Preschool - NCRC or St. John's?
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Anonymous
| To our surprise, our daughter has been accepted to both St. John's and NCRC (afternoon program) for the upcoming school year. Both seem like excellent schools and it's going to be a difficult decision. Any feedback from parents who have kids enrolled at either school would be very much appreciated. She will be 2.5 in the fall so will be in the youngest class at both schools. |
Anonymous
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Can she manage with no nap the days she goes to NCRC? At 21/2 years old she might still really need a nap so it would be hard to go to school in the afternoon.
Is your offer at NCRC 2 or 3 days/week? 2 days it might work because she would still nap the other 3 days plus on the weekends. going 3 days and needing a nap might mess with her T/Th and weekend naps. |
Anonymous
| St. John's is a very sweet little program. Personally, I would go with that, but both are good options. |
Anonymous
St John's, hands down. Have had two children there and it's a simply amazing place--fabulously committed and caring and smart and funny teachers who really walk the walk as far as the school's philosophy, beautiful, beautiful, warm space. Going there is the best part of my day. Leaving it is the worst part of my child's  . The opportunity to be with the same group of 15 children and 2 teachers over 3 years is really wonderful as well--the teachers get to know the kids really, really well, and that has a powerful impact as far as building their personal and social development. The closeness also leads to strong, lasting friendship bonds.
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Anonymous
| It was a tough year for admissions at St John's, due to high number of sibling applicants. You were lucky to get in! It's a really special program, but do keep in mind that it's not for everyone--it's really best for families that are ready to be heavily involved. In my experience it's important to try to do morning meeting at least some of the time. and the many evening and weekend events are worthwhile as well. If you can't do any of this, you'll be missing out on part of what makes it special. It's definitely possible for two-career families to make it work--we have--but I would say it's best for parents who will see the chance to be pretty integrated into their child's school life as an opportunity rather than a burden. If you're up for this, I bet you'll find it an amazing experience. |
Anonymous
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My daughter attends NCRC. We are extremely happy with the school and so is our daughter. The community of families is extremely warm, inclusive, and diverse. The staff and faculty are supportive of individual needs and the kids really do get a lot of personal attention. We were not there for the bunny program when DD was 2.5, but the parents who were have raved about the level of differentiation.
DD was in the afternoon program. She typically catnapped in the car on the way home, which worked because we kept her up at night a bit later than we might otherwise have. I know other afternoon program families have also kept their kids up later than they otherwise might because the kids can sleep in. A surprise bonus of that is that the kids get to spend a little more evening time with parents who keep late work hours. |
Anonymous
| Thank you everyone for the feedback, it is very much appreciated! I do have concerns about the afternoon session at NCRC interfering with the afternoon nap, it's hard to say whether our daughter will still be napping 6 months from now but she certainly is the moment and it may make for a difficult transition if she isn't ready to give it up yet. The afternoon session is 5 days so there won't be an opportunity to catch up on sleep on the other days. The St. John's spot we were offered is 3 mornings per week (M,T,W) and I do think we were very lucky to get it at all, we were initially wait listed but apparently they had a sibling drop out so that's why we were offered the slot. Both programs sound wonderful and I appreciate everyone's advice and comments! |
Anonymous
I've heard they're both wonderful programs. I don't have experience with St. John's but we turned down a NCRC PM slot because our kid was a dedicated napper at that age and an AM slot never came available. If you're indifferent, you could pick the one that works better for your location/commute. |
Anonymous
I would go with the 5 day program at NCRC. Your child will be fine without the afternoon nap. |
Anonymous
| NCRC, hands down. |
Anonymous
Not OP, but to you and the PP, why bother to post if you can summon no reasons, supporting examples, etc for your recommendation? |
Anonymous
| Ncrc is amazing! Very nurturing and warm and incredibly creative in projects and activities that make learning fun. Play based but don't let that fool you the kids are learning. The teachers keep you well informed of the kids progess and can help if kids need extra attention. The school can give you tips on adjusting to afternoon. Playground is amazing and other parents warm and friendly. We love it there. |
Anonymous
| NCRC five day bunny is an incredible opportunity! They really understand how to build kind, compassionate, life long learners. I had a PM bunny and she dropped her nap right before school started. NCRC is honestly an amazing place. |
Anonymous
| Interested to know if there are any more recent comments on this topic? |