Rockland County Schools (New York, Ramapo, Spring Valley: attorneys, homes, dorm)

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Vicman

Part of what happened is that the Orthodox Jewish (Hasids) moving in do not use public schools, and some people do not want to live near them; they move out of the East Ramapo district.

Do you think the East Ramapo district should be consolidated into the Central Ramapo district, but have the attendance boundaries of the schools mostly remain the same? (The difference is that all of Airmont would be zoned to the same elementary school, etc)

Interesting...So, people that do not use the school district they live in are seen as possibly holding up the district, in a sense?

[gsheridan]

I grew up in Rockland, and went to Catholic school until high school, so I can't comment on the
lower schools. I graduated from Clarkstown South High School in the mid 80's, and loved it.
Below are my thoughts on the schools, but it's really based on living in the county all my life,
not on any recent, in-depth research on the schools. Sorry in advance if I offend anyone.
Recommending schools is serious business, and I don't think there's room for being politically
correct, so read on at your own peril.

I had great teachers at Clarkstown South High School- far more excellent teachers there than I had
in college. I don't know exactly where they rank now in relation to each other, but as others have
mentioned, I'm pretty sure Clarkstown, South Orangetown, and Pearl River are all considered
excellent. I think Nanuet is also, but I'm not sure. When I was in high school, Nanuet was run much
more liberally than Clarkstown South. I'm sure it's all different now, but I remember cutting school
once or twice to go down to the city, and when we picked up some kids from Nanuet, they walked
right past one of the pricipals, not even trying to conceal the fact that they were leaving the
school. Like I said, it could be very different now, but back then, Nanuet was good academically, as
far as I know, but it was definitely much wilder than Clarkstown.

I personally, would be a little afraid of North Rockland. I don't want to insult people from that area,
but when I was looking for a house in Rockland, I chose South Orangetown, and specifically avoided
North Rockland, because I heard there were gangs up there, or at least kids with ties to gangs in
NYC. I know that some of the lower schools are very good, but the high school would worry me.

People have already covered the problems in East Ramapo. Nyack is more complicated, I think. I
don't really know enough to say. I work with someone who chose that district because of the
diversity, and he really likes the programs for his child, who is autistic. My gut would keep me away.
I remember Nyack being the place everyone went to buy drugs in high school. There are definitely
low income areas there, but people have told me it's gotten much better. I would imagine that in
most cases, one would choose Nyack because of its unique character, not the schools. If you're
looking for Lilly White, Nyack is probably not the place - you'd probably be happier in Pearl River
or Orangetown. But if you're looking for the types of things that Nyack has to offer, you won't find
it anywhere else in the county.

Good luck.

[gsheridan]

A couple more thoughts. I just noticed that your handle is UrbanMama. If you're coming from
a city, be aware of the fact that most of the places with the good schools are VERY suburban.

The only nice places that have any kind of urban feel are Nyack and Piermont, and they're urban more in mindset and culture than anything else - they're both fairly small, especially Piermont,
but they're both good for walking around. I guess Suffern might have some walkable areas too -
others here might be able to advise you about Suffern -I don't know it well.

Also, you mentioned that your husband will be commuting to midtown. Nanuet, Pearl River, and
Suffern all have train stations, so that might make them more desirable. Also, Nanuet has a bus
that goes non-stop to midtown. Orangetown has buses that make stops on the way to the city,
and you can get to the Pearl River trains fairly quickly. If he wants to drive to the city, Orangetown
is probably best.

Pearl River is nice and has great schools, but diverse it is not. Do a check at Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed, but
if there's more than a tiny minority of people who are something other than Irish or Italian American,
I'd be very surprised. There's probably 2 Jews in the whole town, and they probably snuck in when
everyone was hung over the day after St. Patrick's Day:-) I'm Irish(American), so I can get away
with a joke like that:-) It's really a great town, but if you're looking for diversity, you'll hate it.

[Vicman]

I meant the other way around - All of Airmont being zoned to Cherry Lane Elementary School, Suffern Middle School, and Suffern High School in the Ramapo Central feeder pattern. I would headquarter the new district in the Ramapo Central HQ building.

Originally Posted by rusty78

Consolidated the schools...I do not think you will ever see Airmont opt out of the Ramapo school system to go to the East Ramapo school system...but who knows for sure...

That's right.

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Interesting...So, people that do not use the school district they live in are seen as possibly holding up the district, in a sense?

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Vicman

I meant the other way around - All of Airmont being zoned to Cherry Lane Elementary School, Suffern Middle School, and Suffern High School in the Ramapo Central feeder pattern. I would headquarter the new district in the Ramapo Central HQ building.



That's right.

Is there anything the East Ramapo SD can do about this? It seems like it contributes to the stigma associated with the district, for various reasons.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Is there anything the East Ramapo SD can do about this? It seems like it contributes to the stigma associated with the district, for various reasons.

It can't tell Hasids to not move in. AFAIK the best thing to do is to consolidate with Central Ramapo SD so that there is a pool of voters who will vote for bonds to improve the schools. This should be okay as long as the Hasids aren't moving into the Central Ramapo attendance areas as well.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Vicman

It can't tell Hasids to not move in. AFAIK the best thing to do is to consolidate with Central Ramapo SD so that there is a pool of voters who will vote for bonds to improve the schools. This should be okay as long as the Hasids aren't moving into the Central Ramapo attendance areas as well.

You might be right, because that seems like a tough obstacle to overcome as long as the Hasids are going to do that.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

You might be right, because that seems like a tough obstacle to overcome as long as the Hasids are going to do that.

Here is what I want to know: What is the process of a school district consolidation in New York State? How is it done?

[rusty78]

Originally Posted by Vicman

It can't tell Hasids to not move in. AFAIK the best thing to do is to consolidate with Central Ramapo SD so that there is a pool of voters who will vote for bonds to improve the schools. This should be okay as long as the Hasids aren't moving into the Central Ramapo attendance areas as well.

Actually the Hasid's have been buying homes through out suffern, montebello, sloatsburg, etc......and renting them out to the spanish workers...when they buy enough homes...they evict the tenants or simply move them to another area...as they then start moving in......eventually they have enough voters to start getting things done their way...and then..well just look at spring valley/monsey...

The Hasid's have a plan...that they intent to eventually encompass Rockland County and then Orange County...they simply start by buying one home in an area and then moving in...the first residents are called "Pioneer's"...and of course then there is the big sell off...from the current residents that want to get out before the rest move in...

In Pomona...the Hasid's are planning to build a college, yeshiva, dorm at the corner of 306 and 202......this complex will house 4500 plus students and then their family......what do you think will happen to Pomona if their complex is allowed to go through......

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by rusty78

Actually the Hasid's have been buying homes through out suffern, montebello, sloatsburg, etc......and renting them out to the spanish workers...when they buy enough homes...they evict the tenants or simply move them to another area...as they then start moving in......eventually they have enough voters to start getting things done their way...and then..well just look at spring valley/monsey...

The Hasid's have a plan...that they intent to eventually encompass Rockland County and then Orange County...they simply start by buying one home in an area and then moving in...the first residents are called "Pioneer's"...and of course then there is the big sell off...from the current residents that want to get out before the rest move in...

In Pomona...the Hasid's are planning to build a college, yeshiva, dorm at the corner of 306 and 202......this complex will house 4500 plus students and then their family......what do you think will happen to Pomona if their complex is allowed to go through......

So, this becomes another form of "White Flight", in essence.