Schools in Long Island: Public Vs. Public or Private

We are considering moving to one of the following public school zones in Long Island. I am interested in knowing more/comparing the following high schools in terms of elite college admissions, AP classes (whether many are available/how many can take it), extracurriculars, and the overall culture there (ie. most kids socially adjusted well, no bullying, substance use issues, etc.)
Syosset H.S.
Jericho H.S.
Wheatley H.S.
I was also wondering about one private H.S: Friends Academy
Thanks for any input.

Much of my family lives on LI. You cannot beat Friends for a great academic foundation, warm community and Quaker values. We have 3 family members who attended Friends. They all went on to fine colleges, and were guided by the counselors there toward great schools that were great fits for them, not just T20 schools because they were T20s.

@cameo43- Thanks for the reply. Thats good to know. Are you able to compare Friends with any of the public school districts that I mentioned (they are supposedly among the top)? Thanks.

We have experience with public and private high schools on the north shore of Long Island. My advice would be to choose where you live and the high school you send your kids to based on factors such as: commute for parents, quality of life, finances, community, and fit. I would not choose based on admission to Ivies. Those high schools all have academic and EC opportunity, and the top unhooked students from each of them all have the same very low chance at “elites”.

Jericho, Wheatley, and Syosset are all very good public high schools. Friends is a very good private school, but I don’t think it will give you any advantage over the publics in terms of getting into college. The top students from all of these schools will get into good colleges. One other thing to consider, school taxes are typically sky high on LI and you pay them whether you attend public school or not. Tough to justify paying $34 K per year tuition at Friends on top of the school taxes unless you have the kind of money where these things don’t matter.

Friends is most likely to win out on culture because they can control that in a way publics cannot (who they admit, more flexibility in how they run the school, and ability to not invite back toxicity.) Not saying the others are bad in that regard, just that they have far less leeway to affect that.

I was wondering whether you are able to compare these top publics and shed some light on the differences in syosset/jericho/wheatley. The trend in such schools now is to teach to the test and, while I want an academically challenging school, not necessarily want to choose a “pressure cooker” environment, which I am told is quite common among these north shore public schools. Not sure about Friends though.

All high performing high schools are pressure cookers, some more than others. But so are top performing privates, and I hear the boarding schools as well. We have friends who live in Locust Valley and opted for Friends over their highly ranked public because of the pressure and competitive nature of their public high school (Oyster Ba ). Smaller classes and more collaborative atmosphere are worth it to them. That said they are not doing it as way to get into the Ivies. We spend a lot of time on Long Island and have a ton of friends there and IME most kids who opt out of public system go for the Catholic schools like Chaminade, St. Anthony’s and Kellenberg, often with hopes of playing top sports and being recruited for college. When you look at their exmissions a large chunk of the top schools admits are athletic recruits.

I agree with whoever advised you to pick the town you want to live in that has decent schools and culture that appeals to you. I don’t think there is any effective way to game things for college. Pick a place where your kid will be happiest and has opportunity and time to develop his/her own unique story. Having just gone through the college process with my oldest, this is far more important than two extra AP classes or another 30 points on your SATs.

@417WHB, thanks so much. I really appreciate your input and agree with your advice. I really don’t know people in these three districts with similar aged kids. I just wish I knew more about these districts and their differences prior to committing to one of them. I know that one can always ask for a tour at private schools, such as Friends. Unfortunately, with the publics, you don’t really know how it is until you get there.
By the way, is anyone familiar with the Long Island School for the Gifted? It is only a K-8 school, but was curious about it.

I have a digital subscription to Newsday and I seem to remember that they do an annual section featuring a number of schools and focusing on the offerings that set them apart. You may be able to find it on their website… unless I dreamed this… (but I really think I remember reading it!).

@cameo43 that would be good to see…Are you able to post the link?

I graduated from North Shore HS and loved it. That was long ago though and don’t know what has changed. I got a great education there. One of my good friends graduated from Friends and it was wonderful. We looked at it and I thought seriously about going there but I knew it would be too much a financial burden on my parents. If they can afford it and you like it that is an excellent school. I toured Friends. Usually you can go and meet with a counselor at the HS and talk to them. We did that for a couple school districts and picked the one we did. I don’t know much about Wheatley but my parents lived it that district for a year and couldn’t stand it (again long ago and they were older at the time).

@bjkmom, is this a part of the world where you know the public schools? This crowd is good on private schools (not surprising, given that it’s the prep school admissions forum), but we’re not as expert on public school districts.

It’s ON Long Island, not IN Long Island.

I live in another Nassau County school district, not one mentioned by the OP but I know those districts. I work with someone from Syosset, whose child attended SUNY Bing. My district sends a lot of kids to private colleges but, as with all LI districts, the numbers of kids getting into Ivies is pretty limited. My D’s year, about 2 kids got into Cornell in a class of 400. An athlete got into Harvard, the kid was bright but the sports helped, and another kid got into Yale.

We looked at Friends Academy a couple of times over the years for my kids, but I couldn’t afford it even if it had felt right to me.

@momocarly - that was a helpful comment. I will look into approaching the districts. From what I’ve heard, Friends Academy has a culture of is own (different from other private’s). Are you familiar with this train of thought?

^ I know what it was like many years ago but not today. I know the best way I got a feel for it was visiting.

Thanks for the responses. Can anyone shed any light on the Long Island School for the gifted? It is a private school for gifted kids in LI.