Rockland County Schools (New York, Ramapo, Union: home, to buy, top schools)

[UrbanMama]

My Husband and I are looking for a home in the Rockland County area. We are curious what the schools are like. From what we have seen so far, Clarksville has the top schools. Are there other districts that are as good as them? I have been told the Ramapo schools are up in the ranks too. We live in NJ now and my husband commutes to Mid-town. We have a 1 year old and planning the next one as soon as we move so Schools are very important to us. We are also concidering Bergen County in NJ but like the idea of getting more home for our money in NYS. Any advice would be great!

[ckhthankgod]

Check here:https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/County.do?year=2007&county=Rockland

http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/...ounty=Rockland

[rusty78]

If you know anyone in Rockland...they will tell you to stay out of East Ramapo - Nyack - and North Rockland Schools...the schools of preference are Clarkstown - both North and South, Pearl River, Nanuet, Ramapo, Orangeburg, Suffern ( which I believe is part of the Ramapo school system?)

But if you do not believe me...then spend a day or two touring the high schools...you can even do research on this site...about school test results...you have some high schools scoring in the 30's and others in the 80's...which school system do you want your kids going to????

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by rusty78

If you know anyone in Rockland...they will tell you to stay out of East Ramapo - Nyack - and North Rockland Schools...the schools of preference are Clarkstown - both North and South, Pearl River, Nanuet, Ramapo, Orangeburg, Suffern ( which I believe is part of the Ramapo school system?)

But if you do not believe me...then spend a day or two touring the high schools...you can even do research on this site...about school test results...you have some high schools scoring in the 30's and others in the 80's...which school system do you want your kids going to????

I thought Nyack was alright too. I know it's known for being preferred, but I thought it wasn't that "bad" either.

[rusty78]

NYS offers the same test for all high school students......and then lists their grades...the rating/scores are from 0 to 100...Spring Valley - 42, Ramapo - 34 (part of East Ramapo), Nyack -58, TappenZee - 90, Pearl River - 90, Suffern - 84, Clarkstown N - 85, Clarkstown S - 85, Nanuet - 82......

So tell me...where do you want your kids to go to school......take some time out before you sign on the dotted line and visit the school system you are looking to buy in...it will prevent alot of crying......later on

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by rusty78

NYS offers the same test for all high school students......and then lists their grades...the rating/scores are from 0 to 100...Spring Valley - 42, Ramapo - 34 (part of East Ramapo), Nyack -58, TappenZee - 90, Pearl River - 90, Suffern - 84, Clarkstown N - 85, Clarkstown S - 85, Nanuet - 82......

So tell me...where do you want your kids to go to school......take some time out before you sign on the dotted line and visit the school system you are looking to buy in...it will prevent alot of crying......later on

What are those numbers based off of?

[rusty78]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

What are those numbers based off of?

Visit the front page of this site and look for the section on schools...find NY State and open it...then look for the school system you are interested in...Knowledge is power......

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by rusty78

Visit the front page of this site and look for the section on schools...find NY State and open it...then look for the school system you are interested in...Knowledge is power......

I know what you are talking about now. I think greatschools.net anf the nysed sites are good in terms of showing things like test scores, graduation rates and comments by people with experience within such districts.

I still wonder what they based the numbers off of on the city-data.com site though.

[ckhthankgod]

This is what I'm talking about:Nyack Union Free School District schools - district elementary, middle, and high school information

It doesn't seem to be that bad of a district from those numbers. You also click on the specific school and see what kind of comments people have for that particular school.

[havoc315]

Nyack is an interesting school district. A few years ago, it was held up as a model of a school district that was making diversity work. It has a relatively large minority population, and has maintained decent test scores, without having major "white flight."

In comparison, East Ramapo was very diverse 20 years ago, but from the late 80's to late 90's, it experienced total "white flight," leaving the schools with a student body that tended to be mostly minority, and mostly lower class. In fact, I just read that East Ramapo is closing 1 or 2 of its elementary schools, due to the shrinking student body since the 1980's. The population of East Ramapo isn't shrinking -- Just the amount of people using the public schools.

The problem with Nyack's success--- I remember a few years ago, an article exposing that the "model of diversity" was largely achieved by segregation within the school itself.

This might be the article I was talking about:
Racial Gap in Schools Splits A Town Proud of Diversity - The New York Times

Overall, Nyack lacks the prestige of Clarkstown, Pearl River, and South Orangetown. It might be just as good as, or 1 step below, Nanuet and Ramapo.
I don't think Nyack schools need to be actively avoided. In fact, the only Rockland school district that really needs to be actively avoided, would be East Ramapo.