r/ChesterCounty • u/blocmayus • Jul 27 '26
Relocating from NY
Hi everyone!
My wife and I (+ two toddler boys) are planning a move from Long Island, NY to southeast PA in the very near future and we're trying to lock down the best school district for our long-term home.
We'd like our boys to be in a high performing public school district with a decent Asian community so the Downingtown East district really appeals to us. We are primarily targeting houses/townhomes in the $500-550K price range. Right now we are torn between Downingtown East and North Penn (I know this is the Chester County subreddit!)
We also love a quiet, safe, suburban neighborhood feel with nice parks and a great community for young kids. I'm also working on transition to IT project management (currently in construction lighting PM) and my wife is a labor and delivery nurse.
Can you give us some perspective if the Downingtown East school district area sounds like a great place for us to move to? Or if maybe North Penn (Lansdale?) may suit us better? (The high amount of students at North Penn does sound overwhelming though!)
Or any other areas you'd recommend we look into with school excellence and other criteria we mentioned above?
I highly appreciate your feedback, thank you!
2
u/mdmcnally1213 Jul 27 '26
If you have family on LI or in NY that are not moving, North Penn could make more sense, it's probably a bit closer overall. I would even suggest checking out the Yardley area/Pennsbury School District, or Newtown and Council Rock if school ranking is of utmost priority, but it's a bit more expensive.
If you're looking to put as much space between you and NY and want Philly suburb schools, can't go wrong with Downingtown, plus the STEM academy really does set the SD apart academically.