Need preschool Info & good place to stay with kids (Pittsburgh: apartment, chapel)

[sumivik]

Hi,

I will be moving to pittsburg in a week or two for a job in downtown. Can you please advice me with the best preschools and good apts ?

Thanks In advance

[BrianTH]

There are lots good preschools and possible places to live if you are working Downtown, so it would help if you could narrow down the field a bit by telling us what sort of neighborhood you would like, what sort of rental, your budget, what kind of commute you would want, and so on. For example, lots of people have a quick commute to Downtown by car or bus from various neighborhoods in my area, what is called the East End and is basically like a large college town centered on the universities and hospitals in the area. There are several popular preschools in the East End, such as Carlow's Early Learning Center in Oakland, the Carriage House in Squirrel Hill, and Shady Lane in Point Breeze/Park Place. But you may well want an entirely different living situation.

However, if you want a preschool recommendation for Downtown: we use Kindercare in the USX building, which we like quite a bit (by the way, I think I can get a discount for recommending it to you, so if you feel like doing so, send me a message if you would like to discuss it further). Point Park Children's Center is also very popular. We choose going with the Downtown route originally because my wife was working Downtown and nursing, but in general it is nice to be able to pop over during lunch, or if there is a problem of some sort, and so on.

[sumivik]

Thanks for your prompt response .. My commute will be car and I prefer a quick commute to work & my kids school. how far is the others schools you have mentioned in your are from downtown.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by sumivik

Thanks for your prompt response .. My commute will be car and I prefer a quick commute to work & my kids school. how far is the others schools you have mentioned in your are from downtown.

All the schools I mentioned in the East End are pretty close to Downtown by car--call it 5 to 15 minutes without traffic, a bit more during rush hours. In general there are lots of commutes from good preschools to Downtown Pittsburgh up to the 30 minute range, so I would again suggest narrowing down some of the other factors (type of neighborhood/apartment, budget, etc.) would be quite helpful.

[Hopes]

Brian,

Why do you ALWAYS only recommend East End neighborhoods without even asking if the people want to live within the city?

Maybe the OP would like to live in the suburbs.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Brian,

Why do you ALWAYS only recommend East End neighborhoods without even asking if the people want to live within the city?

Maybe the OP would like to live in the suburbs.

Originally Posted by BrianTH

There are lots good preschools and possible places to live if you are working Downtown, so it would help if you could narrow down the field a bit by telling us what sort of neighborhood you would like, what sort of rental, your budget, what kind of commute you would want, and so on. For example, lots of people have a quick commute to Downtown by car or bus from various neighborhoods in my area, what is called the East End and is basically like a large college town centered on the universities and hospitals in the area. There are several popular preschools in the East End, such as Carlow's Early Learning Center in Oakland, the Carriage House in Squirrel Hill, and Shady Lane in Point Breeze/Park Place. But you may well want an entirely different living situation.

Originally Posted by BrianTH

All the schools I mentioned in the East End are pretty close to Downtown by car--call it 5 to 15 minutes without traffic, a bit more during rush hours. In general there are lots of commutes from good preschools to Downtown Pittsburgh up to the 30 minute range, so I would again suggest narrowing down some of the other factors (type of neighborhood/apartment, budget, etc.) would be quite helpful.

I think he is just suggesting what he is familiar with (and is obviously happy with). The parts I bolded shows that he knows it isn't for everyone.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

I think he is just suggesting what he is familiar with (and is obviously happy with). The parts I bolded shows that he knows it isn't for everyone.

Exactly. In fact I am specifically asking the OP to tell us more about things like their preferred style of neighborhood and budget because there are many different good preschool and residential options available to meet their stated parameters so far, and the East End options I am mentioning may well not be the best options given this person's particular preferences and means.

Generally, I am actually quite committed to the idea we should be giving people advice specifically tailored to their individual needs and preferences. And that is why I almost always start my contributions to this sort of thread by asking the OP to provide as much information about what they are looking for as possible, as I once again did in this case. And assuming they provide that information, as soon as it is clear that a given option is not what they are looking for, I will happily refrain from suggesting it.

[robrobrob]

Sort of confused by the initial request. I have thought that preschool (or nursery school) was only half of a day a few days a week. Daycare is for the full day. My kids go to daycare. Ours is great but it is a daycare and not a preschool. The one thing that you have to consider if you are going the daycare route is how much time you have to spend at work. For example, if you have to work more than 8 hours a day you have two choices: either one spouse drops off and one picks up or you go to a daycare downtown because you will have trouble getting there (a daycare in the suburbs) on time at the end of the day. My experience with daycares is that there is a limit as to how long a child can stay there. Commuting eats into this.

I know of a lot of preschools in the Fox Chapel area so if you want to live out that way.

[BrianTH]

A lot of daycares offer preschool programs, and conversely a lot of preschools offer extended day programs. So the line between the two is kinda blurry--basically you are just going to end up looking for a place that offers a package of services that meets your needs, regardless of what the place is called.

By the way, I very much agree that if you are working longish hours Downtown, a Downtown school can be very handy. That is another reason we originally used Kindercare--I was in another city at the time and my wife sometimes has to work longer hours, and they allow pickup as late as 6:30. Conversely, some otherwise pretty desirable schools have more limited hours, and then you add in the commute time, and your window is substantially narrower.

[Hopes]

Thanks for pointing that out, Ferraris.

Sorry, Brian. I had only read your second post in this thread.