Dear Judy,

I have several questions related to choosing a school for our daughter (who is currently 16 months old). We are planning to move to Manhattan in time for her to start school, so I am trying to understand our school options and make real estate decisions accordingly. I was wondering:

How necessary is nursery school (we would like her to attend public schools and try out for G&T later)?

How do I compile a comparative list of Manhattan public schools (by test scores, etc.) to come up with a shortlist?

What happens if she cannot get into the zoned pre-K? Would she still be able to attend kindergarten at the zoned school?

MM

Dear MM,

Planning ahead is usually wise, but in the case of public school choice, be prepared to see your plans go awry. With a burgeoning school population in recent years, new schools and new school zones are in the works. You must keep an eye on developments even after you move. That said, here are the answers to your specific questions:

Pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds (no longer called nursery school at that age) is not required but it is indeed necessary. That's because that level is now almost equivalent to what we used to think of as kindergarten. Not every public school has a pre-K so many parents send their kids to schools outside of their zone, or, to free or low cost pre-schools off site at community organizations. There are not enough pre-kindergarten seats to meet the demand in many neighborhoods.  Acceptance to a public school pre-K does not automatically confer acceptance to kindergarten at the school. Assuming your zoned school is not bursting at the seams, you should be able to get into the kindergarten there.

Testing for gifted and talented programs takes place the year before your child enters kindergarten.<!--more-->

Test scores are just one of many criteria that you should look at to compile a list of top choices. You can find the 2006-2010 test scores for every school on the Department of Education website.  There are many other considerations such as  location, size of school and classes, type of program and teaching approach, facilities, arts, science, physical education  and more. You can read a profile of each school on Insideschools.

To narrow your search, I would start with location. Once you search by neighborhood, using the Insideschools.org Advanced search feature, you can call up a list of what we call "blue ribbon" or noteworthy, schools. These are schools that the staff has signaled out as special in some way. Of course you will eventually visit your choices, but that can wait until you are ready to move and your daughter is ready to go!

Finally, as you do your research,  find out about the school districts in the borough.  Each has a distinct personality and a community education council (CEC)where issues of overcrowding, new schools, and zoning changes are discussed.

Remember, before you choose a place to live, before you sign a deed or lease, call 311 to verify the school zone associated with the address and then call the school to double check to make sure you are in the school zone. And, note that some of the most popular Manhattan schools this year have extensive waitlists for kindergarten, although new school openings have helped alleviate some of the worst overcrowding.

Good luck.

Judy