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Hi folks- I'm trying to figure out a town with the following characteristics:
- Racial diversity
- 1 hr commute to NYC
- Good amount of motivated students/parents. ie. where my 2nd grader will be challenged by her peers.
- Schools that offer a challenging curriculum and where there are several kids in these programs.
How does one go about picking out school districts based on how competitive and challenging the curriculum is? I'm in a small town in Bergen Country right now and we have a decent commute, but I'm not happy with the peer set or the racial diversity in my town. I really want my 2nd grader to feel the need to put in more effort. ie. I need to see just a wee bit more competition. Ideas? Thoughts?
You mean up to a one hour commute correct? Checkout Westfield,New Providence Maplewood.
Outside of the USA a young grads educational background is of paramount importance. This is equally important for many career paths right here in the NYC metro.
Do you desire for your child to do well in life or be the best at what he/she does?
The answer to that question is why some parents might push for the best possible circumstances even at an early age.
Sure, colleges and employers are totally looking at whether your kid went to Kumon so they could read in kindergarten. Competitive level of your second grade? Pfft. Don't even THINK of applying to an ivy league if your kid wasn't in one of the top two elementary schools in the state.
Thanks for all your inputs. To clarify, I'm not pushing my child. She's bored in her school. She isn't challenged enough. We aren't putting her in kumon but yes we do make her do extra math at home, purely because she seems to enjoy 'knowing' more.
Any thoughts on north Caldwell or the new Providence area?
Thanks. Yes we've been considering new Providence. Would you happen to know how does NP compare to north Caldwell?
Sorry for the earlier snark. We moved from Manhattan, and the hyper-competitive nonsense still irks. I do understand having a kid who is bored in school, but even the top schools probably aren't going to offer what it seems you're looking for for your child - at least not at this age. All of the neighborhoods listed have great opportunities for kids outside of school (and all of them have what are considered to be very good schools).
New Providence usually edges out the schools in our town (Berkeley Heights) by a nose. We just attended an open house for high school, and I was really impressed by what they have to offer, though. Governor Livingston has over 60 clubs, an award-winning marching band (as well as concert and jazz band), 28 AP courses (10 of the 12 kids who took the AP calculus test got a perfect score), some crazy number of electives that I don't remember, a number of foreign languages as well as American Sign Language... and I think most of the schools around have similar offerings, so there will be plenty to challenge your daughter at that point.
North Caldwell goes to West Essex High School. Every ranking source uses different data, but here's one who lists New Providence High School as #13, and West Essex as #55. Maplewood comes in at #64. https://patch.com/new-jersey/morrist...j-monthly-list
On the diversity issue, New Providence isn't as diverse as Maplewood, but has more minorities than North Caldwell.
Thanks for all your inputs. To clarify, I'm not pushing my child. She's bored in her school. She isn't challenged enough. We aren't putting her in kumon but yes we do make her do extra math at home, purely because she seems to enjoy 'knowing' more.
Any thoughts on north Caldwell or the new Providence area?
What exactly you mean by challenging enough? Every kid shows interest in one area but you are putting it out like she is learning 1+1=2 in her class.
Maybe homeschooling would be a better option for you, new challenge every day.
OP, I don't know where you live so maybe you have lots of reasons for wanting a different school.
I will say though, don't be put off by the curriculum in the earlier grades. Some kids will be ahead for a while, but things increase in difficulty later. And they start grouping kids, then by middle school there are all sorts of different classes.
It's not a bad idea to do extra math at home if she has the time. And read, read, read! That's the best thing to do IMO, even better than math
But whether you decide to move or not, just chill for a few years. Things pick up later
Two things:
Why do people want to push such young kids so hard at so early an age? Competetive? In second grade? Kumon in kindergarten? These poor kids. Kids learn more by "playing" than any other activity at this age. Let them play. Let them figure out things to do on their own. My boys (9 and 10) built football uprights this summer out of some scrap lumber because they had nothing else to do. They had to re-do parts of it two or three times, but eventually they got the physics of it right and had a fairly sturdy goalpost. Don't worry so much about the academics. Not at this age, anyway.
As to reading by the end of kindergarten... one of mine did, two didn't. My fourth grader, who DIDN'T read in kindergarten, is reading at a seventh grade level. My middle-school kid read 'To Kill a Mockingbird' last year because she wanted to. Just read to them - a lot. Unless there's some other issue (dyslexia, irregular saccades, etc.) they'll get there.
Baking cookies can be a math lesson. Reading and rereading their favorite story is a reading and spelling lesson. My young son liked to dissect dead small appliances. He had to tell me what size screwdriver sizes he was using. Flat head or Phillips head?
You learn their strengths and work with their weaknesses.
OP, I don't know where you live so maybe you have lots of reasons for wanting a different school.
I will say though, don't be put off by the curriculum in the earlier grades. Some kids will be ahead for a while, but things increase in difficulty later. And they start grouping kids, then by middle school there are all sorts of different classes.
It's not a bad idea to do extra math at home if she has the time. And read, read, read! That's the best thing to do IMO, even better than math
But whether you decide to move or not, just chill for a few years. Things pick up later
Thanks for the advice 😊
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