Best School District in Suffolk County (Islip, Huntington: daycare, home, best schools)
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With very few exceptions, all school districts on Long Island can provide a competant educational experience. Bottom line, if the student and the parents of the student want a decent education they can get it.
Taxes in all Long Island school districts are beyond obscene. Many school boards are controlled by the teachers unions and they stack the elections accordingly.
Going by the numbers, there are much better districts elsewhere in New York State than on Long Island.
On Long Island, there are many cliche school districts. These tend to be based in/around the "up scale" population clusters. For example Half Hallow Hills, CSH, Smithtown, Miller Place, Hamptons, etc; In these districts peer influence can and often does ruin the education. In these districts, the kids drive better cars than the teachers, money, image and being part of the "right" group are seemingly more important than the actual education. If you don;t have big bucks, avoid such districts.
Unless a school district "specializes" in something you envision your child needing, Nearly all school districts on long Island will do a reasonable job.
If your interest is in property values or "being in the right" district, stick with an "upscale" district".
If you want your child to be exposed to people from all economic, cultural and racial/religious expierences then stay as far away from the "upscale districts" as possible.
I advise not limiting yourself to Logn Island, if at all possible. It is crowded, expensive, controlled by special & monied interests. It has a declining population of younger people. Is very to over developed. Has a declining to non-existant middle class. Zoning laws are burdensome for honest people and unenforced on dishonest people. Is highly segragated. Has terrible traffic most of the time. And you have to pay randsom to New York City just to drive off of it.
But the beaches are nice, when a state ranger isn't chasing you away.
I've lived here for 45 years. It is unlikely I'll ( be able to/want to ) stay much longer. It's just not Long Island anymore. If your not rich, it isn't worth being here.
PS - My children attend Central Islip. I've been satisfied with their experience. My nephews/neice are in Longwood and their education is also satisfactory. All are on their way to college. I myself attend Sachem and was dissatisfied due to the size of the district. The 2nd high school may help relieve this issue.
Last edited by very private citizen; 01-22-2007 at 10:35 AM..
Reason: added text
What about East Islip? Connetiquot? West Babylon? Lindenhurst is good without all the pretentious status seekers attending the schools! I too, am done with the taxes on Long Island, I want out if I could just sell my home!
With very few exceptions, all school districts on Long Island can provide a competant educational experience. Bottom line, if the student and the parents of the student want a decent education they can get it.
Taxes in all Long Island school districts are beyond obscene. Many school boards are controlled by the teachers unions and they stack the elections accordingly.
Going by the numbers, there are much better districts elsewhere in New York State than on Long Island.
On Long Island, there are many cliche school districts. These tend to be based in/around the "up scale" population clusters. For example Half Hallow Hills, CSH, Smithtown, Miller Place, Hamptons, etc; In these districts peer influence can and often does ruin the education. In these districts, the kids drive better cars than the teachers, money, image and being part of the "right" group are seemingly more important than the actual education. If you don;t have big bucks, avoid such districts.
Unless a school district "specializes" in something you envision your child needing, Nearly all school districts on long Island will do a reasonable job.
If your interest is in property values or "being in the right" district, stick with an "upscale" district".
If you want your child to be exposed to people from all economic, cultural and racial/religious expierences then stay as far away from the "upscale districts" as possible.
I advise not limiting yourself to Logn Island, if at all possible. It is crowded, expensive, controlled by special & monied interests. It has a declining population of younger people. Is very to over developed. Has a declining to non-existant middle class. Zoning laws are burdensome for honest people and unenforced on dishonest people. Is highly segragated. Has terrible traffic most of the time. And you have to pay randsom to New York City just to drive off of it.
But the beaches are nice, when a state ranger isn't chasing you away.
I've lived here for 45 years. It is unlikely I'll ( be able to/want to ) stay much longer. It's just not Long Island anymore. If your not rich, it isn't worth being here.
PS - My children attend Central Islip. I've been satisfied with their experience. My nephews/neice are in Longwood and their education is also satisfactory. All are on their way to college. I myself attend Sachem and was dissatisfied due to the size of the district. The 2nd high school may help relieve this issue.
I actually grew up in LI.
All I remember is DON'T send your kids to Kings Park, Smithtown, Sachem, or South Country school districts. I havent lived there in a decade though. I do know the same idiots that were there in KP when I was there are still in the SD, only now they're running things.
So far, the two best I've heard are Three Village and Half Hollow Hills.
HHH is either ghetto or too much money depending. Three Village seems to offer the best combination of affordability and quality of life. Yes, they have the statistics to back this up, but stats are just a measure of how far people are willing to go to achieve numbers.
Well I'm another lifelong resident of suffolk county. I attended Comsewogue, nothing special about it. However, in high school the kids that used hard drugs always went to ward melville(three village) to buy them because the kids w/a little more money had better stuff.
I enrolled my son in Port Jeff district, very small & wealthy, always makes the top list of great schools. Turns out by 4th grade he needed special ed & went undiagnosed. That district had NO special ed services, they spend all their money on gifted programs. I researched & moved to Connetquot, my son thrived there during elem. & MS, the high school was a disappointment. At least a handful of kids that should have graduated w/my son missed the ceremony because they were in rehab.
Now I live in the Longwood district(but don't have kids attending), my neighbors are all happy about the schools & they seem to have great school spirit.
so i think that its most important to know if you child requires special services of any kind, use that info first & then remember that its more about parental involvement than the actual school district.
All I remember is DON'T send your kids to Kings Park, Smithtown, Sachem, or South Country school districts. I havent lived there in a decade though. I do know the same idiots that were there in KP when I was there are still in the SD, only now they're running things.
So far, the two best I've heard are Three Village and Half Hollow Hills.
HHH is either ghetto or too much money depending. Three Village seems to offer the best combination of affordability and quality of life. Yes, they have the statistics to back this up, but stats are just a measure of how far people are willing to go to achieve numbers.
Any others?
-TT
I believe you will be best served by first determining the kind of people/aesthetics you want in your new community.
I decided on Central Islip becuase you are convenient to everything. Much of the town is brand new. The demographics are racially diverse. The area is low to mid economically and relative to the remainder of Long Island is inexpensive. The people tend to be more working class but there are a growing number of educated and retirees arriving. Taxes are less than in many other districts. The school district is adequate. Most of my neighbors are very decent people and this is reflected in the student population within the schools.
You should decide what is important to you, select an appropriate area and worry about the district last.
The only districts in Suffolk I consider to be questionable are Wyndanch, William Floyd and Bellport. This is my personal opinion and is based more on observation than the "data".
The numbers reported by New York State may not be reliable. For example, in Central Islip my children are in the advanced program. These children move through the school district together until High School. As High School approaches, many of the students, particularly female students, are moved into private schools. As a result the scores in the district are skewed lower becuase a statistically significant number of high scoring students leave the district. This is not reflected in the state scores and so Central Islip continues to lose its best and brightest.
People are concerned the district may not be good enough and so the best students are removed lowering scores and resulting in greater concern that the district is not good enough and so the best leave, etc; etc; I am certain this occurs in several so called "bad" districts.
My best advice is forget about districts and worry about the people you'll be living with in your new neighborhood.
My best advice is forget about districts and worry about the people you'll be living with in your new neighborhood.
I wish more people felt this way, but unfortunately it seems that here on LI, people "shop" via school district rather than via actual neighborhood... and this is reflected in the home prices. Sellers know that they will get more $$ for a mediocre home in a district perceived as "good" than they will for the same home in a district perceived as "marginal" or worse.
I agree with the poster who said that there is probably almost as much drugs going around a high-end district than there are in a marginal district. Anyone who thinks their child will be much more protected from drug-related opportunities in a high-end district, is living in a fool's paradise. It won't be as much out in the open, sure, but almost as much 'stuff' will be changing hands in the better district as in the worse one. In other words, it'll be in Beemers and parties rather than on street corners. Trust me, even the kids who have no interest in using drugs will be aware of exactly how and from whom to obtain whatever is wanted; it'll be common knowledge even at the Middle School level in any district, even the so-called best ones. I will grant you that the specter of, say, gang-related activity will be far less likely in 3Village than in Bellport or Wyandanch.
But this all is true of practically anywhere in the USA; it's not endemic to LI and many places are far worse.
Hi, what you said is so true about special ed. If you have a child with special needs forget the affluent districts. I had the superintendent of special ed in Smithtown tell me my child needed to be with children like herself. She has Down Syndrome but is very high functioning except for speech, now I am in Pat/Med, it was better 6 years ago, but now you have to fight for services alot. I know that Longwood is really great for special education it is probably one of the best, my friend is a teacher and she bought her home there instead of Middle Country. Longwood also has alot of school spirit. If I was to stay here I would probably pick Longwood also.
I will defiantely say that Longwood special ed is really great. My son goes to catholic but needed extra reading help. Well he was evualated by Longwood and I was shocked that he will receive 3 hours of extra reading help a week. I have goen thru Pat/Med when he was younger and had to fight for everything he needed.
dorothy
Hi, my friends son needed some speech therapy in Longwood, they did not even bat an eyelash when it came to cse time! In Pat/Med my son also needs speech therapy and I am fighting fighting to just get the evaluation. My neighbor is also a teacher in the Jr. High and he told his sister that if it was his child going to school he would move to longwood instead of staying in Pat Med. I am trying to sell, and even if i break even after paying for all the improvements I made to my home, I would rent in Longwood until I had more down payment for a house If I don't move out of state first.
Lindenhurst is great for special need kids. My wife is a teacher's aide in an elementary school in the Lindenhurst school district. She provides a great level of service to the kids in special need. They provide an aide for each kid that has a special need. There's also a full day kindergarten which most school districts lack.
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best schools in Suffolk County
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