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October 30, 2009
Public School Victorian Flatbush
My wife and I recently sold our apartment for a decent gain. We have decided to take our gain and buy a house in Victorian Flatbush. I like the houses on the blocks just north and south of Cortelyou between Ocean and Coney. My wife also likes some of the areas near the Newkirk stop south of Foster Ave. Can any residents give me advice about the public schools in the area? I am not looking for my soon-to-be born kid to become the president or anything. I am just looking for a nice reasonable friendly public school experience. Clearly, I have no idea what I'm talking about. Help.
Comments
this is as good a place as any to start: http://insideschools.org/index12.php --- enter your zip code and they will give you a list of schools.
Remember, NYC will let you send your kid to any school that has room for him/her, so you are not limited to schools in your immediate area. what school district you live in -- which is NOT the same as the primary school zone you live in - becomes an issue when you start going to Middle School.
Posted by: slopenick at October 30, 2009 3:04 PM
P.S. 139 just off of Cortelyou has two decent, if somewhat crowded, mini-schools - Flatbush Academy and The Brotherhood. You might look into those two programs.
Posted by: FlatbushMan23 at October 30, 2009 3:46 PM
Check out PS 139 on Rugby @ Cortelyou, and PS 217 on Newkirk. Both have gifted & talented programs & both are insideschools noteworthy schools. Don't stress out too much now - you'll have plenty of time for that in several yearswhen the kid's ready for preK or K, and again when it's time to look for middle schools and again with the HS search.
Find out what the zoned school is for an address is here:
http://maps.nycboe.net/
Let's you know what school your kid automatically gets in to - aside from options like G&T, magnet schools, etc.
As they get older it matters less the district/zone where you live - lots of kids travel a ways for middle and for HS everything's pretty much open to kids city wide.
Posted by: Bklnite at October 30, 2009 4:03 PM
We really like 217.
It's a hidden gem.
Talk to the parent coordinator there, Mary Kay Seery. She's very accommodating.
Posted by: guywithahouse at October 30, 2009 5:29 PM
move to kensington instead - still within walking distance of cortelyou, better schools, more diverse.
Posted by: lalaland at October 30, 2009 10:03 PM
in some ways, i like kensington too. however, the housing stock is less appealing. Plus once you've ridden the Q train, the F train is torture.
Posted by: slick at October 30, 2009 11:58 PM
Yes the F train is torture....and I have just looked for almost a year to find a suitable house in Kensington (finally successful, though not closed yet); it's quite difficult, although depends what you want.
BUT--and I almost hesitate to interject this but I will anyway: I am on the Kensington-Windsor Terrace Neighbors listserv, and in the last week, there was a long thread about "creeps in the neighborhood" which generated a lot of heated back and forth. But one thing I gleaned from it was the Registered Sex Offenders List by zip code. As we were signing final papers yesterday, I looked on it Thursday, and told myself if there was one next door to the house we were purchasing, I would get out of contract somehow (not sure if I could have). There wasn't--but I did see where they were grouped, for whatever reason.
I am not dissing anyone's block, nor knocking down anyone trying to lift themselves back up after a fall down. However, I have two teen daughters and a teen stepdaughter, and it gave me pause. Although I must say, relative to how many residents we have in the area, there was not a lot of registered sex offenders.
Take the info as you wish; and good luck to you. I am just saying it could influence your choice. BTW I adore Kensington; moved there after 5 years ago 15+ years in Slope.
Posted by: sogo at October 31, 2009 8:49 AM
here's a novel thought... buy a place that you can afford to send your kids to the public schools? these questions come up So much. people buy a place because they want to be 'diverse' but then do not want to send their kids to the school district. maybe you and your offspring should find a place that 'fits'? maybe nyc isnt for you. seriously. it just drives the rent up for long time residents and people who want kids. if the schools are 'bad' and you arent willing to do anything about it, then brooklyn, maybe even nyc isnt for you. sorry you cant afford the upper east side, but stop trying to make other peoples lives worse because you think you should live here.
*rob*
Posted by: Butterfly at November 1, 2009 3:37 PM
rob, who are you talking to?
Posted by: bfarwell at November 1, 2009 10:10 PM
I live right next to PS 139 on Rugby/Cortelyou... the little rugrats seems well behaved. Actually they had a fire drill recently and I saw the little gangs come out. They were adorable and listened to their teachers.
Does that mean anything?
(I'm thinking not all schools filled with 5-11 year olds are that pleasant.)
Also, it's very much a Benetton ad... though, I don't know of any Brooklyn schools that wouldn't be diverse... except maybe the Yeshivas in Borough Park.
Posted by: tybur6 at November 2, 2009 8:46 AM
Oh, but I forgot... Don't move to "Victorian Flatbush." It's basically a hell hole packed with gang violence, sex offenders, drugs and prostitutes. (I don't want my rent to go up!)
Posted by: tybur6 at November 2, 2009 8:48 AM
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check out 139 and 217.
Posted by: royo at November 2, 2009 10:12 AM
You've got to be carefully taught.......................
Posted by: transittillie at November 2, 2009 10:42 AM
We did the same thing, did well on our Ft. Greene co-op sale and invested in a home in Victorian Flatbush and we LOVE it. We look forward to sending our future children to PS 139 or PS 217. Good luck and hope to see you around the nabe!
Posted by: bklyn_girl at November 2, 2009 2:23 PM
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