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Just looking for some pros and cons of living in Rye Brook. Any help would be appreciated. Also does anyone know anything specifically about the Pine Ridge area of Rye Brook and Ridge Street elementary?
I am working with a broker who has lived in Rye Brook for many years-since inception-she knows the ins and outs of anything and everything there-including schools from her own family.
Give me your email address and I'll give you her contact info. She can definitely help you.
Among the cons, it doesn't have it's own train station.
Among the pros, the schools are constantly rated among the best in Westchester.
Of course they are rated the among the best in Westchester. When you have a lily-white student body, homes that sell for $500,000 and up, and no rentals or multi-family houses, what would you expect?
Of course they are rated the among the best in Westchester. When you have a lily-white student body, homes that sell for $500,000 and up, and no rentals or multi-family houses, what would you expect?
That's not a very fair characterization.
1 -- The racial demographic -- The schools are about 92% white. Certainly a high proportion, but very comparable to a ton of other Westchester districts. Eastchester, for example, is 86% white. Bronxville is 95% white. Armonk (Byram Hills) is 94% white. Katonah is 94% white. Rye is 87%. Just to cite some examples.
2--- Homes that sell for $500,000 and up. That's almost every district in Westchester. And median prices in Rye Brook are actually a fair amount lower than many other parts of the county.
3-- Lack of rentals and multi-family houses. Obviously, not as much a rental area as a place like White Plains, but no different than most other towns in the county. A quick search online, finds plenty of rentals available. Rye Book also has several townhome communities. (And there are some multi-family homes, but not many).
So certainly, you couldn't compare the demographics of Rye Brook with Mount Vernon, but it is quite comparable to a great many other Westchester towns. (With home prices lower than many of those towns).
Yet, their test scores and college placement are typically among the very best in the county. For example, 2009 SAT scores, were 3rd in the County. The schools earn perfect scores from sources like greatschools.org
Of course demographics has something to do with it. Has quite a bit to do with it. But Rye Brook often outperforms other school districts with very similar demographics.
That's not a very fair characterization.
1 -- The racial demographic -- The schools are about 92% white. Certainly a high proportion, but very comparable to a ton of other Westchester districts. Eastchester, for example, is 86% white. Bronxville is 95% white. Armonk (Byram Hills) is 94% white. Katonah is 94% white. Rye is 87%. Just to cite some examples.
2--- Homes that sell for $500,000 and up. That's almost every district in Westchester. And median prices in Rye Brook are actually a fair amount lower than many other parts of the county.
3-- Lack of rentals and multi-family houses. Obviously, not as much a rental area as a place like White Plains, but no different than most other towns in the county. A quick search online, finds plenty of rentals available. Rye Book also has several townhome communities. (And there are some multi-family homes, but not many).
So certainly, you couldn't compare the demographics of Rye Brook with Mount Vernon, but it is quite comparable to a great many other Westchester towns. (With home prices lower than many of those towns).
Yet, their test scores and college placement are typically among the very best in the county. For example, 2009 SAT scores, were 3rd in the County. The schools earn perfect scores from sources like greatschools.org
Of course demographics has something to do with it. Has quite a bit to do with it. But Rye Brook often outperforms other school districts with very similar demographics.
Baloney.
I live in Eastchester. Sure we have well-off people. But we have lots of struggling people who rent in apartment buildings and 2-family houses, or own relatively inexpensive coops (ever hear of Garth Road?). Many did not attend college, and cannot give their kids the advantages that most Rye Brook kids have.
Of course Rye Brook is a good school district. But do you honestly think that Rye Brook can turn a kid who would do average in another district into an Ivy leaguer? Is the Rye Brook algebra teacher better than the Eastchester algebra teacher?
A hard-working smart kid is a hard-working smart kid. A slacker is a slacker. Plenty of Rye Brook kids attend "average" colleges. Why? Because they are average.
There are a few "rough" school districts in Westchester. But for the most part, brilliant kids are going to get into top colleges, whether they attend Rye Brook, Chappaqua, Ossining, Tarrytown or Valhalla.
I live in Eastchester. Sure we have well-off people. But we have lots of struggling people who rent in apartment buildings and 2-family houses, or own relatively inexpensive coops (ever hear of Garth Road?). Many did not attend college, and cannot give their kids the advantages that most Rye Brook kids have.
Of course Rye Brook is a good school district. But do you honestly think that Rye Brook can turn a kid who would do average in another district into an Ivy leaguer? Is the Rye Brook algebra teacher better than the Eastchester algebra teacher?
A hard-working smart kid is a hard-working smart kid. A slacker is a slacker. Plenty of Rye Brook kids attend "average" colleges. Why? Because they are average.
There are a few "rough" school districts in Westchester. But for the most part, brilliant kids are going to get into top colleges, whether they attend Rye Brook, Chappaqua, Ossining, Tarrytown or Valhalla.
This is a discussion that has gone in circles many and many times. There is no point in repeating it yet again. Suffice it to say, that there are many factors that go into academic performance and achievement -- from the student's genetics, to the environment and influence of their parents, to the advantages of wealth, and of course impact of the schools.
Putting aside whether such parents are right or wrong, many parents would prefer to have their children in a top achieving school district, whether or not the school quality is the cause of the achievement. (Even if teachers are just as good in 2 places, many parents may prefer to have their children surrounded by academic achievers, and might actually want the peer pressure that it breeds). Further, there is certainly reason to believe that there may be benefits in being in a top performing school district -- From better retention of property values, to a school district less likely to have budget shortfalls (though this year, no school district seems immune), even to a perception that because a school is filled with overachievers, it is able to offer more advanced placement options, etc, etc.
All getting back to my original statement, which was simply that Rye Brook schools are top rated -- among the best rated in Westchester consistently -- beating out school districts that are equally (or even moreso) white, wealthy, and single-family-owned. There are many reasons that a buyer-family could consider it to be a pro.
Just to supplement the Demographics, since you seem most curious about an Eastchester/Rye Brook comparison, according to wikipedia:
Rye Brook is 92% white, Eastchester is 87% white. Rye Brook has a median household income in $99,000, and Eastchester has a median household income of $101,000. So it seems that Rye Brook is a teeny tiny bit more "white" than Eastchester, while Eastchester is actually a tiny bit wealthier than Rye Brook.
Just to supplement the Demographics, since you seem most curious about an Eastchester/Rye Brook comparison, according to wikipedia:
Rye Brook is 92% white, Eastchester is 87% white. Rye Brook has a median household income in $99,000, and Eastchester has a median household income of $101,000. So it seems that Rye Brook is a teeny tiny bit more "white" than Eastchester, while Eastchester is actually a tiny bit wealthier than Rye Brook.
Really? Didn't know all those people living in $200,000 coops had higher incomes than the people living in $700,000 houses in Rye Brook. This is really remarkable. Also, Rye Brook includes a big hunk of the Port Chester School district. You forgot about that.
Listen. I give up. You live in Rye Brook. Your kids will get into Harvard and become successuful Wall Street tycoons. Had they gone to Eastchester or Lakeland or Yorktown they would have become street sweepers. You win.
Really? Didn't know all those people living in $200,000 coops had higher incomes than the people living in $700,000 houses in Rye Brook. This is really remarkable. Also, Rye Brook includes a big hunk of the Port Chester School district. You forgot about that.
Listen. I give up. You live in Rye Brook. Your kids will get into Harvard and become successuful Wall Street tycoons. Had they gone to Eastchester or Lakeland or Yorktown they would have become street sweepers. You win.
No, the Demographics I cited were almost totally for the Rye Brook school district. (If it included a big hunk of Port Chester, it probably wouldn't be 91% white). Overall, in terms of median income, Rye Brook is quite similar to Eastchester. I suspect there are more differences at the far ends. Certainly, Eastchester has more renters than Rye Brook.
I don't live in Rye Brook. I don't care about winning or losing. Someone asked about pros and cons of Rye Brook. One of the pros is that Rye Brook has top rated schools. I was not trying to start a debate about comparing it to Eastchester. I was not saying to anybody, that if they went to Rye Brook, their kids are guaranteed to get into Harvard. Someone asked about the pros of Rye Brook, and I gave a very honest answer -- Their schools are consistently among the very top rated in Westchester.
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