If you had the following options for schools

[Deleted]

I would be *really* tempted by the language immersion school. Is it good otherwise? I'm assuming they have a high % of native Eng. speakers becoming fluent in another language? After that, I'd look into the STEM school. You're lucky that you have so many interesting options!

[hocus2]

Well I think it really depends on your kid on the STEM vs Creative Arts. I'd probably go for STEM and maybe the charter (hard to say without knowing more about it).

I will work full time when the kids are school. Most areas have programs for after school. I would just ask each school about what they suggest doing.

[spankswife]

I would rank them the order you have listed. Maybe 1 and 2 would be a tie for me.

[Deleted]

Montessori would be my vote as long as it is done well. Not all Montessori schools are created equal in my experience but a good Montessori school is pretty much my educational philosophy utopia. We are strongly considering sending both girls to private Montessori elementary (obviously we have time to decide).

[drloretta]

It depends on your child and a lot of other factors. For our family, DD would be going to Montessori through K, then Catholic school after that. Unless she showed a talent for arts or language.

[DarcyLongfellow]

What is STEM?

I love Montessori, and I would have loved to send our girls to a Montessori school (too expensive in my area), so that would be my first choice. Make sure it's a good Montessori school, though. There's a public Montessori school in my area that gets mixed reviews, and it's not accredited by the major Montessori organizations.

I wouldn't do Creative Arts personally. We have one in our area that is excellently rated, but starting that young would make me worry because what if my kid doesn't turn out to be artistic but she's stuck in that school?

[orval]

We are in Charlotte too and chose Catholic. I would try the public charters that have a good reputation - Davidson, Corvian, the international one. We got into Elizabeth Traditional magnet but chose Catholic. I was not a fan of the size of the elementary schools (our home school had 7 K classes) nor the hours - 9:15 -4:15. Our school has 350 kids total. We start Spanish and computers in K. Just started first grade today - he loves it!

[orval]

Also, if you don't get into the public Montessori for pre K, forget it. I went for a visit for K and they said there might be 5 -6 spots open in their school.

[cosmos]

I'd put my kid in the language immersion (Spanish or Mandarin), then STEM

[orval]

Ours is definitely majority white, but there are kids of all races/ethnicities. African American, Asian, Hispanic. We have a downs syndrome program as well. Clearly not as diverse as most Charlotte publics. There are plenty of non Catholics as well - they do attend mass every week. I personally think the education/atmosphere is more important than the diversity. He has plenty of interactions with diverse populations in other activities - tball, camp, neighbors etc.

[DarcyLongfellow]

Aug 21, 2013 9:29:30 GMT -5 @barefootbarista said:

Aug 21, 2013 9:25:44 GMT -5 DarcyLongfellow said:

What is STEM?

I love Montessori, and I would have loved to send our girls to a Montessori school (too expensive in my area), so that would be my first choice. Make sure it's a good Montessori school, though. There's a public Montessori school in my area that gets mixed reviews, and it's not accredited by the major Montessori organizations.

I wouldn't do Creative Arts personally. We have one in our area that is excellently rated, but starting that young would make me worry because what if my kid doesn't turn out to be artistic but she's stuck in that school?

STEM is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

Read upthread about the Creative Arts school.  It isn't geared toward being artistic, but it has an integrative approach of using the arts in teaching. They aren't judged/graded on performance or ability. 

In that case, is be okay with the Arts school. It wouldn't be my first choice.

I'd probably rank them --

Montessori
Language Immersion (not the Spanish one if it's largely native speakers though -- I'd feel like we'd be behind)
STEM
Creative Arts

The other three are all kind of the same to me. I'd only choose the Catholic school if the religious education is important to you, since obviously you have other (free) options for a good education.

[elocrates]

Not sure about ranking the rest, but I would only do a language immersion school if LO would be able to be in that setting through elementary school. There is some data to suggest that children in immersion schools are behind in their English skills until the end of elementary school (when they are then caught up to their peers in English and have the added benefit of being fluent in a second language). This is the one element that kept us from enrolling DS1 in Spanish Immersion--we just don't know if we will be in this district through his elementary school years and any area we would be moving to wouldn't have public or private language immersion options.

[jade]

My preference would be the STEM school. DH and I are both engineers so hopefully DS inherits our love for math and science. After that I would probably pick language immersion, and then the neighborhood school.

[elocrates]

Aug 21, 2013 10:08:00 GMT -5 @barefootbarista said:

Aug 21, 2013 10:04:12 GMT -5 elocrates said:

  all of the immersion schools are K-8.I'd hope to keep her there for all of those years, but who knows if we will have to move.  I hadn't heard that data, but it really isn't a concern of mine.  I can't imagine that it'd be that detrimental to her if she is conversing in English before and after school, as well as on weekends, holidays and during the summer. 

I do know that the amount of instruction in the foreign language at those schools dwindles in percentage after 2nd grade (at least I think it is 2nd grade). 

That's great that the options are K-8. The ones around here are all K-5. I think the concern with the English skills is with reading and writing, not spoken English, as most children at an immersion school speak English as their primary language at home but don't get any formal reading or writing instruction at home. In any case, if you aren't concerned, then my first choice would definitely be a language immersion school. Followed by Catholic school and neighborhood school, as long as their track record/ reviews/ test scores were all roughly equal.

[Deleted]

Aug 21, 2013 9:29:30 GMT -5 @barefootbarista said:

Aug 21, 2013 9:25:44 GMT -5 DarcyLongfellow said:

What is STEM?

I love Montessori, and I would have loved to send our girls to a Montessori school (too expensive in my area), so that would be my first choice. Make sure it's a good Montessori school, though. There's a public Montessori school in my area that gets mixed reviews, and it's not accredited by the major Montessori organizations.

I wouldn't do Creative Arts personally. We have one in our area that is excellently rated, but starting that young would make me worry because what if my kid doesn't turn out to be artistic but she's stuck in that school?

STEM is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

Read upthread about the Creative Arts school.  It isn't geared toward being artistic, but it has an integrative approach of using the arts in teaching. They aren't judged/graded on performance or ability. 

As a former teacher, I think this is really cool. When it's done well it is so impressive. I would definitely go and check out the schools in person and see what you think. I bet you will find yourselves clicking with one over the others.

[chia]

Personally, based on our family and DD's interests, I'd rank in the following order:
1. French immersion
2. Creative Arts
3. walkable neighborhood school
4. STEM (depending on distance, I might move this above neighborhood school)
5. montessori or charter
6. Catholic

I'd like my kids to learn French, but it's more of a heritage thing for us.
DD is very interested in art - so that's my second choice.
Neighborhood comes third, because of the convenience factor, and the ability for DD to make BFFs close by.
STEM comes in 4th, because I think it's good for girls to have a good background in STEM fields - so they aren't behind if they choose to go that route.
The other three options are just kind of "meh" for me... unless the neighborhood school is bad, I don't see the need to complicate things or pay extra money.  I'd feel differently if we were Catholic or uber religious, but we're not.

[orval]

Aug 21, 2013 9:59:49 GMT -5 @barefootbarista said:

orval-one more question: do you get to choose which school you attend, or are you assigned?

You get to choose.  You do have to put 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices as some fill up with siblings etc.  So it is possible you would not get your first choice.  We did get ours. 

[Deleted]

How big are the classes in these schools you list?

All things being equal, I love the idea of the language immersion school for Mandarin or Japanese. It's easier to learn the other languages later on, IMO. 

After that, STEM, then charter, Catholic, then Montessori.

[orval]

Aug 21, 2013 10:45:59 GMT -5 orval said:

Aug 21, 2013 9:59:49 GMT -5 @barefootbarista said:

orval-one more question: do you get to choose which school you attend, or are you assigned?

You get to choose.  You do have to put 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices as some fill up with siblings etc.  So it is possible you would not get your first choice.  We did get ours. 

One more thing, Catholics do get preference over non-Catholics and the tuition is cheaper as well for Catholics. 

My ds has 19 kids in his first grade class this year.  They all have part time assistant teachers too.

[redheadk]

I would opt for Spanish immersion.

This might be an unpopular opinion but I'd avoid the stem and creative arts schools. I taught science, DH works in a stem field, but I do not want to push that on dd. I want her to be able to develop her own interests. If she wants to attend a stem school then that's cool but I won't choose it for her.

[redheadk]

Aug 21, 2013 10:08:00 GMT -5 @barefootbarista said:

Aug 21, 2013 10:04:12 GMT -5 elocrates said:

Not sure about ranking the rest, but I would only do a language immersion school if LO would be able to be in that setting through elementary school. There is some data to suggest that children in immersion schools are behind in their English skills until the end of elementary school (when they are then caught up to their peers in English and have the added benefit of being fluent in a second language). This is the one element that kept us from enrolling DS1 in Spanish Immersion--we just don't know if we will be in this district through his elementary school years and any area we would be moving to wouldn't have public or private language immersion options.

  all of the immersion schools are K-8.I'd hope to keep her there for all of those years, but who knows if we will have to move.  I hadn't heard that data, but it really isn't a concern of mine.  I can't imagine that it'd be that detrimental to her if she is conversing in English before and after school, as well as on weekends, holidays and during the summer. 

I do know that the amount of instruction in the foreign language at those schools dwindles in percentage after 2nd grade (at least I think it is 2nd grade). 

Hmm, that would make me unhappy. I prefer a dual model to an immersion model.

[mollybrown]

I think I'm an outlier. The only 2 on your list that appeal to me are the neighborhood school and the Montessori program (assuming that it is a good program). Attending school with neighbors is a priority to me, and that would be my first choice if the neighborhood school is good and has a well rounded curriculum. I also love Montessori, and it would be worth driving if my child got into a good public Montessori. I don't put a lot of value on special programs at the elementary level, so I would be pretty neutral about most of the options you listed, unless my child was already showing a special interest in science, math, or arts.

Unlike most, I would not enroll my children in a language immersion school unless I spoke the language, or had unlimited funds to pay for a tutor. I would be concerned about moving to an area without a similar school, or having the school closed due to performance (a common occurrence in my city) and then having my child behind in a non immersion program. I'm probably biased because the immersion school in my city is new, so I haven't seen first hand that this particular school is any good.

[froggy76]

Regular public school is always my default unless something is wrong with it. I moved when I was 12 and had to make new friends, so I love the idea of DD going from K-12 with the same kids. All of the others sound fine, too, although I am not religious and have become very anti-Catholicism, so I would avoid Catholic school.

[Marmee]

For my family & girls personality/strengths...

Catholic

creative arts

montessori

Stem

language (this would have been horrible for DD1 because she's dyslexic, which means we probably wouldn't have picked up on it until much later) but for normal children I may put it higher on the list for Chinese Immersion....because of the advantage in mathematics not necessarily because learning it would be kept up or used on the regular after elementary.

charter vs neighborhood depends on which is "better"

[lilles]

Language immersion would be my number one choice followed by Catholic school. We recently moved and I was very disappointed that there were no language immersion schools in our area. DD will start kindergaten at a school that offers Spanish for an hour a day. I speak four languages and I am a trained linguist so obviously languages are important to us. We are raising DDs bilingually and they are fluent in both English and Spanish. I think learning a second language fluently is very important and wish more schools offered language immersion programs or at the minimum a foreign language class.

[liveintheville]

We opted for Spanish immersion K-8.
Creative arts would be my next choice.
I'd consider STEM but I feel like we could fill in those extras.

I'm more inclined to go with a program that teaches them something I cannot give them at home.

H and I don't speak a word of Spanish. So I think this is a great opportunity for them.

[mie]

My preference would be

Public language immersion
Public STEM
Public Creative Arts
Public Montessori
Charter Community School
Catholic School
Neighborhood school

[dragonfly08]

Depends on your kid. Honestly, in K, the regular old public school was great to get my kids started and assess their strengths, weaknesses, interests, etc.  Plus we have a FLES (foreign language in the elementary schools) program, so while they aren't getting immersion they are getting regular classes and more exposure than at many schools.  I do know some immersion schools around here require entry in either K or 1st but no later, so there is that to consider.

At this point, my older DD would definitely benefit from a STEM program while my younger might like an immersion program as she enjoys her Spanish classes, but I can go either way on that.  Based on my research and our educational philosophies we decided against Montessori, and I have zero personal interest in Catholic schools.

[bunch]

For my kid Montessori 1, then language, and then probably the neighborhood school, because I think there's a lot of value in being that close to school, having your neighbors as your classmates, etc.

[AmyRI]

1. Public STEM
2. Public language immersion (would choose Spanish)
3. Neighborhood school-is directly in my neighborhood, we can walk to and from

The others don't appeal to me much. We are not religious, and I'd take any other good school over a Catholic school, so that's at the very bottom of my preferences. Montessori is also not my thing. I'm all about free play and discovery, but I think it takes it a little too far. I don't think it's a bad option, but does not make my list above public schools.

It's a whole lot easier to add creative arts activities outside of school than it is to find STEM activities, so I don't like a school with that as its focus at a young age. If a kid loves the creative arts and it's an option for high school, I would be open to that. I think a solid STEM foundation beginning in elementary school is more important, though.

I'd choose Spanish for a language immersion option because it would be the most useful in this country given the changing demographics, and a lot of countries speak the language.

In general, I like neighborhood schools. Since they are good schools, it ranks high on my list to have my kids in the same class as our neighbors.