Ossining community and schools (credit, neighborhood, elementary schools)

[Redchairs]

Thoughts on the Ossining community and schools? Any information about political leanings of the community, feel of the town, things for kids to do would be great.

In terms of the schools, thoughts on the high school? Do kids tend to be college bound? Are there any nuancee differences between the three elementary schools?

[dr.strangelove]

Originally Posted by Redchairs

Thoughts on the Ossining community and schools? Any information about political leanings of the community, feel of the town, things for kids to do would be great.

In terms of the schools, thoughts on the high school? Do kids tend to be college bound? Are there any nuancee differences between the three elementary schools?

Neighborhood impacts the things you discuss greatly. Parts have a very small town feel, like the Indian Village section (so named for the tribal based street names), other parts feel dense and urban. Politically, the town is democratic. I do not remember a republican in the race for mayor or town board. The HS is not great compared to the southern westchester towns, but it is a solid school. I will say, its what you make of it. If your kid is a hard worker who is focused, they can do great and get a great education for a bit of a deal on taxes compared to other towns. But, if they are distracted easily, it can be tough. There is an urban feel to the school, with high density, higher racial and ethnic diversity than most of the rest of the county and typical high school problems for a dense area. But there are solid academic programs, good ap and college credits available. The sports, especially womens sports, are very competitive. As for the elementary schoo, cannot help you much.

I think in addition to Ossining, you should consider croton. Its the next stop on the train, maybe 4 -6 minutes further of a commute, better school and similar price point for most areas. Good luck.

[Weapon X]

My kids attended Park School and Brookside up to 2nd grade. I was very happy with the schools, not so happy with the taxes, so I moved to NC.

[KathyNY76]

Ossining goes by the Princeton system - elementary schools are by grade not neighborhood, so all children will attend all elementary schools over the years.

It's very racially and economically diverse. The schools get bad score because of the large immigrant population taking standardized tests in a second language. But my kids have done very well in the schools and I'm pleased (upper middle class, college educated parents). Are there areas that could be improved, sure. But that's true everywhere. The Science Research program at the high school has been recognized nationally for years. It's a highly competitive program and not all students participate, but the high level programs are available for those who need (and want) them. Many students go on to college - they regularly send kids to all the Ivies and last year's valedictorian is at MIT. That said, again, the numbers don't tell the whole story b/c the district often encourages new immigrants to take an extra year at the high school to better their English skills, so the 4 year graduation rate gets skewed.

While there are mostly (actually, probably all) Democrats voted into office currently, but there have been Republicans in the ballot in all the recent local elections, as well. I'd say definitely more left-leaning, BUT it's not in your face. It's not something that comes up in general convo...

Lots of stuff for the family to do - between town recreation, school PTAs, parks, etc.