The Forest Avenue school district hugs the western hill that defines Verona, south of Bloomfield Avenue along Verona Park to West Orange and west to the Essex Fells line. Many of the homes here are larger than those we featured last week in the story about houses near Laning Avenue elementary school, though both districts have a clutch of neo-Colonials built in the late 1930s.
In case you didn’t see the first story in this series, we’re doing what the big real estate sites don’t do: Sort listings by school district. There are parents who specifically prefer one of Verona’s four elementary schools over the other and, over the next few weeks, these stories will look at what’s up for sale in each corner of town.
So why would you want to buy near Forest Avenue elementary school? Mandarin, for starters. All Verona schools start teaching foreign languages in the first grade, but while French and Spanish are taught elsewhere in town, Forest has Mandarin. (If you buy elsewhere, your kids will have the chance to learn Mandarin in middle school.) Forest got a new principal this fall, Jeffrey Monacelli, who had been the vice principal at H.B. Whitehorne Middle School in town. Rumor has it that he still holds the lunchtime kickball games instituted by his predecessor, Tom Valente. Forest Avenue fourth graders also create a very cool living history museum about famous people from New Jersey, which we profiled here.
For now, there are fewer houses up for sale in the Forest district than there were near Laning. Here’s what’s available, arranged in price from low to high:
109 Forest Avenue. Three bedrooms, one and a half baths. Finished basement. $399,000.
56 Montrose Avenue. Three bedrooms, one and a half baths. New garage. $399,000.
35 Gerdes Avenue. Three bedrooms, two baths. Price just cut to $409,900.
11 Morningside Road. Three bedrooms, two baths. Updated kitchen. $411,000.
12 Howard Street. Four bedrooms, one and a half baths. Large deck. $439,900.
38 Marion Road. Four bedrooms, two and a half baths. Fenced yard. $450,000.
Mystery Address. Four bedrooms, two baths. Two-car garage. $459,000.
169 Forest Avenue. Three bedrooms, two and a half baths. Central air. $465,000.
19 W. Lincoln Street. Five bedrooms, three baths. Two kitchens. Recently cut by $25,000 to $494,900.
141 Hillside Avenue. Three bedrooms, two baths. Kitchen opens to family room. $495,000.
78 Lakeside Avenue. Three bedrooms, two and a half baths. Large stone patio. $549,900.
120 Hillside Avenue. Four bedrooms, two and a half baths. Stone fireplace. $559,900.
42 Gerdes Avenue. Three bedrooms, two baths. Designer kitchen. $585,000.
1 Halsted Street. Three bedrooms, two baths. Central air. $599,000.
75 Oakridge Road. Four bedrooms, two full and two half baths. Large attic. Recently cut by $40,000 to $649,000.
49 Fells Road. Three bedrooms, two and a half baths. Open floorplan. $739,000.
101 Forest Avenue. Six bedrooms, four bathrooms. Fully remodeled, steps from school. $890,000.
