I’m an white upper middle class parent in Stamford and put 2 kids through the Stamford Public Schools. My kids had a very good experience. They attended a magnet primary school and traditional middle and high school. It’s not perfect, but no schools are. My kids found their people, played sports, did extracurricular activities etc. They are young adults now and still keep up with the friends they made. They both attended very good public Universities post-high school. The Stamford schools are what you make of them. We wanted our kids to attend a diverse school. My wife even taught in one of the wealthier adjacent districts and we opted not to send our kids to school there, even though we could have. We wanted them to be geographically close to their school friends. We’ve seen a lot of “white flight” in Stamford over the years, parents looking for less diverse districts to send their kids to. Our objective was just the opposite.

No results. https://www.stamfordpublicschools.org/about-us/college-list-2021-2022

Greenwich has a surprising number of poor migrant families, too. Their public schools are semi-diverse because so many white children from wealthy families go to private school.

What crime in Stamford schools?

Try public schools and than attempt to apply for a scholarship at one of the private schools. King is pretty great!

We just went through this debate. Stamford is greats and if you are an involved parent you can navigate at least through elementary school. )( what we hear from friends). It has diversity and the magnet schools can really help. But it is tough to get a spot in the magnet schools. It’s lottery based. I suspect with the Covid relocations to stamford schools will get better. We have lots of friebdsbthatvwentnthrough the schools 20 years ago and are great and smart.

We did end up moving to a neighboring town partially for the better schools but also for other reasons. I would say about half our friends have made the shift out over time.

Oddly is easier to get to our favorite spots in stamford now than it was from our old place in Stamford.

Greenwich is CRAZY diverse- it’s definitely more rich but Tech ($$) brings in a lot of diversity

Probably the comparative testing scores and graduation rates, crime in schools, chronic absenteeism etc

When you say worse, how are you assessing the schools? What makes you say they are worse?

1. No! Emphatic no! The standardized test scores are not the same as the surrounding suburbs because the student body is not the same. There are so many ESL students here. It’s an awesome experience to grow up here and meet children from different backgrounds. There is a bit of white flight to the wealthier suburbs. Ultimately, you will have to choose where to live based on your values and what kind of life experiences you want for your children, and no one here can do that for you.

2. Magnet schools draw students from either across Stamford, or (if state funded) across some of the surrounding towns. They were originally used to balance diversity — and Stamford schools were integrated before the state mandated it. Typically they have a different learning philosophy or area of concentration when compared with the other schools. Children are admitted to these schools through a lottery process. My children attended 1 magnet and 2 district schools. They received a great education and awesome opportunities at all three.

Stamford schools are not bad. Stamford is a large, diverse district with many students that have serious challenges due to poverty, immigration status, etc, as well as many students that are thriving. Are you talking to people with kids in the school system? The "schools are bad" narrative I hear mostly from people that sent their kids to private school and don't really know much about Stamford schools, or people who grew up here and think the schools are much worse than when they were kids (they are not, but they are much more diverse).

Magnet schools are simply public schools that are available through a lottery, and may have special programs and facilities. My daughter goes to one...it isn't really that much better than the non magnet options. There is a bit of a halo effect because not everyone is able to attend due to the lottery. The high schools have many excellent options if you are willing to look, e.g. IB program at Stamford high, state Agriscience program at Westhill, and others . There are a lot of different elementary schools.

there is one good school - stamford charter school for excellence - private run state funded. admit by lottery. all other schools are way below avg. it's from top to bottom - nobody wants to make it better. we spend decent amount per pupil but no results.

Re: "suburban schools" meaning more rich white kids.

I grew up with Stamford public schools. The elementary schools are all fine or good. Middle schools really vary. I haven't kept too close tabs, but last check Dolan and Rippowam were the better ones. High schools are okay. They are big schools. I didn't like the size and struggled socially, but not because the school itself was bad. They are good for city schools, but not as good academically as a lot of very suburban schools.

Stamford schools are comparatively worse than the school districts surrounding it, but that can be significantly attributed in great part to stamford schools serving a significantly more ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populace than say - New Canaan or Darien.

If you attempt to adjust for economic factors the school system has much more similar outcomes to the "fancy" (read: rich and white) towns around us.

I would love to join too if possible!

33F and new to Stamford! May I join?

peppermint is the closest i could describe it too and that’s not even heavily accurate but pepperoni is not something i pick up lol

i think that’s actually valid cuz i’m legit pretty sure there’s like a major bread company legit in greenwich

Can you dm me too please? Thank you in advance ❤️

I’ve been saying for years that Exit 2 in Greenwich always smells like bread/yeast

Strange as I always thought the smell was more of a Pepperoni......

If you are interested in running, there is an amazing group you can join - called Stamford Road Runners. They are on meetup and Facebook. My work schedule no longer allows me go on these runs but they are a good bunch. Highly recommend!

Sweet comment man.

Hey tHey yy