Wishy-Washy Pre-K Program

I'm dissapointed with my son's pre-school also. He will be in the 3 year old program for the first time starting September 7 and I just found out there will be no open house or a get acquainted meeting so my son can get familiar with the school and the teachers before his first day. I was told there will be when I signed him up. I think it will be very hard for him to transition because everything and everyone will be unfamiliar to him. I'll just stay around the school the first day if he should need me. Good luck, I'm pretty annoyed too.

These things happen, the district doesn't have much control if someone quits unexpectedly they aren't mind reader, they cannot foresee the future...sounds to me like they are making the best of a bad situation. On a similar note my son was due to start preschool on the 18th, now because construction has not been completed he will start on the 23rd and there is no open house night so he can see his classroom or meet his teacher in advance ( and this is for special needs kids who do not do well with "new" or changes in their routines) Not to mention the fact that I do not have a bus number for him yet or even a Time to expect the bus...I think this is just the way things go...school's are trying to balance a lot on their plate...they need understanding and actively involved parents...maybe it would set your mind at ease if you volunteered in his classroom?

I agree with you. It seems today that the elementary schools almost do too much when it comes to open house, curriculum night, PT conferences. I was at our son's kindergarten class 5 times during the school year. 3 of those were PT conferences where they told us that my son had "mastered the alphabet" and was doing well with the numbers "1 through 25", etc.

Don't get me wrong -- I appreciate the intent and the depth of information about his progress. It just seemed a bit overkill, especially remembering how it was when I was 6.

As for this situation, it seems ridiculous, especially since now we're talking pre-K when parents should be concerned about their child's whereabouts and who's overseeing activities. They should bend over backwards to provide thorough, consistent information and make the parent feel at ease and confident about the experience for their child.

We just had a new public school open and I wouldn't send my kids there for the very same reasons. It is public and if you qualify then your child can attend for free. If you don't qualify then you pay $600 for full day and $340 for 1/2....crazy prices for a public school since the private schools around are the same price or cheaper.

My family would have qualified for free tuition, however, when checking into the school there has been an extreme lack of information. They finally has an open house to tour the school a few weeks ago and I still didn't learn anything. We walked around and were able to see the building. When asked by an employee if we need anything and my husband said we had a few questions the man replied "if you go to the front of the building where the informational booths are, there should be a sheet of paper. Write your name and telephone # and someone will call you to answer your questions." WEIRD!! I chose paying for school over this school.

Since it is a pilot program, it sounds like all the bugs aren't worked out yet. However, I agree that it doesn't sound real organized or a smooth transition for your child. I would recommed calling the office and scheduling a meeting with the principal and voicing your concerns. I have found the Principals at our school very open and easy to talk to. They want to help, but can't unless they know what is going on. As far as the curriculum, some schools don't have a curriculum night until several weeks into the school year. A few years back, we had a teacher who wasn't hired until the last minute and kids had to switch from one teacher to another after a couple of weeks in school. Those things do happen and you just have to deal with them. But, like I suggested, have a talk with the principal to make sure they are aware of the situation. It's good to get to know them if your child will be there.

I can understand your frustration. The program is a pilot program so there are going to be problems and glitches as they get the program set up. My son's school (charter) just started adding high school classes and all the same things happened there. There generally isn't a lot of time before school to meet and talk with teachers. I would make an appointment with the new teacher after school and see if you can't talk about your concerns. This will give you a chance to "feel her out" as well. If this doesn't help you feel better than I would put him somewhere else.
Good luck

Hi! I would look into smaller private preschools. There is a great preschool in Peoria that has a ratio of 7:1 and for a five day morning program it is only $285 a month. It is wonderful, the teacher knows every student and their families. A small atmosphere makes it easy to know the other parents and kids. You might want to look around and see what else is available in the area. You should be able to feel comfortable, know what's going on, and be involved in your child's education. Not left in the dark wondering especially since this is his first school experience. Hope you find what you are looking for or things get better! Let me know if you want more infornation on that other preschool.

This would freak me out. I don't care how disfunctional the school system is. I would find another place to send my child. I am sure there are lots of other great preschool options in your area.

Oh, my goodness. K-4 in our public schools is FREE. My children are not in public school, I choose to enroll mine in a private school that is part of our church and only accepts children from the church. I think I would freak out in your situation. Is this their first year to offer this option? It sounds like they are a long way from having their act together. Is is this disorganized with the other grade levels too?

I know that our private school does not know till near the end of the summer how many kids will be in each class. Because our church has been planning a separate school and the number of students enrolled each year continues to grow, we are have space issues. Our school starts next Monday and the teachers are in the middle of classroom swapping in order to have classrooms the right size for the amount of students. For instance, last years K-4 class that usually runs at about 15 kids had 25 in it. They had a large room with a half wall separating one side of the room from the other for different activities. They had to knock the half wall out last year. Those children are going to K-5 this year and the number of students have increased to 30. Last years K-5 class had only 12 students and had a very small room. So this year the K-5 class had to move to the 1st grade room which is much larger. The other classes have also grown causing other room swaps and the first grade class is currently rushing to complete a new classroom addition before Monday because there was a shortage of large enough rooms. I fear that 1st grade will start the year with a temporary space until the new classroom is finished. Although I must say that our church members and staff recent installed 2 elevators in our building that the contractor that would install the elevator once the church had got everything ready told them it would take 2 years to complete the work that had to be done before he could install the elevators. We had it done in 3 months. We have members that do all kinds of different construction in our church so we did not have to hire contractors and wait on their schedules. Church member kicked in and worked day and night until the work was done. The work was inspected by the state and elevator company and passed inspection. The new elevators were up and running by Easter. They may be done with the classroom before Monday. I told the teacher that I wouldn't be surprised if she found herself moving in and setting up her classroom by Sunday afternoon.

As you get older, and your son moves through school you will realize that they can't all be gems. However, even in very poorly run schools, you will find great teachers who will do wonderful things for your child. You simpley do not know yet who the teacher is, or what she may be like once she gets settled. Under the circumstances, if you were the teacher who had been tossed into this situation, would you want anyone to judge you based on the first few days? I don't think I would. Under most circumstances, the teacher is going to be the deciding factor as to how good the year is and professional teachers should not be evlauated based on the office help or administrative misshaps. Wait it out and have compasion for the teacher while she learns where the bathroom is...sounds like she may not even know where to park yet, so I would give her a tiny break.

M.