New Rochelle High School (Rye, Yorktown: buying a house, buying, best school districts)

[Kevin Johnson]

Can someone please help me out here?

My wife and I recently moved from NYC to Westchester and are thinking of buying a house in New Rochelle. We love the diversity of the town and want to raise our children in an environment that is "real".

In theory, NRHS seems like it would be a great place but we hear conflicting stories all the time.

We've heard the academics are strong, "there's a place for any type of kid there", tons of courses & activities, kids who do well go on to great schools, etc. Unfortunately, we've also heard the academics are not great at all and that there is a lot of crime/violence/gang activity in the school. Its like I'm hearing things about two entirely different schools.

Anyone know the real deal with NR schools and particularly NRHS?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[newtoli]

There is gang activity and youth violence in New Rochelle. Were your children in private or public school in NYC? You have a lot of other options in Westchester if you want diversity...

[mrhodes]

Kevin,

I would highly recommend New Rochelle. It is a big city so there is youth violence and there are gangs. Does this ever spill into NRHS? Sure. But your children will feel safe there assuming that they are not involved with any bad kids/groups.

What you need to understand about the high school is that like every other urban/suburban high school, there will be kids there who go off to Ivy League schools and have great futures, and there will also be kids who get involved in stupid things and end up in prison. There are plenty of kids in the middle who are successful after HS too.

Overall, buy a home in a nice part of New Rochelle and send your kids to the HS. It's a great place. Like you said, it's the REAL WORLD.

[mead]

Scr*w the real world. I'd rather live in Bronxville

Originally Posted by mrhodes

Kevin,

I would highly recommend New Rochelle. It is a big city so there is youth violence and there are gangs. Does this ever spill into NRHS? Sure. But your children will feel safe there assuming that they are not involved with any bad kids/groups.

What you need to understand about the high school is that like every other urban/suburban high school, there will be kids there who go off to Ivy League schools and have great futures, and there will also be kids who get involved in stupid things and end up in prison. There are plenty of kids in the middle who are successful after HS too.

Overall, buy a home in a nice part of New Rochelle and send your kids to the HS. It's a great place. Like you said, it's the REAL WORLD.

[rubygreta]

Originally Posted by mead

Scr*w the real world. I'd rather live in Bronxville

.

Sure, if you have $1.5M for a house and $30,000 in taxes, feel free to live in Bronxville.

Every year the top NRHS students get admitted to the best colleges in the country (as they do from most Westchester public high schools). Bronxville (and Scarsdale and Chappaqua) are not the best school districts. They are the richest school districts.

[mead]

Well obviously I don't have anywhere near that ammount of money. 'Tis but a pipe dream.

However, according to Newsweek several schools in Westchester are ranked among the Top 100 best Public schools in the entire country, and New Rochelle is not ranked among them (obviously). They are:

43 Edgemont Scarsdale N.Y.
49 Horace Greeley Chappaqua N.Y.
80 Harrison Harrison N.Y.
86 Rye Rye N.Y.
95 Blind Brook Rye Brook N.Y.

America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com

Unfortunately Bronxville didn't make the list. Neverthless it will always be my favorite all around wealthy town in Westchester.

Originally Posted by rubygreta

.

Sure, if you have $1.5M for a house and $30,000 in taxes, feel free to live in Bronxville.

Every year the top NRHS students get admitted to the best colleges in the country (as they do from most Westchester public high schools). Bronxville (and Scarsdale and Chappaqua) are not the best school districts. They are the richest school districts.

[dma1250]

Originally Posted by mead

However, according to Newsweek several schools in Westchester are ranked among the Top 100 best Public schools in the entire country, and New Rochelle is not ranked among them (obviously). They are:

43 Edgemont Scarsdale N.Y.
49 Horace Greeley Chappaqua N.Y.
80 Harrison Harrison N.Y.
86 Rye Rye N.Y.
95 Blind Brook Rye Brook N.Y.

America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com

The Newsweek ranking is universally dismissed as deeply flawed. It ranks schools based on how many AP tests are taken, divided by the number of seniors. The Newsweek rating ignores all of the key variables that have been shown to make a real difference in student success. It is the only major ranking that ignores all of the following criteria:

student/teacher ratio
class size
per pupil spending
AP scores
test scores
parent involvement
computers per student
number of AP courses available
number of electives available

Basically, it is meaningless. Also, the listing is only for High Schools, not school systems.

[newtoli]

Here is an idea, go hang out around New Roc City on a weekend/holiday when kids are off from school. You'll see the type of kids your child will be going to high school with.

I grew up in Mt Kisco, and went to high school in Bedford... while Bedford/Pound Ridge is an incredibly wealthy area, the high school also included Mt Kisco, where a lot of working class families lived. The school was incredibly diverse, culturally and economically.

[mead]

That not entirely true. A lot of punks from the Bronx go up to New Roc to hang out on the weekends, or at least they used to do so. The people who own New Roc were trying to put an end to this, as it was causing problems (like the riot that occured last easter). I don't know if this was successful though.

[ping pong ball]

Originally Posted by rubygreta

.

Sure, if you have $1.5M for a house and $30,000 in taxes, feel free to live in Bronxville.

Every year the top NRHS students get admitted to the best colleges in the country (as they do from most Westchester public high schools). Bronxville (and Scarsdale and Chappaqua) are not the best school districts. They are the richest school districts.

So what would you consider the "best" school districts? Not that I am personally enamoured with the school-district rat-race, but if I was looking for the best, it surely would have to come from the ranks of those you mentioned (and dismissed).

If you consider that the per-capita costs of educating their pupils, which are by and large not that significantly different amongst districts in Westchester, you'd have to say they do a somewhat better job than most of the others, wouldn't you?

However, I do get the point you are trying to make. Personally, I'd just as soon settle for Yorktown as Bronxville. I'll however take a pass on New Rochelle. There's just much more of a chance that your kid will stray from the straight and narrow in that sort of environment (i.e the real world environment ).