Manhattan Virtual Academy: Fill & Download for Free

Ask your school district. Here in Kansas, we have Manhattan Virtual Academy which is free for any student in Kansas. They teach 7–12 grade, and they have a complete high school curriculum, including AP classes and Foreign Language. I'll be using it to take online PE (useless graduation requirement). So ask your school district, they probably have some options.

Viva Long Island.Excellent schools, breezy commutes, milder weather, ...The commute makes certain of the more affluent Gold Coast neighborhoods closer to Manhattan than many Brooklyn, Queens, and even Manhattan streets.The Long Island Railroad commute to Great Neck, Manhasset, Port Washington and Plandome takes 25, 30, 45 and 35 minutes respectively.Some of the best schools in the country are on the North Shore of Long Island, NY. Port Washington's Schreiber High School scooped up the $100,000 first prize in the Intel Science Match in 2000 and continues to place, year after year after year:Beating the Big Guys At Their Own Game; Long Island School's Program Produces National Honors in SciencePort Washington has the state's best tennis instructors at the facility that groomed John McEnroe and Vitas Geralaitis:PORT WASHINGTON TENNIS ACADEMYState test scores are searchable by county and school district:SAT ScoresAlthough Roslyn, East Williston and Jericho schools score higher, the commute is a bit of a chore, as I can personally attest. Great Neck and Manhasset students are a virtual tie for top reading and math scores, with Port Washington close behind. Plandome and Manhasset Hills residents are part of the Manhasset school district.The Claritas PRIZM website analyzes demographics by neighborhood for any zip code in the country:PRIZM > Market Segmentation Research, Tools, Market Segment Research,In Manhasset, Plandome and Manhasset Hills, zipcodes 11030 and 11040, 2 of the 5 most common consumer segments - Wealthy Older and Upscale Middleage families -- have children at home, nice cars in the 2 car garage, and beautiful houses.Great Neck has produced the longest list of famous graduates: jeweler David Yurman, actress Talia Shire, politician Mark Green, Olympics ice skater Sarah Hughes, comedian Andy Kaufman, and clothing designer Kenneth Cole.The weather is different on Long Island, too. Though hardly tropical, Mother Nature shows a kinder, gentler side when it comes to snowy weather, which is nice when you have to chauffeur children to playdates and programs. The "maritime impact" of the ocean gets much of the credit. But the North Shore's higher elevation is another influence, and not a good one; the "snowiest parts of the north shore average as much as 50% more annual snowfall than the least snowy parts of the island."Snowfall Patterns on Long IslandManhasset gets 24.5 inches of snow per year. Port Washington records 24.7 inches. But Great Neck, 20.91.Manhasset Hills, NY Real Estate Overview11050 - Port Washington, NY Real Estate OverviewGreat Neck, NY WeatherThen there's Miracle Mile and Americana Shopping Center down Northern Boulevard to link them all:These neighborhoods offer the best of all worlds -- a quick commute to the best that New York City has to offer, all the comfort and pleasures of living on the Long Island Sound, superlative public schools, water water everywhere -- surrounded by success, affluence and the shops that attract them.

I was born in 1961, so I hit my teens in the 70s. The thing that stands out for me is the degree of autonomy allowed children and teens. This flies in the face of logic, knowing that NYC is far safer now than it was forty years ago. But it's the way it was. My one brother and I were “latch key” kids, expected to look after ourselves after school. I started babysitting when I was eight years old. Neighbors entrusted me with their infants before I hit my double digits!Most of the kids in my (very integrated, upper west side) elementary school could go where we liked and do anything we wanted after school. Of course we got into trouble sometimes, but we also just played and hung out. If I wanted to go to a friend’s home in the afternoon, I did. Their mom would call my mom to let her know where I was. We didn't have to plan play dates. We’d play outside, go to Central or Riverside Park, or even go to a movie. (Starting at age 11, I could get into an R-rated film on my own, no ID.)I rode buses and subways by myself, starting around age 10, and that was the norm. (At age 14 I also started forging bus passes for friends.) At age thirteen I could get served at most bars, or buy liquor, beer, or cigarettes at just about any store—no ID ever requested. The drinking age was 18 then. I experienced culture shock when I found I wasn’t allowed to drink legally in most other states, and that I was supposed to show ID. (Who had ID? Virtually all teens went without a drivers license because no one used a car—we all took public transportation!)My high school was in a two-room apartment on West 72nd Street. (Shout-out to Source Academy alumni!) The headmaster-teacher smoked cigarettes, so he allowed smoking in class. There were ashtrays on the desks, and a cloud of smoke in the room. It was more restrictive at regular schools: you had to go to the smoking lounge to have a cigarette.The summer I turned 16, I lived on my own in a sublet apartment for two months, while my mother and brothers spent their vacation in Massachusetts. (I'm not saying this was a typical childhood situation, but it didn't raise any eyebrows either!) When the blackout of ’77 hit the city, four friends stayed at my place because they couldn't get home.I rode my bicycle around the city helmet-less. (We had never even heard of bike helmets.) I started working as a messenger at age 16, taking my bike, buses, or subways all around Manhattan.NYC in the 70s was a very different world—a world that turned on a dime after the kidnapping of Etan Patz on May 25, 1979. Children had disappeared before this, but his kidnapping forced people to face how dangerous the city really was for youngsters. That's when the missing children’s movement began, and our collective illusion of safety was eliminated.