We have been very busy lately! I'm not even sure where all of our time has gone....its just been busy! Appointments, karate, sports class, birthday parties, broken car (bought a new one- LOVE it!), and kindergarten searching have consumed our time lately.
I know its sounds early for kindergarten research as it doesn't start until next fall, but registrations start in January!!! That's only 2.5 months away! Eeek! So far I have visited 2 options.
Option #1 Our local public kinder, where my former colleague is the assistant principal. They have 2 lovely classrooms with small class sizes (average of 10 kids per class), a teacher and para in each class, but the sessions are only 2.5 hours a day. This does not fit with my work schedule at all. I work 5 hours a day, not including meetings, travel time, etc. For this option I would need to pay someone to babysit/daycare.
Option #2 I have also been researching many private options. I went to visit a non-profit Christian school. It only goes up through Kindergarten, but its program seems wonderful! They offer a full day 9 to 2 program with extended day (before and/or after) pay-as-needed-option. They have 2 kinder classes and more students per class (about 15) but also have 1 teacher/1 para. They provide lunch and snacks included in tuition price. This school also uses the Language Arts and Math programs that his above mentioned public school uses (and that is definitely where he will be going in first grade!) There is also the added bonus of the Christian values and lessons in this school without the strict Catholic school atmosphere.
Results: I think OPTION #2 will ultimately win out because we would rather pay tuition to have Devin in an all-day Kindergarten program than to pay someone to babysit him to have him in a 2.5 hour program. The school in Option #2 also came highly recommended by colleagues and friends.
Edit
Stacey brings up an interesting point in her comment for Option #3, that we did consider. I live and work in different districts and would have to pay to have him attend my school district. I would have to apply to get him into one of our inner city full day kindergarten programs, preferably the one that I work in. I also think that comes with its own set of issues. At this stage I think its would be easier to have Devin at "his own school" 5 minutes away.
3 comments:
You wouldn't consider sending him to your school? I'm struggling with that option right now. It'd be SO convenient to have him in my building, but I worry about a few issues related to it too.
Good Luck with your decision. Luckily with small town living we only get one option (public school) unless we want to travel at least 1/2 hour to a private school. I think the option of paying for full day K is better than 2.5 hours of K and then paying a babysitter.
They really need to figure out that with today's working environment, they really need to do full day kinder. 2.5 hours a day is crazy.
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