PreSchool Sticker Shock

[Violet2]

Man, preschool is like a bucket of ice water down my pants. Esp. after the lazy hazy days of do whatever summer.

We are on a schedule.

And I feel like I'm being herded as if I was a toddler too!

Anyway, my point is there is so much structure! So many rules! It's so startling.

And there are fundraisers.

Expensive fundraisers.

We are supposed to sell $100 worth of tickets. I don't know anyone to sell tickets to b/c the event is really geared toward the parents of the kids, not the general public kwim?

Is this kind of price tag common????? How much are you being hit up for?

V

[JudiAU]

Very little fundraising at our school which they repeat almost as often as other schools have fundraising. The tuition however is very very high.

[Linda on the move]

My kids are in a private school (not prescchol) but I asked about this before we made the decision.

Our next fundraiser is a book breakfast where teachers serve the parents breakfast and the parents bring a brand new (not from home!) book or books for the library. Something either than your child has read and feels the other kids would like, or something they would like to read.

The school you are in might not be a good fit for your family, or you may just need to learn to say "no."

[Violet2]

Oooo the book fundraiser sounds like fun! I would be onboard with that.

I don't know yet if this pschool is a fit for us or not. Too early to tell. It's playbased, mixed age which I like. Other than that I know nothing.

The fundraiser is being driven by someone who owns the facility/services/resources being used and I kind of wonder if there's more than altruism driving it.

I am not going to be able to sell $150 worth of tickets. I am trying to imagine how the other families are going to do it. Maybe if we had more family in town to hit up.

So DH and I will scrape up $50 or so to buy tickets for us and maybe we'll find a sitter or not, in which case we won't go b/c it's adults only.

What happened to selling cookies/chocolate? I could work with that, kwim?

V

[Alyantavid]

Our preschool doesn't really do fundraisers. They do a hop-a-thon once a year and donate the money raised for that. About once a year, they do a drive for kids' items to go to a local ranch that helps kids with special needs. But they're all voluntary.

[KCMichigan]

Our preschool does not do fundraisers.....

You should be able to opt out if you want.

I would see if you can volunteer or do something else if the preschool 'requires' fundraising to keep costs down.

[LuckyMommaToo]

No fundraisers at our preschool. But tuition is also pretty high.
-e

[MissMaegie'sMama]

DD1's preschool also requires families to participate in the fundraisers, although we only need to sell $75. Fortunately, I don't have to sell anything if I can't find buyers-- I can just write a check for the minimum amount due. I also don't have to sell event tickets, but then again, who really needs a half-gallon pail of cookie dough either? Sigh.

Also, it's a parent co-op, so each family has to send a parent to volunteer in the class as a helper three days per semester. I have to hire a sitter to watch DD2 on those days, which comes out to about $40 per morning volunteered. Each family also must take on a volunteer project each semester, such as washing the classroom walls/floor/windows, or repainting the exterior doors and frames. It makes me miss the preschool my DS attended when he was a little guy-- the tuition was higher than the co-op's, but there weren't so many reqiurements of the parents either. Sending DD to a parent co-op preschool wasn't my first choice, but it's close to home, the hours are right, and it's reasonably priced. I hope it'll work out for us.

[Cekimon]

our preschool is a co op and part of a public school district. we only have one fundraiser - wheel a thon. in march the kids get a sheet to collect donations and then they ride their bike or tricycle. if you raise over fifty dollars you get a gift which was a tote bag with the school name on it. there were a couple of other things they added last year but it was all optional. the extra stuff was dining out at chevy's and the school got part of it.

i'm sure it has to do with what type of school it is - public or private - and where are the funds coming from? how many teachers etc? we also pay a sixty dollar material fee for the year which covers things like a memory book we put together for each kid, admission for field trips, a plate that the kids draw on and then they get sent off to where they are food safe plates. stuff like that. then our tuition is 95/month. we do three days a week and 2.5 hours a day.
last year it was two days a week and only 65 per month in tuition.

[meemee]

well our school does minimum fundraisers but oh boy was it expensive. a few $$s short from the most expensive one. it was a ps/dc and dd was in full time 5 days a week. ps/dc was more expensive than rent on my one bedroom apt.

no selling but once a year charity events.

[waiting2bemommy]

ds' montessori school has fairly low tuition I think-- $270/month for 3 mornings a week. It averages out to about $4/hr, which is cheaper than a lot of daycares. Plus, we're behind on tuition and they are ok with that and aren't kicking him out or hassling me about it. They waived the registration fee for us because we are low income.

Soi I dont' mind the fundraising because I support the cause, and I feel like the money is really going to the kids. We also have to pay a $120 supply fee twice a year --ouch! and the kids bring their own lunches. I plan to participate in all the fundraising, but then again it's do-able stuff --- a trike-a-thon, a virtual book fair through scholastic, and I think 3 other things.

[Elizabeth2008]

DS's school tuitition is $1,250 a month (full day school designed for working parents). That's for the preschool, the toddler and infant rooms are more expensive. We are also expected to donate about $1,000 to the annual fund each year as well as participate in another fundraising event.