Why we selected a charter school for our son

When my wife and I were considering Kindergarten for our son, we researched the schools in our neighborhood using insideschools.org and opinions of those who we know who had their kids in public school.  We didn't have upwards of $40,000 to send our kid (now kids) to  private schools. What we found was that NYC schools are probably the most segregated schools in the nation.   We found schools on the upper east side to have huge white populations and much higher ratings then schools on the upper west side north of 89th Street. This is mainly because schools below 89th Street on the west side and on the upper east side get more funds have less students than schools north of 89th Street on the west side. My wife and I had a choice, to send our son and probably our daughter after that to a school that has less then a B- rating or send them to a charter school.  This may shock you but we selected a Charter School called Harlem Hebrew Language Charter School, which ironically has the most diverse student body of  any school in New York.


My my son started at Harlem Hebrew Language Charter School, I was a bit hesitant.  I didn't know how a child who hadn't really had a full day Pre K, we weren't able to get him into a public Pre K and didn't have the money to send him to a private school would function in a school that starts at 8am and runs to 3:30.  Our son was enrolled at Gymboree on west 73rd Street which had a three day a week school skills class that ran on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays from 9:30-12:30, follow that we had him in sports classes and the library for reading.  On Tuesday and Thursdays we had him in gymnastics, swimming and then the library.  We found Gymboree to be convenient, effective and even cheaper than some of these places in the area that just had hour long classes.

However we have noticed our son is flourishing.  He has made many friends with different  ethnic backgrounds and they all leave class singing hebrew songs.  He refers to the school as "my Harlem Hebrew." The parents are extremely involved.  On Tuesday my wife and I went to a giving tuesday at the Hebrew Harlem and it was great.  My wife even signed me up to be chaperone their trip to the New York Botanical Garden for their Holiday Train Show.  They have two other field trips in the next few weeks.

I think the Mayor either needs to fix public schools by de-segregating them and busing students at school that are lower preforming and over crowded to other schools that are less crowded and have higher ratings.  That will make the lower preforming over crowded school less crowded and thus high preforming and it will make the better preforming less much more diverse in student body.

I believe that Charter Schools have been giving students who were zoned for poorly preforming schools an option to attend a very good school and get a quality education.  Charter Schools will also reduce the  student body at lower preforming schools, which would make them better.