What do working parents do?

[Anonymous]

I didn't know that about Arlington Co. May be the difference between us picking a place in FxCo and Arlington Co. even though Arlington tends to be a little more pricey.

Agreed. A much better approach than the SACC waitlist system. I believe that Falls Church City also has guaranteed before/after care. Might want to check there too, as their schools are also excellent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know that about Arlington Co. May be the difference between us picking a place in FxCo and Arlington Co. even though Arlington tends to be a little more pricey.

Absolutely agreed. (Unless you need GT.)

[Anonymous]

Can anyone please recommend a good private kindergarden program in Falls Church/McLean area, in case we don't get into SACC? Our daycare only goes up to K. TIA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone please recommend a good private kindergarden program in Falls Church/McLean area, in case we don't get into SACC? Our daycare only goes up to K. TIA!

Just outside of Falls Church in Arlington... St. Ann Catholic school has all day 4year old preschool as well as all day K. They also offer before school care starting at 7am and after school care until 6pm. The Exteded Day program for before and after school can be used on either a monthly rate or an hourly rate. If you start at the hourly rate and reach the monthly rate they won't charge you more so you get the best of everything.

The school has small class sizes and is a very loving school. They also have all of the strong academics found in most school in this area.

www.stann.org

[Anonymous]

I live in FC and am part of the McLean pyramid... Both my husband and I work... I sure wish we had moved to North Arlington... it is much more friendly/accommodating to two working parents and schools seems really great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in FC and am part of the McLean pyramid... Both my husband and I work... I sure wish we had moved to North Arlington... it is much more friendly/accommodating to two working parents and schools seems really great.

But if you have a kid that needs GT, you are far better off in your part of FC than in North Arlington.

[Anonymous]

PP is right. Get on the SACC wait list early. Many people don't know that you can get on the list the July before the year your kid starts school (about 14 months ahead of time) and many/most kids clear the wait list in that time. then once your kid is in, you get sibling priority for any other kids. If you move within the county, you also get priority.

[Anonymous]

What exactly are the issues with GT in Arlington County?

[Anonymous]

Arlington's model of gifted education is essentially a within class differentiation model. FCPS uses a swelf contained classroom gifted model. Both models can work but Arlington's model is very teacher dependent. What often happens with differentiation based programs is that the teacher ends up just have the kids do their own reading on the side because they are too busy with the regular day to day things. This especially happens when the classroom mix contains students who have a lot of various needs. When a teacher has to balance differentiating for advanced students vs bringing kids below grade level up to speed, guess which gets priority?

Whereas in FCPS, even if the particular teacher is not so great, they are teaching to an entire classroom of GT identified kids. So the total curriculum that they use is more advanced and moves at a faster pace. There are disadvantages too of course, the main one is potentially having to move to a different school in third grade to go to the GT center.

[Anonymous]

I respectfully disagree about SACC. First of all, SACC isn't even available at every elementary school, so my kids would have to be shuttled to the nearest SACC program. Secondly, every snow day and other days when the schools are closed, SACC is closed. You get what you pay for.
If both parents are serious about working full time, it's not optimal.

We pay $300 a week for our two kids to have reliable before and after school care. Compared to a nanny or an au pair who's trying to study and have a social life too, it's a bargain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I respectfully disagree about SACC. First of all, SACC isn't even available at every elementary school, so my kids would have to be shuttled to the nearest SACC program. Secondly, every snow day and other days when the schools are closed, SACC is closed. You get what you pay for.
If both parents are serious about working full time, it's not optimal.

We pay $300 a week for our two kids to have reliable before and after school care. Compared to a nanny or an au pair who's trying to study and have a social life too, it's a bargain.

Granted, if your school doesn't offer SACC, then of course it's not a great option for you. I didn't know that SACC wasn't offered at all schools.

My child is in SACC, and I really like the fact that she doesn't have to be transported anywhere after school, and that she has a number of classmates there with her. Plus, it's hard to beat the price ($290/month).

SACC is open for the full day on teacher workdays, so they are in fact open when school is closed on those days. As for snow days, well, we weren't going to work on those days anyway.

[Anonymous]

No SACC is not always available.

We pay $300 a week for our two kids to have reliable before and after school care. Compared to a nanny or an au pair who's trying to study and have a social life too, it's a bargain.

I guess I don't understand. When school is open, SACC is open. It's very reliable. When school is closed (snow day) then it's not before and after care, it's full time care which is dodgy to find at the last minute regardless. If you can afford $300 a week, good for you. SACC is a blessing for us.

[Anonymous]

SACC works well for us.

SACC is open for teacher workdays. There are SACC options for Spring, Summer and Winter Break. It's closed for federal holidays and complete snow days, but if school lets out early for snow, SACC will stay open until the last parent picks up (basically normal hours, but they will encourage parents to pick up earlier).

I like that SACC offers time for the kids to do homework. The kids can also do crafts, read, play on the playground, or play games with their friends.

It is unfortunate that there are wait lists, but that is the way it is for now.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I think $300 a week is cheap, because we had childcare during all but two of the 8 days when school was closed due to snow, unlike those who have to rely on SACC. Unlike some other parents, one or both of us had to work on those days in the office without kids.

Of course, until September we were paying $800 a week, so that makes $300 a week seem cheap too. Does SACC serve breakfast?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I think $300 a week is cheap, because we had childcare during all but two of the 8 days when school was closed due to snow, unlike those who have to rely on SACC. Unlike some other parents, one or both of us had to work on those days in the office without kids.

Of course, until September we were paying $800 a week, so that makes $300 a week seem cheap too. Does SACC serve breakfast?

I think $300 a week is pretty good for reliable before/after school care. I also think SACC is pretty reliable too, and it works out really well for a lot of families, including mine. Hence the long wait lists. It is also significantly less expensive than $300/week, depending on how many kids you have enrolled. In response to your question, I believe that many, but not all, SACC centers serve breakfast to the AM kids.