The kindergarten dilemma

B starts kindergarten this fall. I am so excited for him! He, on the other hand, would apparently prefer to spend the rest of his school-age years in preschool, then go straight into the workforce. He's refusing to go to college these days. Luckily, we have about 13 years to convince him that college is a good idea.

Where we live, we have school choice. That means we can send him to any school in the district (actually, any school in the state, although in reality it would be impossible to get him into a school outside our district because of the way they prioritize enrollment). This is fortunate, because our neighborhood elementary school bites big-time. Through lots of research, we have identified seven other schools that we're trying to get him into. We've turned in applications at all of them, and are awaiting the results of a lottery conducted by each school. The lucky lottery winners get notified by mid-February.

This is an incredibly complex process. The difficulties I have encountered include:

Problem #1: How does one identify a "good" school? To help with this, the district makes an accountability report available for each school. It includes the following:
a. overall academic performance rating
b. academic growth of students compared to last year
c. test scores for the past three years
d. teacher/student ratios & class size
e. % of students on free and reduced lunch
f. enrollment stability
g. average teacher years of experience & salary
h. principal's years of experience at that school and total experience
i. disciplinary incidents
j. a paragraph or two expressing the school's philosophy and goals

This information brings us to Problem #2: what to do with this info? How much can you really learn about a school on paper? First and foremost, how to evaluate test scores? Do high test scores indicate a good school, or a school that has adapted very well to teaching to the test? If we send B to a school with extraordinary test scores, will he spend all his time with his nose in a text book and memorizing multiplication tables? Will it make him hate school? Could a school with lower test scores be doing a better job of teaching art and music, or following kids' curiosity and keeping them excited about learning? Or is it just a crummy school? Second, is it realistic to expect a school to expect a school to have "High" academic growth year after year? Won't a truly outstanding school eventually get to a point where it can't get any higher? Then there's that free/reduced lunch thing. It clearly indicates something about the economic status of the families at that school, and possibly also something about ethnic diversity. Being the pinko-commie liberals that we are, we would like our kids to go to schools with economic and ethnic diversity. Unfortunately, the schools with more economic diversity are also generally the schools with lower test scores and overall academic performance. I'm not liberal enough to actually sacrifice my kids' education in order to support public education and our neighborhood school, so I'm a little bit ashamed to say that I'm regarding a high percentage on the free lunch scale as a strike against a school.

Problem #3: Since this information on paper clearly isn't enough, where do we get more, better information? Some schools help us out with this by hosting parent information nights. We've been to one at one of our two top-choice schools already, and I'm touring the other top-choice school next week. Our preschool is also helping out by hosting a kindergarten information night this Thursday. There will be parents in attendance who have kids at four of the seven schools we've applied to, including our two top-choice schools. I'm also having a drink on Friday night with a friend whose daughter has been in a Montessori preschool for the past year. She's now an aide in the preschool herself, so I'm hoping she can tell me a lot about Montessori and what sort of kid thrives there.

I have a feeling I'm still going to be left with questions after all this though. Maybe YOU can help! Here are our choices:

1. Our neighborhood elementary school. This is our last resort. I'll be enrolling him here next week just to make sure he has SOMEWHERE to go next fall, but he'll only attend this school if he doesn't get in through the lottery at any of the other seven schools.

2. A Montessori charter school. This is the one I'm leaning toward most. The director of our preschool told me that if she couldn't keep the job she has, she'd want to teach at this school. That's high praise. The one strike against it: their test scores aren't great. Still, they're rated "High" for overall academic performance (the only higher rating is "Excellent") and "Typical" for academic growth, so they can't be all that bad. And how much do test scores really matter? The big question for me though is this: Will B flourish in the Montessori environment? It is very student-directed, and I honestly don't know if he's the kind of kid who will excel in that environment, or will spend all day fingerpainting and not learn to read until he's 12. I plan to ask his lead preschool teacher about this before we make our choice. Montessori is very close to the curriculum our preschool uses (Reggio Emilia), and B seems to be doing very well there, and appears to like it. That seems like a good indicator that he'd like and do well in a Montessori environment too, right?

3. A very traditional, very academically rigorous option school. "Option school" means that it does not serve a neighborhood (everyone gets in by lottery), but still has to get school board approval for its curriculum (unlike #2, a charter school). This is clearly an outstanding school. Their test scores are all 98% or higher, their overall academic performance is "Excellent" and their academic growth is "High." A school doesn't get any better than this on paper. It is very difficult to get into this school -- 200+ applications for 30 or so kindergarten openings. One big advantage: the kids who go to this school have priority enrollment at an outstanding middle/high school that is also all lottery-based for enrollment (if we even live in this town by then). The dilemma: will B like and flourish in such a rigid teaching environment, or would he do better in a more relaxed environment like the Montessori school? The kids at this school definitely learn and do well, but does it take a certain kind of kid?

4. A neighborhood school that is very close to where we live. It's great on paper, very popular among parents, and hosts an in-school gifted & talented center. They only had 2 choice enrollment slots for kindergarten this year though, so our chances of getting in aren't good.

5. A neighborhood school that is very close to the kids' preschool (simplifies logistics for dropping kids off/picking up at kindergarten and preschool for the next two years), and not far from where we live. Like #4, it's great on paper, popular among parents, and hosts an in-school gifted and talented center. The preschool director told me that she "wouldn't want her kid" in one of the kindergarten teacher's classrooms, but we can cross that bridge when and if we get in. They are likely to have a few more slots than #4 this fall.

6. A neighborhood school in a nearby mountain town that is not TOO far out of the way for M's commute, but wouldn't be terribly convenient. Their test scores are good and they are well-liked. No in-house GT program. Currently no full-day kindergarten, although they do have an kindergarten enrichment program and may have full-day next year.

7. A neighborhood school near us that has good, but not outstanding test scores. They seem to have been declining in the last couple of years, but I don't know why.

8. A neighborhood school near us that has good, but not outstanding test scores. They seem to have been improving somewhat in the last couple of years.

All things considered, right now #2 and #3 are in the lead, with #2 taking a slight edge. That could change depending on what I learn in the next two weeks. #4 and #5 are tied for second place. #7 and #8 are tied for third choice, with #8 slightly leading. #6 would be fourth choice, and #1 is our school of last resort.

What advice can you give me, my wise friends? How would you decide? Do you have a favorite pick among our eight? Heeeeeelllllllllp me! I'm drowning in information!