Ardsley nursery schools (Binghamton, Scarsdale, Dobbs Ferry: buying, middle school, university)

[nadia32]

Does any have any insight on nursery schools in Ardsley? Anyone know anything about Ardsley Community Nursery? Please PM- thanks!!!!

[jriley73]

I went to nursery school in Ardsley many moons ago--the one on American Legion Dr., off Ashford Avenue!

If memory serves, it was a fantastic place. Shortly after I went there, they built the library right next door to it. Almost all of the kids I went to nursery school with ended up graduating from Ardsley High with me and going to great colleges. One of them was actually the valedictorian. Some kids went to Montessori schools early on and joined up with us later.

The following is just my perspective on Ardsley as a place to live, for anyone considering buying there...

Ardsley was quite academically competitive back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and this is even more the case now. At the nursery school, we spent a lot of time playing Star Wars and making Play-Doh. Now, the kids are probably learning Chinese and algebra....

I went to Concord Road Elementary, Ardsley Middle School, and Ardsley High, graduating in the early 90s. Back then, the classes were very small--only about 100 in my senior class, but enrollment is way up now. The middle school was the best of the three schools, in my opinion, but my perspective is based on what it was long ago.

About 20% of my graduating class went to Ivy league or some top-notch equivalent (Berkeley, U of Chicago, Notre Dame). I had no idea that this was unusual until years later. Back then, seniors who were going to SUNY Binghamton, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, or Lehigh were considered only "average students," even though those are all terrific schools!

The ethnic mix was a lot of Jewish kids, Italians and Irish, and some Asians. Sadly, there weren't many black or hispanic families. Some people were working class/blue collar back then, but this is probably no longer the case.

It wasn't really a sports school, per se, but the baseball and softball teams were strong (very good little league program), and the music program was very good, too.

Bottom line: Ardsley schools are stellar, so I don't think you can go wrong with the public school system, and the community is very safe for kids. The downsides are the traffic, the insane housing prices/taxes, and the fact that it's not really a very scenic town (the highways have made it a little ugly, to be honest). Hastings and Irvington are prettier, but I'm not sure the schools are quite as good. Dobbs is a slight step below, in my opinion, but still a great place to live (especially if you live in Dobbs but live on Northfield Ave. or some other area zoned for Ardsley schools).

Of course, there are Westchester school systems that are just as good or even better--Scarsdale, Chappaqua--but I can't even imagine how expensive those must be by now.

Good luck!

[ceskykrumlov]

I don't know anything about that particular school but just wanted to let you know that I visited the Community Nursery School in Dobbs Ferry (at 343 Broadway) and I really, really loved it. They have a progressive curriculum, programs for 2s through 5s, and wonderful play areas both outdoors and indoors.