Syracuse - Neighborhoods and Schools (New York, Huntington: work, homes, college)

[purplelabrador]

I am considering a move to Syracuse. I would appreciate any advice anyone can offer as far as nice neighborhoods for families and also recommendations of good school districts.

Thanks

[bellafinzi]

The Best 5 School districts in the Syracuse area are

-Fayetteville/Manlius or FM (covering the southern town of Manlius and northern Pompey

-Jamesville/DeWitt or JD (covering the southern town of of DeWitt)

-Westhill (covering the northern eastern part of the Town of Onondaga)

-West Genesee (covering the town of Camillus)

-Baldwinsville (covering the town of Lysander and part of Van Buren and a small slice of the town of Clay)


Other suburban School districts which are good, just not in the top five

-Liverpool (covering the western part of the town of Clay and the western part of the town of Salina) Large school district with over 8,000 students.

-North Syracuse or NS (covering a huge part of the town of Cicero, eastern town of Clay, and eastern town of Salina) this is a very large school district, the 5th largest in Upstate New York. Well, over 2,000 students are at CNS, which is the 10th, 11th and 12th grades alone.

-East Syracuse/Minoa or ESM (covering northern town of DeWitt and northern town of Manlius) This suburban area isn't that nice IMO.

Home prices are higher in the best school districts....

[LeavingCuse]

Fayetteville-Manlius area is really beautiful and really expensive, if you can afford it, you would not be disappointed. The schools are really large (1000+per class) and get tons of recognition for sports, arts, music, etc. West-Hill is also a great area and another wonderful school located very close to the city. Bella was def correct in naming the top five.
Another area to consider is the Phoenix School District which covers just East of Baldwinsville, North of Clay and South of Fulton. A lot of folks will not agree but those are the people who havent been through the town in the past decade. Two hundred kids per class, renovated school and new science wing, a state ranked winterguard, color guard and basket ball team (womens). The small town is located directly on Oswego River with a couple resturantes and coffee shops for the community and boaters who pass through. The surrounding area is very country-like. Every summer tons of new large homes go up in one of the many open fields in Pennellvile. Its just another option. I graduated from Phoenix many years ago and was so very very surprised when I drove back through it a year ago. It was a great place when I grew up there, and it has gotten dramatically better sense I left.

[purplelabrador]

Thank you very much for the information. Does anyone know if there are any schools within the city that have good reputations?

[Irishlass]

The best city schools that are located in relatively nice areas are

Salem Hyde
Huntington
Ed Smith
This being said, there are some areas that are included in these district areas that are not especially nice. In the city you have to be very careful which areas you live in. We lived in the city for 10 years and opted to move to the burbs. If you have any questions about certain areas feel free to contact me.

[dianalb67]

Hi there Purplelabrador,

We live on Onondaga Hill, home to Onondaga Community College and the Syracuse summer Jazz Fest. Westhill Schools are top notch as well as West Genesee where my daughter-in-law is a high school math teacher who teaches AP classes. Great area to raise a family. It is close to beautiful Skaneateles Lake, about 12 miles, and downtown Syracuse is only 6 miles as the crow flies.

[Movineast]

I am from California and considering moving to syracuse area. I have heard WONDERFUL things about the West Genesse school district - I have a quick question - if you live just outside the school district limits - can you get permission by the school district to let your children attend schools within the school district??? They do allow some transfers within the school districts in California - is that permitted or even considered in New York??

[dnclark]

Fayetteville-Manlius is a great place to live. The taxes are high, but that's why the schools are the best.

[cuse]

Last I knew it was unheard of to get permission. Although many parents have mothers/fathers/grandparents that live within the district and put their childs address as the grandparents. They do it "under the radar". Somtimes they investigate and get caught. Where are you looking for a residence? What district?

[Seaharbour]

Can anyone pin point specific neighborhoods that are nice in the 100 to 150 range for a home and the 1300 range for rent in the FM schools? That is the school district we want and we are going to find a way to affford it cause our child needs a better education, so are going to pay the higher taxes here, any insight? Where to avoid in east syracuse..please email if you prefer, once in south syracuse, we got bomed with fruit and it cracked our window, guess we should be glad it was not a bullet huhn? But we loved syracuse, enought to move back..possibly..if the offer comes in and works for us, yes, we would love to call syracuse our home again...the winters are a nightmare, that is true! WE can live with it, we have in the past!