preschool.

new york does weird things to you.

ask anyone who's lived here for more than 6 months and they'll agree, 100%. one of the weird things it makes (some will argue with the use of that word) you do is preschool. let's talk about where we're at with that...


realistically we're here >>>>

but then we take the princess underpants off our heads and go to our 3rd preschool interview.

yes 3rd. interview. (that's nothing, most parents have 6+)

so a couple weeks ago i went to a preschool info session for a catholic preschool. i went straight from that to our weekly playgroup and a new-to-the-city-mom overheard me talking preschool with another mom. not knowing we're in the middle of this preschool process, she chimed in saying "i just don't get this preschool world! you're paying a college tuition for a 3 year old! that's just insanity...." i wanted to be offended that she was calling preschool insanity because we are about to enter "that world", but i wasn't because when i moved here i was in her boat, too.

it is so crazy. people love talking about it and people love writing about it.

so from someone who is out in the field right now, let me fill you in on this foreign and insane process.

if you plan on going to a legacy school* or one of manhattan's top schools, admissions start the september before your kid will be going to school.

*legacy school: a school you get into because someone related to you also went to that school. so you get a little leg up in that regard. these schools also promote that you'll most likely continue on to an ivy league or other prestigious private school when the time comes. so therefore you are furthering the legacy when you get into their school.

how do you pick a school? well for starters you talk to other parents who live in the area. chances are you'll walk away with a few schools to look at and you'll go from there. this was hard for me! all of our friends are sending their kids to these schools that are $30k+ a year and that is just not possible for us, so listening to them talk, i felt small and alone in my desire NOT to send her to one of these expensive top 10 schools. so i can tell you all the top schools in our area, but i can assure you, we won't be going to them. we will not be a legacy student... :/ haha

so you start filling out the applications for all the schools you'd want your kid to go to. you can plan on $50-$75 per application, and most parents apply for 10ish schools.

then once you've applied, you'll either be invited for a parent interview or a parent info session. thankfully we've only had parent info sessions, we'd completely flunk out of the parent interview!

"you mean neither of you are legacy students yourselves?"
"you live on the upper east side, but you don't have a nanny or own any designer bags?"
"and you won't be able to donate $10,000 for an update in iPads this year?"

"i'm sorry, get out now."

so at the information session you'll probably sit in a room with other parents, most of them with starbucks in their hands and chanel shoes with pom-poms on them (they are kind of cute...). most of them will also have an excel spreadsheet with multiple columns for all schools they're researching. these parents are very organized, it's very intimidating. we came with just ourselves and we felt like idiots.. cool idiots, but idiots nonetheless haha

then you'll talk with the director of admissions and she'll explain their mission, what a typical day looks like, how parents are expected to be involved and then you go tour a real classroom. and of course when you do that you either fall in love with the school and immediately want to send your child there, or you'll peace out right after missing the q&a portion. 

the first school we toured was a french preschool. tears started welling up in my eyes when we did the classroom tour. those little 3 year olds yelling "bonjour!" just melted me. i left that day feeling determined to send remzer there. unfortunately, they ended up being way above our budget and after being denied a job as a janitor (i would do ANYTHING to get her into that school), we pulled our application. wah-wah...

next we toured a school known for it's diversity. it's an international school with 80 kids, all of them speaking at least 2 languages and some speaking 3 or 4. all the parents around me were totally eating it up. but i didn't get it! their mission statement was diversity and play based learning. you're paying $20K for this school guys... your kid should end the year knowing how to do simple algebra. they're not going to learn that sticking their boogers in play dough.

so strike 2 for the secrists!

our 3rd interview was with a catholic school. and know what? it seems like a good fit. most importantly the price is right - it's the lowest private school tuition in the city! (JACKPOT!) their mission statement is: academics, service and religion. sounds great to us! and the kids even wear uniforms (heart eyes).

because that one seemed like a good fit, we went forward with the admissions process and remzer had a play interview last week. that's the other funny part. so the administration comes and gets the kid and they go play together for like 20 minutes. i guess during that time an "assessment" is made and from there, they look at your application and you're either in or your not.

so your applications are in, your interviews have been had, so now you wait. on march 1st, all parents of 3 year olds will have inboxes blowing up. idk why they send out the acceptance/waitlist/rejection letters all on the same day... for the added dramatic effects? either way, it's stressful. i just hope my stress acne calms down after the 1st.

guys, it's just so insane. i'm exhausted from the ongoing stresses involved with thinking about and applying for pre-k 3's programs. i know you're thinking "well then just don't do it! your kid doesn't have to go to school at 3!"

and you'd be right! but like i said, ny does weird things to you. IF we don't send remzer to school in the fall, she will be the only one and oldest one on the playground all year. literally every 3 year old goes to preschool in nyc. those who aren't in school either do a form of homeschool or are only here for a short season. and along with that, remzer NEEDS the social stimulation. every time we see preschool kids on the playground she runs over in hopes of being able to play with them, but then ends up crying when they don't want to play with her (the downside of being 6 whole months younger than them :/).

at first i thought we'd never get into this "uppity" world, but i realize now that it's just what you do. like, you move to utah and you go eat at cafe rio- it's just what you do. you go to california on vacation and you go to the beach- it's just what you do. you go to nyc and you see the empire state building then enroll your 3 y/o in preschool- it's just what you do.


so please say a little prayer for us that the catholic school works out. we don't really have a plan b and homeschooling isn't for me. soooooooo.... pray. we'll keep you all posted, but until then! keep on keeping on.

p.s. some extra reading on the top preschools in nyc and their tuition. but i looked into many of these and tuition for almost all of them has gone up. so gawk when you read about tuition fees, but know it's much higher. think about all the money you'd have to donate to get those new iPads for the school ;)

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