Best areas in Syracuse area (New York, Manlius: condos, home, transfer)

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by phaelon56

I have a young (30's) colleague who lived on Standish for several years and loved it. His wife insisted that they move to a nice area of Liverpool before their children started school (public schools in Liverpool are much better than in Syracuse although it wasn't always that way). He's been out in Liverpool for five years how and says he still misses the house on Standish.

Should have went private in terms of schools like quite a few East Siders do. While the SCSD schools might be what they used to be, they still produce kids that go on to very good colleges after HS. Personally, I think if the home life is fine and values getting an education, you can do fine anywhere.

Rolls Royce, you beat me to the punch in showing houses in the villages of Fayetteville and Manlius. Both would fit the criteria too.

I also think Eastwood would be a good choice too. Very nice houses on Shotwell Park, Hickok, Sunnycrest and the area east of Midler too. Here's some examples of homes there too: http://www.syr.interealty.com/ShowPr...tID=&ML=211964

http://www.syr.interealty.com/ShowPr...tID=&ML=209947

http://www.syr.interealty.com/ShowPr...tID=&ML=212857

http://www.syr.interealty.com/ShowPr...tID=&ML=212487

http://www.syr.interealty.com/ShowPr...tID=&ML=211577

http://www.syr.interealty.com/ShowPr...tID=&ML=207131

http://www.syr.interealty.com/ShowPr...tID=&ML=210912

[phaelon56]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Should have went private in terms of schools like quite a few East Siders do. While the SCSD schools might be what they used to be, they still produce kids that go on to very good colleges after HS. Personally, I think if the home life is fine and values getting an education, you can do fine anywhere.

I happen to agree with you and if was totally his call he might have done that - but his wife was involved in the decision and he followed the path of least resistance

Granted - Ed Smith is still an excellent elementary school as far as I know. Levy and Nottingham have gone into a seriosu state of decline since I attended them.

The cost of living in the city and sending the kids to private schools can add up. His school and property taxes in Liverpool are about the same as in Syracuse but tuition at CBA is $10,000 per year per kid x 2 kids x 4 years. And that's today's prices. It does add up.

[acknight]

Originally Posted by phaelon56

Granted - Ed Smith is still an excellent elementary school as far as I know. Levy and Nottingham have gone into a seriosu state of decline since I attended them.

Levy's been in trouble for years, though it's hopefully improving with its current transition to K-8 (Ed Smith is K-8 as well, now, as will be HW Smith).

Nottingham's still a good school, though not without its problems. But a large portion of the English testing scores problem comes with being the main SCSD high school for English as a Second Language - some are taking those 11th grade English Regents exams while just learning the language. It's not a school without its problems, but I wouldn't trade my time there for anywhere else.

I'm from the NHS Class of '03

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by phaelon56

I happen to agree with you and if was totally his call he might have done that - but his wife was involved in the decision and he followed the path of least resistance

Granted - Ed Smith is still an excellent elementary school as far as I know. Levy and Nottingham have gone into a seriosu state of decline since I attended them.

The cost of living in the city and sending the kids to private schools can add up. His school and property taxes in Liverpool are about the same as in Syracuse but tuition at CBA is $10,000 per year per kid x 2 kids x 4 years. And that's today's prices. It does add up.

I think it is less for the second child at most private schools. If you can't do CBA or MPH, Bishop Grimes has been a selection for some East Side families too.

Maybe trying to get into Syracuse Academy of Science Charter is a possiblity as well.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by acknight

Levy's been in trouble for years, though it's hopefully improving with its current transition to K-8 (Ed Smith is K-8 as well, now, as will be HW Smith).

Nottingham's still a good school, though not without its problems. But a large portion of the English testing scores problem comes with being the main SCSD high school for English as a Second Language - some are taking those 11th grade English Regents exams while just learning the language. It's not a school without its problems, but I wouldn't trade my time there for anywhere else.

I'm from the NHS Class of '03

Exactly acknight. That is something people in the area seem to forget. SCSD gets a lot of immigrants and refugees that the other school districts do not get. Not only does Nottingham have the ESL program there, Fowler also gets some of the poorest HS students in terms of economics in the city(think Near Westside) and quite a few refugees due to kids from the Near Northeast side(think Butternut, Lodi, etc...) go there too. So, you have students that barely know any English taking the same tests as kids that were born and raised here. Then, you have to get these students also caught up in terms of the other subjects. So, it might take another year or two for the students that come from other countries to graduate. This is also filtering in to Henninger, which also gets some of the immigrant students that live on the Northside and somewhat with Corcoran. So, I think people have to put things into perspective.

You can still get a good education at SCSD schools and you hear of kids going to Ivy League schools, very good state schools, some other private colleges and so on.

Also, in comparison to other school districts in the area, the diversity in many ways, can bring about a difference experience to the education the students get there outside of the classroom. In this area, there aren't really too many legitimately "diverse" suburban school districts. I'd say Jamesville-DeWitt, Liverpool, Onondaga, LaFayette and maybe North Syracuse and somewhat Fayetteville-Manlius. Even couple of those are questionable.

So, it all depends on what one is working with.

[proulxfamily]

My mother used to tutor USSR refugees in the late 80's/early 90's - she spoke fluent Russian and French and helped them set up their homes and taught them how to go about every day life - and all of their children were bused to Nottingham... from the Fayetteville-Manlius district. So yes- any kind of "deficiency" I see reported for Nottingham is taken with more than just a grain of salt.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by proulxfamily

My mother used to tutor USSR refugees in the late 80's/early 90's - she spoke fluent Russian and French and helped them set up their homes and taught them how to go about every day life - and all of their children were bused to Nottingham... from the Fayetteville-Manlius district. So yes- any kind of "deficiency" I see reported for Nottingham is taken with more than just a grain of salt.

Interesting and I didn't know that could happen. J-D gets their share of Russians and I think Bosnians now. Many live in Springfield Gardens. Solvay was known for getting quite a few Ukranian immigrants too.

Fowler gets quite a few African and Vietnamese refugee students. That's on top of getting the bulk of the Hispanic high school students in the city and some Slavic students(mainly Polish and Ukranian). So, they also have to deal with a lot of language and learning issues just from serving those students populations alone.

[brickroad]

trishaelaine,

some potentially interesting reading, the east side/university area was named on of the 10 best neighborhoods by the American Planning Association in 2008
Greater University HillÂ* — Syracuse, New York

good luck with the house search!

[phaelon56]

Originally Posted by acknight

I'm from the NHS Class of '03

NHS Class of '74 here... my mom was NHS Class of 1941 and had 8 brothers and sisters who also graduated there both before and after her - and my dad was both a teacher and guidance counselor at NHS in the 1960's.

I guess the unknown for me - which would give me cause for concern but could only be answered by talking to current students - is whether the alarmingly high dropout rate may point to a school/classroom environment that is disruptive and not conducive to focusing on academics. But you're form '03 and I doubt that it's changed much since then.

My daughter - who is a few years older than you - attended K-12 in Marcellus. Good learning experience but very insular. The only reason she received any exposure during those years to people of different races, ethnicities and backgrounds was by virtue of the time she spent with me and my various friends and acquaintances. There's a socialization process inherent in being exposed to many types of people that can be fruitful for many young people - not all but many.

[acknight]

Originally Posted by phaelon56

I guess the unknown for me - which would give me cause for concern but could only be answered by talking to current students - is whether the alarmingly high dropout rate may point to a school/classroom environment that is disruptive and not conducive to focusing on academics. But you're form '03 and I doubt that it's changed much since then.

I think a fair amount of that can be attributed to the area which Nottingham serves. The dropout rate, if I'm not mistaken, includes those who transfer to private schools or who move out of the district; as a neighborhood which includes the university area, it's a fairly mobile community in many ways. Couple that in part with the ESL population which gets moved around from time to time and I'm not sure the numbers really tell the story.

Nottingham these days has its problems, but it's in a pretty good position, I think.