The close one. Our preschool is a 7 minute walk from our house. It is incredible. I don’t have to waste time driving around and can really maximize the time while he’s in school getting things done or playing with his sibling. Plus, the school by us feels like a real hub for the neighborhood. Many, many local kids go there and the teachers have all worked there a long time and they live in our neighborhood too

I’m a SAHM and I would do the 25 minute one, but it’s because I have all day to do it. I don’t think neighborhood friends are relevant, the kids in my neighborhood are scattered to the winds for preschool and most will be in an all day program of some kind anyway.

I guess I’m in the minority.

My kids went to an amazing preschool that wasn’t local. I think the drive was probably around 15-20 minutes, but if I had to drive more, I would have for that school.

It would have been nice to spend more time with neighborhood kids, but there are so many local preschools, there’s no guarantee they’d be eith neighborhood kids anyway. You also can’t predict the future. If you move, send your kids to private school, or pursue optional public school opportunities (immersion, magnet, etc.), they may not go to school with the neighborhood kids then either. While they may not make best friends in the neighborhood, they will have friends wherever they are.

Just keep in mind, that you’re not only signing up for a longer commute to school, you’re also signing up for a longer commute for playdates, birthday parties, school events, etc.

Anonymous wrote:There is a real benefit to being close by, not just in terms of convenience to you, but also because it is easier to maintain those early friendships if playdates are around the corner and the kids end up in elementary together. If the preschool is truly amazing, you have to weight that but, honestly, the preschool I thought was amazing initially turned out to be the same as the others. They just did a better job recruiting.

This. My two DD’s (12 and 15) went to a nearby pre-school and still have friends from those years. We know a family who left our nearby school searching for the elusive “better” pre-school and then spent years bemoaning the fact that her child didn’t have friends nearby.

We're moving back to the area next year, to Fairfax but closer to Burke this time. There are several preschools nearby that probably would have been fine but I went with the one my older kid went to before covid as it appears all the teachers are still there and had a good experience there. It just made sense to go with what we know rather than gambling on something just because it's closer.

There are lots and lots of great pre schools in the area. Make life easy on yourself. Go close.

Hi op, I drove my son to a preschool 25 minutes away so he could be in an outdoor program during covid (and because I generally loved it) so I think I can truly speak to this - I don’t regret having done this, we’re going on year 3 and it has been amazing for my son and a great fit for our family but without the extenuating circumstances of covid I’m not sure it would have made sense AND for a half day program I truly would not do it. It will eat so much into your time. Teachers are the most important thing hands down. One reason we made the drive to this other one was mainly covid and when I visited one of the teachers remarked off hand “it really is a dream to work here.” Happy teachers go a long way. If the other school has long standing teachers go there and don’t think another thing of it. All my friends kiddos are happy and prepared no matter what preschool they went to honestly.

Strongly agree with other posters that it better to attend the preschool where child can make friends in the neighborhood

Please work on your FOMO. It will not serve you well. You’re posting here about whether or not to take a spot at a “pretty good” preschool that is 5 minutes away. That should have been something you knew how to decide without crowd-sourcing. But you’re worried about missing out on some supposedly magically cool preschool. No preschool is worth an hour’s drive.

This is a no-brainer: the one that is close.

Hands down. The closest one! 5 min is amazing. Don’t over think this. Run to the close one. Your kids will barely remember any of pre-k.

There is a real benefit to being close by, not just in terms of convenience to you, but also because it is easier to maintain those early friendships if playdates are around the corner and the kids end up in elementary together. If the preschool is truly amazing, you have to weight that but, honestly, the preschool I thought was amazing initially turned out to be the same as the others. They just did a better job recruiting.

Anonymous wrote:Closer one. No doubt. Your kid won’t be materially better off from the amazing preschool, but that commute will he such a PITA over time, since the time in school is so short.

Also, the closer school is more likely to lead to friends who live closer.

Closer one. No doubt. Your kid won’t be materially better off from the amazing preschool, but that commute will he such a PITA over time, since the time in school is so short.

WWYD? These are the commute times during traffic. It would be for a 3 year old, 3 mornings a week and bumping up to 5 mornings the following year. Afternoon would be lunch and nap at home.

The far away preschool sounds amazing and is amazing based on families who are there. The closer one has long-standing teachers but is more bare-bones.