Post by hbomdiggity on Jul 1, 2020 23:25:18 GMT -5
Apologies in advance for another school related post, but could use some feedback. And I tried to keep this short.
DS is a rising Kinder. Just turned 5yo but has been in daycare/preschool since he was 4mos. Not redshirting. He is ready.
After a bit of anx (mostly due to friends deciding to go the mega prestigious and expensive private school route) we decided to enroll him in the neighborhood public school. It’s a bit overcrowded and old building, but lots of support from neighborhood and most have only good things to say. We also enrolled in after school care at another school (provides transportation).
Then covid happened. Our large urban school district hasn’t announced, but all signs point to hybrid model. Our state has issued requirements that effectively make it impossible for the school to operate normal schedule.
Enter the local parochial/private school (not the mega expensive school mentioned above). It has large classrooms and can satisfy the state requirements to provide in person instruction 5 days/week (already approved). Classes capped at 25 per class. Large grounds for lots of outdoor activities and recess. Teachers are all onboard. K will have a full time teacher and full time assistant. They also have onsite after school program. Tuition plus aftercare is the same for what we were paying for daycare.
I fully acknowledge that the private school solves the logistical nightmare to our dual income family. But it also removes support of our public school. And could be disruptive to DS if we end up pulling him after a year.
Ds2 is in preK this coming year at a private school and we have already said if he were going into K this fall we would leave him in the private school. Ds1 has had several new kids transfer into his public school from private school after Kinder and it’s been totally fine for all of them. Our district also has atrocious distance learning so that plays into it.
I’m a huge proponent of neighborhood schools and the public school system, but if I had a kindergartner this year, I’d be looking into alternate / private school options. I just don’t think public schools are going to be able to provide a semi-normal K experience at all, and I feel like K is so important for children to have a positive relationship with school. I even have hesitations sending my 4th grader to his public school due to Covid, but I think the benefits will outright the risks/ negative aspects. I don’t think switching back to public will be detrimental next year. A lot of kids will be in transition and it will be more like he had a special Kindergarten experience.
I have a barely 4 year old who might have qualified for public pre-k this year, but we are keeping him in his private pre-school and he’ll go into public K next year. If things don’t go well at either school, you could have him repeat Kindergarten. I think we’ll more likely be in a situation where our public school is having to shut down/ go remote due to Covid outbreaks vs. private, but part of that is dependent on the size of each for us. That’s my worst nightmare as a working parent. It’s much easier to WFH/homeschool a 9 year old than a 4-5 year old though.
I’m a huge proponent of neighborhood schools and the public school system, but if I had a kindergartner this year, I’d be looking into alternate / private school options. I just don’t think public schools are going to be able to provide a semi-normal K experience at all, and I feel like K is so important for children to have a positive relationship with school. I even have hesitations sending my 4th grader to his public school due to Covid, but I think the benefits will outright the risks/ negative aspects. I don’t think switching back to public will be detrimental next year. A lot of kids will be in transition and it will be more like he had a special Kindergarten experience.
I have a barely 4 year old who might have qualified for public pre-k this year, but we are keeping him in his private pre-school and he’ll go into public K next year. If things don’t go well at either school, you could have him repeat Kindergarten. I think we’ll more likely be in a situation where our public school is having to shut down/ go remote due to Covid outbreaks vs. private, but part of that is dependent on the size of each for us. That’s my worst nightmare as a working parent. It’s much easier to WFH/homeschool a 9 year old than a 4-5 year old though.
I completely agree with this. I teach in our public school system, and I’m a huge proponent of public education. I want my child to feel connected to her neighbourhood and be in with all kinds of kids. I want to believe that we’ll be back full time in class in September (March-June killed me on so many levels and I don’t know how I could start the year in that situation). Full disclosure- we live in a province that has very effectively flattened the curve and had next to no community outbreaks. My daughter is a Feb baby (school district has a Jan 1 cut-off) and I am so, so glad that she isn’t starting until September 2021. She is ready, but I can’t imagine trying to navigate things this year. If she were starting, and I had the option of keeping her in a small private school, I’d jump at that. Your child may love that small school and you may decide to stay. If not, know that kids switch schools all the time, and they fit in quickly. Even if you need to move your child, they’ll be fine.
Post by Velar Fricative on Jul 2, 2020 8:24:51 GMT -5
For a household with two working parents, I'd go with private and then switch to public as soon as this shit is gone and public school students can go back full-time. I wouldn't be too concerned about switching my kid's schools in this situation.
I agree with everyone else. Switching to public for 1st grade (hopefully!) will I think be worth the transition period if you're able to give him a smoother, more typical K experience.
That's hard. I also have a rising kindergartener, she is still only 4.5 but definitely ready, and makes the 12/1 cutoff, so we're moving forward. She's going to public school and I have no idea what it or after care will look like. For now she's registered at the Y, with busing provided.
I'm not aware of a solution for us that is as neat as your private school option, so we're just forging ahead and we'll figure out how to handle it as it comes. I would be tempted by the private option if it would solve so many issues though. IDK.
I would definitely send my child to the school that can offer on-site instruction 5 days a week. I’ve been thinking a little bit about this because ds2 is a summer baby, started preschool early, and will enter kindergarten before the last official year at his preschool. While we have pretty much decided we’re not holding him back when the time comes, if he were an incoming kindergartener this coming year I would definitely send him back to preschool which will be operating on a normal schedule.
These decisions are such a nightmare. I fully understand where you are coming from regarding the ease of scheduling. How large are their typical K classes? 25 kid cap is a lot to me even with an assistant. My son goes to the biggest school in our area and even at 5th grade average classes were only 20 kids. I think I would be asking some tough questions about what their classroom management plan is for covid. Will there be masks? Will students rotate into other classrooms for specials? Will they eat in the cafeteria? If it’s parochial, how are they handling worship? Will there be carpet time and how will that be distanced? How will they handle positive cases (bc the last thing you need is a positive teacher and having a two week “break” with no learning solution in place). What I’m finding in my area is that many private schools are well situated to provide learning in smaller classroom environments, but they are not doing what I consider safe practices. My friend is in Miami and her Catholic school just announced and their plan is basically temp taking on arrival and everything else is as it was last year, possibly teachers are masked and that’s it. I don’t feel like I would be comfortable with that so I’d definitely create a checklist of what you are comfortable with and make sure they can meet it:
author="Velar Fricative" source="/post/13748093/thread" timestamp="1593696291"]For a household with two working parents, I'd go with private and then switch to public as soon as this shit is gone and public school students can go back full-time. I wouldn't be too concerned about switching my kid's schools in this situation.[/quote]
Just a reminder about this as it’s something i never thought about until I was educated on it...if you are going to switch your kid out of public school into a virtual, private or homeschooling program please keep your child in that program for that full school year (Barring emergencies of course). Funding (at least in my state) is based on bodies. We have many “no mask” people threatening to enroll their child in our state’s virtual program if masks are mandated. That’s certainly their right but their funding goes with them. Our local schools are very nervous that they’re going to have to lose staff because of low enrollment and then be screwed in the spring when those kids come back.
Post by hbomdiggity on Jul 2, 2020 11:21:36 GMT -5
Our public school district has already said that any plans for this fall will continue through the spring. So this would be a decision for the entire year, for sure. I agree that would be too disruptive otherwise.
Our public is typically 26 for kinder with a part time assistant.
As for other precautions at the private school option, they are doing sneeze guards for every desk, but will not require kinders to social distance at all times. Kids will stay in their classroom and specials teacher will come to them, lunch will be in room. K has its own bathroom. K will also be capped at 24 because they’d like to have even numbers for pairing, if possible.
Worship is still limited by our county limitations, so the current plan is to keep Kinder in room and stream. But yeah, I was raised catholic (went to parochial school myself), but DS is not baptized and has never stepped foot in a church of any kind :-0
They are also reworking their virtual options in case of another shutdown, but I admit that I will be kinda pissed to pay tuition for online school.
Post by arehopsveggies on Jul 2, 2020 15:56:35 GMT -5
I am pretty pro-public, but we are planning to do private kinder. Same school where we did pre-K so DS should hopefully feel safe and comfortable even with changes like masks. They’re hoping to be full time and lots of outside time vs two days a week for public. I’m just NOT willing to do three days of whatever home work the public school would send home. If I’m going to homsechool we are going to use my own materials. We’ve mostly been homeschooling kinder since March, so that academic skills wouldn’t need to factor into our fall decisions- just social and emotional
I am in a similar situation. I am a public school teacher and want my kids in public school but also want my son to have a traditional in school kinder experience. I would do the private kinder in this case. I am considering private kinder if his daycare decides to offer a full day 10 kid cohort just to have a full time 5 day option while I am working. My son thrives on structure and wants to learn.
Same situation here for my rising 1st and 3rd grader. We bought our house before getting pregnant with our first kid because it’s 12 houses from an awesome public elementary school. My family and DH’s family have always been public school employees, attendees, and supporters. But now I’m in the touring and application process for 5 different private elementary schools around town. We have four kids, so sending them all to private school for 12 years would literally cost over a million dollars, so we expect this temporary (though I do think my 1st grader in particular will benefit from small class sizes and maybe we’d try to have him stay).
It’s a not great situation all around - but I know full time school will be way better for my kids and my family, and one of the reasons we deal with the challenges of being a two career family while having four small children is so we have flexibility financially for unforeseen stuff like this. All of this is to say - I would go private if I were you. It’s no guarantee you get full time school since everything could shut down again or at least temporarily when cases happen at your school, but I think you have a much better shot at some level of normalcy.
I would find out what happened when the private school closed in the spring- did they still pay tuition? For our daycare when closed we didnt pay so if our daycare did a private kinder I would expect to not pay. But I would want to know that up front
But the school follows what the local one does...so it looks like I will be paying to keep my kid at home
Are you sure schools can independently decide or might there be a state or local order closing all schools
While they plan to open because they can comply with the current regulations, you’re right that it could all change if the state mandates all school to close (as they did in the spring). In that case they would implement their “improved” virtual program. While I’m sure it’s better than the public option, it’s still virtual and would eliminate many of the pros the private school currently has going for it.
I would find out what happened when the private school closed in the spring- did they still pay tuition? For our daycare when closed we didnt pay so if our daycare did a private kinder I would expect to not pay. But I would want to know that up front
I think this is a difference between daycare and school. Daycare is set up more as a pay as you go model, while school is more semester all or nothing. But I also have no experience as a school aged parent.
We also haven’t been paying for daycare, but I would expect the school to still require tuition.
I'm sure this depends on your area and schools but I'm actually more comfortable with my DS1's public school's hybrid plan for this fall then the triplets private preschool's plan which doesn't change a whole lot from their normal year. They may not do preschool this year.
I really think once we get into flu/cold season, all schools will be distance learning again.
I am a big proponent of public schools. I taught high school and spent the years that my children were in preschool volunteering at two Title 1 schools. However, I am also a proponent of choosing schools that fit your life. My oldest son went to a Title 1 Charter for kindergarten because its schedule matched up well enough with mine that I could pick him up and not use aftercare. We switched in first grade because a spot opened up at the largest charter and with my schedule changing, I could drop off and we only needed aftercare some days. I love the school we are zoned for now (I volunteered there for multiple years) but it ends so early and starts so late that I wouldn’t make it to work on time.
As far as switching schools goes, it will be okay. My son has had two disrupted school years (natural disaster with 1 month closure/heavily damaged school for rest of year and now Covid). Kids are resilient—we still talk to friends from both places (via Zoom).
I would do the private school option for one year. We had already planned on private kindergarten because it is cheaper than doing half day public kindergarten with daycare. Now, we are considering switching my sixth grader over as well. I am a public school teacher and am happy with our district. My concern is that our public school will likely need to do a hybrid option, where I’ll be working five days a week. There are no daycare options for my sixth grader. She is capable of staying home for a short time, but I can’t imagine her doing her work with no support. I can’t afford a nanny, nor can I leave my job to homeschool. I had considered taking a leave of absence, but we couldn’t afford to pay for our health insurance out of pocket. Also, with hybrid learning, I think the risk will be much higher. Every kid with working parents will presumably be spending their off days at daycare, grandparents, neighbors, etc. I don’t see how that would be beneficial.
I don't view this as a choice, honestly. You have to work, that means you need childcare.
We don't know what our local school is doing, but if they don't do normal, in person classes, we will have to find a way to cobble together care to make it work. It's going to be very hard and I'm pretty stressed about it. I am set on not redshirting, so our current center isn't an option, but I truly don't know what we're going to do.
All that to say, if you know your public school won't provide typical classes AND you already have a good alternative, I think you have to take it. I wouldn't keep him there permanently. This would be a temporary stopgap for me until normal classes resume.
I just want to chime in and say that mom friends from the (small) private school DS used to attend were very frustrated with paying tuition for distance learning. Yes they are smaller and may become more flexible with onsite classes... But it's not just the students that come into play. Many teachers are in high risk categories merely based on their age. I wouldn't bank on paying tuition and staying in-session onsite when/if public schools close. Even if they can keep their distance. In my area, which was a hotspot, the state ordered "all schools" to close. They didn't have the time to filter through distance guidelines and if X school was safe. It was a blanket closure.
If my son had been enrolled in private school when the virus hit, we would "not" be re-enrolling him for the fall semester.
ETA: Are there any daycares with preschool programs that continue on with transitional K or K? That's really common around here for parents who want to hold their children back and enroll in public K on a delay. That said, many of these centers are licensed as daycare facilities. Even in hotspots daycares mostly remained open. Food for thought.
If the mega expensive private schools here were the same as I paid for daycare, I would have sent my kids there even though one of the reasons I moved to my town is "for the schools." It will make your life simpler and that's worth a lot in my book.
You could send him to public for 1st depending on your situation and the school situation then. It will be fine. Lots of families do that in NJ because K is still half day in lots of "good schools" towns and it's a logistical nightmare to plan for the half day of school they don't get to attend AND aftercare. My rising 2nd grader attended K at her original daycare and then 1st at another daycare that ends with 1st grade (very unusual for a daycare to have 1st grade). Now I'm going to enroll her in public school. Maybe it's disruptive and deep down inside I worry but that's where we are. I'm going to hold on to hope that I haven't scarred her for life because my brother switched schools a lot until he got to 3rd grade and turned out fine. I switched schools 3 times in 3 years but I was older (8th,9th, and 10th) and was definitely scarred.
If the mega expensive private schools here were the same as I paid for daycare, I would have sent my kids there even though one of the reasons I moved to my town is "for the schools." It will make your life simpler and that's worth a lot in my book.
You could send him to public for 1st depending on your situation and the school situation then. It will be fine. Lots of families do that in NJ because K is still half day in lots of "good schools" towns and it's a logistical nightmare to plan for the half day of school they don't get to attend AND aftercare. My rising 2nd grader attended K at her original daycare and then 1st at another daycare that ends with 1st grade (very unusual for a daycare to have 1st grade). Now I'm going to enroll her in public school. Maybe it's disruptive and deep down inside but that's where we are. I'm going to hold on to hope that I haven't scarred her for life because my brother switched schools a lot until he got to 3rd grade and turned out fine. I switched schools 3 times in 3 years but I was older (8th,9th, and 10th) and was definitely scarred.