Westchester Schools – Best of the Best
Westchester schools are among the best in New York. Whether you have children or not, a big chuck of your taxes will go to pay for the public school system. Often the condition and reputation of a public school system can determine the community’s economic stability, its crime rate, and its population growth. Schools are one of the chief reasons that families relocate. If you are considering Westchester for your next move, then review the following about our schools.
Westchester Magazine surveyed the 44 public high schools in Westchester County and ranked them by average SAT scores, household incomes, gross public expenditures, graduation rate and percentage of teachers with advanced degrees. Many studies have been done to support the truths that most of us already know. Communities that had the highest incomes, ranked highest in most categories. This is attributed to the investment in preparation for these students and the wealth of experiences that these students have access to. Can a poor family properly prepare their child for our nations best colleges? Of course. My mother did, and so can anyone else’s. However, statistics show that on average, the wealthiest communities still outrank the not so wealthy communities.
The two wealthiest communities Scarsdale and Chappaqua had the highest percentage of residents with college degrees. Some educators will tell you that the best schools are those with the highest percentage of teachers with advanced degrees. These communities are Blind Brook (97%), Bronxville (95%), and Westlake/Thornwood (94%). However experts still debate this conclusion.
Many experts argue that smaller class sizes produce better results for student success. The national average is 23 students per teacher. Westchester schools with the smallest class size are (15) Valhalla and Alexander Hamilton in Elmsford, followed by Walter Panas in Cortlandt Manor (17) and Fox Lane in Bedford (18).
The No Child Left Behind Act measures student success by the percentage of students passing proficiency tests administered by the state. New York State uses the “reading and Math Proficiency Rate” (RaMP). The schools this year with the highest RaMP rates are Byram Hills/Armonk and Blind Brook (94.8 percent each), Briarcliff (94.7), and Rye Neck/ Mamaroneck (94.4). Again, the wealthiest districts scored better.
If SAT scores mean something to you, then you will be happy to hear that Scarsdale (1890), Horace Greeley (1880) and Edgemont (1871) scored the highest. If you want to know which schools had the highest percentage of students who went on to four year colleges, then Blind Brook (99), Briarcliff (97), Bronxville, Edgemont, and Scarsdale (96 for all) would finish first.
What demonstrates a quality school system? After all, if you shell out the dollars it takes to buy a house in one of these communities, then you want to be sure that your children are going to benefit from your investment. If you plan to move to a district to take advantage of the schools, ask these questions. What kind of place is this? Where do the students go to college? Is the school providing AP courses, physics and arts? What are students being asked to do? Askrey.net has each districts state scores for your review, on the School Reports link. Check them out for yourself. If you need help… just Ask Rey.
School Data Source: Westchester Magazine, April 2007