Optional Attendance Zone FAQs
Parents/guardians of 5th grade students who reside in the Optional Attendance Zone catchment area may choose to have their children attend North Middle School instead of South Middle School beginning in 6th grade. As long as the student remains continuously enrolled in the Great Neck Public Schools, they attend North Middle School through 8th grade and continue at North High School for grades 9-12. Guidelines for new registrants apply to students whose enrollment in the Great Neck Public Schools is not continuous. Individual emails were sent to parents/guardians of all Optional Zone eligible children early in December 2024 with responses due to the Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education, by January 31, 2025. If your child is currently enrolled in the Great Neck Public Schools, you reside in the Optional Attendance Zone, and you missed this deadline, please contact Dr. Holtzman at dholtzman@greatneck.k12.ny.us. If your child is a new entrant residing in the Optional Attendance Zone, please go to the Optional Attendance Zone page for New 6th Grade Entrants. The questions and answers that follow provide pertinent information to assist parents/guardians in making this decision.
Parents/guardians of 5th grade students who reside in the Optional Attendance Zone may choose between attending North Middle School or South Middle School beginning in 6th grade. New entrants or students returning to the district who reside in the optional zone are also provided with this same opportunity.
The Optional Attendance Zone was established by the Board of Education in order to balance the enrollments among the secondary schools and is reviewed on an annual basis. A map of the Optional Attendance Zone appears below.
To verify the school catchment/attendance area for any address, please contact the Registrar at residency@greatneck.k12.ny.us.
Once a student has made their Optional Attendance Zone choice, they will continue to attend North Middle School/North High School or South Middle School/South High School until they complete their secondary school education. Please see Board of Education Policy 5110.
If we do not receive a response indicating your choice of school, they will be placed in the current school of their older sibling. If this is your first or only child in GNPS, they will be placed in their respective school at the district’s discretion.
If your child is currently enrolled in the Great Neck Public Schools, you reside in the Optional Attendance Zone, and you wish your child to attend to select your child's middle school, please contact the Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education at (516) 441-4009.
If you reside in the Optional Attendance Zone and your child will be a new entrant who will be fully registered by September 30, 2025, please go to the Optional Attendance Zone Page for New 6th Grade Entrants.
Transportation will be provided to all students who are deemed eligible in accordance with Board Policy 8400.
The Board of Education regularly reviews school enrollments and, on an annual basis, determines whether or not the Optional Attendance Zone will continue. Although there is no assurance that the practice will continue in future years, those Baker and Saddle Rock families that choose North Middle School for their current 5th grade children are assured that younger siblings will have the opportunity to attend the same secondary school as their older siblings. (Please note that older siblings who are not presently enrolled at North Middle School or North High School are not eligible.)