Monthly Archives: October 2010

Independence Charter 2010-2011 Application Dates

I went to an open house at Independence Charter this morning. I am still processing the experience and may write another post about the visit, but I thought that I’d post this photo of a flyer with the 2010-2011 application dates. The key ones are the deadline (Feb 25) and the lottery date (March 10th). Click on the image to a larger view where all of the dates are legible. If you are considering Independence Charter, check out what else has been written about ICS on this blog.

It’s Official: My First Application Mailed…to GFS

Site Selection, Hooray!

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It used to be that different schools across the district had different hiring policies. Some schools hiring processes were governed by the district, others by the schools themselves, so called ‘site selection.’ When I entered into the process of selecting a school for my child, I was told by many in the know that I should ask whether a school I was considering has site selection or not. The implication of site selection is that when principals, parents, and teachers make the decisions on which teachers to hire, you end up with better people in teaching positions. Conversely, where schools without site selection base their hiring on seniority, parents felt that it Continue reading →

Watching Words

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You may find this post ironic, given my possibly controversial post on diversity yesterday.

As much as all of us who are sending our kids to kindergarten next year talk about schools, there is so much that we don’t say to one another. We don’t want to offend or judge others for their priorities. I have really cherished my closest friends during this process, the ones who I can say anything to. I pour my heart out to them and they know that I am not judging their choices. Deep down, we all know that school selection is a very personal process, and that what is right for your kid and your family will not be right for everyone. At the same time, we are anxious about this choice, which for many of us is the most important decision we have ever had to make on behalf of our child. We second guess ourselves throughout the process and change our minds regularly. Hearing someone else criticize or dismiss a school can understandably create anxiety.

As I have been publicly documenting my experiences in this process, I have been reminded of this problem perhaps more than most. Continue reading →

No Shades of Grey: School Diversity Hard to Find

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I said way back when I started blogging that school diversity is important to me. I want my children to be around kids who are like them and who are different than them, where no group is the clear majority, where they can cultivate relationships with kids of many cultures. Last week I visited two schools which lacked diversity at opposite extremes. Continue reading →

Philly School Search

Parents sharing the process of searching for a school in Greater Philadelphia. What kind of school are you looking for? Charter, public, private, city, suburban?