School out of zone using another address

Subject: take a deep breath there.....

First off, if you are referring to the fact that PS154 got a D, I urge you to reconsider your conclusion. 55% of that grade comes solely from the improvement that 3rd and 4th graders made on standardized tests compared with the year before. Schools are essentially penalized for having good teachers in K-2.

There is a school in Sunset Park that scored the highest in the city: they teach to the test every day of the year. Do you want your school to give up everything - art, chess, science, music - so they can teach to the test? That's what you'll find in many A schools.

The letter grade is much more of a measure of how the city views overall progress at the school (compared with other schools) than it is whether your child will receive a good education. They've done a terrible job of communicating this, however.

Secondly, who said "variances are no longer an option?" People send their kids to schools outside the zoned area all the time, and they will again next year also. Just call the school you are interested in sending your kid to and ask. It's much easier to get in if you are not trying for pre-K (extremely difficult) or K (just very difficult). If you have trouble, contact your City Council member. They can help, and often will.

Lastly, I encourage you not to do the fake address thing. You may get away with it, you may not, but you don't need to, and when you get right down to it, its lying. Schools will check, but if you insist your address is correct, I don't think they usually challenge it unless they somehow know for a fact you are lying. But do you really want to get yourself (and your kids) involved in that?

I mean if it comes to food or education, I would do what I have to do to level the playing field.

I'm not sure how sending your child to another, out of zone, school will "level the playing field." It seems to me you are suggesting that your zoned school, which appears to be PS154, is inadequate, and you are therefore forced to give a fake address to get him/her into another school so you will not be denied a quality education - the best education you can provide for your child. I can understand your not liking your zoned school - I think its a mistake to base that opinion on the recently released progress report, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. That said, if you are thinking that by sending them instead to one of the other nearby schools, PS10/295/107/321/39/(284?), you will be receiving the education that 154 fails to provide, I would suggest you are mistaken.

Let's not forget here that all of these schools are PUBLIC SCHOOLS - no more, no less. Non of them have any magic pixie dust that makes them better (or worse) than any other. 321 has an amazing PTA, as does 107, way better than 39, and that counts for ALOT in terms of extra music/arts teaching and a whole host of other things. But, when you get down to brass tacks, the teachers your child has at any of those schools may be great, so so, or downright bad - regardless of their progress report grade. My experience at 321 left something to be desired - lots of people love it.

As for variances, there is no "rule" as to whether they are allowed or not. Every principal decides who to let in and who not to, subject to some restrictions such as those within the zoned area are guaranteed a spot (at K or above). They have a strong incentive to keep the school as full as possible, since they get more money that way, and they will usually let in a student if they have room. Pre-K and K are usually very popular, and thus hard to get into. Higher grades get somewhat easier. A friend of ours called up PS107 in the middle of the year last year, said their child wanted to switch from a school in Kensington, and they said fine.

Also, there are two generally well regarded non zoned schools - the Children's School and Brooklyn Free School - that you may want to check out. Very popular as well, but a fake address gets you nowhere, because they have no zoned area.

I hope this serves as something of a chill pill. As a parent myself, I understand your desire to provide the very best for your children that you possibly can. But get to know your local schools, and the other ones nearby, before you go the fake address route. You may be surprised at what you find.

My o my. I can't believe how crazy that Public School survey is making everyone. This is all I've been hearing about lately. It is just a letter.

I can tell you that I went to (what was then considered, not sure about today) an exceptional JHS for gifted students on the UES. We were able to get a variance to get in even though we lived 60 blocks away. I can tell you that this school was great, but we had our share of LOUSY tenured teachers who would call in sick and generally just sucked. But mostly it was great. You take the good with the bad.

Unless you have been seriously displeased with other stuff that's been happening at your school, I suggest you hang tight.

I have nothing to say about the "morality" of it. But just imagine how nerve wracking it will be for your kid(s) who will be paranoid that someone might find them out, follow them home, want to come over for a slumber party....etc etc. They'll have to lie about where they live. That would have turned me into more of a neurotic basket case than I already was.

Don't make your kid live like a refugee.

get a friends address and change their electric/gas bills to your name there and show bill to new school that your kid move to that new place.

been done for ages .

once done, have your kid change addresses again like a year later back to the old one . nobody would care once you are in hehe.

WTGirl wrote:
And by the way, Windsor Terrace has two public schools.

Yes, PS 154 and PS 130 but PS 130 got a B

armchair_warrior wrote:
once done, have your kid change addresses again like a year later back to the old one . nobody would care once you are in hehe.

When I was in high school, I moved and when I gave in my change of address, which ended up being outside of the zone, they had me leave the school. I had already started classes, not sure if I was mid year or not. I don't know if schools still do this.

(I was so miserable at the other school that my mom faked the address to get me back to my original HS.)

but then I don't know what you are worried about. Besides what everyone said if your mind is made up the plan for the progress reports is to allow parents with kids in schools with bad grades to transfer them out

I think the fake address thing is like anytime you go against the rules and/or break the law -- you may or may not get away with it.

Since ultimately this is about the education of children, I wonder what this would teach children? The only way to get what you want in life is to lie and cheat? Doesn't seem like much of a foundation for someone setting out on the path of knowledge in life, eh?

My wife and I got our son into two top-rated Brooklyn public schools through the variance process, so we had two solid choices beyond our zoned school. The process is arduous and annoying, but by sticking with it (like most things in life) hard work pays off.

We got our variance three years ago, but I know at least two other families who applied for and received variances for their children this school year. Slots may indeed be shrinking in number, but they are still out there. For example, my son's school has seen its applications rise 3-4 times in number in the past three years.

As for the whole "when the system is broken you should break the rules" thing, I hear you.