Late preschool enrollments and mothers groups - new NOVA resident (Arlington: apartment, rentals)

[Ozindc]

My wife, myself and our 2 and a half year old son will be moving to Northern Virginia from Australia at the end of October. We don't know exactly where we will be moving yet, but it will most likely be Alexandria, Falls Church, Arlington or Vienna.

Our son is currently attending preschool in Australia and we want him to start in one soon after our arrival.

However, I've noticed that many of the best preschools fill up for the following school year before the summer starts.

How difficult is it going to be to find a place for our son for a November start date?

Any recommendations for good preschools in these areas that we can contact now to reserve a place for a November start?

Any help/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Also, as my wife is a stay at home mum who will be keen to make contacts with other women with young children, I'd also appreciate it if someone could point us to where we can find some information on mothers groups in these areas.

[claremarie]

You are correct that most part-time preschool programs fill up long before summer. Your other difficulty is that you haven't yet decided where you will be living, and because most preschool programs for 2 year olds are only three hours long, you'll want to choose a school that is as close as possible to your home.
There are good preschool programs and plenty of moms' groups all over northern Virginia. Once you figure out where you're going to be living, you can start gathering information on schools.

[mlv311]

Ditto what Claremarie stated. If you are looking for a preschool versus daycare for your child, you will be able to find a slot in a good preschool even if you are looking in November. The 2.5-3 year old classes tend to have openings after school starts since some kids registered at the beginning of the year end up not being ready for preschool when Fall arrives.

[michgc]

I agree that you need to narrow down where you will be living first. You would not want to be living in Alexandria and taking your child to preschool in Vienna. Many of the preschools are full. However, children drop out and people move. Some schools will still have openings. It doesn't mean they aren't good, but they may be slightly more expensive or just not one of the most popular preschools. If you end up in Vienna, you may be able to secure a place at Vienna Baptist Preschool or Parkwood. Sometimes Wesley Methodist will have openings during the year. You can contact Wesley now. They often have a waiting list. You can get on it. Vienna Baptist usually doesn't and neither does Parkwood. We've been at all three preschools and loved all of them.

[Ozindc]

Thanks so much for your responses. That information is a very good starting point. Nice to know that we should be able to find a pre-school place for him. My wife will freak if we get there and nothing is available!

My employer is going to pay for a furnished apartment for the first two months after we arrive. So, our plan is to get there and then take a good look around. Try and get a sense of the pros and cons of each neighborhood.

Ideally we are looking for a 4br house to rent, in a pretty, safe, family oriented neighborhood with a bit of diversity (housing, cultural, social), priced between $3000 and $4000 a month, with no more than a 45 minute commute in to central DC for me. Other than that, we don't have any pre-conceived ideas and hopefully we can find a nice place to live, where in time we can make some good friends...

If any of you have any thoughts on which areas are most likely to fulfill those criteria, they'd be greatly appreciated...

[perries]

You can peruse various rentals on the market at homesdatabase.com, to give you a general idea of what's available. We found the site invaluable when we moved cross country.

There are many, many classes and activities in this area for pre-schoolers. My stay at home mom friends have their 3-year olds enrolled in classes such as Chinese, Spanish, music, tae kwando (umm sp?), gymnastics, yoga and also do play dates and outings through local mom's groups, which are very prolific here. I think you will find plenty to keep busy with even if the daycare question is up in the air for a while.

There are also daycares of all kinds, so you will eventually find a good fit, though there are often wait lists.

[Yankeesfan]

You'll be fine, there are enough people who move during the school year that a spot will open up somewhere. To be honest, unless you run across a really subpar place, I would say go for the school that's closest to home to cut down on the driving time.

[camrynh]

You should be fine with preschool. As previous posters have said, often times spots open up in the fall. Further, it seems that some are cutting out preschool b/c of the tanking economy.

Give this site to your wife: NoVaMommies.com -- A Mommies Network Community She can sign up now. It's a forum that also has location specific playdates. It's free, and TMN (the group that runs it) was invaluable to me when I became a stay at home mom.

[NYmama2dallas]

I would move to N. Arlington--you can get a nice rental in that price range, it is one of the best suburban commutes downtown and there are many nice neighborhoods and preschools. You can contact preschools now and if they have openings for the fall, you can save a spot in the class by paying for Sept even though you won't be here until October. People come and go so often spots open up at the last minute. If your son will be three by Sept 30, it will be MUCH easier to find a spot for him since there are more 3s classes than 2s classes, but there are usually spaces in the play-based parent run coops at the community centers, so you should be able to find something. Also, there is a great mom's group in Arlington called moms of north arlington that has social events, playgroups and a list serv.

[claremarie]

If you are Australian, consider contacting the Australian Embassy for relocation tips. When we lived in McLean, we had several families in the neighborhood who worked for the embassy, and they had a very detailed "briefing packet" filled with helpful information (including the wonders of Costco and where to find Vegemite.)