Moving from London Independent to USA (NY,NJ,CT) public school

[AMG2009]

We are planning a move with children aged 8 and 3 (currently attending a UK Independent school) to USA. We haven’t quite decided where but looking for commuter towns from New York City, with good public schools.

1. Can others who’ve done a similar move share their experience please? Was it a smooth transition for the kids? The day prep my DSs attend have a very broad curriculum, with equal focus on academics and sports. From the research I’ve done, I can’t seem to find US elementary/middle schools that match up to what we have at the moment - I could be completely wrong, so happy to be corrected.

1. What would be good areas for relocation in CT ,NY or NJ. Looking for areas with families, excellent schools, lots of green spaces and good activities/clubs for kids.

Thanks in advance.

Why aren't you considering private schools in the USA?

I don't have any info for you - no idea if any USA mumsnetters will see this but maybe bump the thread back into active in a couple of hours when it's a bit further into the evening in the EST timezone.

@KihoBebiluPute

Why aren't you considering private schools in the USA?

I don't have any info for you - no idea if any USA mumsnetters will see this but maybe bump the thread back into active in a couple of hours when it's a bit further into the evening in the EST timezone.

Thank you. We are simply not considering US private schools from an affordability point of view, as we might be on a single income to start with.

In terms of curriculum you 8YO will move back quite a bit in maths and English. Like, 1.5 years. Depending on how they fall within the age cut off. My experience is that the US public elementary schools have far better resources in terms of music and art rooms, sports pitches, playgrounds and school associated sports than U.K. state schools. Now matching a U.K. independent school with a US public school won’t be super easy. School districts really vary too: it’s not an amazing resource but you can look at greatschools.com for an indication.

We moved when our boys were aged 7 & 5 to Harrison in Westchester, north of Manhattan. There are lots of lovely areas round here - Rye snd Scarsdale school districts are very highly regarded. But this is reflected in the higher local taxes.

It was very easy to move schools - a school place is guaranteed with your house. So as soon as you have a contract of sale or rental contract, you have a school place.

The schools have amazing facilities as there's so much space. 20 to a class and they've just easily extended ours to accommodate a big year moving through. Academically, we would prefer our kids to be challenged a bit more but the last couple of years have obviously been a bit unusual. We had half our schooldays on Zoom for a whole year.

The choice of extra curricular sport activities is amazing. But, they're not done at school - gym seems to be mostly just running around the track or movement indoors. Like everything else, activities are expensive.

Also, you can't start school until the kids vaccinations are up to date - this includes Chicken Pox and another not standard in the UK (hepatitis B?)
As the course of boosters might be long, give enough weeks to get this done before you leave.

Our dc were allowed to start school with a note from the doctors to say that they had already had chicken pox.
So they didn't need the vaccination.

@KittenSmitten

In terms of curriculum you 8YO will move back quite a bit in maths and English. Like, 1.5 years. Depending on how they fall within the age cut off. My experience is that the US public elementary schools have far better resources in terms of music and art rooms, sports pitches, playgrounds and school associated sports than U.K. state schools. Now matching a U.K. independent school with a US public school won’t be super easy. School districts really vary too: it’s not an amazing resource but you can look at greatschools.com for an indication.

Yes, I understand academically he may not be challenged and plus would have to repeat the year/grade to join same-aged children.

Reassuring to hear about the resources at elementary schools - would that be a standard across all schools within a state or can it vary by school districts?

Would have any recommendations for good school districts in NY or NJ?

@londontonyc

We moved when our boys were aged 7 & 5 to Harrison in Westchester, north of Manhattan. There are lots of lovely areas round here - Rye snd Scarsdale school districts are very highly regarded. But this is reflected in the higher local taxes.

It was very easy to move schools - a school place is guaranteed with your house. So as soon as you have a contract of sale or rental contract, you have a school place.

The schools have amazing facilities as there's so much space. 20 to a class and they've just easily extended ours to accommodate a big year moving through. Academically, we would prefer our kids to be challenged a bit more but the last couple of years have obviously been a bit unusual. We had half our schooldays on Zoom for a whole year.

The choice of extra curricular sport activities is amazing. But, they're not done at school - gym seems to be mostly just running around the track or movement indoors. Like everything else, activities are expensive.

How did your boys transition to the new setting? Was it an easy one? I'm quite nervous that my older boy might hate school if I don't find the right one similar to where he is at the moment.

Will look up Harrison, Scarsdale and Rye. Are you aware of equally good school districts in CT or NJ?

@londontonyc

Also, you can't start school until the kids vaccinations are up to date - this includes Chicken Pox and another not standard in the UK (hepatitis B?) As the course of boosters might be long, give enough weeks to get this done before you leave.

I had no idea about vaccinations. That's so useful to know. Thanks a ton!

@longerevenings

Our dc were allowed to start school with a note from the doctors to say that they had already had chicken pox. So they didn't need the vaccination.

That's good, although my younger one hasn't had chicken pox yet so may have to look into getting a vaccine. Thank you.

I'm in NYC, in order to be able to recommend school districts it would be really helpful to know the intersection of your office. Where you work in the city heavily dictates where you'll commute from.

For example, if you're working at the UN, you'd want to commute into Grand Central and therefore live in CT or Westchester. If you 're based at Hudson Yards you'd want to come in to Penn Station so commute from NJ or LI.

Have you thought about living in the city? The commutes can be truly grim.

Oh, and what's your budget? No use recommending Old Greenwich if that's out of your price range .

We also needed an eye test and a wellness check before our dc could start school.
The state had formal paperwork for these checks.

Ours came from a private school so the class sizes and facilities were familiar, I think this helped. Bear in mind that your youngest won't enter kindergarten until the September of the year he turns 5. Most go to Pre-K beforehand but availability during the school year is tough as they're all private.

The curriculums are different, but not hugely so. Lots of American history obviously which is an education for us too. I think the pressure here comes in middle school. It's nice to see the kids out of uniform, a lot more relaxed. This helped them settle too as they weren't overwhelmed by the schoolwork. The summer vacation is very long - 11 weeks! We did workbooks to keep their brains ticking over.

Honestly, the kids were great. We had no tears. They're very resilient and adaptable, they'll surprise you! We moved at Easter, and my eldest started about 4 weeks before the end of first grade. The teachers and kids were so incredibly friendly and welcoming, and still are . They're used to people starting mid year as even if you move house locally, you can only go to the school assigned to your house. Such an easy system - we're trying to move back to the UK next summer and getting very stressed about schools!

As a pp noted, Greatschools.com has ratings of districts for you. Is it a temporary move? If not look at middle school results too. Some private schools aren't too expensive BUT they're unregulated so I wouldn't consider.

I can't comment much on CT or NJ. Greenwich is lovely but pricey. The commute from here is a pain - 45 minutes on a fast train and they're infrequent off peak so I wouldn't want to live much further away. We have friends who moved here from Hoboken (NJ) and Brooklyn because of the schools availability.

@allfurcoatnoknickers

I'm in NYC, in order to be able to recommend school districts it would be really helpful to know the intersection of your office. Where you work in the city heavily dictates where you'll commute from.

For example, if you're working at the UN, you'd want to commute into Grand Central and therefore live in CT or Westchester. If you 're based at Hudson Yards you'd want to come in to Penn Station so commute from NJ or LI.

Have you thought about living in the city? The commutes can be truly grim.

Current office location is closer to Grand Central , but is expected to move to Hudson Yards mid next year.

A total door-to-door commute up to 1.5hours (as that's what it is at the moment to commute into London) should be okay I guess. Not sure if I need to add in contingency for delays during peak-hour rush?

What does LI stand for?

@longerevenings

We also needed an eye test and a wellness check before our dc could start school. The state had formal paperwork for these checks.

Noted, thank you so much :)

Thank you @londontonyc. So reassuring to hear that you've had a positive experience so far. Goodluck with your move back, must be daunting! We are looking at a permanent move, unless we absolutely hate it and would want to get back, which I'm told rarely happens when you move to that side of the pond

@AMG2009 Is it Blackrock?

Anyway, That's very helpful to know. I live by Hudson Yards. It's on the far west side, so ideally you'd want to commute in to Penn Station. Coming into Grand Central would add 15/20 minutes on to your journey and that's if the 7 train is cooperating (hit and miss tbh).

For Penn, you want NJ or LI (Long Island). For NJ, I would start your search in Millburn/Short Hills or Tenafly. Princeton is the best school district in NJ, but it is a schlep to the city.

More here: www.niche.com/k12/search/best-school-districts/s/new-jersey/

I'm not a massive fan of suburban Long Island, but Nassau County would probably be your best starting point because it's closer to the city: www.niche.com/k12/search/best-school-districts/c/nassau-county-ny/

Suffolk County is further away, but again more here: www.niche.com/k12/search/best-school-districts/c/suffolk-county-ny/

Off the top of my head, I've heard good things about Oyster Bay, Sea Cliff, Cold Spring and Huntingdon. A friend just bought a house in Port Washington for the good schools, but the housing stock is either atrocious or expensive.

Sure I can't tempt you into the city? It's fun here and we've got some amazing schools if you can get yourself into the right zone. Take a look at PS11 on 21st street.

So sorry I do not know much about NY,NJ or CT but it seems PPs can help there!

Depending on how you feel about it and what time of year your children are born you might also be able to move them up a class. I would also look into whether September 1st is the school year cut off in the state you are looking at. It wasn’t for us and meant our September born got to go ’up’ a class which made the curriculum gap smaller.

Yes- vaccinations! Ours needed this, a full school check up and also a dental check up. Our school accepts proof (blood test) or antibodies for chicken pox should you not wish to vaccinate if they have had it already. Also be aware of American bureaucracy- medical establishment might not accept a complete transfer of ‘red book’ vaccination records and might ask to redo them. One of my D.C. had to have a second shot of something as it was four days early to fall within the vaccination programme and school did not accept this.

No experience of the areas you are looking at - we moved the the Chicago area - but just popped on to say I wouldn't waste too much time sorting medical stuff before you go. I arranged opticians appointments, dentist check ups etc before we went thinking it would be one less thing to worry about in the first few months after the move. Turns out we had to repeat absolutely everything stateside for school admission.

Our school district did accept a letter from our GP confirming that they had had chickenpox, but there were a number of other vaccinations they had to have on top of the standard UK schedule.

I have close family in ny and nj. If you are in a good area the local school will generally be good as it's funded by property taxes so more expensive areas have more money. Private schools in the main aren't like here and are often eg catholic colleges.

Ps my cousins live in manhasset on Long Island. Her husband works on Wall Street but not mega rich. The schools seem excellent - at least as good as the indi I'm paying for here with small class sizes. You need a good housing budget though.

Agree with PP on just getting all medical done once you are over! It’s a lot of admin initially but it’s all worth it.

@allfurcoatnoknickers You know around really well!

Was considering Millburn, will look at Tenafly too. Schools in Nassau County look really good too.

I think i've got used to the suburban/country life in London with more outdoor space and activities. But yes, the city has it's own charm.

@KittenSmitten that's useful - I just assumed that all states have a Sept cut off for intakes. My older one is May 2013 born, does that make any difference? He is in Year 4 at the moment, so my assumption is that he would be getting into Grade 4 next September?

Would the school district advise on the vaccinations or tests required before start?