To ensure that a child growing up in the city gets a good education, parents really do have to turn themselves into educated consumers—to learn their options and learn how to best assess them. We have four thriving educational sectors—public, private, charter, and parochial—and they all have their pros and cons, rules and regulations. And New York Family has several wonderful resources to help city parents address their children’s educational needs as they grow up:
Ultimate Guide To Education: We publish our annual Ultimate Guide To Education in October, which is not only the season of transitions and adjustments in schools, it’s also the time for admissions applications. The Ultimate Guide covers all of it, helping parents understand local admissions (in all sectors), while also offering stories about news and trends in learning and development, and a parent’s role in their child’s education.
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. By dint of their mission, the Awards are also a resource for parents as they seek out the best education for their children. You can find out 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 throughout the year.
Newyorkfamily.com: 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, 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 pre-schoolers. And for the former group, it’s often about education-related activities and enriching extracurriculars.
Other Educational Resources
For Nursery School and Pre-K
The Parents League Of New York
The Independent School Admission Association Of Greater New York (ISAAGNY)
The New York City Department Of Education (DOE)
Victoria Goldman’s The Manhattan Directory Of Private Nursery Schools
Also note: Many “preschool alternative” programs are offered by neighborhood education and enrichment centers. See our Classes Directory.
For Public School
Clara Hemphill’s various guides to NYC public schools
For Private School (Independent)
The NYC Private School Admissions Handbook
The Parents League Of New York
For Charter School
New York City Charter School Center
For Parochial Schools
School Admissions Consultants
As is the case 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
