LAMB is far from perfect, but it is a fantastic school. I concur with a lot of the criticism and praise. At the end of the day, it's a positive environment that will enrich your child. OP, if I were you, I'd take the spot. If you're not as pleased as we are you can go for private again. Make sure you end things well with the private and leave the door open. It's so unlikely you'll get a second chance with LAMB, that once you don't accept, that'll likely be it for you. Your choice, of course, but know that the school offers a dynamic option. We've been very pleased and now have one in elementary and ECE. They're both doing very great. Best of luck, OP. Also, FWIW, we too had to give up a deposit to a private when we took our LAMB slot. It wasn't easy, but I'd do it again in a heart beat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to pay a deposit at a public charter to hold your spot?

Reading is fundamental.

True, I didn't read the thread (we didn't get into LAMB), just glanced at it and saw a mention of a deposit. Didn't have time to dig through the pages. Was hoping someone would quickly give me an answer, instead of being a snarky ass. But I can also wait to find out when the lottery results are released and this becomes acute.

NP I don't think you're in the position to call someone a snarky ass when you're being a lazy ass that won't even read the OP and you expect someone to take more time to summarize the issue than it takes for you to read the OP. You're a bitch for real!

I'm not expecting anything, nobody is forced to respond. And no summary needed - just typing "this was about private" takes about 2 seconds. But no surprise that people on DCUM would rather take time out of their lives to be snippy than to ignore a stupid question (for which I apologized in response to someone's kind post).

What is really no surprise is that someone can't just take their medicine when they fucked up in the first place and instead have to lash back.

Last year, I turned down a spot at LAMB for another HRCS, and have no regrets. I wasn't sold on Montessori and the model at his current school is a much better fit for my son. So in short, visit, make sure you buy into the philosophy and people, then make the decision. I was ridiculously fortunate to have two very good options, plus a private in my back pocket. Also, you can always get into private later. May as well take LAMB, give it a year or so, then reevaluate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The one thing to consider, is that if you go and leave after Pk4, the school doesn't back fill the spot. So that spot is lost. They won't say that to you, but please consider it, as you would be taking a spot from a child that could benefit from their education. Of course, things change, people move, school's don't work for some kids. Just don't go into it planning to move in 1st grade.

Why do they not fill it?

Read their charter or one of the many threads. Short answer is that they don't feel a child can catch up on both dual language and Montessori at grade 5 or above, so they only admit at PK3 and PK4.

Anonymous wrote:The one thing to consider, is that if you go and leave after Pk4, the school doesn't back fill the spot. So that spot is lost. They won't say that to you, but please consider it, as you would be taking a spot from a child that could benefit from their education. Of course, things change, people move, school's don't work for some kids. Just don't go into it planning to move in 1st grade.

Why do they not fill it?

The one thing to consider, is that if you go and leave after Pk4, the school doesn't back fill the spot. So that spot is lost. They won't say that to you, but please consider it, as you would be taking a spot from a child that could benefit from their education. Of course, things change, people move, school's don't work for some kids. Just don't go into it planning to move in 1st grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a LAMB family and feel like we won the Powerball lottery every day we go. We feel so fortunate. Give up that deposit for a long term solution and don't look back. Congrats!

+1. To give you an idea of how strong the LAMB community is, they just had the annual fundraiser, and had 100% participation, and raised over $100,000, with no one selling anything (no selling cookies, auction, etc).

$100k with no auction? That's impressive.

My DD is an alum and we contributed. Still contribute several hundred dollars a year in gratitude for our experience there.

BUT! Nothing is perfect. School is a marathon not a sprint. There will be bumps in the road. Don't expect perfect and you'll have a great experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to pay a deposit at a public charter to hold your spot?

Reading is fundamental.

True, I didn't read the thread (we didn't get into LAMB), just glanced at it and saw a mention of a deposit. Didn't have time to dig through the pages. Was hoping someone would quickly give me an answer, instead of being a snarky ass. But I can also wait to find out when the lottery results are released and this becomes acute.

NP I don't think you're in the position to call someone a snarky ass when you're being a lazy ass that won't even read the OP and you expect someone to take more time to summarize the issue than it takes for you to read the OP. You're a bitch for real!

I'm not expecting anything, nobody is forced to respond. And no summary needed - just typing "this was about private" takes about 2 seconds. But no surprise that people on DCUM would rather take time out of their lives to be snippy than to ignore a stupid question (for which I apologized in response to someone's kind post).

Anonymous wrote:Most people in this country pay for private preschool? Please show me the statistics that prove such a statement to be true. We must live in two different countries - I live in a United States where most people absolutely can not afford to pay for private preschool or daycare

We have two people with little to no reading comprehension in this thread now.

Most people in this country pay for private preschool? Please show me the statistics that prove such a statement to be true. We must live in two different countries - I live in a United States where most people absolutely can not afford to pay for private preschool or daycare

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to pay a deposit at a public charter to hold your spot?

Reading is fundamental.

True, I didn't read the thread (we didn't get into LAMB), just glanced at it and saw a mention of a deposit. Didn't have time to dig through the pages. Was hoping someone would quickly give me an answer, instead of being a snarky ass. But I can also wait to find out when the lottery results are released and this becomes acute.

NP I don't think you're in the position to call someone a snarky ass when you're being a lazy ass that won't even read the OP and you expect someone to take more time to summarize the issue than it takes for you to read the OP. You're a bitch for real!

Anonymous wrote:When you are talking about 'private preschool', you can't say that someone can afford to pay for private school. Just that they are opting for daycare or private preschool right now over public preschool -- private preschool ($16K/year) is much less expensive than private school ($33K/year). Most people in this country pay for private preschool or daycare.

I am also a LAMB parent. There are many things that I love about LAMB. I visited 20-25 preschools when were were looking at school and LAMB is hands-down the best one both for the child-led learning that is inherent to the Montessori model and the bilingual program. It is a cut above the private (for profit) Montessori schools I visited. It is also a better bilingual program than many of the bilingual schools/preschools I visited. (This second fact is because the teachers are better educated/prepared at LAMB than at the other bilingual preschools).

However, LAMB is not perfect and I am not infrequently frustrated with things that I observe or hear about are going on at school. However, some of those issues resolve themselves; some are issues that I realize later are really non-issues; and some issues persist. I have learned to either live with the issues that persist or request meetings with the administration to resolve them. Regardless of my issues, my kid is thriving and loves school. His teachers are both affectionate and have high expectations of the kids. He speaks both Spanish and English beautifully. (But we support both at home so this is perhaps not surprising...).

OP: accept the spot. You probably won't regret it. You can always go back to private school later.

This. This was the stance that we took. We could possibly get into private again, but the chances of getting another spot at LAMB were slim. We took the spot at LAMB and are extremely happy.

When you are talking about 'private preschool', you can't say that someone can afford to pay for private school. Just that they are opting for daycare or private preschool right now over public preschool -- private preschool ($16K/year) is much less expensive than private school ($33K/year). Most people in this country pay for private preschool or daycare.

I am also a LAMB parent. There are many things that I love about LAMB. I visited 20-25 preschools when were were looking at school and LAMB is hands-down the best one both for the child-led learning that is inherent to the Montessori model and the bilingual program. It is a cut above the private (for profit) Montessori schools I visited. It is also a better bilingual program than many of the bilingual schools/preschools I visited. (This second fact is because the teachers are better educated/prepared at LAMB than at the other bilingual preschools).

However, LAMB is not perfect and I am not infrequently frustrated with things that I observe or hear about are going on at school. However, some of those issues resolve themselves; some are issues that I realize later are really non-issues; and some issues persist. I have learned to either live with the issues that persist or request meetings with the administration to resolve them. Regardless of my issues, my kid is thriving and loves school. His teachers are both affectionate and have high expectations of the kids. He speaks both Spanish and English beautifully. (But we support both at home so this is perhaps not surprising...).

OP: accept the spot. You probably won't regret it. You can always go back to private school later.

Well, we need childcare bc we both work. Our in bound school is one of the lowest rated in the city, so we either had to win the lottery, go private, or move and endure a long commute (less time with our kids). Private was the best option if the lottery fell through.

Anonymous wrote:It is interesting to me that so many of you can afford to pay for private school and I wonder if you will really stay at a public school - charter or otherwise - or if you will just take a spot for a few years and then move on to your coveted private school life, anyway.

Well 2 of us. Not "so many."