| Posted By |
Message |
mommyof3girls
LIF Adult
Member since 5/12 2773 total posts
Name:
Sue
|
East Meadow/Bellmore Area
Hi Ladies,
We're in the process of finding a new home. I'm not very familiar with these 2 areas. Is there any area I need to avoid. My kids are entering elementary and middle school, so it's important for us to be within a good school district.
We were looking at Levittown yesterday, and although I love the neighborhood, 90% of these houses don't come with basements and it's important for us to have one.
|
Posted 7/16/18 8:59 AM  |
| |
|
Long Island Weddings
Long Island's Largest Bridal Resource | Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate |
nraboni
Uggh...
Member since 10/09 6905 total posts
Name:
Nicole
|
East Meadow/Bellmore Area
I don't know much about the East Meadow Schools. I have heard that Bellmore is good. We live in Wantagh and my kids go to Levittown Schools. We LOVE our schools! We were lucky to purchase a split so we have a basement. There are some house in Levittown and Wantagh that do have basements. Looks for Capes and Splits.
|
| Posted 7/16/18 11:16 AM |
| |
|
NYCGirl80
I love my kiddies!
Member since 5/11 10413 total posts
Name:
|
Re: East Meadow/Bellmore Area
I lived in East Meadow and Bellmore (now in Merrick).
Both areas are definitely good and you can't really go wrong with either. The Bellmore school district is considered better than East Meadow schools. East Meadow is definitely more reasonable re: taxes but it's also farther from LIRR if commuting is a consideration.
Let me know if you have any specific questions or concerns!
|
| Posted 7/16/18 2:23 PM |
| |
|
mommyof3girls
LIF Adult
Member since 5/12 2773 total posts
Name:
Sue
|
Re: East Meadow/Bellmore Area
Posted by NYCGirl80
I lived in East Meadow and Bellmore (now in Merrick).
Both areas are definitely good and you can't really go wrong with either. The Bellmore school district is considered better than East Meadow schools. East Meadow is definitely more reasonable re: taxes but it's also farther from LIRR if commuting is a consideration.
Let me know if you have any specific questions or concerns!
thank you for this. Commuting is definitely a concern as we both work in NYC.
|
| Posted 7/16/18 2:48 PM |
| |
|
SLPRunner
LIF Adult
Member since 12/13 1101 total posts
Name:
|
East Meadow/Bellmore Area
Bellmore is closer to the train. I'm in Bellmore and my DH commutes to NYC. Commute is relatively easy. Train stations do fill up early though. By 730 it tough to get a spot in the lots at the Merrick or Bellmore stations. I'm not sure about basements. I'm south of Merrick Rd so I definitely do not want a basement lol. My son is starting pre-k next year in our elementary school and so far I'm happy with the schools. Keep in mind that Bellmore and North Bellmore are separate school districts at the K-6 level. Middle school starts at 7th grade and there is a Central Bellmore Merrick School District.
|
| Posted 7/16/18 3:36 PM |
| |
|
Ian&EmmesMommy23
My family is complete!
Member since 11/08 12970 total posts
Name:
Diana
|
Re: East Meadow/Bellmore Area
Posted by nraboni
I don't know much about the East Meadow Schools. I have heard that Bellmore is good. We live in Wantagh and my kids go to Levittown Schools. We LOVE our schools! We were lucky to purchase a split so we have a basement. There are some house in Levittown and Wantagh that do have basements. Looks for Capes and Splits.
which school are you zoned for? I'm Lee Road :)
I agree...if you find a house in Wantagh, but Levittown schools a lot do have basements. I'm in a ranch
|
| Posted 7/16/18 5:38 PM |
| |
|
NYCGirl80
I love my kiddies!
Member since 5/11 10413 total posts
Name:
|
Re: East Meadow/Bellmore Area
Posted by mommyof3girls
Posted by NYCGirl80
I lived in East Meadow and Bellmore (now in Merrick).
Both areas are definitely good and you can't really go wrong with either. The Bellmore school district is considered better than East Meadow schools. East Meadow is definitely more reasonable re: taxes but it's also farther from LIRR if commuting is a consideration.
Let me know if you have any specific questions or concerns!
thank you for this. Commuting is definitely a concern as we both work in NYC.
We commuted to the city when we lived in East Meadow. We lived right off the parkway and just shot down the parkway to the Bellmore or Merrick train stations. It wasn't terrible, though driving home was always much worse. Then we moved to Bellmore/Merrick and you really can't beat a 4-5 minute drive to the train station. It's SO much easier.
We bought our house south of Merrick Road and we have a basement, but I don't have any concerns about it. We have a very low premium for flood insurance and our house did not flood during Sandy. There are higher and lower elevations both south and north of Merrick Road, so you really have to consider each house individually.
|
| Posted 7/17/18 10:40 AM |
| |
|
LuckyStar
LIF Adult
Member since 7/14 7274 total posts
Name:
|
Re: East Meadow/Bellmore Area
Posted by SLPRunner
Bellmore is closer to the train. I'm in Bellmore and my DH commutes to NYC. Commute is relatively easy. Train stations do fill up early though. By 730 it tough to get a spot in the lots at the Merrick or Bellmore stations. I'm not sure about basements. I'm south of Merrick Rd so I definitely do not want a basement lol. My son is starting pre-k next year in our elementary school and so far I'm happy with the schools. Keep in mind that Bellmore and North Bellmore are separate school districts at the K-6 level. Middle school starts at 7th grade and there is a Central Bellmore Merrick School District.
Yes, if you take the 7:50 out of Bellmore you cannot park in the lot. Even the 7:29 can be hit or miss depending on the day.
The traffic in the area is quite bad, but that’s really most of LI so it comes with the territory.
Neither area has much of a downtown area. Bellmore has a few restaurants on Bedford Ave but certainly not what you would consider a downtown.
I have no experience with the schools. Bellmore Merrick is always highly rated. My understanding is that both Bellmore and N. Bellmore are pretty middle of the road.
|
| Posted 7/17/18 11:14 AM |
| |
|
nraboni
Uggh...
Member since 10/09 6905 total posts
Name:
Nicole
|
Re: East Meadow/Bellmore Area
Posted by Ian&EmmesMommy23
Posted by nraboni
I don't know much about the East Meadow Schools. I have heard that Bellmore is good. We live in Wantagh and my kids go to Levittown Schools. We LOVE our schools! We were lucky to purchase a split so we have a basement. There are some house in Levittown and Wantagh that do have basements. Looks for Capes and Splits.
which school are you zoned for? I'm Lee Road :)
I agree...if you find a house in Wantagh, but Levittown schools a lot do have basements. I'm in a ranch
We're East Broadway, Salk and MacArthur.
|
| Posted 7/17/18 1:12 PM |
| |
|
NYCGirl80
I love my kiddies!
Member since 5/11 10413 total posts
Name:
|
Re: East Meadow/Bellmore Area
Yes, if you take the 7:50 out of Bellmore you cannot park in the lot. Even the 7:29 can be hit or miss depending on the day.
There's still parking for the 7:29am train, you just have to park in one of the back lots. I find Merrick to be easier to park for the later trains, though.
|
| Posted 7/17/18 1:39 PM |
| |
|
SLPRunner
LIF Adult
Member since 12/13 1101 total posts
Name:
|
Re: East Meadow/Bellmore Area
Posted by NYCGirl80
Yes, if you take the 7:50 out of Bellmore you cannot park in the lot. Even the 7:29 can be hit or miss depending on the day.
There's still parking for the 7:29am train, you just have to park in one of the back lots. I find Merrick to be easier to park for the later trains, though.
That's good to know. My DH usually takes the train from Merrick but may try Bellmore once September comes since it'll be closer to my DS's school.
|
| Posted 7/17/18 2:07 PM |
| |
|
pugmama
April already?
Member since 3/06 5297 total posts
Name:
Erica
|
East Meadow/Bellmore Area
Im East Meadow schools but live in Westbury. Im close to the westbury train station but also use Mineola and Hicksville depending on schedules.
|
| Posted 7/18/18 10:21 AM |
| |
|
|
|
Re: East Meadow/Bellmore Area
I work a lot in these areas, I have worked with several of the posters who have commented in this thread. I live in North Bellmore and have sold in all of the areas you are mentioning, so please feel free to reach out if I can help you at all (not sure if you are already working with an agent).
If you want Levittown schools, as others have said, you can find homes with basements. Most of Levittown itself is Levitt homes built on slab (no basement). But areas of Wantagh and Seaford fall under Levittown schools as well, and most of those homes do have basements.
East Meadow and Levittown are both large school districts (with 2 high schools each). They are K-5 districts, and have middle schools for grades 6-8, and then high school.
Bellmore consists of 2 different elementary districts - N. Bellmore and Bellmore. They are K-6 districts, and then they feed into the Bellmore-Merrick Central District for grades 7-12 (with Merrick and N. Merrick districts). Middle school for both Bellmore and N. Bellmore is 7-8 grade and high school is 9-12. All of N. Bellmore district feeds into Mepham High School, and Bellmore school district goes to JFK.
For elementary, one notable difference is Bellmore is on the Princeton plan, so kids attend elementary schools based on grade level, not where they live. So there is a school for K-2, another for grades 3-4, and a third for grades 5-6. Everyone in Bellmore school district attends the school zoned for their grade, regardless of where they live, and they switch buildings every few years. N. Bellmore (and Levittown and East Meadow) have traditional neighborhood schools (zoned geographically) that kids stay in for their entire elementary experience before they move on to middle school.
|
| Posted 7/18/18 3:32 PM |
| |
|
LizD
LIF Adolescent
Member since 4/06 763 total posts
Name:
Liz
|
Re: East Meadow/Bellmore Area
just watch in N. Bellmore district. My DD went to Martin Ave and her graduating 6th grade class had 36 kids. Newbridge and Saw Mill have I believe over 100. Big difference in the amount of kids per each school. I will say she loves it. She is going into the high school now (Mepham). She loved the middle school - Grand - Did great - had a great experience
|
| Posted 7/20/18 12:59 PM |
| |
|
|
|
Re: East Meadow/Bellmore Area
Posted by LizD
just watch in N. Bellmore district. My DD went to Martin Ave and her graduating 6th grade class had 36 kids. Newbridge and Saw Mill have I believe over 100. Big difference in the amount of kids per each school. I will say she loves it. She is going into the high school now (Mepham). She loved the middle school - Grand - Did great - had a great experience
Yes - there are 5 elementary schools in N. Bellmore but some are very small and some are larger. My DS is 9 and goes to the largest elementary in N. Bellmore and also loves it.
Class sizes remain similar across the entire district. Last year his class had his class had 21 students, the year before 22, etc., even though there are about 105 kids in the grade. (There are 5 sections, whereas the small schools have 2 sections per grade).
I think there are pros-cons to larger schools v. smaller schools, so it's really what you want for your child. But I would decide based on overall district and not specific elementary school given that things can/do change. For example, in N. Merrick, the superintendent reserves the right to assign a child entering kindergarten a school outside of their geographic "home" school to balance out the student populations in the schools as needed. In N. Bellmore, the closest elementary school to me when I bought my house subsequently closed, before my son even entered school, and there's talk of possible rezoning again in the next year or so.
|
| Posted 7/20/18 1:38 PM |
| |
|
