Stay at Montessori for K or apply now to private?

[Anonymous]

Our child is doing very well (happy, learning, engaged) at his Montessori pre-school. He will turn 5 this year, so he will enter kindergarten in the fall. Our public K option is poor, so we are facing the following choices:

1) Apply to private schools this year for entrance to K in the fall.
2) Stay at Montessori for K and either apply to private for 1st grade or move to a neighborhood with a better public next year.

We would love to keep him in his current school for K, but we also understand that K is a big entry year for most of the privates we are considering. We assume that we face tougher admissions odds if we wait until 1st to apply. We are also receiving a bit of push-back from his school encouraging him to complete the "3-year" Montessori cycle.

It would be a no-brainer to keep him where he is for K if we were sending him to a good public in 1st or had good odds of admission to private in 1st, but right now I feel that we have neither of these options.

I would appreciate input from any other parents who would be willing to share their experiences in transitioning a child out of Montessori to either private or public at Pre-K, K or 1st.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

It is hard to get a child into private for grade one. Ours was in Montessori for 8 years because they didn't get into a good enough private until Gr. 7. Ended up struggling for Gr. 7 and Gr. 8. Long story short...ended up at great college and did well. Transition from Montessori to private was hard at age 12 but I bet it would be just fine for K or 1.

[Anonymous]

Stay at your current montessori. Most privates that receive admissions in first grade are montessori kids - so that transition shouldn't be difficult, and it would be better not to disrupt the 3-year cycle. Schools in the area know that there are montessori kids that come in 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

Isn't it a bit late to be getting started for fall 2015? Either way, why not apply around and see what your options are. Once you know the admissions status/ how much tuition would cost you, you can decide if it makes sense to accept an offer or if it makes more sense for your family to move into a better school district (since that's an option you mentioned).

No insight into Montessori question itself. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

We did Montessori and transitioned to private in K because we wanted our kids to make the adjustment to being in a more traditional classroom in K (with everyone else getting adjusted to the new school, expectations, etc.) as opposed to 1st grade when everyone was already settled in.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks to all who have responded.

We are actually well into the process (8 schools toured, WPPSI taken, essays written). We are just hesitating before pulling the trigger.

We really liked two of the eight schools we toured (enough to move him from Montessori for K). We may just roll the dice on those two and then re-evaluate next year if he does not get into either.

Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to all who have responded.

We are actually well into the process (8 schools toured, WPPSI taken, essays written). We are just hesitating before pulling the trigger.

We really liked two of the eight schools we toured (enough to move him from Montessori for K). We may just roll the dice on those two and then re-evaluate next year if he does not get into either.

Thanks again.

Curious on what those two are...are you willing to share?