D-Day in Little Chairs

No there won't be a storming of Normandy beach, but I think after the last 2 months of visitations and sitting in too many little chairs to count we qualify for combat pay. We made our decision last night on the eve of the lottery. Here are descriptions of the Two Finalists. Both schools run 8:30-3 are tuition is the same.

School 1- PRO-Amazing program that feeds into a charter Montessori school until grade 8, many of their students go on to the top magnet and charter high schools in the district. Well run, newer facility, multicultural and diverse population, this is a place that fosters education and it shows in every way

CON- lottery for admission, 40 minutes away (would likely put our house on the market to be closer), very inflexible to work with my after school on meeting/appointment days, no field trips until Kindergarten, application process requiring more documentation than I had to have for grad school that is indicative of what it would be like to work with this school day to day, office staff was not friendly and open, school seems that they really push the kids early for early academic success

School 2- PRO- Extensive outside environment perfect for a child who loves to be outside, large garden the kids work, green school with alot of focus on the environment, same weekly options as School 1 (Art, movement, Spanish, Music, but also PE/Games), similar Montessori program and materials, field trips starting at age 3, closer to my home (would not immediately be considering moving), willing to work with me on a week to week basis for after school care, they have a Montessori programs starting with 18 month olds (thinking our future children), Staff and Director was very, very open and friendly, summer camp options

Con- older facility, drop off is a traffic nightmare (although teachers walk the kids from the front door so you can drop off at the door without parking), will now have to consider our options for magnet/neighborhood schools for kindergarten (magnet is very competitive here and neighborhoods constantly get rezoned), kids are not as "pushed" academically in my opinion

We talked over all our options last night and voted unanimously for Option 2. My selling point also included knowing a family already there. Ruthie and I are going to enroll our boys in the Water Week Camp for them to get to know each other. At the end of the day having a friend on day one of a new place is worth any of the cons.

Also the outside environment begs you to come play and explore the outside. We made our decision based on what fits BEN now, not in 2+ years. I hope we have made a good, solid, supportive choice. I know in my heart we did.

I never checked the lottery this morning. It doesn't matter if we won a spot and it wouldn't/shouldn't come into play if we are happy with our decision last night. Here's to a MAJOR decision off the table for 2009 and to the reason for all the stress!