Best School Districts In Nassau County New York

As an attorney representing families and many teachers from New York, I have been surprised on how they rank the public schools in Nassau County, and what criteria they use to make their determination. Many young families in New York want their children to have the best education available without the price of a private school, that is the main reason parents choose to live in the highly taxed and expensive NYC suburbs of Nassau and Westchester County.

Westchester County, has excellent public schools and many are ranked in the top 1-2% of the Country, however my personal knowledge is limited Nassau County, and will not attempt to differentiate the public schools elsewhere.

Nassau County, has over 20 public schools listed in Newsweeks, List of America's Best Public Schools, published in 2010. They limit their rankings to AP scores and the percentage of seniors who took the exam. No other area in the country has as many top ranked public schools in a 15 mile radius of each other ranked in the top 1% of all public schools.

I will limit this ranking to the top ten, which are Jericho, Southside, Great Neck South, Manhasset, Syosset. Garden City, Wheatley, North Shore, Herricks and the Roslyn school district.

These ten are in the top 214 in the nation and the difference between Jericho which was number 34 in the country to Roslyn which was number 242 is a matter of Jericho having one or two more seniors taking the AP exam, so the ranking order is not relevant. I will rank these schools by diversity, home prices and commuting distance:

Diversity:

1. Herricks - has a majority minority population Asian Indian, East Asians are the majority.

2. Syosset - Has a large Asian population 20-30%

3. Great Neck South - This school is the dream school of many Korean families reflecting its large Asian population, 30-40%.

Commuting Distance from NYC

1. Great Neck South- Is on the border as well, but has the luxury of being near the LIE and Grand Central Parkway.

2. Manhasset- Right on the border of NYC and Nassau County, however the further you go the longer the commute. The LIE is the only highway.

3. Herricks - few miles from the border, however near several exits of the LIE and Grand Central.

4. Roslyn and Wheatley are a few minutes farther East 15 minutes more commute from the border.

5. Garden City 20-30 minutes from the border and the highways are not close.

6. Jercho and Syosset a good 20-30 minutes from the border however, easy access to the LIE and Grand Central.

Most Expensive:( non renovated three bedroom home)

1. Manhasset -$800,000+

2. Great Neck South, $690,000+

3. Wheatly-$650,000+

4. Garden City $640,000+

5. Herricks Jericho, Roslyn and Syosset - range from $600,000

DIVERSITY EXPLAINED

Diversity seems to be the one common factor given to me by teachers and families when deciding where to live. This is not discussed often but is a major factor.

In terms of diversity, these school districts have three main ethnic groups, Asians, Jews and Americans. Americans are typically Italian and Irish White students. The percentage of Hispanic and African Americans are less than 5% in most of these districts.

In terms of diversity the most well known Jewish schools are Great Neck North, Geat Neck South, Roslyn and Jericho.

These three school districts would have a 30-50% Jewish population. Great Neck North, is considered the school for Persian Jews, and are different from the Jewish families in Great Neck South and Jericho. In fact I have Jewish clients who would send their children to Great Neck South over North for that reason.

In terms of Asian population, this group is subdivided into Asian Indian and Asian Korean and other Asian groups. Herricks is clearly the leader in this area where 47% of the school body is Asian, and the remaining group is split between Jewish and American Students.

Syosset, also has a large percentage of Asian students along with Jewish students. Wheatley and Great Neck South are 20-30% Asian and the majority is still Jewish.

In a recent NYTIMES article, it was reported that families in Korea try to purchase property in Great Neck, just to have their children attend Great Neck South.

Garden City and Southside have a majority of White students with a small Asian and Jewish population. Garden City, remarkably is still 95% white which says a lot about the area and community, since it is surrounded by communities such as Herricks and Great Neck, where the Asian and Jewish population is the majority

Each school district has their own character in terms of neighborhood, and the school district reflects this.

Home Price Explained:

Prices of homes in the neighborhood are important, as $500,000 is the minimum in all these school districts, and $500,000 will only get you a small ranch or two bedroom cape. Many homes in these areas are over 1 to 2 million dollars.

If you are a young family with children, price is important and I will start here.

Great Neck, Manhasset, Wheatley and Roslyn are by far the most expensive neighborhods. In fact, Great Neck and Manhasset $800,000 will be the starting point for a small 3-4 bedroom home.

Herricks, Syosset, North Shore and Garden City are moderate but prices go from $500,000 to 2 million in these areas as well. Garden City, and North Shore have larger homes for the price than Herricks and Syosset, In terms of commuting distance Herricks, Great Neck and Manhasset are a few minutes from the Queens border and twenty minutes from NYC.

Southside, is the only area where nice size homes can be found in the $500,000 range and lower, however South Side is a good 40 minutes from the city.

Conclusion:

As I stated earlier all these school districts are excellent, Herricks, Great Neck South and Manhasset are closest to the city, while Southside, and Syosset have the most affordable homes.

Jericho and Syosset have much larger homes than the other areas for the same prices also many new condo developments have been built their which many young families have moved to.

If you are planning on moving to Nassau County, the on advantage besIdes the schools is the value of the home will be steady and in a good market raise significantly as the demand for these school districts makes them recession proof.

SEE THESE ARTICLES AS WELL:

best long island neighborhood

BEST NYC ARE COLLEGES
WESTCHESTER COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS