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We're excited about the River Towns, particularly Hastings, but I don't really know much about what the schools are like. I want my kids (still little) to have classes that are not only challenging but also somewhat creative, inspiring them to be curious and love learning and work independently. I went to private school myself. Can suburban public schools that are touted as good offer this experience?
My sister recently moved to a neighborhood just for the highly praised schools (in another state) and then had a bad experience with her daughter's kindergarten (substitute teachers for the first six weeks of school and then an uninspired teacher). I'm expecting better--but how much better, and how can I find out more?
We're excited about the River Towns, particularly Hastings, but I don't really know much about what the schools are like. I want my kids (still little) to have classes that are not only challenging but also somewhat creative, inspiring them to be curious and love learning and work independently. I went to private school myself. Can suburban public schools that are touted as good offer this experience?
My sister recently moved to a neighborhood just for the highly praised schools (in another state) and then had a bad experience with her daughter's kindergarten (substitute teachers for the first six weeks of school and then an uninspired teacher). I'm expecting better--but how much better, and how can I find out more?
If you don't want to risk it, why not just put your child in a private school?
To increase your confidence level, do a search and read some other posts. But you'll never have a 100% guarantee. Life is full of risks, nothing is certain.
After much thought and analysis, and using a rigorous process of reductive geometric logic, I suggest that the following are your only possible options:
You'd have to tour the schools yourself, but basically kletterman is right.
Just know that even though the Rivertowns are more artsy, the curriculum is pretty much the same. All schools in Westchester adhere to the same standards and have little flexibility as to creativity. Honestly, I think that private schools are the only way to truly get the kind of experience that you might seek (or maybe charter/magnet but we don't have many of those).
Clearly we have much higher standards for teaching than many other districts, but I don't think that you can eliminate the possibility of substitutes or less than stellar teachers in even the top districts.
Because of their need to follow state curriculums and standards, Public schools can't provide the kind of emergent curriculum and project approach that you can get in the best progressive private schools like Bank Street. Public Schools do actually have flexibility in how they teach the curriculum and meet the standards, and you will find second grade classes (for example) approaching the same subject and skills in different ways. Nonetheless, I doubt even the most creative teacher could figure out how to meet, track, and assess all the grade 2 ELA standards in a three month investigation of vehicles (for example). So if you want a really open-ended, child-centered approach, progressive private schools are your best bet. However, there aren't that many of them around anymore as most have become very skills focused and much more traditional in their teaching styles. (Anyone see that scary article in yesterday's NY Times about parents spending up to 100K on private tutors to help kids get A's at their private schools?)
I went to some of the better progressive schools (of the time) in the city and am a great believer in progressive education. But I have been very happy with the education my son has gotten so far in public school. Last night I went to the annual school art show and as always was impressed by the variety and quality of the kids' work. It certainly tops what I did in school.
We're excited about the River Towns, particularly Hastings, but I don't really know much about what the schools are like. I want my kids (still little) to have classes that are not only challenging but also somewhat creative, inspiring them to be curious and love learning and work independently. I went to private school myself. Can suburban public schools that are touted as good offer this experience?
Straight answer: No.
You'll have to go private and even then, pick among very expensive ones.
That said, there are private schools that offer small class sizes, individual attention and academic challenge, and teachers who are inspiring and enthusiastic that don't cost as much. The learning approach is traditional though. But even at this level, district public schools can't compare.
It's things like being somewhat creative and trying new ways to teaching that will narrow your list down to more expensive private schools like LRS and Mandell.
My suggestion is to go visit the schools.. Visit the town, ride around the neighborhood, stop and have lunch or dinner somewhere, talk with people and get a feel for the community..
You can rent for a year also- this way if you don't like the schools, you can always move, and if you do, make it permanent. This could be hard for kids deal with the uprooting, though.
As a Rivertown parent my main complaint with the schools (Irvington) is excessive PC'ness and an irritating "everybody wins" view of everything.
A former principal of the K-3 school actually tried to rename Thanksgiving "Gratitude Day" supposedly because it was confusing for some of the foreign born students. Fortunately the teachers ignored her on that one.
Teaching children that everybody wins is asinine, IMO.
You can rent for a year also- this way if you don't like the schools, you can always move, and if you do, make it permanent. This could be hard for kids deal with the uprooting, though.
If your kids are very small, <5, I'd stay put for 3-4 years. Moving a lot with small children is traumatic for them. My five-year-old niece would tell you that. Home school, if possible. If not, kids aren't made of glass and fluff. A good public school for a few years while you research educational opportunities isn't going to ruin their chances for a bright future. The most successful people I know, maybe it's just my experience, had a lot of disadvantages and the option of private vs. public schools wasn't even in their universe.
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