Public School
Clara Hemphill Discusses Why Public School Is The Best Choice For Many Families
By Sarah
Seltzer
Clara
Hemphill has written comprehensive guides to New York City public elementary schools, middle
schools and high schools and is also the Founder of insideschools.org, which
offers well-reported and flavorful descriptions of the city’s public schools. She
has two children, ages 15 and 18, who have both been educated in the public
school system.
How
should parents who want to become fully educated about their public school
begin their search?
Your first option is, of course, your neighborhood school, which you can locate
by calling 311 or searching the Department of Education’s website at schools.nyc.gov.
In large parts of Manhattan, the neighborhood schools are not
just fine but really excellent, particularly in District 2, which is the
East Side south of 96th Street (but not the Lower East Side) and the
West Side south of 59th. If you live in
another area, you should still check out your neighborhood schools. Some
of
them are good, and some of are great.
What
if the local school ends up being not-so-great? Your next option would be schools
that either accept kids outside of your attendant zone or schools that are
unzoned. On the Lower East Side, for example, there are a bunch of progressive schools
with which a lot of parents are really happy. And on the Upper West Side, there are a number of schools
that take kids from outside their attendant zone based on a lottery. Your third
option is a gifted and talented [G&T] program. A final option is a charter
school, which accepts children in a lottery.
What
should parents consider when deciding whether a given elementary school is a
good choice for their child? If possible, I think it’s really important to visit
schools when class is in session. The most important thing I look for is the
level of engagement of kids. Bad signs include if the kids are bored out of
their minds or if they are goofy and all over the place. I look for rich classroom
libraries, lots of fun-to-read books, picture books, atlases and fiction. I
don’t like schools that rely too heavily on textbooks. Another thing I look for
is the quality of children’s work on the walls. I like to see a variety of work
that’s initiated by the kids, not just posters put out by textbook companies.
What
are some questions parents can ask when they visit schools? One of the key questions parents
can ask is how the school handles different levels of ability within the same
class. Some parents jump to put kids in a G&T program because they’re
afraid they won’t be challenged in a regular classroom, but what’s important in
any classroom is the teacher’s ability to find work that’s appropriate for
everyone. One of the ways you can identify that in a classroom is if one child
is reading Frog and Toad and another
is reading Charlotte’s Web.
What
do you tell parents who are concerned with the cost of private school but fear
that public schools will not give their kids the same kind of personal attention? The public schools have large
class sizes and facilities that are often somewhat run down. But what I think
is really important is the quality of interaction between the teacher and the
kids. Sometimes you get larger classes in neighborhoods like Tribeca or the
Upper East Side where the teaching is so good that parents will do what they
can to get their kids in that school. The contractual limit for kindergarten is
25 kids per class. It’s 28 for grades 1 to 3, and 32 for grades 4 to 6. And
ultimately, the issue of where to send your child can really depend on your
child: do you have a robust child who can thrive in a rough-and-tumble
atmosphere or a delicate child who might not be able to? In general, my advice
is save your money for college.
Besides
the lack of tuition, what are some advantages of a public school education? A lot of parents are concerned by
rampant materialism and consumerism in our culture, and while there’s some of
that in the public schools there’s probably less [than in private schools].
People talk a lot about having friends of all races and social classes. In
elementary school, my daughter had friends who lived in brownstones and friends
who were the children of superintendents living in basement apartments. It
exposes them to a wide range of human experience.
It
seems that public elementary schools in parts of New York are excellent. How do middle
schools compare?
I had two children in District 2 middle schools. I was very happy with the
quality of their education. There are some excellent middle schools, but there
are very few ordinary neighborhood-zoned middle schools in which you can enroll
your child. Middle schools have traditionally been the weak link in the city
public school system. Visit the schools. What you look for is very similar
actually to what you look for in elementary schools.
How
have public high schools been evolving? There are eight specialized schools, nine including
LaGuardia Arts—which requires an entrance audition. This [city] administration
has focused really strongly on creating new small schools. In Manhattan there really are no more
neighborhood high schools. Everybody has to go through this process of school
choice. The good news is that there are a lot of good schools out there; the
bad news is it’s an agonizing process. Wait lists have increased.
What
would you do to change things in the system if you could? Strengthen the neighborhood
schools. School choice only works up to a point. There hasn’t been as much
attention paid to the average students, particularly on the West Side. There are spots for superstars
and spots for remedial education, but there isn’t much for kids in the middle
outside of District 2. School choice helps some kids get better options than
they would otherwise, but it doesn’t solve the problem, which is the shortage
of adequate schools.
Private School
Victoria Goldman Outlines Why Private School Education Is “The Best Money Can
Buy”
By Marla Wasserman
Victoria
Goldman has written two well-regarded guides to New York City private schools: The Manhattan Directory of Private Nursery
Schools, which will come out with its 7th Edition in June 2012, and The Manhattan Family Guide to Private
Schools and Selective Public Schools. She also served on the Board of Trustees
of the Riverdale Country School, from which her two children
graduated, for eight years.
What
are some of the biggest considerations for a family debating private school
education for their child? The biggest factor is student-teacher ratio. You will get smaller
classes almost overall at a private school. That doesn’t just apply to New York City; it is a national issue. What
also stands out most about private schools is that they have better facilities
and better specials. For example, the art programs, athletics, science labs…The
facilities can dovetail with the program. Private schools might even have a
wider range of curriculum. But there are no absolutes when you compare. It is
apples and pomegranates. It is just very, very different and though both are
fruit and you will get educated, there are huge differences.
If a
family is fortunate enough to be accepted to a special public program, such as
Hunter or Anderson, do the considerations for private schools change? Not really. The facilities are
still lacking. And when you get all the way down to the end of the road, the
college offices give more individualized attention at a private school. When we
say private schools are supportive, we mean it in such an overarching way. The
price is high, averaging about $40,000 a year, but it is the best education money
can buy.
For a
family who is struggling with the financial decision of whether to send a child
to private school, does it make sense to choose public school for the early
years? Obviously,
it depends on the family. It also depends on the quality of the local public
school. You need to consider the competitiveness of your local public school
and the teacher-student ratio, along with your finances. And, finally you also
have to
consider proximity to home and social benefits. When I say social
benefits, I mean, what can your kid get programmatically out of that public
school? Does the school have a sports team that your kid would be interested
in, or does it have a good drama teacher for your kid who is interested in
theater? And, if the child plans to move to private school later, is it
competitive enough that the kid will be able to stand up?
So if
you don’t plan to send your child to private school for grades K–12, are the
early years or the later years more important? It is so individual. It depends
on your family; it depends on your child. Let’s say, you went to a great
private school for grades K–8, and then went to Stuyvesant High…That might
work out great. Or, you can go to a great public school, like P.S. 6, for K–5
then apply to private school and wind up at any one of a number of fabulous
private middle and high schools like Riverdale, Dalton and Trinity. There’s a lot of
switching in both directions.
Does
being at a private school allow parents greater input regarding who teaches
their children?
There is a great deal of integrity in private schools; it isn’t a case of the
tail wagging the dog. Parents cannot have teachers fired, but they can have
conversations with administrators about individual learning styles and making
good matches in terms of teachers and coaches.
Do
private schools attract better teachers? In a lot of cases, public schools have the more
credentialed teachers. Private schools, however, have more latitude to hire non-credentialed
teachers who may be experts in their field; for example, a historian teaching
history or a drama department head who is a playwright and director when he is
not teaching. It would be an over-generalization to say that you get better
teachers at private schools. What you get is better instruction, because it is
more individualized attention. But even at this astronomical price of $40,000 a
year, your kid can get a bad teacher and have a bad year.
If you
place a high value on diversity, will you be disappointed at a Manhattan private school? You are
not going to find much diversity. The schools are between 10 and 20 percent
financial aid, and there are very few full rides, whereas a normal public
school represents the community.
When a
child leaves a private school, what has all that money bought besides a solid
education? These private schools have such wonderful values
and traditions. There is a polish the kids receive. The traditions at private
schools give the students an identity, a connectedness to their school. When a
kid leaves P.S. 6, he is not bleeding P.S. 6 colors. When a kid leaves Horace
Mann, she bleeds crimson. There is a community that you are buying into that
extends beyond the academics.
If you
had an overall message for parents struggling with the decision about private
school, what would you say? In New
York City, there is so much choice that
it is a luxury to go to school. There are so many different public options and
so many different private options, and everyone finds his or her place
somewhere and usually, but not always, is happy, gets a great education and
goes on to higher education fully prepared. The case for private school is very
strong. But it is exorbitant…it costs about $520,000 to go K–12 once you
throw in the contribution to the headmaster’s fund. If you don’t have that kind
of money, it is fine and understandable. More importantly than all of this is
the case for good parenting. Support your child, be a member of the school’s
community and transcend any and all cliques as you would advise your child.
