Like hundreds of Irish parents in the Bronx and Yonkers, Anne Holland is planning what she will do with her two children during the long summer vacation. What Holland is not planning is a move back to her native Kerry. Typically, when Irish immigrants in and around New York City started raising families, it was time to think about going home to educate their kids. Education over there is free, they would argue, adding that it is a system with which they are familiar and one perceived to be superior to New York's.

"I would say education is the leading factor when it comes to young families going home," said Siobhan Dennehy, director of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, which has offices in the Bronx and Queens.

"I think every one of us that¡¦s out here, that¡¦s the first thing we think: we¡¦re out of here," added Kerry native Joan Henchy, a mother of two in Yonkers. Irish families who stayed in New York often sent their kids to Catholic schools such as St. Sebastian's in Woodside, Queens or St. Barnabas in the Bronx.

But as the 2003-2004 school year comes to a close, Irish parents such as Anne Holland told the Voice they have come to embrace the public schools in their north Bronx or Yonkers neighborhoods.

"We thought about [going home to Ireland] a lot," said Holland, who has 9- and 5-year-old children in Montessori School (MS) 11 on Wakefield Avenue in Yonkers.

"But some other Irish parents ... told me to get informed about budget cuts, to go to meetings and see what's going on at the [public] school."

In the end, Holland and other MS 11 parents were impressed by the Pre-K to fifth-grade school, which shares a large campus with Mark Twain middle school on Woodlawn Avenue, another school favored by Irish parents.

"I have brothers and sisters at home with kids in school, and they're surprised at the standard of education here [in Yonkers]. They thought it was weak. I always assumed it was worse myself, and it's not," said Holland.

It is difficult to say if a vastly greater number of Irish parents are making the same choice Holland has. Hard numbers are hard to come by, as schools do not track the number of Irish students. Nevertheless, given the conventional wisdom that Irish parents send their kids to

Catholic schools or go home to Ireland, interviews with parents revealed a surprising enthusiasm for public schools.

"It¡¦s fabulous," said Dave Murphy, referring to P.S. 19 on Katonah Avenue in the Bronx, where two of his children go. Murphy, whose wife is a former member of the school¡¦s Parent Teacher Association (PTA), initially sent his oldest child to Catholic school in Yonkers. But after a move to the Bronx, the Dublin native heard good things about PS 19, where the current PTA board includes a first Irish-born vice president.

Christine Padino, the PS 19 PTA president, said many other Irish parents she knows have "gone back and forth [from public to private school] and they say PS 19 is leaps and bounds better." Nevertheless, others are quick to note there remains a heavy Irish presence in parochial

schools.

"It seems there isn't one set pattern," said Linda McCormick, director of Aisling Irish Center in Yonkers, which hosts a weekly mom-and-tot program attended by parents whose children attend a diverse array of public and private schools.

Joan Henchy pulled one of her children out of a Yonkers public school, and now has two in St. Margaret¡¦s on Katonah Avenue. She feels the public schools are too obsessed with standardized testing, and that St. Margaret¡¦s offers more individualized attention.

Meanwhile, many Irish parents continue to go home to educate their children.

"We've been very lucky with the public school in Yonkers," said Pauline Deane, a one-time vice president with the PTA at MS 11, where her three children go. The Belfast native was so active in school affairs she said, "My kids thought I worked at the school."

Nevertheless, the Deanes will be moving back to Meath next summer, mainly because they believe that as their kids reach the middle school ages, they can get a better education. It is true that many Irish parents switch to private schools as children get older. This, however, was not a good option for the Deanes. As many others told the Voice, Deane said the prices are just too high, especially when you factor in paying for college in the United States later on. In Ireland, college is free for many and is generally much more affordable than the United States.

So, when quality and cost are measured, staying in the States. is "too much of a chance to take," Deane says. Deane adds that she knows a number of other Irish parents ¡V in Yonkers and the Bronx ¡V who will also soon move back to Ireland.

Yet another wrinkle in the story of Irish education are the parents moving to Monroe, Mahopac, Pearl River and other points north of the city, drawn in part, they say, by the good schools.

All that being said, a substantial number of Irish parents in the Bronx and Yonkers (which operate under two separate school systems) remain active in and enthusiastic about their public schools. This played a key role in their decision to put down roots in the States. Is this faith in public schools ¡V at least in the Bronx ¡V the result of massive education reforms instituted by New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg?

Just this week the New York Post quoted several education experts who gave the mayor's education reforms a high grade. And while State Assembly education chair Steve Sanders was among those who were not so cheerful ("The results are not there yet," he said.), there is plenty of evidence to support the enthusiastic PS 19 parents.