Dallas Private schools for 18 month to Kindergarten (Temple, Howe: daycares, preschool)

[Batman3365]

Hi, i'm starting to look into schools for my daughter in the North Dallas area. We will enroll her at 18months in fall of 2018. Looking for opinions on schools from individuals who currently have kids at that school or have had one in the past. Also if you have experience with why schools like The Lampligher and Alcuin cost 35-40% more than a school like The da Vinci? Please share your thoughts.

[TurtleCreek80]

Tuition-wise, the schools that offer higher grade levels tend to charge more. DaVinci is a preschool vs Lamplighter (grade school) and Alcuin (goes to 12th grade). The half day Pk3 at Alcuin is priced in the same ballpark as the half day Pk3 at DaVinci, fwiw. The 18 month program at Alcuin is 5 days/ full day vs starting at 2+ days/ week of half-day so of course that's why the tuition is so much higher at Alcuin.

All three are great places to start school and have tremendous success with placement into the top tier privates. As with all schools, I'm sure when you visit them, you'll get a sense of which environment is best for for your kid. A secondary consideration is switching schools in the future- at Alcuin, your kid could stay in one school until college whereas Lamplighter requires a switch at 5th grade and DaVinci requires a switch at PK4 (best chance to get into Hockaday/ Greenhill) or PK3 (ESD). I would guess that most of the kindergarteners are boys angling for St Marks which starts at 1st grade.

[Batman3365]

Thanks for the information TurtleCreek80. In your opinion, how long before she turns 18 months should i start filling out applications and visiting schools? I assume they all have wait lists unless you know someone?

[Waterdragon8212]

If you are interested in Da Vinci, I would put in an application now. We've had friends who first applied right after birth and still didn't get a spot (i.e. remained on the wait list). If I'm remembering correctly (someone please correct me if I'm wrong!) you have to be on the wait list there before you even get correspondence about admission events.

With Lamplighter, you usually apply a year in advance of when you want to enroll (provided you get accepted.) I think the same is true of Alcuin, but they are more likely to take someone on a rolling admission basis from what I've heard. Either way, you should plan on starting the application process an entire year before desired entrance. I thought Lamplighter didn't start until pre-K (which at many schools is age 4, but sometimes age 3), but I could be wrong on that.

[lakeside15]

Those 3 are great options. However DaVinci and Lamplighter are difficult to gain admission. Alcuin has more available spaces, but is also the most expensive.

I would apply to multiple schools and you may also want to check out the church pre-schools in Preston Hollow/Park Cities. Here is an older thread that lists a few... //www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...e-ks-park.html

[numbersguy100]

Agree with what's been said about the relative difficulty of each school. Lamplighter doesn't start until preK so that doesn't seem to match with what you are looking for. Davinci will be easier if you know someone who sends kids there or is otherwise connected to the school. Not to say that Alcuin is easy to get into - it's not like we even bothered with it given its location - but I've never known a family able to pay whose kid(s) got rejected. I know several families who have been rejected from Davinci.

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by Batman3365

Hi, i'm starting to look into schools for my daughter in the North Dallas area. We will enroll her at 18months in fall of 2018. Looking for opinions on schools from individuals who currently have kids at that school or have had one in the past. Also if you have experience with why schools like The Lampligher and Alcuin cost 35-40% more than a school like The da Vinci? Please share your thoughts.

Do schools like Lamplighter start at 18 months these days? I attended Lamplighter K through 4th (a million years ago!). They had a nursery school back then but it was for 3 and 4 year old children. At 18 months my child was still in parent's day out a couple of times a week, not formal schooling. She attended Preston Hollow Presbyterian for pdo and then attended preschool there. It was a fantastic program. I am probably out of the loop but when I see people asking about "schools" for children who aren't yet two years old I imagine they are looking for more of a daycare program.

[cordata]

For 18 months old you may also want to check out Temple Emanu-El.

[Waterdragon8212]

I know a number of the privates (Greenhill, Hockaday, ESD) have full-time care for kiddos younger than pre-K, but those slots are only for faculty and staff kids. I don't know about Lamplighter, but judging from their website, if they have a program for kids that young, it's likely a faculty program.

I think the school you choose depends a lot on your long-term goals. Are you wanting full time care or does half-day work for your family? Are you looking at the schools you mentioned because you are wanting to get into some of the elite Dallas privates in the future? Do you live in North Dallas or have you been told the "feeder" preschools are there? Do you have more than one child (or are you planning on more?) If you gave us a little extra info on your specific situation, I'm guessing we could probably help out a bit more.

[nissan]

Originally Posted by Batman3365

Thanks for the information TurtleCreek80. In your opinion, how long before she turns 18 months should i start filling out applications and visiting schools? I assume they all have wait lists unless you know someone?

I'd start applying as soon as you can for getting a wait list spot. We applied to Da Vinci when our son was 6 mo. and he didn't get admission for this upcoming school year (he's 20 mo. now). It's pretty hard to get into Da Vinci as it is, and it didn't help us that our son wasn't able to cope w being away from mom/dad during their 2 hr admissions camp earlier this summer. That sealed the deal that he wouldn't be getting in (even though admission decisions aren't till July).

At 6 mo. we also placed him on the wait list for Meadowbrook. We didn't apply to LL bc we interpreted their website to say that applications should be for the upcoming school yr. We thought we'd wait to apply when he's going to be of age to attend (3 yrs).

At Alcuin, we waited to apply when he was 1 yr. We went through their process and he was accepted a few weeks ago. Not sure how easy/hard it is to get in bc we're not connected to other families in N. Dallas, but when we asked they said we were technically late. They told us we'd be getting slots from any families that rejected admissions offers. Even though it's rolling admissions, they said for our next child to still apply at 6 mo. to increase chances.