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Is this a good school district or just flushed with wealth? We just moved here for its supposedly good school for my 5 yr old son, who started kindergarten this fall. But so far he doesn't like it saying the class is very boring. I mentioned this to the administrator at the front office today. Her response is "well, send him to private school". My jaw dropped on this kind of attitude and response.
As we are looking to buy a house, I visited New Canaan school. They have a very nice science class (not taught by the class teacher like Coman Hills but as a separate class). It is full of materials like planets, skeleton, plants...that I knew at the first sight that my son would love it. Also I heard that Ossining's elementary program's the goal there is "at the end of 1st grade we will make your kids two level above where they were when they entered school ". I love that attitude. They give kids individual attention and keep their edge during the teaching.
I always feels fleeing out of NY because the school here gets much better funding from property tax yet their attitude and quality of teaching do not seem to be better or even equal to those in Fairfield.
I think I must miss something because Byram Hills by reputation is a very good one vs. ossining and even new canaan. Can anybody provide some thoughts so I can justify us buying a house / education here. We want to stay unless we have to move.
I don't have specific experience with Armonk, but I do have experience with choosing schools and identifying "good" schools and "not so good" schools. First, I don't think that you can make a choice based on your son being bored (its kindergarten!) or what one grumpy admin person said. You never know who they are or what is going on with them personally. Here's what I would do:
1) Your best resource is to talk with other parents who have older children. Ask them what they think of the curriculum. Is it all test based, or do they have a lot of creative activities going on in the classrooms and school. Ask as many as possible and try and find people who have the same goals as you do. Everyone is different so, you have to find someone who is similar to your family.
2) Look at the whole program - are the halls decorated with great creative projects. Walk down the 1st, 2nd grade halls. What do you see? Seascapes, rainforests all made by the children or do you see blank wall with a couple of silly motivational posters on them.
3) Does the school have a lot of art, dance, music, or educational activities coming into the school either for the whole school or grade specific. These are usually paid for by the PTO; but can really enhance a school. Also, it shows that the school is looking to enhance their program.
4) How long are you planning on staying in the district? Is this your forever home (as far as you can tell at this point, b/c know one really knows) or is this your next 3 years home? Makes a big difference. I think Byram Hills actually is one of the few schools that have an advanced learner program starting in the younger grades (many districts in NY wait till 7th grade). So, if your son is bored, know that he has other skills to learn too besides the academics of Kindergarten. As long as he gets where he needs to go by middle school, he will be great. The high school is supposed to be awesome.
I have friends who early in their careers were part of the acceptance committees for several colleges. They said when looking at different districts to look at the high schools first. If the high school is great, the feeder schools will be too. Those kids didn't just "appear" prepared in 9th grade. They were given opportunities to learn all along the way.
Good luck!
Last edited by flowergarden; 10-28-2009 at 09:57 AM..
Reason: sentence was cut off
flowergarden, thank you for sharing your valuable experience with me. We do want to stay in the same school district at least until the kids go to college. We started looking at schools by comparing each school's high school scores (SAT) and I tried to get their college placement but that is a bit hard because schools don't usually provide them to a parent whose kids are not in the district and just at kindergarten (they sort of laughed at me when i told them why I need their college placement information). The curriculum on Byram Hills website for K is like a joke. After the principal showed me that, I kind of understood why my son is so bored at school. It is very boring (count to ten for math, know your five senses) and all were taught at his pre-school. Even leaning might not be the focus for k instead its the social skills, the school still should make whatever was taught at class interesting to each kids. I wonder if it's the teacher we happen to have this year, or if it is the school that doesn't fit us. I know its important to talk to other parents, but we just moved in and only had chance of knowing a couple of people here.
Flowergarden's advice is excellent. The School district doesn't have a great reputation because it's actually lousy and all the local rich folks are being hoodwinked. At one point one of my kids complained about being "bored." It turned out that he was just sitting there not participating cause he was new in class and too shy to participate in group discussion - and group interaction was a significant element in the curricular design. When he warmed up a little he blossomed. This was Pound Ridge Elem, FYI.
So I'd just add this: Talk to the teacher before drawing too many conclusions from a 5 year old's complaint of being "bored." The principal isn't going to be able to make any meaningful comments on the specifics of your son. Maybe the program is lousy (though I seriously doubt it), or maybe there are behavioral learnings going on that are more subtle. The teacher will be able to clarify this stuff, as well as giving you some feedback on how your child is integrating, socializing and participating.
I agree - we were considering a house in this district over the summer and I only heard positive things from parents and others in the community about all of the schools. The middle and high schools are solid by every measure, which means they must also be doing something right at the elementary level. It could be that they are toning down the K curriculum to counteract the recent (absurd) trend of pushing more academics at that level, which IMO is not a bad thing. In any event I agree that talking to the teacher and giving your boy a bit more time to acclimate seem like your best bet.
kletter1mann, thanks for reply. When you said "the school district does not have a good reputation", do you mean Armonk or Pound Ridge? How did you find out the real reason your son was bored and improved later?
And Cali_to_nj, thanks too for your comments. Did you end up buying in Greenacre of scarsdale?
I am confused by the two opposite opinions, neither of which is actually new to me. We already set up a meeting with teacher to find out why he is bored (actually i know sitting there learning to count and five senses ARE boring to him) and if there is anything that can be done to fix that (however, I am not optimistic on that. The curriculum is set and teaching style is set. They will not change their teaching methodology to make it interesting and challenging for him). Also I feel the teacher and the principal are very defensive and very good at pushing back. I am losing confidence and we have to settle into a school district with a house purchase by next fall.
kletter1mann, thanks for reply. When you said "the school district does not have a good reputation", do you mean Armonk or Pound Ridge? How did you find out the real reason your son was bored and improved later?
And Cali_to_nj, thanks too for your comments. Did you end up buying in Greenacre of scarsdale?
I am confused by the two opposite opinions, neither of which is actually new to me. We already set up a meeting with teacher to find out why he is bored (actually i know sitting there learning to count and five senses ARE boring to him) and if there is anything that can be done to fix that (however, I am not optimistic on that. The curriculum is set and teaching style is set. They will not change their teaching methodology to make it interesting and challenging for him). Also I feel the teacher and the principal are very defensive and very good at pushing back. I am losing confidence and we have to settle into a school district with a house purchase by next fall.
Sorry, my grammar was apparently confusing. Both school districts DO have a good reputations. Said plainer, people don't say the district is good because it sucks. They say it's good cause they think it IS good and produces good results.
As for "bored," he wasn't actually bored at all. Far more often than not, "boring" is a kids excuse word. My observation with a great many young kids is that they say they're "bored" as a general complaint about what they're doing, or even as an excuse for sitting back and not engaging. In my son's case boredom had nothing to do with it. He was shy and didn't want to participate. No kid says "I'm shy and I'm not comfortable being pushed into this uncomfortable situation." [Unless a parent happens to be a psychiatrist] They sit on the sidelines and say they don't want to participate because the activity is "boring." I've seen this dynamic play out again and again.
Something about this doesn't add up for me. The curriculum may be fixed, but any good teacher adapts their style as appropriate and any good district encourages them to do so. Do other parents and kids have similar issues? Unless your son is outside the norm in some they must share your dissatisfaction. Or, alternatively, there's some more subtle learning going on here that goes beyond just counting and the five senses.
If you're focusing on "bored" you're probably contributing to the school's defensiveness. Ask open-ended questions about their curriculum and methods. I think you or your son are missing something here. You need to find out what that is.
Thanks kletter1mann, I think what you described is probably what happened. We'll discuss this with his teacher. I am new to the school system and to the district, so it probably takes a few lessons to know how to handle it the best, hopefully not the hard lessons. Our main goal is to have him challenged and interested in class as well as improving his social skills.
Hi PeMom - just wondering how the talk with his teacher went? Were you able to discuss long term educational goals with any parents of older kids? It would be nice to find a mom in the class whose youngest of 3 kids or so was in the class (as compared to your oldest being in the class). It's always helpful to understand the system your child is working in and more expereinced parents can really help with that. I'd also warn you to be sensitive to what the teacher says about your child. It's easy to fall into the "but, my child is brilliant - he was reading at age 4" trap. As you move through school you'll find that reading is very developmental and even children who didn't read at 4 "catch up" and even (gasp) excel by 3rd or 4th grade. It's by 3rd and 4th grade that kids really start to show who they are academically, versus developmentally. Not to say that your child isn't brilliant! Just to let you know that teachers are pretty sensitive to "brilliant child syndrome" and you should be open what she says in response to your concerns.
Hope it everything works out to your satisfaction!
thanx for the advice. the meeting went well and we think we get the teacher's attention of what my son's developing area is - focus and motivation. He knows most of the stuff already but sometimes just does not want or bother to do it.
which school district are you in? how do you like it? what is the best way to know other moms? we just moved in to a rental to test the school out before we buy. and here you only see trees not your neighbors. and there is no social events at school for parents. my son has a few playdates but so far i have not had chances to talk to other parents. don't know if we'll fit in better later.
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