The pre-school hunt: post your gripe here

[*MamaJen*]

Seriously, somebody shoot me, please pretty please. I'm trying to find a preschool for my son and sweet god almighty is it giving me an ulcer.
I had it so easy at first. I live just outside Austin, a reasonably sized metro area, but in a separate small town. For the first five months my son came to the office with me. Then after that, I wanted him in a homey environment rather than a commercial daycare. Through personal recommendations and craigslist, I've been able to find really great stay at home moms who do in-home daycare. We've had a couple different providers who have been great. It's been affordable, super close to my office, reliable, and high quality.
Now I'm going back to grad school and moving back into the city center and I'm about to slit my own wrists with a wait list form. I put DS on two wait lists in February for an August start, but I should have started like a year earlier. Now it's looking like he won't get into those two schools, so I'm scrambling to find another. It seems like they're all either way out of my price range (as in, half of my total poor student income), or they have a three year wait list, or they're really far away. I think I'm on five wait lists now? I forget, but I know I've spent more than $100 just on wait list fees, and there's still no guarantee of a spot. I might try to do another in home daycare, I guess.
I'm still not sure exactly where I'll be living, and at first I thought I'd pick a daycare near my apartment, but I think I'm actually going to have to pick an apartment near my daycare.
Is there a loud, piercing scream of frustration smiley?
Thanks for listening.

[alicia622]

I am right there with you. I have tried to find a 5 day a week/3 hour a day program and no body offers that except the place he currently attends (which he attended for two years so I don't want him to go there again). He is too old for the public pre-K program and while he could technically go to K this fall, I am not so sure that's the right thing. All the programs I have found are at least 5 day/6 hours each so I might as well send him to K for free rather than pay for the same thing. Also, I did look at a montessori program within walking distance but man we can't afford to pay for that!!!!

Since you said you are a poor college student, do you qualify for headstart?

[*MamaJen*]

Nope, I'll be a little over the income line for pretty much all public aid. You're right, there are some crazy expensive montessori programs out there. I was looking at one that was more than $1,200 a month.
It's so frustrating.

[alicia622]

I am pretty sure that Headstart programs offer a sliding scale fee for people who are over income. I think they are allowed to accept a small % of over income kiddos.

[Surfacing]

[pinksprklybarefoot]

We are about to start this - I have been just dreading it. We are touring a Montessori school that serves low-income people this week. Online, it looks really nice and is affiliated with a training center. The only problem is that DS2 won't be old enough to go there until halfway through the semester. So even if this one worked out, we would have to put him someplace for the time being, then just as he got used to that, change schools on him. Ugh.

[laurabfig]

You sound like me 3 years ago with my son and daughter. We moved to Berkeley right when they turned 3 and 4, and so didn't do all the waiting lists. The whole process annoyed me that there are waiting lists, as if preschool is as exclusive as getting into college or something. I found that some schools that said they had waiting lists would just randomly have spots available, so you're doing the right thing to get on as many lists as possible at this point. I've also heard that the more you call, the more likely you are to get a spot....you know, stay friendly and kind, not annoying, but just call frequently to check if there has been movement on the list. Also, knowing people at a school can get you in quicker (just like getting a job...if you know someone, you've got a better chance). We ended up doing an in-home daycare situation for about 8 months till a preschool spot opened and my daughter started K. It all worked out in the end, but I am pretty relaxed about preschool...I really just want my kid to play and be loved by the caregivers and have fun. Not so much into the "academics" of preschool.
Best of luck to you! I hope it works out soon so you have some sanity and some closure on the whole ordeal. I'm pregnant again and already starting to think..."OMG! Am I supposed to be calling preschools right now to get on waiting lists?!?!"

[*MamaJen*]

Happy update

DS actually got a spot at my top choice. I'm really stoked, it's a great little preschool, relatively affordable, kind of crunchy, very warm, huge shady yard and garden, and right by my school, and a block away from the apartment I just applied for. They had a spot open up unexpectedly and I grabbed it. DS and I went to visit and he loved it. We met his teacher and we both really like her. So he'll start there in August. And I managed to get through the preschool hunt without having a total nervous breakdown.

[Surfacing]