ajaychauhan

Hi,

I am relocating shortly to New York along with my wife and 6.5 years daughter. Could anyone help understand the following
1) overall school admission process,
2) are there any specific requirements such as immunization, age, ethnicity, etc.
3) any other information that you think will help

John

New York CITY??

mclaurie

If you're talking about public school (free to residents), here's information. You generally cannot enroll a child without having an address.
http://schools.nyc.gov/ChoicesEnroll...ts/default.htm
If you mean private school that you pay for, each school has different requirements.

DebitNM

Public or Private?

Here in the US - private means one that you must pay for - usually fairly expensive. Sometime run by a religious organization.

Public means that anyone may attend without cost, run by the government.

Immunization requirments - yes, most likely for both types.
Age - your 6.5 year old daughter would most likely be in either Kindergarten (this first year of schooling) or First Grade ( the second year).

School is almost over 6 - 8 weeks remaining, depending on where the school is. You need to decide if it is worthwhile to start her now or wait until September when school resumes.

I saw from your other thread, you will be in a hotel. I would not enroll her in a school until you are in your permanent residence as she would have to change from school near hotel to your home.

I doubt ethnicity will of any importance to the school; it may be to you?

Each school district [if going the public route] has it's own set of requirement - you really need to go by what they say. My comments are general, applicable to most districts.

Dayenu

"I doubt ethnicity will of any importance to the school; it may be to you?" - don't know about NY, but here in SF they are not allowed to have more than 40% of the same ethnicity in a public school.

Start reading here
http://schools.nyc.gov/RulesPolicies/default.htm

ajaychauhan

I am looking for public schools.

DebitNM

http://schools.nyc.gov/ChoicesEnroll...ts/default.htm

Has she attended school in Bombay?

DebitNM

Sorry, not Bombay.

nytraveler

New York City is a single huge school system - 1.1 million students - and typically the kids in the lower grades go to the local schools. These vary tremendously by neighborhood - and if you plan on putting your school into public rather than private school (ALL of the kids in middle class building go to private/religious schools with varying tuition costs).

So when parents decide which neighborhood in which to live one of the first things they look at is the reputation of the public school district as well as the location of the local school.

Elementary school takes kids from kindergarden on (age 5), first grade is age 6, but the child is expected to know the basic form the first year. And I believe you need a permanent address before the child can be registered. I'm not sure of the requirements for immunization but there is no way I would put a child without all of the proper vaccinations in school and it may well not be allowed. (There ha been a recent issue with unvaccinated kids passing on measles, which is very serious and can even e deadly, in certain parts of the country.)

nytraveler

Sorry - ethnicity is not of interest to the schools - those in Queens have children from more than 100 countries - but if herEnglish is not strong that is something you will need to work out when you take her to register.

And I don;t believe you can register from a hotel - but need a permanent address so you know which school she must go to.

Gretchen

You need to find your permanent place of residence and then find the school system there. There is no need for you to do it NOW--school is essentially finished for this year as others have mentioned.

nytraveler

FYI the last day of this school year is June 26 - and you don;t say when you will be in your permanent home - so registering for this year makes little sense since it is very likely she will be a different one in the fall.

The 2015/16 school year starts on September 9th - but you should be able to register before that. You will have to contact your local school when you are settled to determine the day for registration - often the day before school starts.

If you are looking for a summer program (day camp?) for her you would have to google what opportunities are available near where you will live and expect them to be private with you paying the tuition.

ajaychauhan

Very informative. Thanks alot for this.

I am reaching New York on 8th may and will stay in hotel for a month.

Could someone let me know the suburbs near to Long Island City with good public schools. I am looking for 1BR and my budget is $1500-$2000

DebitNM

IF your daughter doesn't speak English [or needs to improve it] and/or if she has never been in school before - I strongly suggest enrolling her in a summer program to get her used to life here and comfortable enough to make an easy transition into school in September.

You may find ones that are free or low cost run by schools, or private ones that you will need to pay the tuition. I think it is money well spent to help her adjust for better future success.

There are usually summer day camps and such, day care centers and the like. I would try to find something that has an educational program, not just a recreation program.

nytraveler

That budget is low for a one bedroom apt in an area with good public schools in Nassau County (all of Queens is part of the NYC school system). You may prefer to live in Queens - which is semi-suburban in some areas - where there may be apartments at lower prices.

The areas with the lowest rents typically have public schools that are poor or marginal (there are several districts in Nassau that the state is looking to take over since their results are so poor). Th best school districts typically have higher rents - or, in some areas, don't allow apartments but only single family houses.

Where you should look depends a lot on where you will be working and how you will get there. The NYC suburbs are definitely car tettiroty - there are trains and express buses that run back and forth to the city - but geting around within the suburbs requires a car.

If you can tell us what specific area you will be working in people can make suggestions on where to live.

Gretchen

This is the same person who was going to commute from NJ to LIC in an earlier thread.
OP, I think you need to talk with your employers about possibilities and aid to get you settled. They have probably done it for other foreign nationals and could advise you better than us trying to describe things to you.