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[quote=Anonymous]OP here.  Wow, what a helpful bunch.  Thank you all for your constructive and encouraging comments.  I've just finished doing the preschool rounds, so perhaps it's why I feel a bit overwhelmed.  The process was pretty stressful.

For those who asked more about DC, he is very physically active, shows signs of being gifted, is moderately extroverted, seems to have a fairly long attention span for things he enjoys, but is dismissive of anything that doesn't interest him.  He has a strong personality, but is generally a nice kid.  Recently, he's begun to talk himself out of tantrums.  It's hilarious to listen to his not-so-inner dialogue, but he is learning to calm himself, to our great joy.  We are biased as his parents, but think he's a great kid.   Is that enough information?

The reason I thought a consultant might be helpful is that there is so much information on DC Urban Moms and Dads that I can't keep it all straight.  We thought Beauvoir sounded great, then I read that they are intolerant of active kids.  We thought Sidwell might be good, then we read that the lower school program is weak.  Maret sounds like it might be the best match for us, as we don't want DC in a high-pressure environment.   I'm sure all of this info needs to be digested with a grain of salt, or two, or three.

We want DC to enjoy learning and have as fun and prolonged a childhood as possible.  Nix on hours of  drill-oriented homework.  So far, Maret's the only one that we that we've heard about where no bells were raised.  GDS is another that's been recommended to us, but it sounds like you have to be a pretty self-motivated student to thrive there.  It's too early to tell with DC, but what if he needs more structured encouragement?

I was also thinking that we needed a consultant because I didn't find the visit process was that helpful to me in distinguishing between the preschools.  Most of the schools had polished presentations.  Yet two of the schools that were less polished in their presentation seemed to be the ones that have better stuff going on in the classroom.  I was biased towards the ones that let you observe the classrooms for a short time, but not all preschools did.  Talking to parents wasn't all that helpful either.  I felt like all of the schools connected you with their cheerleaders.  I thought an experienced consultant might have a clearer, unbiased inside track on what's going on in the schools.  Is that delusional?

Do the schools I mentioned allow parents to observe classrooms for an extended time, as opposed to a 10 second look through a window?

Thanks in advance for any advice.  From reading DCUM, it seems like if your child doesn't get into the right school at an early age, it's relatively difficult to shift to another, making it important to get the decision right the first time.

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