So It Begins

We talked a little bit last year about the big Kindergarten Dilemma we were preparing for, living here in the city with various options, choices and reasons to pick different schools. Well, we have now entered the eye of the storm as it is decision time already (wow, did that year go by quickly!). Elise will not be starting kindergarten until next September of course, but applications to most school are due between October and January. Which means we are having to make some tough decisions right now.

Luckily, it is currently just a matter of where we are applying, not where Elise is going to go - at least not for a few more months. The past few weeks have been chock-full of school open houses and tours, parent discussion groups, filling out applications and budget crunching (good practice for college?). Neighborhood public? Charter? Private? There are so many options and so many pros and cons lists for everything - it easily becomes overwhelming. Because charter schools are by lottery selection (and most charters get hundreds of applications for less than 40 slots) and private schools are by acceptance (and financial aid also weighs heavily in that for us), and our catchment neighborhood school is an option that we completely ruled out after looking at it (30 kindergarten children with ONE teacher? Are you kidding me? We can't stand up for our beliefs - as much as we want to - and sacrifice our child's education in that way), and there is a lottery selection process for transferring to a different public school, we need back-up plans to our back-up plans. And all that leaves me feeling how I usually feel about everything: worried.

If Elise doesn't get into any of the charter schools and doesn't get enough financial aid for the private schools and isn't selected for transfer to an out-of-catchment public school...well the plan then is to move to a better school district. We don't really want to move and we would have very little time to do it (most schools don't let you know decisions until April/May) but at that point we would have exhausted all of our options. At this point we are really banking on the hope that she is NOT the most unlucky child on earth and at least ONE of our choices will come through. Fingers crossed!

Thank goodness we only have to go through this once since all schools we're applying to have sibling preference and Lucas will have automatic admission. Well, at least we won't have to do it again until high school anyway. And then again for college. For both kids. Oh boy.