Pre-School Adventures

After much internal debate, research, and asking the advice of pretty much every single person I know, I finally decided to switch the kids to a new school.  The reason we are doing so is not that I wasn't happy with the previous school. It's that I've started thinking about kindergarten....  which is coming up for Tino in 2012.  He will attend public school because a) I can't afford private school and to save for his college education, so college wins, b) I went to public school, as did Dave, and we turned out just fine, and c) I would like him to be exposed to kids from the community, from all walks of life.  So....  with all that said, I am  not willing to send my children to a school that is unsafe or has an environment that is unsuitable to learning.  There are three public schools within walking distance from our house, and one stands out as vastly superior to the rest.  We'll refer to it as Hogwarts, just for fun.

Because we are outside the Hogwarts school district, we would have to enroll Tino in kindergarten during open enrollment.  This means that after the in-district kids, siblings of current students, and graduates of the Hogwarts preschool are enrolled, we (read: Dave) would have to stand in line all night with a whole bunch of other dads to get him into one of a handful of remaining kindergarten slots.  So we decided to take the easy route and just enroll them in the Hogwarts preschool so we can be guaranteed a slot.

It took them a year and a half to adjust to the previous school, which was a very small pre-school/daycare place where they knew all the kids and teachers, and really was a wonderful community. So I had quite a bit of trepidation about putting them through another adjustment with the change of schools.

What a wonderful surprise to find that they LOVE their new school!  They have adjusted beautifully, are socializing well, have had no behavioral issues, and really come home excited each day to tell us about what they have learned in school.  Huge relief for Mom!

Here they are, on their first day of school, dressed in their spiffy new uniforms and carrying their lunch boxes.  (Yes, the school has a dress code, so I hope they get used to red, white and navy, because they're going to be wearing it for the next 8 years.)