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bondrocks April 18, 2009

Public school options based on where you live

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bondrocks
I am moving from Norwalk to Stamford and considering to buy a house here. I always thought that parents would have a few public school choices based on where they live but I am confused when I see that houses (small neighborhoods) have specific schools assigned at each levels - elementary, middle, and high. For example, West Hill Cir in Westover area seems to have Stillmeadow assigned as elementary. I would like to know if one would have any choice to apply to other schools in that neighborhood. Insight in this area would be much appreciated. Best, Andy
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Parent Answers to "Public school options based on where you live"

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CTMom23
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CTMom23 May 24, 2009
Stamford is a city, not a small town, just like Norwalk. However, as the town has expanded over the years and new schools were built etc... neighborhood schools just didn't work with the density of the downtown areas and other more condensed areas. The town had to assign schools to be sure they were racially balanced, now they are economically balancing them. You can apply to the magnet schools with a chance of getting in by lottery only. You can re-apply every year if you don't get in the first year. As someone mentioned, before buying a home, you should call the Stamford BOE to be sure the school you would prefer is the school that your child would be attending as there was just another re-distrcting that occured and the realtors might not have the most recent information.
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bondrocks
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bondrocks April 19, 2009
Thanks much for your response. Although I recall my earlier conversations along similar lines, you seem to have provided me some sort of induction into parents world on this subject.
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healthy11
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healthy11 April 18, 2009
Hi. I'm not from CT, but NOT having a choice in which public school your child can attend is the "norm." It's more unusual to live in a district where there is school choice, although some areas have charter and magnet schools that draw from a wider community, but usually those require applications and/or testing to get in. You could ask a realtor about which homes are in which school attendance boundaries, but before you buy, double-check the address by calling the local school district. (Where I'm at, there are even cases where small neighborhoods are "split" between different schools, and that really causes confusion when people try to buy into a community with the intention of having their child attend a particular school.)
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