Do you get what you pay for when it comes to preschools?

[Anonymous]

Generally many of the church preschools and co-op preschools are a hell of a lot cheaper than the privates. Is more expensive necessarily better for the child? I see some private preschool programs like Georgetown hill or Montessori that are like $1600/month for full time and then I see some of these church preschools or “community nursery schools” that are like $450/month. Huge difference in price. Are the more expensive ones worth it if you can afford it? Im genuinely curious since I’m a FTM.

[Anonymous]

You will not find measurable differences in outcome, if that’s what you mean.

[Anonymous]

Why don't you visit the preschools and see what they offer? How they run their day? What food is given? How they play?

Make your choice based on what you see for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Well the full-time ones are for more time than the church preschools generally, which definitely explains it. Montessori is generally on the pricier side. You might have to research it some to determine whether that method is right for you.

My experience is no, price doesn't necessarily correlate with quality. There is kind of a going rate for the part-time preschools in a given area, and that's going to vary depending on where you live. I toured pretty much every preschool in our area at the time (West Alexandria and Old Town), and most were variations on a theme with slightly nicer facilities or more structured curriculum at some. You kind of have to check it out yourself.

[Anonymous]

I'd double check that those church preschools are full time or not. $450 for full time seems insanely cheap for 5 days, 7 am - 6pm. Even our in home daycare is $1100/month.

[Anonymous]

I think there is a difference in service, but not outcome. Your kid will likely be fine, grow and learn at either. But the higher end daycare centers may have more flexible timing (not shutting down for a week or two for staff vacation) be open later or earlier and will have better or possibly more convenient facilities. What that is worth to you only you can decide.

[Anonymous]

I have kids in college and high school, they both did very well and one is at a top school and the other headed that way and we went with he most convenient preschool that was also pretty cheap and they spent most of the day playing and building people skills.

Today, many of them are still friends and also attend great colleges after successful public educations. Other friends we have have gone fancy expensive private schools all along and not all their kids are going to be going to a decent college.

The point is, it really doesn't matter as long as someone is keeping your kid safe and they are having fun.

[Anonymous]

PP from right above. DH and I both work full-time, but we had our DD in part-time preschool with a nanny (we also have a younger DS so this made financial sense). This year, now that both kids are bigger (2 and 4) we made the swap to full-time at a daycare that has a preschool program for their ages and up.

Not sure what options you are considering or what your work situation is, but my experience with the part-time preschool, which I loved, was that it was very geared toward families that had a full-time caregiver at home. It made it hard to make the events during the school day, and because the other moms were SAH for the most part, DD and I missed out on some of the after shool or off day bonding. Not to say we didn't have a great experience, but it was definitely not a two working parent-friendly situation.

The difference in our new school is noticeable. Everyone is in need of full-time care and the school is built around the premise that people are two working parents. While I loved our old school, I prefer this because it works better for our lives (and having a nanny and two kids in part time preschool would have been a reach for us). This seems like an obvious difference but it is worth noting since you are asking.

The part-time place was a little crunchier/more progressive, kids tended to come from pretty wealthy families, the teachers were general middle aged or slightly older and very experienced. Our new school, the teachers are younger and very energetic but not as experienced, our kids do similar activities but probably not as "creative," and the class is a little bigger.

Our kids are flourishing, just as our daughter did last year. You can't go wrong if you find a good spot.

[Anonymous]

Montessori schools are more expensive because teachers and their assistants need a Montessori certification, and therefore their salaries are higher. Warning: the name "Montessori" isn't protected, therefore check that the preschool is accredited by either of the two Montessori organizations before enrolling.

Most preschool workers are very low-paid, which is sad. The federal government should subsidize preschools just like some other first world countries do, to make childcare affordable to working and middle class families and reduce the gender equity gap.

The secret to a good preschool, though, is in the management and staff. You've got to visit them all and talk to the people working there. They need to be intelligent and caring. Obviously, there might be more intelligent and caring people in preschools that pay better! But you can also find gems of teachers in more humble places. The key is talking to the people!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Montessori schools are more expensive because teachers and their assistants need a Montessori certification, and therefore their salaries are higher. Warning: the name "Montessori" isn't protected, therefore check that the preschool is accredited by either of the two Montessori organizations before enrolling.

Most preschool workers are very low-paid, which is sad. The federal government should subsidize preschools just like some other first world countries do, to make childcare affordable to working and middle class families and reduce the gender equity gap.

The secret to a good preschool, though, is in the management and staff. You've got to visit them all and talk to the people working there. They need to be intelligent and caring. Obviously, there might be more intelligent and caring people in preschools that pay better! But you can also find gems of teachers in more humble places. The key is talking to the people!

+1

Evaluate each school individually. There are reasons that are and aren't related to quality that impact costs. For example churches don't pay property taxes. Quality of the facility does matter but the most important thing is the staff, both the ratio, their qualifications and how well-managed they are. Staff turnover is a really important thing to know.

Our DD is at the cheapest school we happened to tour, and we love it and have no desire to send her to the more expensive places even if money were no object. I chose it because it was the one I liked the most when I toured. The teachers looked happy and the facility was clean and well organized even though it is not fancy.

[Anonymous]

Co-op preschools are parent led and can be great, but you have to be there volunteering, so be sure to factor that into the reduced price. It's a time commitment.

[Anonymous]

If I am a SAHM, I would sign my kid up with co-op. But I am not, so I have to suck up to pay $4500 for 2 kids 8am to 6pm ( 2 and 4).

[Anonymous]

In my experience yes. Our center is a non profit and prioritizes treating the teachers well -- a living wage, benefits, etc. In exchange we have high retention and a community with shared values and high trust, in addition to transparency to families because of the non-profit bylaws etc.

This is of course highly individual.

[Anonymous]

Not necessarily. My kiddo goes to a FT church-based preschool ($950 per mo for 5 days a week, 8-3, plus $300/mo for aftercare during non-covid times). Goddard School for the same age and hours is $1,950/mo. Our teachers are highly qualified and consistent from year to year, and (i think) fairly compensated. But our tuition is a lot lower because a lot of the admin costs are shared with the K-8 church school and the school building itself was paid off long ago, while Goddard has to have their own admin staff, franchise fees, and pay rent.

Less than $1K a month though is probably part time or co-op, which may or may not fit your lifestyle. Both my husband and I work FT, so PT/co-op was a no-go for us.