In Wake County, picking a Kindergarten is an ordeal. There is your base school, the one you are assigned by neighborhood. Then there are magnet schools, which are schools with themes (like international, museums, gifted & talented) meant to draw in families of a higher socioeconomic status into schools in lower-income neighborhoods. There are also charter schools, some of which can be great (like mine) and some which are not so great. The latter two you have to apply for and might not get in.
The day I got back to my school after the conferences with Alice's preschool teachers, I started talking to my friends who have school-age kids and asking for advice. Becky said to go online and look at the reading and math scores for the schools. Lisa said her kids were in a great school, and even there they weren't really being challenged. Hikaru said to find a school that is safe socially, and where the kids enjoy learning. Charles mentioned a couple of magnet schools nearby that were good to look into. All agreed it was a nightmare. Alas, the paradox of choice: the more choices you have, the more miserable you are.
I've spent hours researching schools and options, reading reviews, analyzing test scores and teachers surveys, trying to keep track of deadlines and application procedures. The first step seemed to be to sign up for a tour at our base school, since that was our default. So on Thursday morning, we arrived at Cary Elementary School for a tour, along with three other parents.
After a week of worrying that Alice would have a miserable school experience, as foreshadowed by her daycare teachers, we found the school tour reassuring. The main thing we learned that helped us think this place would work for Alice was that they put the kids in reading and math groups based on ability and do differentiated instruction. They had a nice library and said they focused on a positive discipline model. The school seemed really clean, well-run, and everybody working there seemed happy.
Here are the things I'm worried about though: The kids' playground is pretty lame and they only have 30 minutes of recess per day. Also, the classrooms did not seem to have much natural light shining in.
