A lot has happened since I last signed on. One notable experience was the preschool open house. Once every fall the "Hoboken Family Alliance" invites all of the schools in the city to one location where the parents can come and see what each school is all about. Its strange to think that I have to start thinking about my 2 year old's education but if everyone here is doing it I have to join in. The event took place inside the towns high school gym. The room was set up like a job fair and was packed with young children and their yuppy parents. The first school my cheap self checked out was the public school. We were pleasantly surprised to be speaking with the head of the program.(Either she's super involved or doesn't have anything better to do; I'm hoping i's the former) She explained that they should be receiving a grant that would enable all three year olds in town a spot. The program seemed great, it even included Spanish lessons. The only downfall is it would be a full-day, five day a week program. This would mean I would have to get a real job ... I'm not sure I'm ready to go down that track just yet.Dan and I next went over to see one of the Catholic schools. I wasn't sure how Dan would feel about a Catholic education since he is Jewish. Turns out I know more about Judaism than he does from my years in Catholic School so he was OK with it. The program was similar to the public school, the price was reasonable and the idea of her in a little school uniform is just the cutest thing I've ever heard of.
Things were looking up in terms of preschool when we headed over to the "Cooperative" school I had read about online. The idea is that the parents perform duties for the school in order to keep the tuition down. I went over to talk to one of the parent representatives and after she answered a few questions I asked "What's the admission process?" She explained there was a tour, an application and then there would be an observation. "Observation of what?" I asked. She said "Well they put al the kids together and see how they work." Is this lady serious? Are you basically telling me this is some sort of admissions test get into preschool? I said "What exactly are you looking for in this observation?" She started to get a little uncomfortable and said "Well they see if your kid is quiet or loud you know" Apparently I did not know because I think that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. This kids haven't started school yet, they don't know anything what are you going to test them on? The only thing I can think of is whether or not she can wipe her own ass. (Which you wouldn't have to observe you can just take my word for it.) This school has some nerve forcing me to work, charging me pretty high tuition and then judging my daughter.
My husband and I exchanged "yeah right" glances and started to look at some other schools. Eventually one of the public school reps told us the high school had a pool and we could take our daughter to go see it in the next room. Yes sir, I would love to take my two year old into a room with an Olympic sized swimming pool that doesn't have a fence around it. The public school lost some points on that one.
Although its still a year away we've made some progress on schools. There is a lot to consider but it doesn't look like we'll be going the "cooperative" route.
