Mt. Sinai vs Three Village (Melville, Stony Brook: home, school districts, income)

[flowergarden]

We are moving to Long Island and are trying to find a good balance between housing prices, school district and commute time. We are currently investigating Ward Melvile and Mt. Sinai High schools and middle schools. We visited the buildings of both. I know Ward Melville has an excellent reputation, but I was concerned by the sterilness of the school. Teachers did not appear to decorate their classrooms - the walls were literally blank. However, I know this is considered a top performing school. The Mt. Sinai HS is new, and well, beautiful. The use of technology in the classrooms was very apparent and it "looked" like a wonderful place to be. However, I can't find their average SAT scores anywhere and it is hard to tell whether this school will provide a top level education for my kids. I'd love to hear about any experience you may have with these school districts.

Thank you in advance for any advice you may have to offer!

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by flowergarden

We are moving to Long Island and are trying to find a good balance between housing prices, school district and commute time. We are currently investigating Ward Melvile and Mt. Sinai High schools and middle schools. We visited the buildings of both. I know Ward Melville has an excellent reputation, but I was concerned by the sterilness of the school. Teachers did not appear to decorate their classrooms - the walls were literally blank. However, I know this is considered a top performing school. The Mt. Sinai HS is new, and well, beautiful. The use of technology in the classrooms was very apparent and it "looked" like a wonderful place to be. However, I can't find their average SAT scores anywhere and it is hard to tell whether this school will provide a top level education for my kids. I'd love to hear about any experience you may have with these school districts.

Thank you in advance for any advice you may have to offer!

My son is in Ward Melville, loves it and his grades reflect that. The TV school district has 2 Jr Highs grade 7-9. This is one of a handful of districts in NYS still sticking with the old configuration.

Try not to allow a perceived 'sterile' environment or the 'beauty' of the MSHS (which is already about 16+ years old, but newer in comparison to WMHS) cloud your decision.

Both school districts have good reputations; but are vastly different in size. TV is huge, Mt Sinai more intimate. Both districts offer myriad programs. You have to decide what community works best for you as a family, your commutes, in addition to the school district as you've written.

Take into consideration the affluence (or lack thereof) in an area. Some people are uncomfortable sending their children to school where they will be on the 'have little' end of the spectrum, while others aren't bothered. I am not saying that this applies to you, but this is something that plays out in the TV district. A former poster, ClamBoy, grew up in the TV but lived in a working class section. For him, this haves/have nots was something that bothered him. I can't vouch for Mt Sinai and whether it is the same there, but having grown up in a small district, can tell you that if there is a haves/have nots divide, it is felt more in a smaller district.

I don't know if this helped you at all, but can tell you that I am very happy in Stony Brook and with the TV school district.

[flowergarden]

Thank you for your reply. I guess I'm not worried so much about the have and have nots - I think we'd be in the middle in both districts; perhaps more on the "have’s” side in Mt. Sinai. We certainly could afford a newer home in Mt. Sinai, not so new in Stony Brook. I think we'd be average on income. Still, I'd give more weight to the schools than how well I could live. We have no frame of reference for the difference in the communities in Stony Brook/E. Setauket vs. Mt. Sinai. That's the problem. We have no clue what it means to live in one town versus another. From the outside looking in they seem the same. It appears that Stony Brook is considered "nicer", but not necessarily in standard of living. Standard of living is higher in Mt. Sinai. To me, a small school with alot of high caliber students in a relatively new school sounds ideal. Or a small new school that provides opportunities for high performing students is great too. However, I'm not sure if that describes Mt. Sinai or not. Maybe it's a new school with mostly average performing kids that give little opportunity to high performing kids. Again, we have no frame of reference. The dynamics of both communities seem similar to a person not from the area.

Ward Melville did seem very large, but I don't think that is an issue. It's mostly that it seemed to have antiquated equipment and very little creativity. Nothing on the walls. The only thing we saw (and we saw alot of this) were posters with magazine pictures cut out and some labels on the posters. I would expect this in middle school (maybe) but not in 10th grade, certainly not 12th grade. There was little evidence to the outsider looking in that the school integrated information, technology, and creativity. It was very sterile. Again, I know they have some fabulous programs. However, are those programs for the top 5% of the student body and the remaining students are left to cut out pictures from national geographic? As an outsider looking in, who doesn't know much about the district other than it's consider a good school, it is very hard to tell. Does this make sense? I'm not trying to be negative about Ward Melville at all. I am looking to understand what makes this school good, and why everyone likes it!

[OhBeeHave]

I sent you a direct message.

[flowergarden]

Got it! Sent one back - thanks for your help and information!

[flowergarden]

Anyone have any comments on Mt. Sinai school district? I'd really like to hear from someone in the district. Thanks!