PLG Schools and Amenities

“Any and all advice welcome as I school myself in the Dark Arts of gaming the school system. ”

You game the system by persuading a friend of yours in a ‘good’ neighborhood to let you use their address, so you can send your kids to a school in their district.

Ever notice all the cars in front of 321 at 3PM?

“Seems like it would be a better bet to improve the quality of instruction in the local school for all children.”

First of all, I agree with Brooklynishome,100%. A quality public school education, no matter your neighborhood of residence, just ought to be a right afforded to all Americans and not just a privilege to be enjoyed by those lucky or wealthy to be living in the “right” places. That said, what does one do in the meantime when the prospective house and neighborhood hold promise but the local schools do not?

Well, sometimes, f you want something bad enough, you can make it happen with a bit of luck, great timing and prayers but mainly with a whole lot of extra hard work. So then the question becomes how much do you want it? In our case, our family moved to PLG from West Harlem in 1988. At that time, our daughter was already an adolescent and we were clear she would not be attending the neighborhood schools in PLG. But that decision wasn’t such a big deal for us. After all, she had never attended West Harlem’s neighborhood schools either! Instead, throughout her educational sojourn, we seriously researched the NYC public schools, came up with a lists of the “right” ones and “worked it” such that we were always able to get her admitted into one of the magnet schools, from elementary to high school. Because of our persistence and our daughter’s own diligence, she ended up graduating from an ivy league university — all on the basis of a NYC public school education and all while living in Harlem and PLG.

So what was it about PLG we wanted bad enough for our family that we were willing to send our child not just out of the nabe but out of the borough for her schooling in order to have it? Well, for starters, how about a fabulously diverse, very close-knit and friendly, very small neighborhood comprised of turn-of-the-century rowhouses, victorian frames and prewar apartment buildings. One that is also sandwiched between Prospect Park and the BBG and close to major bus and subway lines. And, of course — let’s be real — we also wanted it badly because a beautiful home in PLG was within our financial means. (No shame there!) I note that we made this decision long before there were the signs of change now going on in PLG today that have already been noted by other posters.

BTW, one other significant change already in the works but not yet mentioned is the new $60M Lakeside Center at Prospect Park. http://www.prospectpark.org/about/lakeside If there were ever an indication that positive new developments are planned for this side of the Park — where we are already in close proximity to the Carousel, Lefferts House, the Boathouse and Audubon Center, the Lake, the Zoo — Lakeside Center is it. Recession or not, I predict that once Lakeside Center opens here in 2011, getting your hands on a house in PLG is going to get a whole lot harder.

Clearly PLG is not for everyone. In the years we’ve been here, I’ve seen families move here in optimism only to turn around and leave soon after because the reality of living on the “fringe” was just too harsh for them. OTOH, I’ve seen way more folk come who decide to stay, just like we did. Whatever you decide, just be sure to do what feels most right in your gut. And, then, having made that decision, be prepared to dig in for the consequences of that choice whether it’s PLG “in” or “out.” (Hint: if you choose PLG “in”, I guarantee you will have instant friends in your neighbors who’ll be happy to lend a helping hand.):-)

Good luck!

I have lived in PLG for a little over two years and I love it as well… but don’t be oversold on the services. I leave the neighborhood for pretty much all my shopping and services, and there’s only a couple of good restaurants (although there’s a lot of great West Indian food shops). I know some people live here without a car, but I admit I don’t know how they do it. I couldn’t. But the housing stock is fantastic, the housing market isn’t spastically bid, and all the people are really nice. I don’t have kids but most of my neighbors send their children to private school, so I expect the public schools are probably pretty bad.

Mr Bull, I think it’s a totally fair question. First of all you have to understand that *my* child is a budding genuis and i want to foster that latent talent. Second, that statement is playing in the heads of lots of mom in the NYC metro area.

i could bore you to death with the generational tale of woe whereby the genXers generally got shafted in the attentive parenting realm and therefore are overparenting their kids “because if we had had a little more involvement or encouragement, I could be an astronaut/oscar winner/president now!” But good enough schooling just doesn’t seem good enough some how. Not when great and superlative is out there. I intend to leave my kids absolutely nothing in a will, I’m gonna die broke and have a hell of a time spending it in the meantime. But I do want to give them the best start I possibly can.