions about specific neighborhoods in the future (we are just starting our search) thanks for offering your knowledge on the area.

I always find it much better to hear from people who actually live in the area than just going by what is on a website.

I definitely plan on being involved with DC's schooling and keeping her involved in activities as well, glad to hear there are lots of things there to keep her busy as she gets older.

Re: Centereach/Selden

My cousins all grew up in selden and went k-12 in middle country school district. They both got a good education and went onto good colleges as did most of their friends. Parts of selden are not as safe as other areas but most of centereach is fine. You also have lake grove and parts of coram which attend mc.

Re: Centereach/Selden

We live in Selden (6 years). Do I love my neighborhood? No. But we live on a busy street so there's not much of a "neighborhood" feel. I find Selden to be "eh", but that's just my opinion. My son just started kindergarten and I'm happy with the district. Just don't like that kids in kindergarten don't have music or art. Not sure if that's the case throughout elementary school.

Re: Centereach/Selden

I grew up in Centereach and graduated from the high school. It's pretty middle of the road IMO. I have a great education and never had any issues.

Centereach/Selden

I grew up in the area and went to Centereach High. It's a middle class neighborhood. I never had any issues and I think I received an excellent education. The library is second to none and I personally think the best on the island. They have a great Pre-K program which my district now (which I think is very good) is looking to model itself after. We moved into my current area for a very specific reason but if that reason was eliminated, I would have no hesitation to live and go to that school district. Like any area, there are nice blocks than others but you'll know that when you drive around and check out the area.

Re: Centereach/Selden

I live in Centereach and my DD is in K at Unity. We like it here. I live in a nice neighborhood and find that the area has everything we need. I have family that went through the district and now all go to 4 year SUNY schools. My cousin is in the high school and is doing great with so many activities offered.

It is a very middle class area. I am very comfortable sending my kids to Middle Country and I'm a teacher.

FM me if you have more questions.