Moving from NY to London (It's Complicated)

Hello Everyone! 
  I am glad I found this forum.  We are a family of four (myself, DH, 2 girls ages 16 and 12) living in a suburb outside of NY.  Husband is about to be offered a job in UK (we hope) and we are in early stages of letting the whole thing sink in.
  The complicated parts are doing all the research figuring out if this move is possible, do we do this, don't we do this, do we have just him move and commute for 6 months? 1 year?.  The thought of moving the girls in grades 11 and 8 is making my stress levels very high. 

Kajal

Welcome, Kajal. 

I don't have advice for you situation, but I do wish you and your family luck on a possible move abroad.  There are A LOT of knowledgable people on this site, so you've found one of the best and most useful tools on the web, I think.  Personally, I feel that after reading the Visas section and reading many of the posts, I'm much more prepared for when I apply for my visa to move with DH next year.   

That does sound complicated!  I hope your husband gets the job and that things go as smoothly as possible.

Hi & welcome to UKY Kajal!

The Expat Life and Parenting boards are a good start to get help in your research.  Also, you may want to checkout http://www.upmystreet.com/ to find more info on any areas you're looking at moving to.  Also, depending on where you might move you may want to consider looking at American schools for your children to avoid too much upheaval, especially with your oldest being in American year 11 - you may find this a bit helpful: http://www.workpermit.com/uk/relocation/school_system.htm.

Good luck, and I hope you find what will and won't work for you!   

Welcome to UKY and good luck!

Thank you for all the welcome notes.  We are still in limbo mode.   

My college room-mate had attended an American dependents school while her father was stationed in London but I don't think these schools exist anymore (?) There are a number of international schools that might make transition easier for the kids. But expensive, I imagine.

Welcome, Kajal. Limbo mode is not a good place to be, but that ends, one way or another! We moved here with an almost-17 year-old and a 14 year-old. We agonised for months about how we could make it work. My kids went into the English school system and on the whole it all worked out well. If your daughter will be beginning 11th grade when you make the move, she would be able to start at 6th form for the 2 year A-level course. She should have a lot of options. And your younger child should be able to slot into secondary school without any trouble. How do they feel about this move?

Best of luck to you. Feel free to PM me.

DH got an offer.. don't know if still consider it limbo mode.   Kids are completely freaking out.  We are alternately excited and scared.  The offer seems too good to pass up however weighing in uprooting family, my job loss and added school expenses plus the complicated tax structure has our head spinning.

I really appreciate the notes and links and help from everyone here.

Where would I post for school comparisons?  I am looking at TASIS and ACS-Cobham at this time.

Thank you very much,

Kajal

There are the league tables: www.guardian.co.uk/education/school-tables
Don't know if that's helpful to you.

Congratulations!

DH and I went through the same decision-making process when he was offered his job back in February. Obviously, we went through with it and are enjoying it so far.

Best of luck with your decision!

Welcome to UKY