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Transitioning from homeschooling to NYC public schools


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We are moving from Northern Virginia to NYC (Manhattan) next month and are planning to enroll our kids in public school (because I'm just kinda burned out after 6.5 years). I've spent days learning about the NYC public school system and it is DAUNTING. I'm less concerned about my younger kids, because from what I understand, they will likely go to the neighborhood school for which we are zoned (and we will rent in a zone with a school we like). But my eldest is in 6th grade and that's a little bit trickier. We're planning on living on the UWS, and there aren't any zoned middle schools there. I called a Family Welcome Center and they told me that mid-year, they'll just put her wherever there's a spot. I'm not thrilled about that, and I'm prepared to homeschool her until a spot opens up in a school that is a good fit. 

I'm just really anxious about the whole process, especially for dd11. She isn't very strong academically. Her Iowa test scores aren't high, so she won't be able to get into the competitive screened schools. How does this work as a homeschooler? So much is based on past grades and attendance, and we don't have any of that. Has anyone made this transition or do you know anything about it? 

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I don't know what would be based on "Attendance." o_0

And of course many people have enrolled their children in campus-based schools after homeschooling.

She'll be entering as any other student; IOW, it won't matter that she was homeschooled. Make a report card, and put it into a manila folder along with her immunization records and a photocopy of her birth certificate; that will be her cum file. Take it with you to the school and tell them that you're enrolling her in sixth grade (and ditto with your younger dc, except of course whatever their grade levels are).

The biggest transitions for your children will be things like having to sit in their desks and not talk to everyone, and raising their hands to speak, and writing their names on their papers, and getting permission to go to the bathroom.   :-)

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My oldest son entered public school in 8th grade. He was not ahead academically or anything and I didn't push for him to be placed any certain way (gifted or special ed) so they just placed him in academic level classes and then took notes on how he was doing. After the first 9 weeks, they decided to put him in a remedial math class and some time with a teacher's aid once a week for the rest of the semester to work on things that the other kids had had year and years of practice with (school procedures, keeping work organized, juggling the demands of different teachers etc). He did fine after that, caught up in  math quickly and was ready for regular math classes when he got to high school. He was never a "book learning" type of kid so he made decent grades all through high school but not the dean's list or anything like that. He did just fine though and has a steady job (military, was always his dream job) . In hindsight, I worried a lot about it at the time but it all worked out just fine in the end.

My second oldest son, on the other hand, I knew needed services to get through public school. I had to stay on top of the school and his teachers to get recommendations for testing and therapies he needed as a 2E kid. I spent a ton of time advocating for him because he is smart as could be and a lot of his teachers could see that but some just didn't want to put in the time to contend with a 2E kid's needs. He got an IEP his first year in public school (6th grade) that lasted through graduation this past spring. He's taking a gap year. He needs a break to find his love of learning again.

All that to say, if your child is just not a book learner, school transition shouldn't be too bad. Lots of kids are not book learners and survive public school for their entire education. Be glad you got to homeschool them for as long as you did. But if you think your child will need special services for whatever reason, be ready to turn advocating for them into at least a part time job.

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I am in Manhattan, and admission into public middle school is by application only. They are due around December 1. Usually, families tour the schools in October and November and then list up to 5 schools in order of preference. It is a daunting process, even for seasoned NY parents and especially for newcomers. I have no idea how homeschooled children provide the equivalent of teacher reports and report cards. I would find a few middle schools that you are interested in, and call the admissions office to ask if they have had homeschooled children join their school. You can also try reaching out to the NY homeschoolers' alliance https://nychea.org. Our kids are in a private school here, so I don't have any personal advice for you. Good luck!

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5 hours ago, underthebridge said:

I am in Manhattan, and admission into public middle school is by application only. They are due around December 1. Usually, families tour the schools in October and November and then list up to 5 schools in order of preference. It is a daunting process, even for seasoned NY parents and especially for newcomers. I have no idea how homeschooled children provide the equivalent of teacher reports and report cards. I would find a few middle schools that you are interested in, and call the admissions office to ask if they have had homeschooled children join their school. You can also try reaching out to the NY homeschoolers' alliance https://nychea.org. Our kids are in a private school here, so I don't have any personal advice for you. Good luck!

Thank you so much! That's a great idea to call the schools directly and ask about admissions for homeschoolers. Definitely gonna do that on Monday. And I will for sure reach out to NYCHEA.

I've got that Dec 1 application deadline seared in my brain. It's basically the only date in my life right now, lol. 

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40 minutes ago, Aspasia said:

Thank you so much! That's a great idea to call the schools directly and ask about admissions for homeschoolers. Definitely gonna do that on Monday. And I will for sure reach out to NYCHEA.

They will most assuredly not know about homeschoolers from other states, so be prepared for that.

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Nothing brilliant to add on the transition, other than boning up on their homeschool reporting requirements. I've heard people talking about quarterly reports, etc. I think the advice to go ahead and make a report card is good, and maybe try to include areas like behavior, etc. that are often on ps report cards. It might be a way to communicate a fuller picture of who your dd is, since she's more than her test scores. Usually they are grades for things like citizenship or this or that. 

I hope your transition goes very well! 

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For public school, it’s an application and kind of a nightmare of a process. For private, same thing, they will want last year’s report so see if you have any testing or anything. DD will apply for private school in 3rd (there are no seats, but we will try) and the private said they will take her last year Iowa tests in lieu of her 1st grade report. 

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I don’t know about public middle school in nyc, but you might want to also contact Bank Street School if Private could be possible or even to get their ideas on public schools and also perhaps Teachers College at Columbia could have helpful ideas. A friend of mine’s dd went to Bank Street and it seemed like it could be a good fit even for a no academic child.  Though my friends dd was a academic. 

You could perhaps also consider a half year of homeschooling with your eldest using primarily unschooling to explore the city. 

I moved to NYC as a teen and there was a lot to learn and some culture shock. 

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On 10/6/2018 at 1:37 PM, Pen said:

I moved to NYC as a teen and there was a lot to learn and some culture shock. 

This is what I'm afraid of. DD11 is pretty adaptable and she's really excited about the move, but I definitely worry about her (and actually my DS8 even more, just because is very sensitive and NOT very adaptable). Would you mind sharing more of your experience? What, if anything, might have eased the transition for you? Do you think I should homeschool through the end of the year while we adjust to city life? Maybe moving to the city AND starting public school, combined, is just too much of a shock for everyone.

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1 hour ago, Aspasia said:

 Do you think I should homeschool through the end of the year while we adjust to city life? Maybe moving to the city AND starting public school, combined, is just too much of a shock for everyone.

This is what *I* would do.  Of course, then you'd have to follow NY's homeschool regs, which have lots of words but which aren't all that difficult.

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4 hours ago, Aspasia said:

This is what I'm afraid of. DD11 is pretty adaptable and she's really excited about the move, but I definitely worry about her (and actually my DS8 even more, just because is very sensitive and NOT very adaptable). Would you mind sharing more of your experience? What, if anything, might have eased the transition for you? Do you think I should homeschool through the end of the year while we adjust to city life? Maybe moving to the city AND starting public school, combined, is just too much of a shock for everyone.

 

I loved it.

 I think starting into a school was helpful for me because other kids taught me things, but the school was a small private school not a big public school    And no one could have homeschooled me because of work and other reasons. I visited some possible schools with my mother before deciding what school I would go to   Several assigned me to shadow with a student there 

 each thing involved new adjustments , how to use subway system, busses, stores...  everything was quite different.   

There was much more freedom to do things because of nyc public transport than there had been where I had been before    My nyc peers were much more worldwise than I  was  

I had to learn to be much more vigilant about potential muggers, predators etc than I had been used to

 I had a hard time understanding the accents of some people,  including teachers, and they spoke much faster than I was used to.  Some classes had to be chosen by being able to understand the teacher. Academically my school was way way more advanced than the school I had been in before. That too could depend a lot of specific school and prior school experience. It was an open campus which was different for me. 

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On 10/5/2018 at 6:46 PM, Aspasia said:

Thank you so much! That's a great idea to call the schools directly and ask about admissions for homeschoolers. Definitely gonna do that on Monday. And I will for sure reach out to NYCHEA.

I've got that Dec 1 application deadline seared in my brain. It's basically the only date in my life right now, lol. 

Can you afford  a private school for one or two years?

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2 hours ago, Calming Tea said:

Can you afford  a private school for one or two years?

The issue is not affordability, though that’s a huge huge issue. The issue is getting in. There’s so few spots, even at the entry points. I’m applying for little DD for 3rd grade and basically there’s only spots open if families leave, and I’m sure with our family profile we wouldn’t be first on the waitlist list. 

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On 10/14/2018 at 12:44 AM, madteaparty said:

The issue is not affordability, though that’s a huge huge issue. The issue is getting in. There’s so few spots, even at the entry points. I’m applying for little DD for 3rd grade and basically there’s only spots open if families leave, and I’m sure with our family profile we wouldn’t be first on the waitlist list. 

Private schools in NY like to give the perception that there are very few open spots because it enhances their reputation. In actuality, there are always spots because people are always moving in and out of the city. Families move to the suburbs, they get relocated abroad, etc. Kids also change schools. The average attrition rate is over 5% everywhere simply due to the nature of working in Manhattan. 

We were told there were no spots when we applied and it turned out our child was one of 6 new kids that year. 

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