Rockville Centre vs. Garden City (New York, Nassau: real estate, houses, school districts)

[nturn]

In addition to Westchester county, we are also considering moving to Long Island. We have narrowed it down to Rockville Centre or Garden City. The Rockville Centre high school seems pretty bad -lowish test scores, a relatively high (10%) of the population is eligable for free lunch, etc. Can anyone compare the two towns? Am I crazy for even considering Rockville Centre given the poor school stats (education is very important to us). We are from out of the area, so don't know much about the different towns. Thanks.

[Pequaman]

RVC is not even close to a bad district. It's one of the best in the country, along with Garden City. Where are you getting those scores from?

As far as areas are concerned, Garden City is a nicer area overall (minus the Meadow Street section in GC).

[twingles]

I used to live in GC. It's a toss up. I think your worries about the schools are unfounded. Go with whichever you like better, find the better house for the money, offers the better commute, etc etc. You're kinda splitting hairs once you've worked it down to those two.

Both have sections you'd want to avoid. As pp noted, areas around Meadow in GC.

[Walter Greenspan]

nturn, you might find the following threads to be of some help:

//www.city-data.com/forum/long-...le-centre.html

//www.city-data.com/forum/long-...rden-city.html

//www.city-data.com/forum/long-island/69437-garden-city-vs-rockville-centre.

[nturn]

Thanks! Looks like this question has been asked before. I am just genuinely curious as to whether people think South Side is a good school?

[Goodnight]

Some info below from NY State Education Department from 2004-2005

Nassau County School Districts 2004-2005

Also some basic info from the NY Times

Garden City High School - New York State Test Scores - The New York Times

Both districts are pretty close, you may end up making your decision on other things.

[ydsavaged]

In addition to Westchester...nice to have money.

[JoeyQueens]

If you fear people who get free lunch, GC is your better option.

[Chaotic Century]

Originally Posted by nturn

Thanks! Looks like this question has been asked before. I am just genuinely curious as to whether people think South Side is a good school?

As another poster said, where on earth are you getting your stats? South Side is consistently ranked as one of the top high schools in the country. Real estate values for RVC houses within the school district soar as compared to comparable RVC houses outside of it. One of the biggest selling points of the town is its school district.