Private School Application Process (Kindergarten) - Observations of First Timer (how much, pre-school)

[FordChase]

We have recently gone through the private school application process for the first time. I grew up in public schools (explains my poor writing?) and decided to consider private schools for kindergarten as an option for our oldest child. I grew up in the ATL suburbs, but I’m not from ATL. I went in to the application process with an open mind and a quest to learn as much about the process as possible. I knew very little of any of it. Here is what I learned.

- My first question was “why do ATL parents send their kids to private schools?” I have gotten 100 answers and feel like I have 0 answers.
- People love to say, “you have a lot of great schools to choose from” and “you really can’t go wrong with any of them”. But that doesn’t tell me anything.
- I still don’t know how much being a legacy factors in to their decision.
- I have no idea what a good elementary education is…still. After 5 months of investigating schools, teaching methods. How do you prove it works?
- I didn’t know “red shirting” was a thing. Turns out it is, AND it sounds like it’s been going on for a long time.
- The application process is A LOT of work and for the uninitiated, it’s very hard to justify. All these people asking your little child questions. It adds up.
- I have frequently felt like I’m making a life altering decision for my child with no recourse after we pick a school. That’s not true in reality, but it’s felt like that many times. Plus, we’ve got a second child that will go through this process in a few years.
- Turns out that kids develop at all rates and ages. My oldest child has changed SOOOO much in the last 5 months. It makes me see this whole red shirting thing differently now. My child is barely 5, competing against kids 6-12 months older…imagine how developed they are.
- I still don’t know if parents game the system like prepping their kids for the JATP, plan their kids’ education path from birth to pre-school and beyond.
- An unexpected benefit from this, one I have recently come to appreciate significantly, is we have such a better grasp on what kind of learner our child is, his intelligence level, strengths/weaknesses. I am grateful for that.
- How do you judge a school? By the parents of current students – maybe. By the fellow applying parents – no. By the admissions team – they aren’t teaching the kids. By the internet – eh. By popular opinion and reputation – some validity. But nothing concrete. It’s maddening.
- I eventually came up with my own proprietary way of measuring. It was one measurement, while subjective, seemed very accurate (to me).

We have chosen a school. We had great options. The choice was much harder than I thought.

[CMMom]

It sounds like you've given this a lot of thought. The process is pretty daunting. In all seriousness, though, if you don't like the process, what would be the alternative you suggest? For schools like Westminster, Pace, Lovett, etc... that receive 4-5 times more applications than they have slots and that could fill an entire kindergarten with just siblings/legacies, how SHOULD they select applicants? First come, first serve? Is it such a terrible thing to try to be certain that accepted children have the ability to keep up with an accelerated curriculum? Sorry, I'm not trying to come down on you in particular, but I hear other parents complain about the process, yet I've never heard anyone come up with alternative solutions.

[ctinatl]

I appreciated the rigor of the admissions process and was grateful for it as we do not have legacy or sibling status. I also learned a lot about my child in the process. The schools will give you feedback on what they saw in the observation process and I would encourage people to ask.

I do wonder if people game/prep for the JATP. I feel like I will know more to help my youngest be ready for it but I would still have no idea how to game it. My 5 year old was not the best reporter of what he did in there.

[DruidHills2015]

FordChase, you make many reasonable points. I would add one: for my family, selecting a school that is close by and walkable was important. We didn't want our children spending hours per week in the car or on a bus. Also, if it is close by I can spend a bit more time there as a parent, in a volunteer capacity.

So many of these private schools are great and can accomodate a variety of learning styles and issues. What sets some choices apart are what might be considered secondary issues: location, music programs, languages, sports, after-care or after school activities.

[nkiy]

Originally Posted by ctinatl

I appreciated the rigor of the admissions process and was grateful for it as we do not have legacy or sibling status. I also learned a lot about my child in the process. The schools will give you feedback on what they saw in the observation process and I would encourage people to ask.

I do wonder if people game/prep for the JATP. I feel like I will know more to help my youngest be ready for it but I would still have no idea how to game it. My 5 year old was not the best reporter of what he did in there.

We did not do any prep for JATP and honestly I did not even know still what it exactly entails. Our kid was ranked very high in Full IQ scale so it seems that it is an IQ test of sorts. I don't think it is ethical or even productive to try and prep for these things.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by FordChase

We have recently gone through the private school application process for the first time. I grew up in public schools (explains my poor writing?) and decided to consider private schools for kindergarten as an option for our oldest child. I grew up in the ATL suburbs, but I’m not from ATL. I went in to the application process with an open mind and a quest to learn as much about the process as possible. I knew very little of any of it. Here is what I learned.

- My first question was “why do ATL parents send their kids to private schools?” I have gotten 100 answers and feel like I have 0 answers.
- People love to say, “you have a lot of great schools to choose from” and “you really can’t go wrong with any of them”. But that doesn’t tell me anything.
- I still don’t know how much being a legacy factors in to their decision.
- I have no idea what a good elementary education is…still. After 5 months of investigating schools, teaching methods. How do you prove it works?
- I didn’t know “red shirting” was a thing. Turns out it is, AND it sounds like it’s been going on for a long time.
- The application process is A LOT of work and for the uninitiated, it’s very hard to justify. All these people asking your little child questions. It adds up.
- I have frequently felt like I’m making a life altering decision for my child with no recourse after we pick a school. That’s not true in reality, but it’s felt like that many times. Plus, we’ve got a second child that will go through this process in a few years.
- Turns out that kids develop at all rates and ages. My oldest child has changed SOOOO much in the last 5 months. It makes me see this whole red shirting thing differently now. My child is barely 5, competing against kids 6-12 months older…imagine how developed they are.
- I still don’t know if parents game the system like prepping their kids for the JATP, plan their kids’ education path from birth to pre-school and beyond.
- An unexpected benefit from this, one I have recently come to appreciate significantly, is we have such a better grasp on what kind of learner our child is, his intelligence level, strengths/weaknesses. I am grateful for that.
- How do you judge a school? By the parents of current students – maybe. By the fellow applying parents – no. By the admissions team – they aren’t teaching the kids. By the internet – eh. By popular opinion and reputation – some validity. But nothing concrete. It’s maddening.
- I eventually came up with my own proprietary way of measuring. It was one measurement, while subjective, seemed very accurate (to me).

We have chosen a school. We had great options. The choice was much harder than I thought.

I don't think your writing is poor at all. You've expressed your thoughts as well or better than scores of others who've posted on this subject.

Nor do I think your writing ability depends on whether you go to public or private school. The overwhelming majority of our greatest writers, thinkers, scientists, scholars and opinion makers are public school kids.

In my opinion the best thing you can do for your child is to stay involved and show them love and support. Most kids who have that are going to thrive in almost any school.

[Lhrmom]

As a family in a very similar boat, I think your post is spot on. Curious what school you chose?

[chabang]

Originally Posted by FordChase

We have recently gone through the private school application process for the first time. I grew up in public schools (explains my poor writing?) and decided to consider private schools for kindergarten as an option for our oldest child. I grew up in the ATL suburbs, but I’m not from ATL. I went in to the application process with an open mind and a quest to learn as much about the process as possible. I knew very little of any of it. Here is what I learned.

- My first question was “why do ATL parents send their kids to private schools?” I have gotten 100 answers and feel like I have 0 answers.

I don't think their answers would be much different from your own. Why did you choose to send your child to a private school?

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by arjay57

...

Nor do I think your writing ability depends on whether you go to public or private school. The overwhelming majority of our greatest writers, thinkers, scientists, scholars and opinion makers are public school kids.

In my opinion the best thing you can do for your child is to stay involved and show them love and support. Most kids who have that are going to thrive in almost any school.

Amen.