To ensure that a child growing up in the city gets a good education, parents really do have to turn themselves into educated consumers. We have four thriving educational sectors—public, private, charter, and parochial—and they all have their pros and cons, rules, and regulations. New York Family has several wonderful resources to help guide city parents (read on!); plus, we’ve rounded up a selective list of tools that are available to help you find the best school for your child.
NEW YORK FAMILY RESOURCES
The Blackboard Awards: The prestigious Blackboard Awards honor excellence in education throughout the city and in every educational sector, calling upon parents and educators to help select and celebrate wonderful schools, principals, and teachers. You can learn more about the Blackboard Awards and read about past winners at blackboardawards.com. When you visit the site, please be sure to tell us about the schools, principals, and teachers of excellence in your family’s life. You can submit your nominations all year.
New York Family: If you define education as learning that takes place both in the classroom and outside the classroom, then it’s just a huge part of what we do almost every day on our website and every month in our magazine, by pointing parents to good info and resources for helping them raise their children. In fact, since there’s such a big difference in the day-to-day lives of families once their kids begin Kindergarten and are in school all day, we try to pay as much attention to the particular needs and interests of parents with children ages 5 and up as we do for families with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. And for the former group, it’s often about education-related activities and enriching extracurriculars.
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NURSERY SCHOOL & PRE-K
The Independent School Admission Association of Greater New York (ISAAGNY)
The New York City Department of Education (DOE)
The Parents League of New York
Victoria Goldman’s The Manhattan Directory of Private Nursery Schools
Note: Many “preschool alternative” programs are offered by neighborhood education and enrichment centers. See our Classes Guide.
PUBLIC SCHOOL
Clara Hemphill’s various guides to NYC public schools
PRIVATE SCHOOL (INDEPENDENT)
The NYC Private School Admissions Handbook
The Parents League of New York
Victoria Goldman’s The Manhattan Family Guide To Private Schools And Selective Public Schools
CHARTER SCHOOL
New York City Charter School Center
PAROCHIAL SCHOOL
Note: For other faith-based schools in the New York City area, we recommend contacting local organizations affiliated with your religion. They should be able to direct you to schools of interest.
SCHOOL ADMISSION CONSULTANTS
As with college admissions consultants, the city has a small but busy cottage industry of consultants who help parents with nursery, public, and private school admissions.
Private Education Advisory Service (PEAS)
TUTORS
