Moving to NYC with 4 Kids in July- School HELP Needed! (Madison: 2013, day care)

[laralea1]

I was wondering if anyone could please assist me either with information or possibly with pointing me in the right direction. I have been offered a position with a company (Madison Ave area). I currently live in Denver but am originally from Miami. We have lived in various downtown cities and are excited about the opportunity and are very aware of the cost of housing, etc. that comes along with living in NYC. The one aspect that will keep me from accepting the position is the area of education for our children. I have twins that are 4 years old, an 8th grader and a 9th grader (for the 2012-2013 school year). I have no idea of how to determine if it will even be possible to find a pre-school for my twins as we will not be there until June/July. We cannot afford private school for 4 children in the city (we assume that we will do some sort of private school for our 9th grader and 'zone in' a middle public school for our 8th grader). Where do I even start as every pre-school website seems to have had enrollment last October for next year and even those are unaffordable for us - HELP! Are there affordable day care or pre-school options that we even have a chance for enrollment and where do I find the options? We are looking to live in the Upper East or Upper West Side if that makes any difference at all. Thank you for any information you can give me!

[jad2k]

Have you considered a suburb of NYC? You would have more space and better schools (assuming you are in a good school district). Depending on which suburb, your commute could be as short as 30 minutes to midtown.