Winchester cheering about its schools

By Thomas Grillo, Globe Correspondent, 11/9/2002

			More information on Winchester from Boston.com's Your Town section.  AT A GLANCE Incorporated: 1850 Area: 6.29 miles Distance from Boston: 8 miles Population: 20,828 Tax rate: $11.06 residential, 10.24 commercial Median home price: $555,000 Government: Representative Town Meeting, selectmen, town manager Schools: Five elementary, one middle, one high school Hospital: Winchester Hospital Transportation: MBTA buses, commuter rail to North Station

WINCHESTER -- When students in Winchester's public schools finished fourth in the state on the 2002 MCAS test -- inching up from sixth place last year -- a cheer echoed around town.

"MCAS has become a source of attracting buyers to Winchester," said Christopher Bernier, a real estate broker. "With all the media attention paid to the test, people notice that we're in the top 10."

Exceptional schools are not all that draws people to this leafy suburb eight miles north of Boston. There's a vibrant downtown that has retained its historic character, a stop on the MBTA commuter rail line to North Station, Mystic Lake, the Aberjona River, and the 2,575-acre Middlesex Fells Reservation, a retreat for hikers, horseback riders, cross-country skiers, and picnickers.

But entree comes at a steep price: Winchester is the 15th most expensive community in Massachusetts. In the first eight months of this year, the median price for a single-family home was $555,000 up from $467,500 in 2000 -- an 18.7 percent increase, according to Warren Group data.

Of the 74 single-family homes listed for sale by the MLS Property Information Network this week, 32 are priced at over $1 million; 10 are offered at more than $2 million. Only eight are available at under $500,000.

Winchester, originally a farming community of 200 settlers, evolved into a mill town with the advent of the Middlesex Canal and the Boston & Lowell Railroad. By the 1800s, grist mills and tanneries had sprung up along the Aberjona River.

The late 1800s saw the development of an affluent suburb as wealthy families from Boston built expensive homes. Many of the houses from that era remain, including a 1920 Colonial Revival on Cabot Street in the Flats neighborhood that is undergoing a restoration by the crew of WGBH-TV's "This Old House."

Kim Whittemore and Bruce Leasure bought the pale-yellow, five-bedroom home in January, for $896,500. Shortly thereafter, the house was selected by show's producers for a restoration project.

The $400,000 renovation will include the removal of exterior lead paint, new HVAC systems, a kitchen makeover, a new second-floor master bedroom, and the conversion of a third-floor bedroom into a home office.

The town's Ambrose Elementary School is also scheduled to be rebuilt, but shrinking state aid over the last few years has made it more difficult for the town to stay within its budget, town officials say.

In addition, the town needs to spend money to fix storm-water flooding in parts of Winchester, they say.

After several failed attempts to pass Proposition 2 overrides, voters in March approved a $4.5 million override. Nearly $1 million will be spent for capital improvements; another $300,000 will be used on flood control.

But Priscilla O. McPhee, a member of the Board of Selectmen, said the town is faces a shortfall of up to $1.5 million for fiscal year 2004. Health care benefits for town employees and soaring energy prices have been budget-busters, she said.

"There's very little appetite for another override," McPhee said. "But without more cash, it could mean layoffs for town workers."

Thomas Grillo can be reached at tgrillo@hotmail.com.