School Advice Needed
We were just notified by email that our two kids were offered spots in the Gifted & Talented program at P.S. 9 (The Sarah Anderson School for Music and Art) on the Upper West Side. I obtained some information from insideschools.org and colleagues who live in the Upper West Side and it seems to be…
We were just notified by email that our two kids were offered spots in the Gifted & Talented program at P.S. 9 (The Sarah Anderson School for Music and Art) on the Upper West Side.
I obtained some information from insideschools.org and colleagues who live in the Upper West Side and it seems to be very popular school. I like the fact that it’s an music/arts school too.
The issues/questions, however, are:
– We live in Brooklyn Heights, so it would be a logistical nightmare to get them to and from school, short of moving to the Upper West Side.
– The kids are currently well-settled at PS8. They love it there and we think the principal and teachers are wonderful. We are very happy with the school.
– Why are there spots available at this time? I assume our kids must have been wait-listed and spots came up as families chose other schools and/or moved out of the neighbourhood.
I know there are many parents on this blog who have a lot of experience with the public school system and can offer very solid advice. Is anyone familiar with The Sarah Anderson School? Can you offer suggestions for other questions to ask the people there to assist in our decision?
Any insight is greatly appreciated.
If you are zoned for PS 8, how’d your child get a slot in a Dist. 3 G&T? Or did you move? If you qualified for a district G&T, it would be District 13, hence PS 9 in Prospect Heights. (I know it’s a wild shot, but is there any confusion here between the two PS 9s?)
In any case, I’d keep the kids at PS 8. It’s not worth uprooting them if they’re happy, and having gotten the lower grades on an even keel, I think Seth may be starting to focus on the upper grades. I also think that a good gen ed program is fine for even the smart kids who might test into G&T programs. It’s true that the middle school choices in Dist. 13 aren’t as strong as Dist. 2 or 15, but you might like to know that many former PS 8 kids are now attending Arts & Letters, Fort Greene Prep, and the Girls Math and Science school, and those schools will surely benefit from the fundraising and general involvement of the PS 8 parent body. Last year about 10% of the PS 8 5th grade got into the citywide G&T schools–ICE, Twain, NEST–so if your kids are gifted, they should have these middle school options.
on the 2/3 probably 35 min commute.
But… your kids are happy where they are. You are happy where they are. I’d stay put. Imagine all the birthday parties you’ll have to schlep up to on the UWS every single weekend… not to mention all the various parent events that you will need to attend – PTAs, curriculum meetings, orientations, open classrooms, Thanksgiving celebrations, winter holiday concerts, parent teacher conferences… you will also spend a lot of time schlepping back and forth.
G&T has it’s pros and cons. But if you’re happy with PS8, and the quality of education your kids are getting and the administration there, stay put.
1 – Stay put in Brooklyn. It isn’t worth the commute.On statewide published indexes, PS8 does perform better than PS9, although not significantly better.
2 – I can’t understand how you got a District 3 seat offered unless it was a DOE error or a bending of DOE rules as every seat in District 3’s southern half (PS 199, 87, 452, 9 and 166) was tracked as closely as a perfect diamond.
3- Do you want a G&T experience? That is a different experience than a Gen Ed experience although the curriculum is the same.
Biff, I don’t have kids, and don’t know any parents or kids at either school, so my advice comes from being a former kid.
Leave them where they are. I think being able to walk to a neighborhood school, where they are acclimated, have friends, can walk home, and you as parents can more easily participate in PTA or school activities, is worth far more than anything the other school can give them at this stage in their lives.
You’ve got them in a good school. Their gifts and talents can be nutured there just as well, without undo competition and stress. They (and you) will get more sleep, be better rested, and more able to participate in programs, including extracurricular stuff that they might be interested in.
There is more than enough time in their lives to be focused on getting them into Yale, let them be kids, not baby ratlings in an adult rat race.
FWIW, I turned down a G&T spot at PS 38 for a general ed spot at PS 261. Although we later left 261, I’m still happy with my decision.
I turned down the G&T program for three reasons. First was because the G&T program at PS 38 was isolated from the gen’l ed popuation, which was mostly lower-income kids from Wyckoff Houses. I didn’t like the island feel. Second, the G&T program was tiny — only one class. Always the same kids year after year. Finally, I learned the G&T curriculum was basically the same as gen’l ed, just with more enrichment. You should check, though, as that may have changed in the last five years.
PS 261, like PS 8, is a diverse, vibrant, well-rounded school. I felt then and still feel now that my children receive a better primary education in a school like that than in a tiny, isolated, “enriched” program.
Now, if you got into one of the citywides, that would probably be worth the commute.
Congrats on your smart wife and kids!
I commute a half hour to school every morning with my 1st grader, including a subway ride and 12-minute walk. It means she has to wake up by 6:30 a.m., and although it isn’t so bad in the nice weather, it is a MAJOR drag in the winter or when it rains. We do it because we love the school, and it is far superior to our locally-zoned school. But if you can avoid it, I would. P.S. 8 is a great school, and anyway, I’m a little dubious about G&T programs in general. Just my opinion, but I prefer the “every child is gifted in his or her own way” approach they take at PS 8.
Good luck, whatever you decide.
The PS 9 G&T program is a well-regarded program and if you lived in the neighborhood, you’d probably want to seriously consider it.
However, if you have an excellent gen ed school, like PS 8, I’d never choose a district g&t program that means your kid will have to commute. You will find just as many very smart kids at PS 8 as at the g&ts. And, there is nothing like walking your kid to school and the neighborhood community you get with your local school.
PS 9 isn’t worth moving for — in fact, I believe that it is in D. 3, which doesn’t have the best choice of middle schools anyway. (However, when your kid gets older, it may be worth moving to District 15, which does have better middle schools right now that District 13, where PS 8 is located. Hopefully that will change in the next few years.) Even if your child had a coveted spot at the Anderson school, a citywide gifted school that goes from K-8, I’d advise you to think twice whether it worth the commute. Perhaps then you might think of moving, but it honestly won’t make a bit of difference for your child unless the kid is so unusual that he or she is unable to function in a gen ed classroom.
Finally, if your child is truly smart, he or she will test into an excellent citywide middle school anyway.
Don’t even think about it (and that’s the best way to stop obsessing.) If your kids are happy in a decent school, that’s the best. School rating is way skewed anyway. And school culture is just as important, why would you want to subject your kids to isolation and hyper-competitiveness? Grooming ’em for Harvard (when I used to say we should do that for our son to my x she’d go ballistic, being from a very non-competitive family).
I grew up in India and went to a school which by PS321 standards was piss-poor. Did quite well all in all. My son is at ICE, supposedly a school which would suit his anti-authoritarian attitude, and did not do well in VI, this year he’s gotten used to it and claims to like it. So you really can’t tell how kids will adapt, and otoh they will eventually adapt to practically anything.
So let it rest.
This is why you shouldn’t even have your kids take the test – choices suck!
It sounds like you are unreservedly happy with ps8 – as are your kids. It also sounds like your children do fabulously on tests and thus will get into great middle schools regardless of where they go for elementary. The one wonderful thing public school can offer is this wonderful continuity between school and community – an irreplaceable experience that will give your kids a sense of rootedness that is invaluable. I would stick with 8… The days of far flung school attendance will come soon enough.