Family of 4 moving from Colorado to Teddington area

Hi everyone,

My husband is being transferred to his company's UK office in Teddington. He will be heading over in April 2015, and I will come along in August with our 2 teenage boys. We have one boy who will be a junior in HS and one who is graduating this year. We are all really excited about the move, but there is a lot to do in the next 8 months.

Biggest things for consideration are good schools and housing, near the Teddington area. If anyone has any suggestions or comments, they would be much appreciated.

I'm sure I will have tons of questions, as the time goes, but I just wanted to introduce myself and say 'hello'.

Julie

Can't help with the area at all...but just wanted to say hello and welcome

Are you definitely going to live in or near Teddington ?  It's very common to commute when working in London since public transport is very good.   You might want to ask the prospective employer about public transit commuting options: this would then let you explore towns a little further out from London which may offer lower cost housing and better schools.

Once you have an idea of where you'll be living you can put the postcode into this web page

http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/

to bring up government inspection reports on the various schools in the area.

I assume you're aware that the US and UK education systems are very different at high school (UK specialize to 3/4 subjects which are studied in depth for the last 2 years of high school) ?  If not you need to research that and decide if the change is something that will work for your sons.  I know some families choose not to move children between the ages of 15 and 18 for this reason.

Are you definitely going to live in or near Teddington ?  It's very common to commute when working in London since public transport is very good.   You might want to ask the prospective employer about public transit commuting options: this would then let you explore towns a little further out from London which may offer lower cost housing and better schools.

Once you have an idea of where you'll be living you can put the postcode into this web page

http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/

to bring up government inspection reports on the various schools in the area.

I assume you're aware that the US and UK education systems are very different at high school (UK specialize to 3/4 subjects which are studied in depth for the last 2 years of high school) ?  If not you need to research that and decide if the change is something that will work for your sons.  I know some families choose not to move children between the ages of 15 and 18 for this reason.

American Curriculum Schools might also be an option that you should explore. Otherwise, it would be a good idea for you (and your son) to research A-Level options.