How do I choose a Montclair Elementary school?

Im moving to Montclair from the UK in January and have two kids, one of school age. He will be 8.5 in January, and Im assuming will go into 3rd grade. We are open to all 6 elementary schools that take his age, but how do I choose? We are coming over to see schools in 3 weeks and would appreciate any advice. I have heard about the magnet system, but not sure how it works. Should I just go and look at all 6 schools?

Parent Answers to "How do I choose a Montclair Elementary school?"

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Hi again! If Montclair's District is anything like mine, they may not publish "school" email addresses, but instead if you know the names of various teachers and administrators, you can send those people individual emails....everyone in my district has an email address that starts off with their last name, first initials @ nameofschooldistrict.edu - Obviously, that's not going to help you in your situation, since you don't know who to ask for in each school.
While I was poking around this site, trying to find more information, I did come across this page, that does explain a bit more about their school choice policies: www.greatschools.net/new-jersey/montclair/Montclair-School-District
I guess what I'd recommend is placing one phone call, to the district office, and ask that person to give you individual email/website information for all of the six elementary schools that you're considering. I hope this helps.

Hi Healthy 11 (hope thats not the number of kids you have!!). Thanks for your advice - I have emailed the school district, but still no answer after a couple of days. I have tried to find email address and websites for the individual schools so I can contact them too, but can't seem to find any - only phone numbers, and I don't really want to phone 6 schools from the UK! Any ideas??

HI. I'm not from Montclair and can't be sure how it works, but unfortunately, there are parts of the U.S. where you don't always have a say in which public school your child will attend, because there are "attendance boundaries" for each school. What that means is that your home address determines which public school your child will go to (of course, if you visit schools ahead of time, and prefer one over another, you can be sure to rent or buy a home in that attendance zone.)
Usually, magnet schools pull students from a wider geographic area than local public schools, but they have testing criteria or other means of determining which students go to those selective schools. I don't know if magnet schools accept students mid-year, especially if children aren't already on a waiting list...
I suggest trying to contact the local school district in Montclair to ask them your specific questions. (Individual schools in a given town usually all are part of a larger school district, and that's the administrative level that I think you need to be talking to.) I hope this information helps.

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How do I choose a Montclair Elementary school?

Parent Answers to "How do I choose a Montclair Elementary school?"

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