Preschool Situation in Greater Bay Area (San Francisco, Berkeley: appointed, renting, co-ops)

[nmsegal]

Does anyone know if the pre-school story is as nightmarish in Lamorinda and Palo Alto as in the city -- super competitive to get into, $25K/yr, long wait-lists, etc. We're considering moving and am quite concerned about getting our kids into a decent one.

Thanks.

[sonarrat]

Many people in Palo Alto pre-register their kids in preschools at birth. I don't know about the East Bay.

[loveack]

Why? Why is it like that?

Although I haven't made the move from East Coast to West Coast quite yet....but when I started looking in to "daycare" for my 2 year old it was like "Holy ****!"....it's near impossible.

I understand the concept of the higher number of people in the bay area, but you would think that would lend itself to MORE care for the kids....not wait listing them at birth. Am I wrong here? My partner and I have pretty much decided that she's going to stay at home with our daughter until she's ready for school....not that that is a bad thing...just the preschool race is just a little too much for us.

[clongirl]

There seems to be a lot new mothers that think that getting into the "best" schools, perceived "best" anything is the only way to do things. Perhaps it's an unspoken pressure of living in a wealthy area to look like you've provided your kids with everything possible- even if it means from birth. I've heard of this phenomenon happening in New York as well though, so I don't know if it's really a east coast/west coast thing. Yeah, you'd think that there would be more available preschools and such, but these professions usually don't pay enough to live here comfortably so perhaps this is why fewer people do it? Just a thought, though. I've gotta start looking into finding a preschool for my 3yr old and we're also moving to the Lamorinda area soon. I'm sure my kid will placed on a wait list since schools seem to fill up so fast. Oh well, I just looking for a couple hours of free time away from him so I'm not too picky! Good luck to you!

[NH2008]

In San Francisco, it's a nightmare. People do register for the "best" preschools during pregnancy, and you can buy books on navigating the preschool process. I think this is largely because the public school system is not an option most parents want to consider, there aren't enough spaces in the good private schools for everyone, and thus ambitious parents worry about getting their kids into the right feeder preschools. No, I'm not kidding - buy the book, it will tell you which kindergartens various preschool grads get into.

It is nowhere near as bad in Palo Alto or Lamorinda, probably because there's no worry about getting into a decent K. Bing is the prestige preschool in PA because it's associated with Stanford and has a lot of snob appeal. (This isn't to say it doesn't have a lot of other good qualities, but I think many people get on the Bing wait list without even investigating it simply because it's the "name" school around here.) They give preference to people associated with Stanford. A few other schools here have wait lists, but there are plenty of wonderful preschools to go around and I don't know anyone who's had the SF style panic of "my kid didn't get in anywhere and I don't know what to do." Re price, are you talking about preschool or day care? Preschool is usually only a few hours in the morning, often not every day, and shouldn't be 25k. If you want to save $$, there are a number of parent co-ops that are supposed to be great. My son graduated his PA preschool yesterday (!) and we have been absolutely thrilled with it.

None of our friends in Orinda have planned particularly far ahead to get their kids into great preschools.

Families with young kids move a lot and spaces do open up throughout the school year. It probably is significantly harder if both parents are working full-time, but if you're flexible I'm sure you will find something great.

[nmsegal]

Thanks for the replies. That makes me feel a little better that the madness is mainly in SF. Btw on the "parenting to the point of obsession" theme, I've been reading a really interesting book on this topic: Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety. Makes me nervous about moving back to a big city. We just got into a pre-school here in portland who's waitlist we've been on for 2 years, but at least they didn't want to "interview" or "test" my kid!!!

p.s. i swear a friend in the city told us they applied to 8 pre-schools (not day-care, she isn't working), got into 2 and it would be $25K a year. hard to believe, yes.

[akka]

Just wondering - is the pre-school/daycare situation any easier if you live in Marin? We are looking to move to Bay Area, and we have twins. So this is going to be a real issue for us.

[kristin1]

We will be relocating to the East Bay within the next few months and I am trying to find a preschool that will take both my 3 yo and 4 yo. I've called at least a dozen preschools in the Lamorinda/Walnut Creek area and the directors of the program sound rather incredulous when I inquire about openings for the spring - most say they have waiting lists of 20 kids long.

I can't imagine it's that unusual to relocate mid-year and I'm really disappointed that I can't find anything. It's not a big deal for my 3 yo, but my 4 yo will be going to kindergarten in the fall and I feel it's important he have a full year of pre-K. Any suggestions?

[artemis78]

While I don't think it's too bad in the East Bay in general, it *is* hard to transfer in to many of the good schools. It goes both ways---they fill to capacity and people like them and stay, and thus it's hard to get a place. (That said, people do move here too, so it's worth continuing the search---somewhere someone will have at least one spot open, and maybe will decide to bend on the other!) Pleasantly, for admission on the standard calendar there are a number of preschools and Ks in the East Bay that have policies against allowing people to apply until the winter before they'll enroll, when the child can actually visit. Makes way more sense to me!

[bellalunatic]

you must check on info about it at
Berkeley Parents Network:

they have the most amazing input from real parents all across the bay area, although it is more specific for the East Bay
they do have a preschool review sections for both Lamorinda and Walnut Creek...there may be some for Marin as well.