Page 49 - The Business Council of Westchester - 2018 Relocation Guide

familiar name on the list of America’s best high schools, according to Newsweek and the Washington Post. In fact, Westchester’s Blind Brook High School, Hastings High School and Briarcliff High School were all ranked among the nation’s top-200 high schools last year.
The region also contains more than 250 private schools. Westches- ter County offers a wide variety of culturally rich schools, such as the German International School New York, French American School of New York, and the Keio Academy of New York. Students in these schools are taught the traditional curriculum in a bilingual classroom. Many receive a New York State High School Diploma and a diploma from their school’s country. These degrees allow students to apply for admission to universities around the world.
HIGHER EDUCATION
With New York City’s higher education offerings just a drive or train ride away, there are also a variety of options right in the region, offering a wide array of degrees and certificates. Residential hous- ing and flexible schedules abound for traditional students as well as those who want to work while studying.
Westchester County alone is home to more than 20 institutions of higher education. Founded in 1860, New York Medical College in Val- halla is one of the oldest medical schools in the country. In 2016, it added the county’s first school of dental medicine in 50 years, Touro College of Dental Medicine. Other elite academic institutions to have set up shop in Westchester include Fordham University, in Harrison, and Long Island University, in Purchase.
Also in Purchase is Purchase College, part of the State University of New York system. In 2014, it was among Kiplinger’s “100 Best Public College Values” and in 2016 was ranked as one of the best fine-arts col- leges in the U.S., according to U.S. News & World Report.Purchase has become a cultural center with performances open to the public year- round. Founded in 1841, Manhattanville College is also located in Pur- chase; it holds community service as one of its tenets, with students giving more than 30,000 hours last year. Sarah Lawrence College in the Yonkers/Bronxville area has an acclaimed liberal-arts program and includes novelist Alice Walker among its alumni.
Pace University — with locations in both Westchester and Manhat- tan — recently completed a $100 million expansion of its Pleasantville campus. The expansion includes an augmented student center; a new environmental center; Alumni Hall; new residence halls; and a new athletics complex.
In New Rochelle, Iona College and the College of New Rochelle have long histories and strong alumni networks. Graduate programs en- hance career opportunities with courses available at regional satellite campuses at Fordham University, New York University and LIU.
At Berkeley College and the College of Westchester in White Plains, as well as Monroe College, which operates a campus in New Rochelle, programs are offered in everything from the culinary arts to fashion, business and health.
Mercy College, with its main campus in Dobbs Ferry, has several satellite campuses in Westchester and the Bronx. It works closely with a number of schools to make the most of Advanced Placement courses, providing high school students with a way to gain college credits while still in high school.
The community-college system provides associate degrees in doz- ens of disciplines. Students can attend classes around the region while attending Westchester Community College, Rockland Com- munity College, or Orange Community College. The main campuses are supplemented by courses in satellite locations from morning through evening, to provide convenience and flexibility.
Dominican College, in Blauvelt, and St. Thomas Aquinas College, in Sparkill, are both in Rockland County. They draw on the Dominican tra- dition, using the liberal arts as a foundation for their various programs. Rockland is also the site of Columbia University’s estimable Lamont- Doherty Earth Observatory.
Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh (Orange) has become a key to rebuilding the area, while the storied West Point Military Academy has been training and educating leaders for the United States Army for more than 200 years in Orange County’s Highland. West Point welcomes visitors all year long to enjoy football, concerts, and the wealth of military history, all along the banks of the Hudson.
BEYOND TRADITIONAL CLASSROOMS
The New York School for the Deaf in White Plains and the West- chester School for Special Children in Yonkers are just two of the in- stitutions that help keep all students close to home to receive the best education possible. Alternative schools include BOCES schools, Eagle Hill, and Windward, to name some.
Programs outside the classroom are also available for students at every level. Backyard Sports Cares works with a number of communi- ties to bring high quality sports programming to young athletes with limited access to community programs and to special needs children.
Helping Hands on Horseback provides therapeutic riding pro- grams at a number of locations, including the Fox Hills Farm in Pleasantville and Pegasus Farm in Brewster (Putnam). The Chal- lenger Division of Little League works with athletes with physical and mental challenges, aged from 4 to 18, or 22 if they are still enrolled in high school. Today, more than 30,000 youngsters take part in Challenger Divisions nationwide.
LIVING IN WESTCHESTER AND THE HUDSON VALLEY | RELOCATION & MOVING GUIDE 39