Choosing a Charter School

Now that I've mentioned all of the things I worry about when it comes to sending little Riley out into the world, I thought it would only be fair for me to make a post of why I'm EXCITED about kindergarten.

First Day of Kindergarten

We chose to send Riley to a charter school instead of the local public school this year.  I've always thought that it is important to make conscious decisions about what you choose to do instead of blindly following the crowd.  School was high on the list of things I wanted to make an educated decision about.

The options:

• Homeschooling: We quickly realized that was not a good fit for us for a lot of reasons. 

• Private school: Once I found out the tuition for the local private school, I realized this equation:
  (Tuition) x (Kindergarten through 12th grade) x (3 Kids) = (A LOT of MONEY!!)

• Charter School: They weren't around when I was growing up, but I know they are smaller, some are fantastic, some are not, and you can only get in by lottery.

• Public School: Our local school is a little too crowded for my taste, has some legacy math teaching methods I'm not too fond of, but is overall a good school as far as public schools go.

We entered Riley in the lottery for a charter school near us and fully expected he would not be accepted.  We were hoping that with the smaller classroom sizes, managing food allergies might be a little easier.  Plus, this charter school is ranked 5th in the state for elementary schools.  Amazingly, with only 4 spots and 110 applicants, Riley won the lottery!

Before we made our final decision, we visited both the public school and charter school to see what we felt would be the right fit for us.  We were shocked at the difference.  At the charter school everyone was so excited about the school and wanted to tell us about their programs and successes.  At the public school, we had about the same reception as you do at the DMV when you renew your driver's license.  We were praying for guidance and a clear answer to where we should go, and it couldn't have been any more clear than that!

So far, they've been great about working with Riley's food allergies, I love the curriculum (especially math), I love his teacher who is passionate about teaching, and best of all, Riley loves going to school.  He has an aptitude for math and he's almost reading.  His teacher frequently compliments me on what a good boy he is and how helpful and kind and respectful he is.  Riley is a pretty amazing kid and I'm grateful he is able to go to such a good school.  We really did win the lottery!