The Family Intelligence Platform.
{ 01 }Decide
Find the right school, and the neighborhood around it.
Find the right school.
2,900+ public, charter and private schools, with state test results and the city's school survey where they exist.
Know how to get in.
Guides and tips for every NYC admissions step, from 3-K applications to the SHSAT, in plain English.
Pick the neighborhood.
All 197 residential neighborhoods, ranked by what matters to your family.
{ 02 }Admissions
Learn how to apply, and when.
Every NYC entry point from 3-K to high school, in plain English, with this year's DOE dates.
Coming up
- Sat – SunNov 14–15SHSAT weekend test datesHigh school
- WedDec 9Kindergarten application opensElementary
- FriDec 11Middle school application closesMiddle school
Every entry point
- 013-KTurns 3 the year they start
- 02Pre-KTurns 4 the year they start
- 03KindergartenApply in Pre-K
- 04Middle schoolApply in 5th grade
- 05High schoolApply in 8th grade
{ 03 }Your family
Tell Motley once. Get context everywhere.
Your kids' grades, your home address and how you commute. Rankings, deadlines and answers all start from there.
Set up your family →- HomePark Slope
- Child 14th grade
- Child 2Age 2
- CommuteMidtown
- Schools
Zoned elementary, District 15
State test results and the city's school survey, beside the schools nearby.
- Admissions
Two applications ahead
Middle school for Child 1 next fall. 3-K for Child 2 this winter.
- Neighborhood
Ranked on your priorities
Safety, schools, affordability and the morning commute to Midtown.
- Places
Pediatrician, daycare, parks
Found inside the neighborhood and saved to its map.
- 3-K applications open this winter, and Child 2 is eligible.
- News about your zoned elementary, from today's check.
- Your family's read of Park Slope is ready.
- Pediatrician saved, with its address, phone and a short summary.
{ 04 } Live there
Explore the places around you.
Pediatricians, daycare, groceries, parks and things to do: search the places inside any neighborhood, put them on its map, and save the ones your family will use.
- Medical
- Childcare
- Groceries
- Parks
- Activities
- Coffee
- Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is there one place to research NYC schools and neighborhoods together?
- Yes. Motley NYC puts the school and the neighborhood side by side. Search an address for its school district and, outside Districts 1, 7 and 23, its zoned elementary school, open a school for its New York State test results and the city's school survey, and open a neighborhood for its safety, transit, affordability, and schools. We cover all 262 NYC neighborhoods, 197 of them residential, and 2,900+ K-12 schools — public, charter, and private.
- Can I rank NYC neighborhoods by what matters to my family?
- Yes, free and without an account. On our neighborhood search, the Best fit sort ranks the 197 residential neighborhoods by your own weights across seven scores: safety, schools, affordability, transit, how many families live there, neighborhood character, and air quality and child health. Signed in, it starts from your family profile. You can also weigh in weekday-morning transit time to one of the city's main job centers and, signed in, the hours of weekly travel to the places your family goes. You can also leave out neighborhoods above a median rent or home price, and any ranking can be shared as a link.
- How does Motley NYC help with school admissions?
- We explain how each NYC admission method works — from 3-K and Pre-K through screened programs, auditions, the SHSAT, and charter lotteries — and publish the public school calendar with this cycle's middle and high school application deadlines. Pick your child's grade and we show what they apply for in the next two years, with the city's dates where it has published them. The admissions tracker, which keeps deadlines, documents, and tours for each child in one place, is part of Motley Pro.
- Where does Motley NYC's data come from?
- From public records: New York State test results, NYC Department of Education school data and the city's school survey, NYPD crime complaints, NYC health data, the U.S. Census, NYC Planning, and the MTA — plus a few commercial sources for rents and places that change weekly. Our Data page names the source behind each kind of answer.
- Where does Motley NYC fit with the DOE, school tours and other parents?
- Use Motley NYC to narrow and organize: the zoned school, how each school admits, the neighborhood around it, and the dates for your child's grade. Tour your shortlist to see what data can't show. We don't list apartments, we don't submit school applications (that happens on MySchools), and we don't host parent reviews — school pages show the city's school survey instead.
- Can I just ask a question in plain English?
- Yes. Motley Intelligence answers questions about NYC schools, neighborhoods, and admissions from the same city data behind our pages, and you can try it without an account. Ask it to rank neighborhoods for your family, compare places side by side, or tell you what's coming for your child's grade. Signed in, it knows your family profile and what you've saved.
Research. Plan. Decide.
Stop guessing.
Start knowing.
It's easy to spend months deciding where to live in NYC: touring apartments, asking friends, reading Reddit threads from 2019. There's a better way. Free to start. Sign up takes 30 seconds.