the absurdity

[crl]

I just applied for two preschools for our daughter. She is one week and one day old. I plan to apply to at least one more this week. How incredibly absurd this city is.

Catherine

[SnuggleBuggles]

It's a good thing you know that though and aren't trying when she is 2 only to be told there is no chance, or a 50 person waiting list!!

Beth

[DrSally]

Good for you for being so on the ball. I agree, though, that is absurd!

[ewpmsw]

Congrats on the birth of your daughter! Ours was about that old when DH's coworkers started suggesting we get on lists of preschools. We don't live in The Big City. We still don't have our names on anyone's list (almost two years later) and expect to be fine.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Did you watch Nursery University? You're smart to do it now!

[crl]

I would have no idea about this except that I have an older child. It's a long story but we were extremely lucky when we moved here to get him into a really great preschool.

It seems that schools around here either accept applications at birth and offer spots based on where you are on the wait list (more or less) or accept applications in the late winter the year before starting school and offer spots based on interviews, diversity, and so on. The three that are within walking distance of our place are all apply-at-birth schools and all have good reputations.

We'll get preference at one because it's DS's school--assuming we are still using them for after school care--and because of where we live, but I'm still not counting on it. Fortunately, I think it's free to apply there; I just dropped $90 in application fees for the other two. I do think I'll stop at three for now.

Catherine

[smiles33]

Um, I applied to the waiting list at one preschool the day I got home from the hospital after giving birth to DD1. She is almost 4 and STILL hasn't moved off the waiting list. We ended up putting her at a preschool/daycare center near our home that isn't NAEYC-accredited and isn't as prominent/popular. We're happy nonetheless, but I have no idea who gets into the first preschool if they don't have older kids (as I'm guessing many take advantage of the sibling priority policy).

[citymama]

I just applied for two preschools for our daughter. She is one week and one day old. I plan to apply to at least one more this week. How incredibly absurd this city is.

Catherine

Wow, I hadn't even thought about that! Seriously? We're in the same city you know...only we are a totally seat-of-the-pants family that hopes that keeping fingers crossed will do the trick...;)

[JBaxter]

I have Jack on a wait list already. He has a tu-th spot and is 3 on a wait list for a M-W-F spot for the last 6 months.

[s7714]

Yep. If we ever have another I fully plan on marching into the preschool office a few weeks after birth to put his/her name on the waiting list! I put my younger DD on the wait list when she was about 1 1/2 at my older DDs school. Two years later we barely made it in!

[vonfirmath]

*Stunned*
What happens if you move between birth and preschool age?

[crl]

Wow, I hadn't even thought about that! Seriously? We're in the same city you know...only we are a totally seat-of-the-pants family that hopes that keeping fingers crossed will do the trick...;)

Well, who knows, keeping fingers crossed might work out just fine! Seriously, I find the whole preschool wait list thing hard to believe. And part of me thinks it's all just hype around a few schools with good reputations and people who want their kids to go to Hamlin, then St Ignatius then Harvard or whatever, but. . . I don't want to have to drive this kid to preschool when I have three preschools within walking distance. So I'm applying now.

(As a total aside for anyone who's familiar with the SF public school assignment system, when we decided to file a medical appeal over DS' public school assignment, DH went to the office to turn it in and there was a woman in line who hadn't applied at all for round 1. She was picking a grade school based on the nearest one that had openings. DH and I have both said that she's probably every bit as happy with her kid's school as we are and we agonized and filed an appeal and on and on. Some days, I wish I were that woman.)

And, yeah, I really, really feel for people who move into this city with kids. Between the preschool insanity and the debacle that is the public school assignment system, it seems impossible to work out the school situation when moving here.

Catherine

[arivecchi]

Holy smokes! That is crazy, and I thought Chicago was bad.....

[AnnieW625]

Oh yeah I got the look of are you nuts when I applied to a local daycare center when I was 7 mos. pregnant for when DD was 4 mos. old. The lady looked at me and told me oh you should've applied 7 mos. ago. Needless to say they never called to let me know if they had a space or not.

I lucked out as far as preschool goes because the daycare we ended up going to has an agreement with the wonderful preschool that DD goes to that her daycare kids are gauranteed spots each year! So no waiting list for us!

[Penny's Pappa]

The daycare/preschool center where we were hoping to get in has people on its waiting list that have been there for at least a year...and have yet to conceive.

[lilycat88]

DD was on the waiting list for her preschool that she started at age 2 when she was 4 months old.

[sunshine873]

*Stunned*
What happens if you move between birth and preschool age?

:yeahthat: This is ridiculous!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Btw, my ds2 was on the list for his preschool when he was 6w old. I too learned from my experience with ds1. If I wanted that school then I knew I had to get it in.

Beth

[JustMe]

Wow, how insane!

[maydaymommy]

If I wanted my kids to be able to go to the private school I graduated from, I would have to call after their births -- WHILE IN THE HOSPITAL -- just to get them on the waiting list to be tested for kindergarten. As a legacy.

If I wanted them to go to the feeder preschool for this kindergarten, they would be out of luck, because it only accepts legacies, and I didn't live in that city as a preschooler.

Crazy.

In Chicago I taught at the type of schools that accept 30% of 3 year olds, and not by lottery.

Glad I don't live in a place where I need to worry about this.

[jgenie]

That's crazy!!

Catherine - I just have to say seeing this post about your daughter made me smile. So happy for you!!

[maestramommy]

Oh yeah I got the look of are you nuts when I applied to a local daycare center when I was 7 mos. pregnant for when DD was 4 mos. old. The lady looked at me and told me oh you should've applied 7 mos. ago. Needless to say they never called to let me know if they had a space or not.

I lucked out as far as preschool goes because the daycare we ended up going to has an agreement with the wonderful preschool that DD goes to that her daycare kids are gauranteed spots each year! So no waiting list for us!

Are you freaking kidding me?? I had no idea SoCal was like this! None of my mom friends in the Torrance area ever mentioned it, but then again I remember they were all sending their kids to preschool when they were 2, and I was wondering why! Maybe this is why. Yikes, it's a good thing we moved when we did or else Dora might STILL not be in a preschool.

[crl]

Catherine - I just have to say seeing this post about your daughter made me smile. So happy for you!!

Thank you!

Catherine

[egoldber]

but then again I remember they were all sending their kids to preschool when they were 2, and I was wondering why! Maybe this is why.

I didn't plan it originally, but I did enroll my older DD when she was 2. Afterwards I discovered that many people did a "2 day two year old" spot to ensure a 3 year old spot! But after that I learned my lesson and I did enroll younger DD as a 2 in part for this reason.

[teedeedee]

I'm 5 months pregnant now...DD's daycare director asked me if I had plans for the new baby yet. I guess I looked at her funny and she said that there are no infant spots available and there's quite a waiting list so that I need to get on it now. I was shocked!

[mamicka]

I would never survive in some of the places you describe.

[scrooks]

I would never survive in some of the places you describe.

Agreed! I'm not sure about the super elite $$$ schools but around here usually everyone just signs up the winter before enrollment. I would never have it together enough that soon after having a baby to think of enrolling them in school!