Best public schools in Westchester County?

[gwenrn]

Rating school quality based on SAT scores is ridiculous. Truly. We are a young family and are getting so confused about the reality of "quality" schools in tri-state area.

We are looking for a walkable town with good commute to GCS (less than 45min) that also has conveniences like being able to park easily at the train station. We are looking for a GOOD school district which does not translate for us into wealthy....

Any suggestions? We are not fans of Ossining, we would like to be closer and have a more small town feel....

Originally Posted by ghguy

OK, time for some facts!!!

Below is a list of all Westchester high schools and their rank according to the most recent SAT scores available. Get ready, because there are some surprises:

Rank, School, SAT Score

1 Irvington 1282
2 Horace Greeley (Chappaqua) 1259
3 Scarsdale 1256
4 Edgemont (Scarsdale) 1245
5 Blind Brook (Rye) 1230
6 Bronxville 1214
7 Byram Hills (Armonk) 1198
8 Mamaroneck 1194
9 Hastings-on-Hudson 1191
10 Katonah-Lewisboro 1180
11 Rye City (Rye)1179
12 Briarcliff Manor 1175
13 Croton-Harmon 1171
14 Pleasantville 1170
15 Ardsley 1165
16 Rye Neck(Mamaroneck) 1155
17 Somers 1143
18 New Rochelle1128
19 Dobbs Ferry 1126
20 Pelham 1126
21 Yorktown 1115
22 Alexander Hamilton (Elmsford) 1100
23 Fox Lane (Bedford) 1096
24 Hendrick Hudson (Montrose) 1087
25 Eastchester 1074
26 North Salem Central 1072
27 Harrison Central 1071
28 Lakeland Central Walter Panas (Cortlandt Manor) 1060
29 Shrub Oak Lakeland 1052
30 Ossining 1051
31 Mount Pleasant Westlake (Thornwood)1050
32 Valhalla1031
33 Tuckahoe 1027
34 White Plains City 1023
35 Sleepy Hollow 1011
36 Yonkers HS 985
37 Port Chester-Rye 929
38 Greenburgh Central Woodlands (Hartsdale) 920
39 Peekskill 918
40 Yonkers-Saunders 890
41 Mount Vernon 838
42 Yonkers-Gorton 815
43 Yonkers-Lincoln 807
44 Yonkers-Roosevelt 794

[moxiecat]

If you want consistency of quality from elementary through high school, look at Bronxville and Scarsdale. Both have walkable towns with easy shopping on foot and speedy commutes to midtown/Grand Central of 35 min or less (Bronxville).

BTW, if you're looking for extreme convenience to highways in general, you can't beat Bronxville for its really quick and super-easy access to north-south as well as east-west roads and parkways. Plus, it's unbelievably easy to get into Manhattan's UWS in just 15-20 min by car. No joke!

Yes, it's pricey but well worth it.

[nubiana]

Scarsdale-Edgemont and Bronxville are in their own class. Rye Brook, excellent. Rye, great. Larchmont, very good until high school (Mamaroneck). Depending on the age of your children, you may want to consider the Larchmont Woods section of New Rochelle. Davis is a spectacular school and it is less than a mile walk to town (Larchmont village). Many people argue that Davis is better than Chatsworth or Murray Ave. schools. Definitely better than Central School. Also, people who live in Larchmont Woods say it is the best place they have ever lived - hands down. My husband and I live in Larchmont, and our friends in the Woods have all lived here at some point. They prefer the woods over Larchmont proper. If schools are your top priority, go to Scarsdale or Bronxville. Scarsdale and Bronxville are slightly more snobbish than Rye or Larchmont. However, the schools speak for themselves.

[Ekulu]

Originally Posted by Tslind33

Hi all, please help. I am looking for a school for my daughter who is in the 1st grade. She is very intelligent, high energy, well spoken and loves math and science. She is not being challenged enough in school and while I thought I had 1 more year before I would have to change her, I have quickly realized that she is not being challenged enough and so I must make the change now. I am trying to make a decision between public and private. I live in Mount Vernon, but will consider moving if that is the best choice.

perhaps you could try Rye Neck, they have the Stanford University's EPGY (Education Program for Gifted Youth) for gifted maths kids and great science enrichment programs which start at K or 1st grade. However, I think for EPGY you do have to be gifted in math, not just interested but you could go for a tour and find out. Their elementary program is excellent just like Irvington School district , they have different grades in different schools e.g. K-2 in one school 3-5 in another etc. Schools like irvington and Rye Neck are the closest you can get to a small private school environment in the public school system. There are so many stories of kids and drugs these days, it does not help that our public schools have got so big that lots of kids just fall through the cracks and off the radar. Some schools are still big and good, but these are mostly in districts where the parents push their kids a lot to focus on their studies and can afford to get them private tutors which force them focus even more.

[WESTCHESTERHAWK]

Lakeland School District, specifically the High School in hrub Oak is great. They have two high schools so they split everything up resulting in smaller class sizes. Individualized. Really a great school. My Brother raves about those schools.

[naylon511]

Originally Posted by nubiana

Larchmont, very good until high school (Mamaroneck).

Unless something drastic has happened in the last few years - this is very surprising to me. I grew up in Larchmont and just moved back (from NYC). Mamaroneck HS was always considered a very good school with many people getting into the top colleges from there every year.

[DOBBS MOM]

Dobbs Ferry has an excellent school district, so does scarsdale, irvington and ardsley in westchester county.

[Ekulu]

Originally Posted by naylon511

Unless something drastic has happened in the last few years - this is very surprising to me. I grew up in Larchmont and just moved back (from NYC). Mamaroneck HS was always considered a very good school with many people getting into the top colleges from there every year.

Mamaroneck is still a top school district, average SAT scores do not paint the whole picture.

[ryebeach]

As far as the schools go. Rye teachers have been working without a contract for a very long time. It is beginning to affect the climate at the school and in the community. Despite the rankings and test scores Rye is not very high on my list right now. In the summer however PLAYLAND and RYE BEACH are the greatest!