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Old 09-30-2011, 08:02 AM
 
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My husband's employment is relocating us to the Lehigh Valley in the coming months. We are moving from Albany, NY (where there is universal pre-k and my son is already enrolled). I'm wondering if it's going to be possible for us to get my son in anywhere mid-way through the school year and am pretty stressed about this. His employer is giving us a Relocation Counselor, who I'm guessing is going to help with all this. We will be in the Lehigh Valley but not sure what town yet.

Anyone know anything about this? Thanks.
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Old 09-30-2011, 09:40 AM
 
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Kindergarten is not mandated but all of the public schools do have it. The majority of students go through kindergarten at public schools, but some parents do opt to do it privately since it's usually just half a day and if both parents work outside the home, after school childcare can be a hassle. I only had one child go through kindergarten in my current school district (the others were older when we moved) but it was wonderful. Don't worry! There is bus service both ways.
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Last edited by toobusytoday; 09-30-2011 at 08:00 PM..
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Old 09-30-2011, 09:57 AM
 
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So pre-k and K are half day at public schools? That would work out for us, since I would prefer half-day.
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Old 09-30-2011, 12:44 PM
 
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There is no pre-K at the public schools, as far as I know. You would get that at private schools or daycare centers. Pennsylvania is different then many states in that the districts are "self-ruled" meaning that while there are state mandates, just about all academic related, there are also big differences between districts, most of which are pretty small. My school district, Southern Lehigh, only has 6 schools - 3 elementary K-3, one Intermediate school 4-6, one middle school 7-8 and a High School 9 - 12.
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Old 09-30-2011, 06:28 PM
 
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There are plenty of private pre-k programs, Im sure you will find one that meets your needs. Many churches also offer pre-k classes.
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Old 10-02-2011, 01:35 AM
 
Location: PA
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Pre-K is not mandatory in PA. That being said, I am sure you will have no problem finding an opening for him mid-year.

Where are you moving? I might be able to point you in the right direction - we moved to Lower Macungie 4 years ago with our 3 boys so I am well versed on the preschool options here.

As for pre-K - most of the programs are AM or PM (9 - 11:30 or 12:30 - 3). Kindergarten is half day too.
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Old 10-03-2011, 08:45 AM
 
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We are not sure yet where we will live. We are going down next weekend to look at houses. My husband will work in Whitehall. I posted a question in another thread about good elementary schools in towns that will suit our needs, taking into account the commute. From the responses we got, it seems like the town of Nazareth or the western part of Allentown in the Parkland SD are where we will focus our search.

My son is currently in a private afternoon pre-K (12-3p), but K here is full day (8-2:30!!), which I felt was too long of a day, so it's nice to know K there is 1/2 day.
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Old 10-03-2011, 08:08 PM
 
Location: PA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ambrazee View Post
We are not sure yet where we will live. We are going down next weekend to look at houses. My husband will work in Whitehall. I posted a question in another thread about good elementary schools in towns that will suit our needs, taking into account the commute. From the responses we got, it seems like the town of Nazareth or the western part of Allentown in the Parkland SD are where we will focus our search.

My son is currently in a private afternoon pre-K (12-3p), but K here is full day (8-2:30!!), which I felt was too long of a day, so it's nice to know K there is 1/2 day.
Add Lower Macungie to your list the East Penn SD is very good.
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Old 10-04-2011, 05:53 AM
 
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KristyLiz,

I had the impression that Parkland and East Penn were full of bedroom communities/developments, which we want to avoid. We prefer to be in a neighborhood where we can walk to essentials (like library, post office, grocery store, parks, etc) and not have to use the car to do everything. We also prefer old houses in a town/city with a town center/downtown area. To complicate matters, my husband's job is in Whitehall and he doesn't want to be south of Allentown because he doesn't want to commute across Allentown. Sigh. I really hope we can find what we're looking for.
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Old 10-04-2011, 11:31 AM
 
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ambrazee, East Penn has two very nice walkable old towns within their school district but if you find what you want in Whitehall or Nazareth, I don't think there's a big reason to look any further. Nazareth has it's own problems with fast growth but it hasn't been growing nearly as fast as Lower Macungie. Not trying to bash East Penn, but I don't think it or Parkland are the answer for everyone. We didn't even consider Parkland because my husband didn't want to drive that far to get to his job. Thank goodness we are blessed with so many good school districts.
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