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I am looking to move out of the Cheektowaga area where the school district is not the greatest as I am sure you are aware.
Anyway now I am starting to of some other option. What do you think of the school district on Amherst Zip Code 14226? Which part of Amherst should I stay away from?
Thank you in advance to everyone.
Ceci
We have sold a few single family homes in the 14226 area code because of the school system. Last one we sold, parents are like you, they wanted Williamsville but didn't want to spend everything they had on living in the area. Some people who do not live in that area or never spend much time around there will tell you the 14226 area is bad and to stay away because there are more visible minorities in the area. The school system is not failing, the property values of homes are not going down and there is also bidding wars in this area for the homes. You can check the Amherst central district report card online to get an idea of how students perform on Regents exams. This is actually one of my favorite areas to buy rehabs in because its a guaranteed sell after a few showings. The majority of the houses in this area are smaller in square footage than what you will find in Williamsville, this is the main reason they are lower in price. Typical middle class neighborhood homes of 1000 to 1300 square feet and you still get great yards and safe neighborhoods. Most of the houses we come across are well maintained and this has helped keep the prices up and keep the area stable. Have fun house shopping, you have a LOT of options out there for your price range.
Amherst CSD has slipped in the BizFirst rankings since 2008 but don't take my word for it, Google it. Seeing as how that is how housing is marketed (based on school districts) house prices may be going up but are not keeping pace with inflation (or are just at pace) which really means they are not rising. Of course, if you look at the school report cards, they will tell you how many kids are passing regents exams, but they don't tell you how many kids are offered them.
So, there is a disincentive for schools wanting to look good on paper to not offer kids challenging, "non-required" coursework for fear that they may fail. Just compare numbers of kids taking non-required regents to required regents and that will give you some idea of how the school tracks kids.
To be fair, it is apples and oranges when comparing an urban school district like BPS and suburban/rural school district that doesn't have the same issues. This may be another reason for county school districts in NY, along with the school taxes aspect.
Actually, many rural districts have the same issues that the BPS has: high percentages of poor and special needs students that suck up very limited resources and depress academic achievement. The difference is that the BPS worsens its own results by segregating the best students into a handful of schools and essentially warehousing the rest. It's why schools like City Honors and Hutch Tech will have 4 year grade rates of 96-100% and other schools like Grover and Lafayette are lucky to graduate even half their students in 4 years.
I was a middle school teacher for nearly a decade at 3 different schools. I saw how the lack of expectations on the part of teachers and principals as well as the lack of competition at the top end of the performance spectrum has a very depressing effect on student achievement, and to some extent, negatively affects classroom behavior. It's why I oppose tracking within a school and within a school system.
County school districts are not practical in Upstate New York because of the size of counties. Erie County is about a 1000 square miles, about 25 miles east/west and 40 miles north/south. The Southern Tier counties -- Chatauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Steuben -- are bigger, about 1200 square miles or more each, or 30 miles east-west and 40 miles north-south. The North Country counties are generally huge, and the Catskill Counties are quite large as well. All of these areas are thinly populated, too.
It makes much more sense for neighboring schools districts to combine/share resources than for children to be bused 25-30 miles one way to attend a "county" school just to conform to a political boundary. The original laws establishing central school districts recognized this, so you find rural and some suburban districts sprawling over a number of towns and even counties as well as some towns and even cities being divided up into multiple school districts.
Two or three years ago, the state government gave permission for local school districts to form regional high schools which would be supported by 3 or 4 or more school districts because the prospects of merging more schools districts are not very good, primarily because of concerns about busing elementary and middle school students.
We have sold a few single family homes in the 14226 area code because of the school system. Last one we sold, parents are like you, they wanted Williamsville but didn't want to spend everything they had on living in the area. Some people who do not live in that area or never spend much time around there will tell you the 14226 area is bad and to stay away because there are more visible minorities in the area. The school system is not failing, the property values of homes are not going down and there is also bidding wars in this area for the homes. You can check the Amherst central district report card online to get an idea of how students perform on Regents exams. This is actually one of my favorite areas to buy rehabs in because its a guaranteed sell after a few showings. The majority of the houses in this area are smaller in square footage than what you will find in Williamsville, this is the main reason they are lower in price. Typical middle class neighborhood homes of 1000 to 1300 square feet and you still get great yards and safe neighborhoods. Most of the houses we come across are well maintained and this has helped keep the prices up and keep the area stable. Have fun house shopping, you have a LOT of options out there for your price range.
Exactly. This is also true west of NFB in Tonawanda.
Amherst CSD has slipped in the BizFirst rankings since 2008 but don't take my word for it, Google it. Seeing as how that is how housing is marketed (based on school districts) house prices may be going up but are not keeping pace with inflation (or are just at pace) which really means they are not rising. Of course, if you look at the school report cards, they will tell you how many kids are passing regents exams, but they don't tell you how many kids are offered them.
So, there is a disincentive for schools wanting to look good on paper to not offer kids challenging, "non-required" coursework for fear that they may fail. Just compare numbers of kids taking non-required regents to required regents and that will give you some idea of how the school tracks kids.
OH, STOP with the disingenuous bull manure!!! Why should BizFirst rankings be taken as gospel and NYSED's rejected, which is what you pretty much did upthread?
You have absolutely no proof that suburban schools are discouraging students from taking non-required Regents exams!
The top rated suburban school districts slipping when they are still at the top really isn't an argument to support going to the BPS instead...that's like saying Yale has been slipping since 2008 and currently stands 8th in the nation, so you should go to ECC!
Actually, Linda_D, if you look at the numbers in NYSED's report card, Buffalo is doing better than most urban districts that don't "track" their students. But frankly those numbers don't mean much. Pretty much ALL school admins today are more concerned with looking good on paper versus actually educating. I don't support BizFirst rankings but many people on the MB DO. Those people DO use them as a MARKETING tool and use them to inform prospective transplants about "more desirable" and "less desirable" areas of WNY (NYSED's results could be used in the same way, people are just less familiar with them). Since that's the case, Amherst CSD has fallen in rank and thus the valuation of the property is also declining (relative to the rate of inflation). Why? Because the average wealth of the inhabitants has declined. Just as in SweetHome, Cheektowaga, et. al. (first ring burbs). Lancaster, a 2nd ring burb, has climbed in the BizFirst rankings. Why? Because of the wealth of the inhabitants. People who used "school rankings" as a way to value their house are going to be in for a rude awakening.
Actually, many rural districts are NOT beset with the same problems as BPS because there is also a language issue that may not affect some poorer rural districts, (i.e. not the same number of minority / ELL students). However, when you look at Gowanda, or Salamanca, yes, you have not only similar problems, but similar results. Not really any better than BPS, so meh.
And for half the cost, I have 1500 sq. ft, I live a block away from a huge park where I take my kids to play and have a safe neighborhood where, *gasp*, my kids ride their bikes on their own. Those things are not the sole propriety of suburban areas. The houses on my street are well maintained and the neighborhood is stable.
For anyone else, I really don't care where you live. I don't care if you want to live in a farm, or a cave, or in a McMansion, or in a bungalow, city, suburban, underwater. Just don't say it's "for the schools" because it's basically a non-argument.
The top rated suburban school districts slipping when they are still at the top really isn't an argument to support going to the BPS instead...that's like saying Yale has been slipping since 2008 and currently stands 8th in the nation, so you should go to ECC!
Yes, but if you bought a house on the premise that the "schools are good or #1" based on those rankings and the schools have slipped in rankings then so will the value of your house. People have been insisting for a few decades that was the reason they were moving to the suburbs, school quality. Sweethome has fallen from something like 12th to 37th in BizFirst from '08. So have house prices. Amherst CSD is falling in rank, so have house prices. Similary with Ken-Ton and others.
To be honest, you don't need to "go" anywhere to become educated. The libraries have a wealth of resources. You "go" somewhere to get credentialed. There's an important distinction.
Libraries are there but how can you measure comprehension without testing and schooling? I can read about Calculus and Physics everyday at the library but still not get it....that's what degrees are for. You don't have to explain to me about credentials, I have plenty and so do those who work with me, its just necessary these days for most fields. Back to the topic, I bought a house because I liked the house, I don't have kids but most homebuyers of my home do and therefore it is important to me to some extent. Nobody seeks out the BPS district and that is the whole premise of this argument, when people move up, they usually move to the suburbs of which all surrounding the City have better systems. Sure there are outliers like City Honors, but we are talking about the majority of schools here, and not everyone is going to get into CH anyway even if they wanted to.
Actually, many rural districts have the same issues that the BPS has: high percentages of poor and special needs students that suck up very limited resources and depress academic achievement. The difference is that the BPS worsens its own results by segregating the best students into a handful of schools and essentially warehousing the rest. It's why schools like City Honors and Hutch Tech will have 4 year grade rates of 96-100% and other schools like Grover and Lafayette are lucky to graduate even half their students in 4 years.
I was a middle school teacher for nearly a decade at 3 different schools. I saw how the lack of expectations on the part of teachers and principals as well as the lack of competition at the top end of the performance spectrum has a very depressing effect on student achievement, and to some extent, negatively affects classroom behavior. It's why I oppose tracking within a school and within a school system.
County school districts are not practical in Upstate New York because of the size of counties. Erie County is about a 1000 square miles, about 25 miles east/west and 40 miles north/south. The Southern Tier counties -- Chatauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Steuben -- are bigger, about 1200 square miles or more each, or 30 miles east-west and 40 miles north-south. The North Country counties are generally huge, and the Catskill Counties are quite large as well. All of these areas are thinly populated, too.
It makes much more sense for neighboring schools districts to combine/share resources than for children to be bused 25-30 miles one way to attend a "county" school just to conform to a political boundary. The original laws establishing central school districts recognized this, so you find rural and some suburban districts sprawling over a number of towns and even counties as well as some towns and even cities being divided up into multiple school districts.
Two or three years ago, the state government gave permission for local school districts to form regional high schools which would be supported by 3 or 4 or more school districts because the prospects of merging more schools districts are not very good, primarily because of concerns about busing elementary and middle school students.
I was thinking culturally in terms of ESL and other social aspects like violence/trauma that plagues certain neighborhoods.
With the county SD thing, it can have some flexibility in terms of zones, which would limits long trips to schools. You could also use the Minnesota/Wisconsin Open Enrollment system, which allows students to go to any school with an open seat and the student is responsible for getting themselves to the school. That tax money also follows the student.
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