The New York City School System

I. NYC System: an Overview II. Fact sheets and Statistics III. NYC-specific School Programs IV. Choosing a School

Choosing a New York City Public School

New York City has more than 1000 public schools and they range from outstanding to dismal. How does a parent find out if the school down the block is one or the other? What choices do parents have if their neighborhood school is at the low end of the scale? Can they opt out of a bad school and choose a better one?

The answers to these questions are as varied as the school system itself. First, it’s important to understand the system.

• Some districts offer parents an opportunity to tour all the schools in the district and apply to those that they are most excited about. Tours usually start in October. It is a good idea to sign up early to get a spot on a tour. Call the district office a couple of weeks into the school term in the fall of the year before your child is to enter school.
• Districts may offer magnet programs (special programs established to create or maintain a racially integrated setting ) and/or programs for children who test "gifted and talented."
• Districts with choice programs usually publish a directory with descriptions of the individual schools and a calendar for applications.
• The majority of districts require students to attend the school for which they are zoned – the school to which their address assigns them.

• Even if you child is going to attend the zoned school, don’t wait until the last minute to sign up! Early in the spring, call the school or district to find out when kindergarten (or pre-kindergarten) registration takes place. Although you are guaranteed a place in your zoned school, some are so overcrowded that overflow children are bused to an annex or a distant school building.

Pre-kindergarten also differs from district to district. Right now, there are not enough spots for all the children who need them, but the program is rapidly expanding. Parents should be sure to ask the district office for information on public school pre-k classes that are located in community centers or other non-school settings. Current state law requires a certain percentage of pre-k money to be used to establish programs in non-profit settings outside of schools.

Your child must be 4 years old before December 31 of the year s/he enrolls in pre-kindergarten.

Your child must be 5 years old before December 31 of the year s/he enrolls in kindergarten

Permission to attend a school that you are not zoned for is called a variance. This form is used whether you are transferring within your district or outside it. If you live in a district that does not allow choice, your best bet for a change of school is to apply to a school in different district! The variance must be approved by the superintendent of the accepting district.

• While your home district can restrict your choices, it may not oppose your attempt to go outside the district. And the outside district must consider your application on the same terms as it treats its own kids. As an outsider, you will be third on line: first served are the kids who are zoned for the school; second are kids from the school’s district and then you.
• Of course, districts will usually entertain requests for transfer on health or safety grounds. It’s best to back up these requests with letters from a doctor or local officials who can attest to unsafe travel conditions, for instance.
• Once a variance is granted, the student has to stay in the new district at least one semester and cannot be sent back to the home district for truancy or disciplinary reasons
• Yellow bus transportation may not automatically be provided but eligible students can get bus or subway passes.

If you believe you have been unfairly treated in the choice process, you can appeal in writing to

The Chancellor’s Committee on Parent Complaints,
Board of Education, 110 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.

Or call

Office for Student Advocacy and Engagement, 718-935-3040
(Room 108) Livingston Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.

High schools are a whole other story. There are about 200 of them and they are governed by seven superintendents, reporting to the Chancellor: Bronx, BASIS (Brooklyn &Staten Island,) Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Alternative.

• About 55 of the high schools are zoned. Students are guaranteed a place if they live in the area surrounding the school (called the catchment area.) For all other schools and for programs within schools, there is an official (and sometimes difficult) application process.
• Early in the eighth grade, students will receive a high school directory and an application form. NOTE: this process may be undertaken while a student is in ninth grade. If your child is very unhappy with her/his current high school, ask the guidance counselor for an application and start all over again!
• Early in the term is the time to inform the guidance counselor if your child wants to take the exam for Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant, and Brooklyn Technical or to apply to LaGuardia High School for Music and Art and the Performing Arts.
• Your child must be issued a "ticket of admission" to the test for the first three, and to schedule an audition for LaGuardia High School. There are also there are also portfolio requirements for students applying to LaGuardia for visual arts. Test and auditions take place in December. Other high schools and programs within schools may require auditions and portfolios. Check the high school directory and be sure your child is prepared.
• In the last five years, more than 40 small high schools have been established – they are organized and function more like elementary and middle schools. While these schools do not offer the variety of courses and activities that traditional high schools do, they specialize in personal attention and their theme based curriculum is designed to grab students’ interest. Students are much less likely to fall through the cracks. These schools may require interviews and/or tests for admissions.
• Look out for the High School Fair, held early in October. Here’s where you can meet some faculty and students from most of the high schools and also pick up brochures that describe newly opened schools. Many middle school guidance counselors take 8^th graders in a group to the Fair and also to visit local high schools.

Be sure to submit the high school application on time and to respond to all the communications from the school along the way. If your child’s first choice is honored, be sure to acknowledge her/his acceptance by signing and returning the form as soon as possible. If not, be sure to contact the guidance counselor for help in finding a suitable placement.

The high school admissions process is very competitive -- so the more informed you and your child are -- the better off your are.

If you arrive in the city after the high school application process is well underway, all is not lost! If you can prove you were not living in the city when the specialized high school test was given, your child can take the test in the fall – usually just after Labor Day.

Contact the Office of High School Admissions. 212-481-7034. Counselors there will arrange for the special tests. Whether or not your child takes the test, the Admissions office will arrange for your son or daughter to be interviewed by at least two high schools. Or you can contact schools directly. Some principals will accept students who do not go through the admissions office – but don’t count on it.

From late August until the end of September, local high school placement offices, located in one high school in each borough, take care of high school registration. Places are limited at this time and choices are slim.

What to bring to registration:

Your child! The schools will not register an absent child.

Your child’s birth certificate or other proof of age.

Proof of residence which may include a utility bill, letter from the landlord, a lease, etc -- but not

a telephone bill

Record of Immunization. Call 212-349-2664 for details.

Record of tuberculosis skin test. Call 212-553-4283.

Previous school records if the child has been in school elsewhere.

Call the district office and request a copy of the district brochure. Be sure it contains a list of all the schools with addresses and phone numbers.

Ask for the names and numbers individuals in charge of specific programs such as pre-k, gifted, alternative, magnets, etc. There may be one person in charge of variances. Each person will be best informed about the program s/he administers – and may not know about the others.

Study the school report card. This profile, issued annually by the Board of Education, includes information on students (how many, attendance rate, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, language learners, students in special education); teachers (how many, level of preparation and experience, attendance); schools ( expenditures, special programs, number of suspensions and incidents, state and city test results). High school report cards also give data on average SAT scores, Regents scores, and the graduation rate of the school. Roughly, schools in which fewer than half the children are achieving on or above grade level, are wanting. Borderline cases are worth looking at – perhaps a school improvement program is just beginning to take hold. Perhaps there are special programs your child would really profit from. But if the bulk of the student population is in the lowest percentile, vote with your feet. If you can’t do that, it’s time to protest to the district superintendent and the Chancellor.

You can get report cards by calling 718-935-378 or logging on to www.nycenet.edu, the Board of Education website. The same office and/or website will give you the Ranking of Elementary and Middle Schools by Reading Achievement " report, otherwise know as the reading ranks report. This is prepared annually and tells the relative performance of schools citywide and by district. Also keep your eye out for the statistics printed in daily newspapers each year.

Consult A Parent’s Guide to New York City’s Best Public Elementary Schools, by Clara Hemphill, New York, Soho Press, 1997. Available in libraries and bookstores, this paperback offers thumbnail sketches of outstanding elementary schools around the city. It’s useful for the information about individual schools and to illustrate possibilities for improving schools that are not as good. A companion volume, A Parent's Guide to New York City’s Best Public Middle Schools, is due in September, 1999.

Visit the schools – starting with your neighborhood school. If there are no scheduled tours and the school discourages your attempts to visit, this may be a clue to its overall philosophy – no interference from outsiders! If that doesn’t discourage you, wait near the building in the morning when parents take their children to school. Ask parents their opinion. It is a good idea to ask for the name of the parents association president and chat with him/her in any case. Find out when there is a school performance or open school week. Use the occasion to see what the school looks like and, if possible, look at classes in session.

We have so many hopes and dreams for our children that chances are no one school meets all our expectations. And no school is just right for every child. So when you visit a school, keep your child’s personality, interests and learning style in mind. And keep in mind your own level of comfort with styles of teaching and learning that are different from what you experienced.

Here are some things to look for:

Atmosphere: Busy, purposeful buzz. Halls may be quiet, but not because teachers are yelling; classrooms may be noisy, but not because students are misbehaving. Students should be engaged in what they are doing -- not sleepwalking through their tasks; their behavior should denote respect among themselves and toward their teachers. Walls should be plastered with student work and indicate levels of student achievement and how the school values creativity, accuracy, and neatness.

Look also for clean hallways and classrooms and safe, well-maintained building and grounds.

Classrooms: filled with materials including classroom libraries, science apparatus, math materials, animals and plants, student projects. Computers in every classroom and available to students for writing, and research. All kinds of books available to students – not just textbooks. If textbooks are being used, do a spot check to see if they are up-to-date and that there are enough for every child. And children should be able to take them home.

Class lessons: a mix of teacher explanation, group discussion, team activity and individual work.

Curriculum: multicultural, challenging, and appropriate to the age, curriculum should offer a continuum from grade to grade. At middle school level, look for classes that prepare students for high school work and especially the specialized high school entrance exams; in high schools, look for advanced placement or honors classes. Look for schools that offer challenges to all students rather than reserve special programs for high achievers only.

Students receiving special education services should be included in general education activities as much as is appropriate for the individual child. For most children this would be the majority of the school day.

Music and art education for all students integrated with the curriculum.

Classes in family life/sex education; HIV-Aids prevention; drug prevention and conflict resolution.

A well stocked library, open at least part of the day for browsing; research and book borrowing.

Gymnasium and a spacious school yard where students can participate in physical education as well as free-play; an orderly, clean cafeteria and clean bathrooms with working plumbing, doors, soap and towels.

A functioning parents association and a welcome mat for parent and community volunteers.

All of the above apply to high schools but getting an overall picture of a traditional high school can be daunting – they are usually huge. Hallways will be jammed with noisy students between classes and students may have five or more teachers a day in classes of 35 or more students. Each subject department will have its own chairperson – so school methods and expectations may differ from subject to subject. And high schools are often reluctant to welcome visitors.

In the last five years, more than 40 small high schools have been established – they are organized and function more like elementary and middle schools. While these schools do not offer the variety of courses and activities that traditional high schools do, they specialize in personal attention and their theme based curriculum is designed to grab students’ interest. Students are much less likely to fall through the cracks.

Large or small, you’ll want to know the school is safe, the students and faculty are respectful of one another and the classes are sufficient to prepare students for graduation requirements.

Schools should have a comprehensive school plan, available to all. Starting Fall,’99 school plans must be devised by a school leadership team consisting of parents, teachers and principal.

In the best schools, the principal faculty and parents share a clear and coherent philosophy of education. When your vision of education and the school’s vision coincide, you’ve found an ideal situation.

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