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Is the Fox Lane school district aligned with Pound Ridge as good as the Katonah-Lewi system? Or is it better? What are the differences? Thanks for your help.
Just my two cents, but I believe that John Jay (Katonah-Lewisboro school district) is considered to be much better than Fox Lane (Bedford School District). Again, just my opinion
There are some great homes in Montrose/Croton area within that price limit and very close to the train and major highways. Hendrick Hudson School Dist. is always a plus when selling a home in this area. Just a thought outside of Katonah and Somers.
Katonah-Lewisboro is generally regarded as a better district than Fox Lane. Fox Lane is a decent school, but its population draws from areas that are not as homogenous as Katonah-Lewisboro, particularly parts of Mount Kisco and Bedford Hills. I know people who used the public school system who moved from one side of the Town of Bedford to the other, in order to be zoned for John Jay as opposed to Fox Lane, and then others who bypassed Fox Lane with private schools after using some of the Bedford Central elementary schools.
There are people that PAY to send their children to Katonah Lewisboro Schools. I have had the pleasure of working in this school district and can tell you personally that this is one of the most advances schools I have ever seen. I know of only one other school that has more to offer a student and that is Arlington High School, but thats a completely different area and that school is more in line with a college rather than High School.
I would not say affluence is a factor in producing better results with children, but K/L has used the money it collects in all the right places.
I do not think you could go wrong with either location, but ultimately the price of homes may push you toward one school district or another with either being capable of giving your future children a great start.
Katonah is a good choice. and if you only plan on two kids, then you really only need the house you are going for. Mod cut: not the place for consumer complaints John Jay is an amazing school and Harvey is just a free ride.
Last edited by Viralmd; 08-13-2009 at 05:05 AM..
Reason: not the place for consumer complaints
I have one kid that went through the John Jay since kindergarten and one that is now at Harvey; after the disappointing education at John Jay such as 30 kids in a class, teachers that don't know the kids names, no fields to play at so no practices, uninspiring teachers that can't teach. Even the principal told me that the school is centered around the teachers and not the students because the school is so big.
Harvey is much better than John Jay on all counts. Teachers make learning fun and interesting, inspiring lifelong learners. My kid has learned more in a year at Harvey with a logical and well balanced curriculum than I ever imagined possible at John Jay. Oh, and by the way, my kid is learning Latin and is inspired and interested in it - well as in subjects I thought would never be of interest, like poetry!!!!
There are lots of nice kids at Harvey too. Like any school, there some are nice and some might not be; but I haven't heard any of that yet.
Is the Fox Lane school district aligned with Pound Ridge as good as the Katonah-Lewi system? Or is it better? What are the differences? Thanks for your help.
The differences arise from Bedford Central being vastly more heterogeneous ("diverse") than K-L because it encompasses Mt Kisco. The large immigrant population results in huge amounts of money being spent on EFL and diluted test scores. KL is affluent, white bread. So, if you judge by test scores or statistics, Fox Lane will suffer. However, if your kids are college bound to begin with, the quality of instruction, curriculum and college outcomes will be indistinguishable.
There are enormous numbers of kids at Fox Lane whose parents could afford to send them anywhere and yet choose FL because it's not an isolated pre-college incubatorium like John Jay and Horace Greeley. Every year FL sends kids to all the ivies and high end liberal arts colleges (Middlebury, Amherst, Middlebury, etc.). And don't think for 1 second that kids in JJ are less exposed to drugs, drinking or other evils.
FWIW, the Harvey vs John Jay really is an apples and oranges story IMO. They're so different in every way that I'm not sure what the comparison really means.
PRES, by the way, continues to be excellent. My kids went there and it was excellent then and still is from everything I've heard. It's a draw for Pound Ridge.
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John Jay and Harvey
