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My husband and I are both Westchester natives and looking to purchase a home somewhere within the county (we currently own a co-op in the Bedford School District) where we expect to send out toddler to public school in just a few short years. I have scoured this board looking for honest and accurate information from people who have or had young children in some of the more affordable (both housing prices and real estate taxes) school districts and keep coming up short.
It's no secret that the "worst" school district within Westchester is still ranked highly within NYS, but as a lifelong resident, I'm fully aware of the obsession with school districts here. I actually grew up within the Elmsford School District and attended private school, but now, as a parent, am trying to figure out what exactly spurs these reputations, and how, if at all, this will have an impact on my child. We have no desire to pay the cost for the home/property taxes for the big ticket names like Edgemont, Scarsdale, Chappequa, etc. These have always been and continue to be extremely wealthy areas where private tutoring, college prep courses, and parent connections help keep test scores and college admissions high. We plan to do the same for our kids no matter where we live, so my question is really what are the pro/cons of attending a "less desirable" school district.
Anything I have seen rated or described as "bad" seems to be interchangeable with "high ESL population" and "low test scores." Do these things really have a negative impact on all students at the elementary school level (i.e. are districts like Ossining, Elmsford and Greenbrugh somehow attracting inferior teachers?)?
What are your thoughts on the obsession with "good" school districts in Weschester?
I think the answer, in a word, is "culture" - and I say this knowing that this is a vague and probably imprecise word for what I am describing. An excellent suburban school district has a student/family population where nearly 100% of the families are financially secure, two parent households, where the parents didn't have kids until they were truly mature and financially stable enough to raise them (usually very late 20s/early 30s). Where the kids are sufficiently supervised while not in school, where school work and school attendance is prioritized, where sports and structured activities are readily engaged in, where the kids almost never engage in criminal or inappropriate activities, where the kids are respectful of authority, etc. etc.
A "bad" school district is one where a sufficiently high percentage of the students/families are the opposite of the above, to the point that such dominates the school "culture".
Note that none of this has anything to do with who the teachers are, or the quality of the facilities, or the size of the schools' budget. If you took the entire student body of good school district X and swapped it with that of bad school district Y, then Y overnight becomes the good school district, and X the bad one.
Given the above, I think it's important to note that I believe that a SD like Harrison is just as good as one like Scarsdale, because Harrison has, I believe at least, every bit of the good culture I describe above that Scarsdale has. Choosing between these two then becomes a choice as to where your particular family/kids will fit in best and be happiest.
This analysis becomes interesting with very large diverse schools like New Rochelle HS and White Plains HS. I believe that there is enough of a good culture their sufficient for a kid to thrive, but the balance between the good and bad may be tight.
My husband and I are both Westchester natives and looking to purchase a home somewhere within the county (we currently own a co-op in the Bedford School District) where we expect to send out toddler to public school in just a few short years. I have scoured this board looking for honest and accurate information from people who have or had young children in some of the more affordable (both housing prices and real estate taxes) school districts and keep coming up short.
It's no secret that the "worst" school district within Westchester is still ranked highly within NYS, but as a lifelong resident, I'm fully aware of the obsession with school districts here. I actually grew up within the Elmsford School District and attended private school, but now, as a parent, am trying to figure out what exactly spurs these reputations, and how, if at all, this will have an impact on my child. We have no desire to pay the cost for the home/property taxes for the big ticket names like Edgemont, Scarsdale, Chappequa, etc. These have always been and continue to be extremely wealthy areas where private tutoring, college prep courses, and parent connections help keep test scores and college admissions high. We plan to do the same for our kids no matter where we live, so my question is really what are the pro/cons of attending a "less desirable" school district.
Anything I have seen rated or described as "bad" seems to be interchangeable with "high ESL population" and "low test scores." Do these things really have a negative impact on all students at the elementary school level (i.e. are districts like Ossining, Elmsford and Greenbrugh somehow attracting inferior teachers?)?
What are your thoughts on the obsession with "good" school districts in Weschester?
People like to think they are the best at things, and for parents, thinking they are able to put their kids in the best schools to give them an advantage in life is a big internal win for most parents. So the obvious desire to feel good about oneself pushes comments on schools. In my honest opinion, bad schools in this county are pretty solid. Kids come out of Peekskill, Mt. Vernon, Yonkers and other schools viewed by many as "bad" and get into Ivy League and other top tier schools, or come out with otherwise incredible educations and do well in life. that said, opinions on schools obviously adversely impacts home value in these areas.
I think you are correct that schools in the most affluent areas have kids with private tutoring and college prep courses impacting the hard data like test scores. This year my HS student for the first time needed help in science and math. We found a tutor twice a week and her scores went from the mid-80s to the high 90s. She is taking an SAT course as well, and her private tutor is also going to help her try to get as close to 800 on math as possible. I can assure you, this is not the school district, its the money I am spending above the taxes. We are in Lakeland, considered "good", but far from "great."
I can honestly say that anyone that thinks the elementary school levels are impacted by all of this nonsense are crazy. Unless your kid is a "Sheldon" teaching themselves differential equations from youtube at the age of 7, you will be fine at any elementary school you mentioned. No, the teachers in those schools are recruited and are the same teachers other districts get. In fact I know a 4th grade teacher who taught almost 2 years at one of the power districts on a replacement leave and then got a full time job in one of the districts considered "bad." She was good enough to be in a power district for almost 2 years and the principal asked her to apply whenever there was an opening in his school because he wanted her back. Teachers are not the issue. Certainly overcrowding, money, home life and such can impact, but it sounds like you have the home life thing in a great support position.
The schools with the highest test scores are less diverse and more uniformly affluent - and I don't think this is a particularly good thing. There's an advantage to having your kids go to a diverse school where not everyone is wealthy. They get to know and will hopefully develop more empathy for other people who aren't the same as they are. My kids went to the Tarrytown schools, which are not considered "top tier" but we had a very good experience here. They and their friends did well and got into good colleges, and came out with the additional advantage of knowing many different kinds of people.
The schools with the highest test scores are less diverse and more uniformly affluent - and I don't think this is a particularly good thing. There's an advantage to having your kids go to a diverse school where not everyone is wealthy. They get to know and will hopefully develop more empathy for other people who aren't the same as they are. My kids went to the Tarrytown schools, which are not considered "top tier" but we had a very good experience here. They and their friends did well and got into good colleges, and came out with the additional advantage of knowing many different kinds of people.
I agree with this. We lived in Sleepy Hollow once. The schools are exactly what I was talking about. They get somewhat of a bad reputation, but we know families there with children in, or graduated from, incredibly competitive colleges. I have a financial professional working for me me that went to Tarrytown schools, then a boston school with a significant scholarship, then a rather famous MA based graduate business school for his MBA. I see great things for him. I think bright hard working young people will do well at any school in the county and do well in life. But I think the points you raise about having a wider view on life are accurate. I think it can only help to be exposed to greater diversity. All the best to you.
In high school, the peer groups are more important than teachers. If a student is part of a peer group of high achievers, the student will be a high achiever. If the peer group isn't motivated to study, the student will be less motivated to study. It's all about fitting in.
All schools with have the top achieving and low achieving peer groups. It's a matter of the size of those peer groups. In high performing schools, the achieving peer groups are bigger. In Peekskill or Port Chester, the achieving peer groups are very small.
Kids can achieve from "bad" school districts. It's harder to find friends with similar goals and interests.
I am a big believer in touring schools. I thought Pawling high school looked good on paper. When I tour it, I thought it was cliquey.
Last edited by YorktownGal; 01-12-2022 at 09:19 AM..
Yes and no. I went to mt pleasant schools that aren’t the very top but you still a very good Education. Test scores aren’t as high as other areas because it’s a mostly blue collar town. Those that worked hard went to great schools. You can say the same for white plains however there’s a large % of kids with additional needs there . At the elementary level, this can affect the classroom. I have worked in a few classes where they class must be stopped and taken outside because a child is having an episode. What differs today vs 10 years ago is that all kids are lumped together at the elementary and middle school level. This is good if your child needs additional help however it can be difficult for the average student. I will also say I worked in the white plains high school where there are many honors classes. However , the school is so big that it is not managed so well.
I don’t mean to stigmatize those with special needs. The reality is that school people may have experienced is different today because of new educational laws that ensure that students with special needs receive the same education as everyone else. It also makes it difficult for a teacher who is trying to meet the needs of all students at varying levels .
I don’t mean to stigmatize those with special needs. The reality is that school people may have experienced is different today because of new educational laws that ensure that students with special needs receive the same education as everyone else. It also makes it difficult for a teacher who is trying to meet the needs of all students at varying levels .
Would the prevalence of special needs really differ by school district?
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