Catholic School or Public School?

 

This is the deliberation right now in our home.  Where should we send Olivia for 1st grade?  Which school will be a better fit for our family and more importantly for Olivia and her education?

To be honest I really always thought that we would send our children to public school.  It was one of the main reasons why we picked where we are living, since at the time they had one of the best school districts.  However as time as passed and we have learned about some of the choices being currently made within the district we are left we a huge “question”, is this really a good fit for us?

We have friends that have  children in both schools and upon talking to them we found that everyone whose children were in Catholic School were happy, but only 60% of the ones in Public School could say the same.  The size of classes are a big concern, especially for the younger grades where they still require lots of attention and one on one help.  How can a child in a class of 33, receive the help she or he needs with only 1 teacher? 

So yesterday we took our 1st step in our journey, and visited the open house at the Catholic School.  I have to say that I was extremely impressed with the school, the curriculum and most of all the sense of “community”.  Of course like with anything else there are cons and pros.  I know that if we choose this school I will have to dedicate a lot of time in order to complete their list of requirements for the parents.  Parents must accumulate a total of “30 points” in the school year by working in various programs.  (Ex: Bing/Carnival/Craft Shows/Lunch Room Duty/etc)  It will all fall on me since Ryan’s schedule really does not allow him the freedom to volunteer.   And really with working part-time and having Tyler with me 3 days of the week I will really have to juggle my schedule in order to meet the required points.

Another concern for me is the busing and the fact that I would have to get Olivia to the bus stop at 6:15 AM…WOW that is super early for a 6 year old, don’t you think?  My other option which Ryan thinks I am crazy for even considering is my dropping her off and picking her up everyday.  Did I forget to mention that the school is 25 minutes from us?????  Yes, that is the closest Catholic School and pretty much our only option.

Our next step for this school is to Interview with the Principal on February 10 and from what I have heard we will pretty much have to explain why we want our child to attend and what we are expecting from the “school”.   We are on a tight schedule here because registration is due by 2/15, so we have lots to think about!

Tomorrow I am going to contact the Public School and try to schedule an appointment so that we can tour the school and hopefully have some of our questions answered by either the Principal or Vice-Principal.

I have told myself over the last few days that I need to really just relax and try not to stress out over this, however I can’t stop thinking that whatever choice I make right now will indeed impact Olivia for the remainder of her education.  So no pressure, right????