On this page: School choice | What to look for | Types of schools

School choice

While school choice has become more limited in recent years, thousands of children still apply to specialized programs and to schools outside their neighborhoods each year. In much of Manhattan and in parts of Brooklyn and the Bronx, parents shop for elementary schools the way parents elsewhere shop for college. They start looking a full year before their children enroll in school, sign their 3- or 4-year olds up for entrance exams and intelligence tests, and visit a dozen or more classes. Even in Queens and Staten Island, where the vast majority of children attend their zoned schools, there are a number of schools open to children from outside the immediate neighborhood

The enrollment offices – which each comprise three or four districts – handle school choice requests. Some districts have developed uniform procedures, while other districts (in particular 2 and 3 in Manhattan) have retained their own criteria for school choice.

Shopping around within a district is easier than going from one district to another. The districts have the legal power to determine zoning. That means they may allow students within the district to shop around for schools, even as they tell students from outside the district that there is no room for them.

Start early. Many Manhattan elementary schools have tours in the fall. If you decide to apply to a school other than your zoned schools, you’ll need to go to your district or local enrollment office to pick up a "Placement exception request," also known as a variance. You may also want to consider gifted and talented programs.
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What to look for on a tour

You will certainly want to check out your neighborhood school first. Visit, if the school offers a tour. Attend a PTA meeting. Talk to parents about what they like and don't like. Some parents even volunteer in the neighborhood elementary school while their children are still in nursery school to get a good feeling of the school's strengths and weaknesses. As you tour schools, consider the following.

Are the children happy? The nicest schools make you slightly envious of your child. You'll wish you were 5-year-old again so you could start kindergarten. Does it seem like a friendly or forbidding place?

Are parents welcome? Are there ways that parents can be involved, not just as members of the parents association, but as visitors to the school, volunteers in the classrooms? Is the principal's door really open to parents? Are there events parents are invited to throughout the year?

What is the principal like? A good principal can transform a mediocre school into a gem in just a few years. A bad principal can dismantle good programs and demoralize a competent staff just as quickly. What good principals have in common is an abiding respect for the pupils in their care—a respect that is obvious even on a brief tour. It's fine to be strict, but watch out for principals who yell at kids or who regularly use a bullhorn to keep order. A principal should be not merely an administrator, but an educational leader who can articulate his or her vision for the school and help the staff carry it out.

Are there examples of children's work? Look for children's work (not decorations made by the teacher or provided by a textbook company) displayed on the bulletin boards and walls, preferably not identical shapes cut from construction paper, but work that shows individual thought and creativity. Look for examples of children's writing, even in the earliest grades. Good schools have plenty of fun-to-read books - not textbooks but picture books - as well as novels, books about historical events, biographies and science discovery books. Good schools have plenty of things children can touch and feel in math and science. Look for classrooms with live animals, plants, fish tanks and materials such as magnets and electric motors.

(For more information see New York City’s Best Public Elementary Schools A Parents’ Guide.)
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What are your options?
See our page about different types of programs– from "dual language" to "charter schools." We've also compiled a list of gifted programs and application deadlines.

If you would like to start looking into elementary schools, go to our Find a School section.