We all* went to Teddy's kindergarten orientation yesterday at the school where he'll be starting next fall (he'll also continue at Montessori 3 half-days a week). It's literally 4 doors down from Montessori, so there's both excellent continuity and extreme convenience (a Montessori teacher walks the "K-swap" students between the two schools).
The school is very nice, though it seems awfully big. The classrooms are well equipped... and big. The teachers and staff seem very nice. There are a bunch of on-site specialists (special ed, speech pathology, etc.), which is cool. And the school doctor (not full-time, though there is a full-time nurse) is already Teddy’s pediatrician, which could be convenient.
The day seems really short to me, though it's standard. I've been spoiled by Montessori, where a half-day is 4 hours, not 2.5.
They do criminal checks on all the parent volunteers. That’s a first for me (though I had to get the full treatment for my security clearance, years ago). I don't think the Boston Public Schools do criminal checks (at least, I never saw anything written about it anywhere), where it's more likely they actually needed it - for sheer volume if nothing else.
We found out that they try to split the half-day classes (you can pay for full day, and there's one class of exclusively full-day students) by neighborhood, which seems quite clever to me. We know at least one little boy who lives a few houses over; I'd thought he was too young for public kindergarten next year, but apparently not.
I was distressed to see a flyer offering an alternative to sending in a snack with your child: buying it. Specifically, buying cookies. More specifically, Otis Spunkmeyer cookies.
I loves me some cookies, but these are crap. We're talking 180 calories per cookie, 8 grams of fat (2.5 sat fat), and negligible nutrients.
This is what they offer? Really? I wish I'd grabbed the flyer, because I would've sworn it said "a nutritious alternative," but I hope hope hope I'm making that shiitake up.
I'm not actually worried about it for next year, because I'll be sending Teddy's snacks with him (fruit! vegetables! whole grains!). But what about later, when he's eating in the cafeteria? EGADS.
So I've already written the school nurse, hoping she can tell me more.
And, y'know, getting myself labeled as a difficult parent from the get-go. Yippee.
...and I guess I'll be joining the PTO. SO not my thing, but I kinda gotta do it.
* even Peter! w00t!
