Your Neighborhood School

Your neighborhood school is your first option to consider. The school your district assigns your child to is generally determined by where you live. Your neighborhood school offers the advantage of proximity to your home, and a community of parents and students who reside near the school. You'll want to evaluate the school to make sure the academic program, size of the school and quality of education meet your child's needs before choosing this option.

School Transfers

Interdistrict Transfers Under New Jersey Law

The Interdistrict Public School Choice Act of 1999 allows you to request a transfer for your child even if his or her school as a whole performs well. The aim of the Act is to allow students to transfer to schools which will better meet their needs or which have a program that a student is interested in.

Districts may not consider as athletic or intellectual ability, physical disability, or English-language proficiency when deciding upon a request, but the district may consider the effect of the transfer upon the ethnic, economic, or geographic diversity of its student population. If your application is rejected, you can appeal to the state commissioner for transfer. For more on the transfer process, see Interdistrict and Intradistrict Transfers in New Jersey: Options Beyond Your Neighborhood School.

The No Child Left Behind Law

Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, you may request to have your child transferred to another school in the same district if your child’s current school is classified as “in need of improvement.” If your child transfers, the district will pay for transportation costs up to a certain capped amount.

However, not all requests can be granted because other schools in the district may not have the capacity to accept more students. If none of your district’s schools have the capacity to accept transfers, the law requires the district to try to form agreements with other districts to allow for transfers.

If your district is unable to immediately provide a transfer, if your transfer request is denied, or if you’d rather not transfer your child, you can still inquire at your school about tutoring, after-school programs, summer school, and other programs to help improve your child’s performance. Districts are required to provide these supplemental education services to your child if he or she attends a school that is “in need of improvement.”

For more information on the No Child Left Behind Act, see What No Child Left Behind Means for Your Child.

Charter Schools

There are 49 operating charter schools in New Jersey serving around 14,000 students. In New Jersey, a charter school is operated under a charter from the Commissioner of Education, but it is managed by its own board of trustees instead of by the district board of education. Charter schools are free and open to all students, but preference in admission is given to children of the same school district. They may only admit students from other districts if there is room for them.

Charter schools are essentially similar to public schools, but the leadership has more freedom to experiment. They control their own staffing, curriculum, organization and budget, but are still held to the same standards as public schools. To learn more about charter schools, see Charter Schools Offer an Array of Choices

Private Schools

Districts still provide some services to students of private schools. They provide transportation to school up to a certain capped amount. If the district is not able to provide transportation for a price lower than this cap, the district will give that amount of money to the parents for use toward the cost of transportation.

Districts must provide services to private-school students such as instruction to home-bound students (students who must stay at home due to injury or illness, for example) and language instruction to students who speak limited English. Districts also provide for school health care in private schools and for free or reduced-price lunches in non-profit private schools.

Families of students pay tuition or, in some cases, students receive scholarships to attend private schools. The teachers, principal, board of directors and sometimes parents and students decide upon the curriculum, teaching methodology and enrollment requirements. For more information on private schools, see Private vs. Public Schools: What’s the Difference? and Frequently Asked Questions About Private Schools.

New Jersey has over 900 private schools serving around 200,000 students. See a map showcasing some of New Jersey’s private schools here

Homeschooling

Parents may also teach their children at home instead of sending them to a public or private school. New Jersey does not require parents to obtain teacher certification nor does it require homeschooled students to be tested. New Jersey law requires only that homeschooled students be provided an education equivalent to the education they would get in public school. If the school board believes a student is not receiving an equivalent education, it may conduct truancy hearings to investigate.

Many communities have organizations that assist homeschooling families with curriculum and opportunities to meet other homeschoolers. For more information on homeschooling, see Homeschooling: Key Facts and Resources.

Gear Up

Gear Up provides additional support and assistance in college preparation to students at 19 New Jersey schools. Gear Up provides a summer program, tutoring, Saturday instruction, aid in the college application process, field trips and other services. The program’s goal is to increase college matriculation rates among low-income youth.

The program has proven to be very effective in introducing students to the many educational and career opportunities that await them after high school. Since its inception in 1999-2000, the program’s enrollment has increased 62%. More students in the Gear Up program took the SAT than did other students in their high schools, and they scored better by a considerable margin.

Additional Resources:

Check out these articles on GreatSchools.net:

Interdistrict and Intradistrict Transfers in New Jersey: Options Beyond Your Neighborhood School

Charter Schools Offer an Array of Choices

See the New Jersey Department of Education's webpage about Interdistrict School Choice.

See New Jersey School Report Cards, which are evaluations of each school in New Jersey.

See the New Jersey School Directory