Which Kindergarten would you choose?

[Anonymous]

Our oldest child will be in K next year and our district voted in full day K for the first time next year. I can't decide if I want to keep her at her current school (parochial- we're not religious) or put her in the new public K.

Current school:
-She's been there for two years of PreK and has a solid group of friends/is very comfortable there
-It's at the end of our block so we walk her there and back everyday which is probably my favorite parts of the day
-The school hours are 7:45am-2:45pm and then we do aftercare til 4:15pm so I work from home 8-4, have her home by 4:30pm, and it's a really nice balance for all of us
-Tuition is $795/month plus aftercare $150/month


Public K:
-Is a brand new program that is combining 3 school districts to offer full day K at a satellite location. DD would be in the first class (possibly worried about kinks in the program).
-10 minute drive away (opposite direction of our younger child's daycare)
-School hours are 9am-3:30pm so we'd likely need before and after care.
-No tuition

[Anonymous]

Are the solid group of friends also going public? Think about what you want to do in the longer term too. If it's public, better to go in the natural entry point when everyone will be looking to make friends

[Anonymous]

Current school, no questions asked. The uncertainty of the before / after care would be enough of a headache to stay out (on top of the walking to school - that is clutch!)

[Anonymous]

private no doubt

[Anonymous]

What are your plans for 1st grade? If your long term plans are for public, let her start at the same time as everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Normally I'd say go with the public school because then she can start elementary with the same cohort of kids. But I think the combination of brand new program, longer commute, and needing before/after care (with a program that is new so you have no idea what the quality of the care programs will be) would be enough for me to keep my kid in the existing program. Especially since it's very reasonable and she seems happy there.

The one thing I'd want to look into is how academic her current school's K program is. Kindergarten has gotten VERY academic these days, which a lot of the reading and math fundamentals that used to come in 1st grade now starting in K. I don't think you have to go overboard, but if your current school's program is very light on academics, I would consider some light supplementing at home or finding a summer camp that is a bit more academic just so she's not in a totally different place than peers when she gets to 1st. Like I'd aim for her to be reading cvc words and have decent phonemic awareness by the end of K, and feel very comfortable with addition and substation 0-10. This will put her in the mix to where 1st grade won't be a total culture shock for her.

And maybe she'll get that in her parochial program, in which case, no additional effort needed. But I'd look into it because I was surprised at how intensely academic kindergarten was at our public, and I know they start to build on that quickly in 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

Personally I would choose public K to get rid of the $1k a month bill. K is a good time to transition to public school. Unless you have concerns about her learning ability, I would go public.

[Anonymous]

I would choose the current school. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Anonymous]

If I had it to do again, I would have chosen private from the start. Public is a mess, ymmv.

And for me, as someone who changed schools frequently as a child, I wanted the stability of a “forever” school for my child. Make sure you aren’t going to be moving her around a bunch of times. Commit soon!

[Anonymous]

Was your plan to stay in the parochial school until it ends? If so, keep that plan.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Sorry- to clarify we will be going public in 1st grade either way. We are in a great school district.

[Anonymous]

Your current school sounds great but if you're going to be switching her to public in 1st anyway, I think it's best to go ahead and have her make that transition and get used to the new school, new routines now instead of waiting til 1st.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Sorry- to clarify we will be going public in 1st grade either way. We are in a great school district.

Then send her public now. Next year she will just have to break into friend groups and be the new kid with fewer supports.

[Anonymous]

Knowing you plan to send her to public for 1st, I would say all things being equal go to the public K. But knowing you need aftercare, with a new program, and especially right now with rampant staffing shortages, you might want to wait and keep her at her current program where you have aftercare. I'm not sure if you're in DC, but some programs have had limited aftercare spots, especially these past couple of years. And, with a new program they will need to ramp up, and honestly, they may not even have aftercare in place right away - which seems crazy, but I continue to be amazed at how the public-school systems continually brushes off things that make it really challenging for people that don't have one stay at home parent or nanny.

If the cost is not a big issue, I think you should keep her in her current program or at least confirm what/if they will have aftercare with spots available for all who would like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Sorry- to clarify we will be going public in 1st grade either way. We are in a great school district.

If she's definitely going to first in public, I'd start here there in Kindergarten.