I have an 8th grader and since we can't tour schools and dh/I aren't from NYC, we're sort of stuck learning about schools from local parents, and that always feels skewed.
We live in DUMBO. DC is strong student. Really don't want something small and specialized. Would like a traditional high school experience, where you can play on a JV sports team or get a spot in the spring musical without being extra special, where you might go with friends to watch the basketball team play a rival, etc.. Does that exist in NYC? Willing to commute up to 50 min or so. Can't afford private. Will take the SHSAT so leaving that out, are our best options Beacon, NEST, Bard (s), Brooklyn Millenium, Murrow, and Midwood? That seems to be what I'm hearing.
There are a lot of good public high schools in the city. If sports are important, that may be tricky. NEST for example only offers a few sports and most of them are girls teams (which is good if you have a dd). I'm going through the process this year with my 2nd child. My oldest is already in HS. I can't wait to find out how they are structuring admissions this year.
Those are all great schools and good options. Stuy, Tech, Murrow, and Midwood are the closest to what you mentioned. I’d definitely add Beacon to the list, maybe Columbia Secondary. Depending on your trainline and proximity to station, Bronx Science or HSMSE, Lehman-HSAS (latter two are smaller, yes) may be within your commuting range. Townsend Harris and Leon M. Goldstein are also excellent big traditional high schools but the commute probably wouldn't be feasible. I’m a biased Tech alum, so that would be my first choice in your shoes.
Is DC Catholic?
NP - was thinking same thing. Regis is way up there for academically gifted kids and full scholarship (free). Just have to be Catholic. It's not public, but socio-economically not similar to typical NYC privates either.
@anon It's single-sex though, which IMO puts it squarely out of the range of high schools offering a "traditional high school experience". Unless you use a very different definition of "traditional"
Not Catholic, no. So I know Regis is out. I was wondering if we should look at Xavier. I don't mind catholic stuff and find church history interesting. I wouldn't be happy with something heavy handed but I can't imagine a jesuit school is like that
Many high schools in Queens would fit the bill, but the commute would be significant.
That said, it's not unheard of for kids to commute to HS in NYC...
Check out Fort Hamilton. It's a big school, which means there's something for everyone.
I think Beacon, Tech, Midwood and Murrow for the bill most -- within a resonable commute. Beacon offers sports and arts and is smaller than the other, and seems thus to offer slightly fewer choices overall for classes -- though it's definitely enough. Tech offers everything, but it's huge and at some level, I don't think any specialized school is going to offer a "traditional high school experience" because everyone tested to get in. That affects the vibe and the competitiveness (though compared to the other specialized schools, Tech seems laid back!). Midwood and Murrow are probably the best examples of traditional public schools in the city close to you, bc they ARE (each has a zoned portion of their programs). Midwood offers so many great academic options and feels like a traditional high school in part because of its sports, but other than bands and SING, it's light on arts. Murrow is the flip side -- tons of programs, amazing arts but very light on sports, esepcially on the boys side. Bard, Bk Millennium and NEST are all good schools, but I didn't think of any as fitting in "traditional public high school" experience. Bard is its own thing. Millennium and NEST are a little small to offer the broad cross section of eveything that I associate with a traditional public high school. The thing about the smaller schools, though, is that they offer more support for students, and depending on your kid, that's important.