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Hello - I have searched and read many posts on here already, and this does not seem to be covered: are the relative rankings of the NY public schools (ie Schooldigger) any indication of absolute quality of education ? For background, we are moving to the USA from England in summer with one elementary school-age child (and one baby). School-age child is currently in a private school with a very strong academic focus. Commuting time to NYC, budget etc all matter of course, but to us are of secondary importance to quality of education, but I also see the value in moving to a suburban community with an immediate circle of classmates in the nearby houses. So given that we can bend all other considerations into shape, which public Westchester elementary schools are as good (academically) as anything in the private sector ?
Public and private schools have subtle but still important differences with regards to operations, priorities and teaching methodologies. You cannot compare the two and there is no public school that is comparable to private schools. The primary difference is that private schools can select their students and public schools cannot. In private schools you can find a class makeup that is more typical of your child's abilities and family's priorities. In public schools, you will find kids from all ends of the spectrum. Also, public schools are gravitating towards more test-driven approaches to measure learning success so expect kids to be taking and preparing for these tests.
Westchester has an abundance of private schools but tuitions are often expensive.
We tried public schooling in England before switching to private, so I have some approximate experience of the difference. What made us switch was the complete lack of ambition in the public school teachers (in our local school, clearly not a sample) to see the children do well academically, in absolute terms. Hitting the local average was enough, which only leads one way. We can provide plenty of home environment support to encourage our children to strive and do well, but I refuse to have it undermined during the day by a government employee targeting a uniform outcome.
So from all the reading I have done here, I wonder if the 'competitive' Scarsdale atmosphere is maybe what I want. I can see Fox Meadow is the the NY state top ten, if not first :-) but what does it actually mean for the SMS and Anderson to be getting 100% of their pupils over the line in maths and English ? Do their kids do well at the next levels of education ? Can you tell anything until it becomes competitive nationally, ie getting into Ivy League ?
The reason why SMS and Anderson can get their students over the line is because they choose among a large pool of strong applicants. Hence, they can afford to raise the bar. The highly competitive admissions process, which brings out the best of each successful student, goes hand in hand with the rigor of the curriculum. Most average kids cannot survive that kind of a pace, even in Scarsdale. If your kid is talented, go to Yonkers to attend PEARLS Hawthorne. I believe it is the only self contained G&T school from PK-8.
so can anything be said about the future path from having attended SMS, Anderson or Hawthorne ? Do those kids excel against other states public systems, or NY private (academic focus) schools ?
Or to take a very local example, I think I read that the various Harrison/Larchwood/Mamoraneck elementaries feed into the same MS and HS (maybe I got that wrong). In which case, do the 5* Schooldigger ratings schools produce the kids who are top of the merged classes ?
so can anything be said about the future path from having attended SMS, Anderson or Hawthorne ? Do those kids excel against other states public systems, or NY private (academic focus) schools ?
Or to take a very local example, I think I read that the various Harrison/Larchwood/Mamoraneck elementaries feed into the same MS and HS (maybe I got that wrong). In which case, do the 5* Schooldigger ratings schools produce the kids who are top of the merged classes ?
Harrison has its own MS and HS. Larchmont and part of Mamaroneck share a MS and HS. The 5* elementary schools reflect overall wealthier and more-educated parent population at those elementary schools. I don't think you can track how those kids do at HS because that is private information, you'll only be able to obtain overall anonymous results for the HS and MS.
so can anything be said about the future path from having attended SMS, Anderson or Hawthorne ? Do those kids excel against other states public systems, or NY private (academic focus) schools ?
I'll answer this part of the post. SMS and Anderson (you can even add Hunter) have long been feeders to NYC's specialized high schools (Stuy, Hunter, BSHS). SMS graduates in particular tend to do well in getting admitted into LGA and Sinatra. I don't have any info. on PEARLS-Hawthorne but I won't be surprised if the outcomes are the same as its NYC counterpart. Maybe instead of feeding into specialized HSs, PH feeds into the various AP and honors programs in the Yonkers district.
SMS students are naturally talented from the time they are selected. They also receive 1 hr. instrumental instruction 2x a week and are expected to practice at least 90 mins/day over and above their schoolwork. It's no surprise that they are very competitive after they graduate.
Not sure how they compare w/ private school students but not having to pay 30K tuition makes it more advantageous financially-speaking.
So maybe there is no objective data about the long term benefits of attending any particular elementary school. At the risk of going off my own topic, can we approach the choice problem from the other angle, and try to look at the bad things ? Is there any data on violence in public schools, or drug taking ?
Can you explain what you mean by objective data? The G & T programs in Manhattan are only selecting gifted kids. Are those kids going to do better than the rest of the population at large? Of course they are. They are chosen because they are already above their peers. Is a school that takes gifted children and has 100% of the school passing a standardized test better than a school that takes everybody that has 85% of the school pass? I don't think so. It is a lot harder take all children (ESL, special needs, low IQ) kids and educate them than to take gifted kids and educate them.
If you want your children in a school with all kids that are gifted, than try to get G & T in the city or pay for private. If that is what you want, there is nothing wrong with that. You will not get that in any traditional public school. Public schools are not private schools or G & T schools. They are not. You will be disappointed if that is your expectation. Every child can not go to Ivy League schools. If you want your child to go to school with people of all different abilities that is successful, Westchester public schools are for you!
So maybe there is no objective data about the long term benefits of attending any particular elementary school. At the risk of going off my own topic, can we approach the choice problem from the other angle, and try to look at the bad things ? Is there any data on violence in public schools, or drug taking ?
I've never heard anything about violence or gangs at any of the top Westchester high schools, although I do think something recently happened in Rye that someone can link you to.
Having said that, you ARE going to find drugs and alcohol at all of these schools. Many families here are very wealthy and along with that always seems to come access to booze and drugs and a lack of supervision for some reason. Heck, a few years ago a neighbor's kid got busted on our front lawn in Scarsdale after trying to get away from police who caught him and a buddy smoking marijuana at the end of our street (the fake IDs didn't help either). It was entertaining and sad to watch. Did that kid go to a great college? No. But I heard that 8 kids got into Harvard from Scarsdale last year.
You aren't going to get a private school education in public school. Private schools hand-pick students they believe are bright and don't have any behavior issues. Public schools get who they get and do the best they can. However, the schools in wealthy, homogeneous towns like Scarsdale and Chappaqua are ahead of the game already because the people who choose to live in those towns and can afford it are wealthy and well-educated. If you want a highly academic private-school-like atmosphere then you'd better stick to the top districts where the parents demand a high quality education and pass the budgets to get it.
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