Reply to PK and K Admissions Questions

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What are private schools looking for when it comes to admissions for PK and K? Are they looking at the kid or the parents/family?
[b]At PK/K, they are looking at both.[/b]
Yes, parent fit is just as important as student fit at this age.

Kid is currently in PK3 in a title 1 dcps public east of the park. But he is a late Sept bday, so whenever he enters private, he would be repeating a grade right? We would like that to happen. DCPS doesnt allow red shirting but he would very much benefit from not being so young for his grade. [b]this is fine, have him repeat. It happens all the time.[/b] It’s not even repeating in most locations. Your child will be middle of the cohort for age most likely.

How important is the teacher reccomendation and is there certain things that these recs should contain or mention? I sorta guess his public school pk teacher writes many of these very often. [b]Don't worry about this. Let the teacher do what they do.[/b] Schools provide structured rec materials for teachers, so they can easily compare. The teacher does not need fo be very experienced.

We are a two mom family. Is this the kind of diversity that helps in admissions or not so much? [b]This will help at a few of the top schools.[/b] It won’t hurt, but I doubt it will materially change anything.

Our child is very very shy and reserved and anxious. He is amazing once he comes out of his shell but this takes a long time and he struggles with anxiety. Part of why we are considering privates is we are looking for a calmer less chaotic environment for him. Is it ok to be open about this or will that harm him in the admissions process? [b]They are used to this.[/b] The teacher rec and any classroom observation at his current school will be important if he is really slow to warm up. If a child can easily separate at 3 or 4 for a play date that is an easy win, but not necessary. A child who is disregulated throughout a playdate and requires lots of adult support because of distress would probably have a more challenging time getting in. 
That said, my oldest child who is young for her cohort got into a big 3 NYC equivalent even though she is slow to warm up. She’s very focused in a new place on understanding and integrating norms. She really needs to understand how things are and what she needs to do in order to turn her attention fully to school. She’s also a child who very easily embodies norms and is really a culture carrier at school. Slow to warm up is not a bad thing and schools understand that. 
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