Advice on EBay private schools sought.
Hi!
I have a little boy who is currently 8 months old. This may be a little early (which is part of my question), but we're already thinking about schools. We want to try private schools since my husband was not happy with his children's experience with public schools (he has children from a previous marriage) and he himself had a positive experience at K-12 private schools when he was a kid. So my questions are (1) How competitive are admissions for schools here in Berkeley? I've been looking at Ecole Bilingue, Black Circle Pine, GISSV, and TRIS. As the class sizes are small, are they selective? Does it help/is it really recommended to start my boy in their preschool program just to get in the door so to speak? (2) I'm thinking about this now in order to plan our finances. Can anyone give me tips on how they made paying for private school more affordable? I see that many of these schools offer "financial aid." What does that really mean? We are planning on trying for another little one in the near future. Are depending on sibling discounts realistic?
Thanks!
Parent Replies
You're really early (the earliest pre-k starts at about 2 1/2 years old) but it doesn't hurt for the planning process. I'm currently in the process of applying for admission for preschool for the next school year so I don't know how competitive it is but I get the feeling it's not a problem. My opinion (may or may not be correct) is that they differentiate who they want to come by how much financial aid they give out. Meaning if two families have similar incomes/expenses, they'll give more money to the family that best fits their school goals/ideals etc. In terms of attending preschool, I can tell you that Ecole Bilingue is almost required unless you're a native French speaker. They will admit non-native speakers for preschool and kindergarten only. For admission into the upper grades they have a language test to make sure the kids have enough of the language to keep up. I don't think it's a problem for non-language schools to attend the pre-school although it probably helps a lot. Most kids will stay in the school the entire time and they only admit new students based on how many kids have left. For financial aid, it's means exactly what it says. They will subsidize the tuition to help you afford it. It isn't a loan so you don't pay it back. To determine your need, most if not all all schools use a 3rd party who will analyze your finances and gives a number of what they think you can afford to the schools. The schools use that number only as a reference and can give more/less aid depending on their school goals, finances, number of kids who need $$ etc. And from what I understand you don't get sibling discount but you could get automatic addmission and obviously it'll 'help' when they determine how much you can afford.
We felt the same way! It is absolutely not necessary to start planning this early, but if you are, I'd recommend adding The Berkeley School to your list. It's an amazing, sweet little K-8 school where every single teacher and staff member lives their values - at least that's how I feel as a parent. They also have an Early Childhood Center (preschool from 2.7 years old to 5 - they have a TK "Explorers" group) and I think that the vast majority of kids from the ECC end up on the "big kid" campus. Anyway, just to reiterate there is no need to start so early, but if you are, we love The Berkeley School!
Eight months old? You have so many challenges, phases and stages to experience before your child starts elementary school, and you will exhaust yourself if you start worrying now over the universe of choices and decisions you will have to make for your child. The schools you look at now may not be the same schools in five or six years -- teachers and administrators move on, there are curriculum changes, etc. I also want to point out that while, like the children in Lake Wobegone, all our children are (way!) above average to their loving parents, they are not all equally abled when it comes to academics. When my daughter was an infant, I envisioned at least an above-average school career for her because that's what my experience was and what my abilities supported. It turned out that she was not me (surprise!), school was a struggle from day one, and her elementary through high school experience involved assessments, IEPs, tutors, one public school, one private and one charter. When she graduated from high school, she chose not to go to college.
So please enjoy your baby as she/he is, and deal with school choices as they come up.
Further to the advice above re schools changing, etc. - the German International School has left Berkeley and the building it was in is now vacant. So who knows what will be the fate of your school choices and what additional schools may move in.