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Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
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I'm a student teacher in NYC public schools and I'm going to be a teacher in the city. I'm in a school that's not a particularly great area, but the school is pretty decent. I was impressed when I saw this school that only got a 4/10 ranking on a website.
There are great areas in the city for schools. Region 3 (eastern Queens) have very good public schools, as well as lower Manhattan (neighborhoods like Soho, Gramercy, Chinatown). Also the upper east side, some of upper west side. I would say that a good majority of the schools in decent neighborhoods are comparable to Long Island.
If you do send them to public school, be very involved so they can apply to a good middle school for 6th grade. The kids get much much more rowdy in middle school and high school (worse in middle school though). That's why I'm saying to get involved in your childrens' education so they can apply to a good public middle school and high school.
Some people I student teach with are products of city public schools, so not all of them can be bad, right?
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
8,900 posts, read 15,942,478 times
Reputation: 1819
Here are some very helpful websites I have saved:
A site for all NYC public schools where parents/teachers/principals rate the school. This site has done reviews of these schools after going into them.
there is a map of the regions of public schools all over the city. Look into the regions I tell you and the schools in them. Region 3 is notoriously very good, which is what I said in my last post. They're doing away with regions next school year, but just check out the schools in that Region. Also, there are decent ones in pockets of 4, and in Region 7, district 20 (some real nice suburban-esque towns in Brookyln). Also, Region 9, District 1:
There's also this site, where mostly parents write reviews and rate the school in different aspects. Also shows the test scores each year, and the demographics:
Yeah not everyone is Catholic, that's why they have Jewish schools. Otherwise there is generally no excuse for not sending your kids to the local parochial school.
Parochial schools today are what public schools used to be 40-50 years ago. The public schools of today are basically where people in public housing and recent immigrants send their kids for free day-care. No learning will take place there though.
I agree with Rachel that there are some good public schools out there but they are, as she pointed out, in areas such as Eastern Queens (Bayside/Whitestone) where small little dinky houses are going for $1,000,000 and more. If you move to the 'burbs in New Jersey or Westchester and pay $1 mil for a house you can be guaranteed to be in one of the top-25 school districts in the state. Pay $1 mil in NYC for a house, and get a good school? Maybe....maybe not so much...it all depends.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Viralmd
That's really NOT TRUE. I was born in NYC and went to school here. I live in NYC, I work in NYC and my friends live in NYC. Not everyone considers parochial school acceptable. Not everyone is Catholic and there are GOOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS. If there aren't good public schools in a district you can look into private schools that have no religious affiliation.
If OP had been more specific I could have been more specific with a reply. Five years ago I knew of 2 good elementary schools in Brooklyn but with three kids the thread starter might not be able to find an affordable apartment in those areas. She did not bother to say that money was no object. One of these schools was in Park Slope which is pricey for anything more than a one-bedroom and yes there is a park nearby. This school is not similar to a suburban elementary school in the sense that the classroom sizes are larger and the level of parental involvement is not as great as in a typical suburban school.
Public middle schools in NYC are really bad and anyone in the know will confirm this. Yes the schools are used as a babysitter by many and the classroom size is way too large to produce a decent learning environment for a young child. You can find exceptions to the rule but you will still be compromising to a degree. There are people who may still find that it is worth it and that's great but by middle school they are in a new world with very few decent options.
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
8,900 posts, read 15,942,478 times
Reputation: 1819
Some schools have decent class size. I student teach at an elementary/middle school in midtown west in Manhattan (a pretty crowded area), and class size is only around 18-23 kids for the younger grades, and about 21-28 for the older kids. Long Island schools are still very crowded too. I went to more or less the top rated elementary on Long Island in the early 90s and many of my classes had 30 students.
Manhattan and Brooklyn are not easy to do with 3 young kids even with money. Those areas are out of reach for most people $$ wise. Eastern Queens or even lower Westchester will afford more space and options. Living with 3 small kids in lower/mid Manhatten is not realistic for most people these days much less practical. There are many more children in areas that are not so high income and the class sizes would be affected by that.
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
8,900 posts, read 15,942,478 times
Reputation: 1819
I thought Brooklyn was generally cheaper than Queens? the rents there seem to be lower than in Queens (areas I've looked into are Bay Ridge, Williamsburg). I probably won't move to Brooklyn, I was just curious.
I don't want to stray too off-topic, but I asked this thinking that it may help the author of the thread.
The more desirable Brooklyn neighborhoods are actually more $$ then the best Queens hoods. This has been true for at least the last 20 years. Bay Ridge was fairly reasonable fifteen years ago. But it was not considered hip then and it was too far from Manhattan so it was still a decent deal. It has gotten more expensive now but not to the level of say Park Slope. There are a few Brooklyn places that are o.k. for families with moderate income. I would say the schools overall are better in the high priced sections-especially elementary schools. Queens seems to have more moderately priced areas(with less extremes) and since outer Queens feels more burbish it would be easier to navigate with three small kids. IMHO.
Thank to all of you for this information.
The website www.insideschools (broken link) is very interesting and gives a good insight of the schools.
My husband and I are going to further study all your input, especially in Brooklyn and Queens.
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
8,900 posts, read 15,942,478 times
Reputation: 1819
Eastern Queens may have more of a suburban feel, but remember, you have to take a pretty long bus ride to the subway. It isn't too convenient if you plan on using public transportation. Best schools are in that area of Queens though. It should be okay if you plan to mostly drive.
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