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?
While evaluating schools for my first child, I tried really hard not to neglect the future needs of my second child. I tried to picture both of my kids there, not just my oldest. For logistical reasons, obviously I want to pick a school that would work for both. Of course, going down the private school route, that decision becomes that much more expensive, but are there other reasons to choose a different school for #2?
Picking the same school for child number two is the default choice for most parents I know. Conventional wisdom states that the second child always gets the short shrift–fewer photographs, hand me down clothes, etc. etc. On the other hand, if you are choosing a school for a first child with every intent to send the second child there as well, both children are getting the same treatment.
I am lucky. My second child seems to be pretty flexible and easygoing. Even though she is three, I expect that she will thrive wherever my son goes and will actually prefer to be near him. For what reasons do parents make alternative school choices for child number two? I asked a couple of people that I know who made the decision to send their children to different schools. I paraphrased their comments to me below. Have you decided to choose a different school for your second child? If so, why? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Parent 1: Personality
My first born child is outgoing and confident and I thought he would thrive in our local public school. My second child is a lot more introspective and reserved. We were afraid that our oldest would outshine the younger, inviting comparisons from parents, teachers, administrators, and other children. We were also afraid that our younger would retreat to the sidelines in the face of more outgoing kids. We were fortunate enough to get our younger child a seat at a nearby charter school that has a much smaller student body and smaller class sizes. So far, each of them has thrived.
Parent 2: Learning Style
My first child has a borderline learning disability. Though our local public school could accommodate his needs, we chose to send him to a school that specializes in those needs rather than our local public school. Obviously, it didn’t make sense to send our second and third children to that school.
Parent 3: Cost
My first child is at a private school that has seen drastic tuition increases over the last several years. It was originally our intent to stretch and send our second child to the same school. Instead, he has been thriving at a preschool for anther nearby private school that has a much lower price point. So we will send him to K at that school. Depending on our family finances, it is our hope to put the kids in the same school-dependin on how our finances shake out, it may be the lower or higher cost school.
Len Lipkin
PSS Community