School Choice (or: Rites of Passage in Modern Parenting)

I have several friends whose little babies have abruptly turned into rising kindergartners, who are starting the process of choosing a school. This is simpler in some areas than in others. There are places where your choice is basically theoretical, like small towns. There are parents who are committed to the idea of homeschooling, or parochial schools, or who have the world's best neighborhood school and no need to look any further. But a lot of parents these days have to choose a school.

We went through this process with Molly in 2005-2006, and I blogged some of it. In the fall, we went to the School Choice Fair, where the school district set up tables in the convention center and all the district schools send school principals, parent volunteers, and kindergarten teachers to talk to the parents of next year's students. (I had a wider range of choices in 2006 than I would have now -- at least if I wanted transportation. The district redrew the busing boundaries a few years back.) In March of 2006, I blogged about my anxiety dreams on the subject. In April, we found out we'd gotten our second choice school, Seward Montessori.

Below the cut: a whole lot of reflections on the process, experience, and problems of Choosing A School.

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