If you pick the schools everyone else wants (e.g. Clarendon, which ~1700 of the 4750 total families applying to kindergarten listed last year, and which had ~55 non-sibling slots), you will be sent instead to the school with the most remaining openings, typically one of the three lowest performing schools in the district. The strategic ramifications get complicated quickly. Although it is obviously insane to list the most popular choices, I don’t know anyone at our preschool other than us who’s not listing Clarendon as their first choice. I guess the logic is that over 1500 other families can’t be wrong?

That said, I feel it’s kind of cool that we’re not locked into any one school unless we move away or pay for private school. But ask me again in March when the school assignments are released.

It’s a different world now. My mom just moved to a good neighborhood right before I turned five and turned me over to the public school. I can’t wash my hands of Mimi like that. It sucks. It never occurred to me that maybe I would have a problem with public schools.

You know Gatito the best, and have to think about his being really challenged. Do you read Here Be Hippogriffs?

The one thing that comforts me is that we can always move schools later if there’s a problem and she will adapt. So I am going to try this kindergarten first. I hope you find a perfect solution, like a magnet or charter school. I hope Gatito finds and stimulating, challenging and fun environment. I hope they all do. I’m sad for our public schools that in this time of shortfalls and layoffs, the systems aren’t working harder to keep good teachers and kids in public schools.