Westchester's Best Public School District?
Which school districts have the best elementary schools in Westchester? If you ask someone, you might get a good argument for the Scarsdale or Rye districts. Part of reason people from all over the world move to Westchester is to take advantage of the areas top schools, which are competitive with any district in the nation.
However did you know that only one Westchester district has been awarded with a Federal Education Department Blue Ribbon School five times in the last seven years? The only other school districts in the state to do that were Manhattan and Brooklyn, with ten times the population. Mount Vernon has had five different elementary schools so honored; Pennington 2009, Lincoln 2006, Traphagen 2004, Columbus 2004 and Longfellow 2003. Scarsdale and Rye have only been recognized once in the same time period. Parents are taking a new look at this little community.
At the southern most tip of Westchester, right above the Bronx and beneath Bronxville, Mount Vernon’s elementary schools have been steadily and consistently churning out some of the nation’s best and brightest young scholars. For some time the area has benefited from an influx of parents looking for a Westchester lifestyle without a Westchester price tag. Mount Vernon has been able to offer affordable living options with the state’s top schools. The district only has 11 elementary schools, so it is astounding that 45% of the district has been recognized as a Blue Ribbon School.
District Superintendent W.L. "Tony" Sawyer, Ed.D. shares his philosophy, “As educators, it is our job to believe. Firstly, we must believe in our students. Secondly, we must believe in our capacity to make a difference and thirdly, we must believe in the capacity of our community to work with us to make the seemingly impossible, an unquestionable reality.”
In addition to quality academic programs, these schools offer amenities parents expect at $50,000 per year private schools. There are a gifted programs, music programs, world class athletic programs and extras. The district launched an Economics Inclusion program for 7th graders with Chase Bank. Mount Vernon regularly sends spellers to the Scripps National Spelling Bee Contest. Longfellow Elementary students have published poems in the Pine Tree Poetry Collection. The GospelKnights won first place in the Pathmark Gospel Choir Competition and will compete nationally in McDonald’s GospelFest & the BET 106 & Gospel Competition. Children are traveling abroad with Oprah Winfrey’s Angel network.
Academically and socially children are excelling. If you would like to check the profiles or test scores for any of these schools, click on the Schools Report link on AskRey.net. If you are looking for an affordable home in these communities… AskRey.