Big changes!

Shanny

Dallas schools has just opened a new public Montessori school for Pre K through 2nd grade (will expand a couple years at a time eventually going to 8th grade if the funding all goes as planned). I knew it was in the works since the Spring but had no idea until about a month ago that it was actually prepared to open for the new school year. So, very last minute we submitted paperwork and I ran around like a crazy person seeing if I could make it work with my work schedule, her gymnastics and the commitment we had already made to her current school. We went to the open house last night and I made up my mind (and became VP of the PTA but that's a whole different story!) I released her spot at her current school this afternoon and am really hopeful that they can fill her spot ASAP so that we are not on the hook for her tuition there. It is her final year in Primary (for those who know anything about Montessori) so if it turns out not to be the right fit for us we could look into other options for her to start lower elementary the following year. There are a lot of neat things (and you cannot beat the price!) but I am so nervous as to whether or not it is the right thing for Kate. Wish us luck please!!!

mel

Wow, that is great news! I'm sure with it being the first year, the PTA will have a lot of opportunity to shape things. Good luck!

K&H

Getting in on the ground floor! Exciting!
Good luck!!

fisch

That's great! You have talked about the tuition at her school before. Sounds like this new school might be the best of both in terms of cost and curriculum. We had a heck of a time during the kindergarten search when we didnt get into the public Montessori for k. We ended up at an excelerated private school. They pushed the kids very hard. It wasn't the right fit. Jack's starting a new school this fall too, for first grade. We tried again to get into the Montessori with no luck. On a whim we applied to the independent school across the street from our house. We got lucky to not only have received a spot, but a tremendous scholarship. So not only do we get to walk jack to school, but we are paying less then last year. Things tend to work out for the best. He is a little nervous, and sad about his friend that he made, but we think it will be a much better fit for him and our family.

Shanny

Fisch - that is great! It is SO hard to know what is the right thing to do but we just make the best decision we can with the information we have at the time right? Kate's gymnastics is going to cost the amount of a small car payment soon so having the relief of no tuition is going to be really great for me to pay off some of the debt I have accumulated since buying this house and then cutting my work hours. I have also been contemplating either piano or violin lessons for her but wasn't sure where we would find the time or funds ~ this school is named after a conductor from the DSO so they are heavy into the arts and especially music so before needing to make an investment she will be exposed and can start lessons at school! She will go to after care (run by the local Y) in the school for about 60-90 minutes 3 days a week and it they somehow got a REALLY good deal on the cost for that so that is going to be great too. It will really suck to be away from her that long every day though

EMG_REL

Whoa, what a great opportunity for you both! I'm glad it's working out!

coryandamanda

Sounds great and I hope that you both end up loving it. It is insane the stress you have to go through these days to pick the right elementary school! I just remember growing up and going to the school closest to your house and no one gave it a 2nd thought! We had 2 top choices here...1) You get in by lottery and so you basically just have to get lucky to get your oldest in because then they give younger sibling preference to get in (which we didn't 2 years in a row). and 2) You have to get on the waiting list for basically at birth and then hope that each child gets in individually because they do not give sibling preference. (which thankfully we did get lucky twice so far). The thing that sucks is that option 2 is a school that is in a really sucky neighborhood so in order for me to get my kids the best education I have to send them to a not so desirable location. Sighhhh
Anyway, everything sounds like it has really fallen into place for you and Kate in the past year so I hope it continues to do so!

aplusa

It sounds like an awesome opportunity!! Congrats new VP!

Best of luck.

Jen727BF

It sounds very promising! Good luck!! We have a public Montessori within 30 mins. Of us and hope we can find a way to get her in. We still have some time, though.

Shanny

Thanks everyone. One minute I am so nervous I could throw up and the next minute I am really excited. I don't anticipate this will get better any time soon!

Cory & Amanda - ain't that the truth about elementary when we were kids? There is always a trade off/compromise these days.

Aplusa - I was staring down the barrel of 3 positions at her current school for this year, so really this should be a picnic, lol.

Jen727BF - don't be so sure about that! And in all seriousness, you may want to call and ask!

Kari

Sounds very cool! You guys are so lucky. We have public schools and private schools, but no magnet or public Montessori schools or anything like that. You go to the school in your neighborhood, or have to petition for a superintendent's agreement for the funding for your child to follow him/her to another district, but then you have to provide transportation, which is a challenge.

I just learned that my local school has eliminated morning recess, which flies in the face of what we know about kids and their need for movement. And they aren't strong academically, either. I wish there were other choices for him. I almost want to move just to get into a better district.

babybaby

i probably haven't been looking into this enough. i wasn't aware that you no longer go to the public school in your neighborhood?

anyway, sounds like an awesome opportunity! we have a montessori school here, but i think it's just a preschool.

Shanny

Kari and Babybaby - for what it is worth/good or bad - I don't think it is like this everywhere. Just the hand we've been dealt living in Dallas and additionally having made the commitment to Montessori. Again, not sure most days if it is good or bad!

Shanny

Soooo....

For those of you that aren't friends on FB, I thought I'd give a little update. Friday I made the decision to pull Kate out of the new school and put her back in her old school.

It's a really long story but the synopsis is that it wasn't right for us. Basically, because it is a public school it will never be a pure Montessori environment and I just didn't realize going into this how much that mattered to me. Or we've been in such a pure environment for so long that I didn't realize what it would be like not to be? Anyway, there you have it. Live and learn and all that jazz.

In addition, we pulled out of pre team at the gym and went back to advanced pre school. There was just no way she could do 9 hours a week at this age while in school. Her coaches noticed it the first day as well so I'm glad we didn't wait or she could end up hating gymnastics real quick!

It was such a stressful week trying to decide what to do. Probably the most stress I've felt since the early days of post op nursing and all nighters!

Now I know I'm looking at private Montessori schools for the long haul so I'm pretty sure I'll be selling a kidney soon. Ugh.

Jen727BF

What are the differences between public/private Montessori?

Kari

I ended up making a last-minute change as well and feel better about it. Justin was going to attend preK again this year, but the testing results from his developmental pediatrician appointment pointed toward a learning disability in an otherwise very bright child, so I enrolled him in one of the schools where I teach. He starts Wednesday, so fingers crossed that it's a good mix. It's not my favorite of the two schools I teach at, but it has all-day K while the other one has half-day and no good daycares in the area. And he got the best of six possible teachers. In a year or two I'll probably move him to the other school if I'm still teaching in that area. (That's another story - our town was forced to consolidate schools about 5 years ago, and now the big city in our district is trying to pull out and be a separate district, so I don't know if my job will still exist next year.)

Shanny

Wow Kari - that sounds crazy with the district issues! I hope it works out well for Justin this year. Please keep us posted.

Jen - where to begin??? My long ago concerns were more about mandatory state testing and how that would work in a Montessori environment. That's just part of a much longer list now. I'm not sure how familiar you are with Montessori, but it is similar to comparing AMI vs AMS schools. AMI is pure Montessori as Dr. Montessori and her son intended it when they started AMI almost 100 years ago in Amsterdam. AMS was started in the 60's in the US by an AMI trained teacher who believed that the method needed to be watered down a little for Americans. One of the core differences is that AMI teachers are trained the EXACT same way regardless of where they get their training. So a child should be able to go between classrooms, schools, cities and countries and the lessons will look identical. This is not the case with AMS, teachers have a lot more freedom to use non Montessori materials. This was very much the case at the public school she was at last week.

So we were not only dealing with private vs public - there's a whole world of difference between those two on every level. But also essentially AMI vs AMS mentality. The new school is literally brand new (not the building but the philosophy) so I think there will be great improvements over the next several years. And for most people in the interim, it is more than good enough. But as a Montessori purist I don't think the hybrid will ever be good enough for me.

I don't know if I'm making any sense to you but please feel free to ask me any specific questions. I'd be happy to try and give you an answer!

Having said all of that, one of the schools will be looking at in the next couple of weeks that would take her through 8th grade, is an AMS school. Short of relocating to a different city or living in a box to be able to afford the one true AMI school in Dallas, we are running out of options. I feel SO strongly about the importance of AMI the most at this point because it is her final year of Primary. After this year, I think (hope) I'll be able to be a little more flexible. Looking at the price tag of the AMI makes me WANT to be much more flexible!

aplusa

Thanks for this update, Shanny. I know we are still 4 years away from school, but we are looking to buy and that makes our school district decision feel much more immediate. We have a public montessori school in our neighborhood, within a school I may seem "failing." I likes that it was a montessori but wondered if it could really be very montessori while being a public school. Your comments give me some background to really understand the issues.

Hopefully your year will start settling into place!