Anonymous wrote:We applied to pre-K at three schools last year and were accepted to two ("waitlisted" at GDS).
Regarding how many schools to apply to, my husband and I could have probably handled one more, but no more than that. There were weeks where I spoke to folks in the admissions office more than my own friends. Not because I was reaching out on my own, just the number of events, both online and in person. Even if we had applied to another school, I think we still would have ended up where we are. We just loved it from the very beginning.
In terms of process, it was easy to follow. Just pay attention to all of the deadlines and make sure you sign up for everything as soon as possible through Ravenna. Just go ahead and bookmark the webpage. You'll visit it often. My husband and/or I attended every possible event (every coffee with XYZ person, every special event, literally everything).
My DS was unhooked going into the process. The kids in his class are pretty evenly split between younger siblings of other students and new families.
For the playdate, I honestly have no idea what they were looking for or saw in my DS. The parents hang back and talk with admissions staff and amongst themselves.
The parent interviews are fairly relaxed. They want to know about your child, what you like to do as a family, etc. Our biggest goal was to come across as a relaxed family that wouldn't cause any drama or be pushy.
No testing was required at the preK level for any of the schools we applied to.
Happy to answer any other questions! Good luck! The process can be all consuming at moments, but in the end it was 100 percent worth it.
Thank you very much for sharing!