They'd Better Put This Much Thought Into My Nursing Home

Here's what I remember about kindergarten:

1. We had a teacher named Miss Merry, who was quite large and when she sneezed, we'd all mimic her "ah...ah...ah...choooie!!" Big laughs.

2. On picture day, I wore a long dress (shut up, it was the 70s!) and John Aceto stuck his head under my dress while I was sitting in circle. I was horrified (enough that I remember his name 34 years later).

HRH will be attending kindergarten in the fall so it's time to register. We - and every parent of a five year old I know - are in the throws of some major decision-making. So when did choosing the right kindergarten become as crucial as choosing the right college?

Do we go public? Do we go private (insert second mortgage here)? Do we go Catholic? What are our values and which school will best instill those?

Thoughts on Public:
We live in a nice neighborhood of a city outside Boston. A few years ago, they closed down all the neighborhood schools and built a few brand new, beautiful warehouses schools that house literally thousands of children. Our designated public school currently has FIVE kindergartens with about 25+ kids apiece. I can't imagine my boys thriving in that environment.

Thoughts on Private:
Andy attended smaller private schools and jokes that he was the token Irish-Catholic. At these schools, competition wasn't 'who did better on the math quiz', it was 'my daddy makes more money than yours'. Is that really what I want to teach my kids? Plus, let's be realistic, we can't shell out anywhere from $12 -25K per kid, per year!

Thoughts on Catholic:

I attended a small Catholic school since first grade and graduated high school with just 68 other kids, many of whom were classmates from that very first grade. Because of its size, our school lacked many extra curriculars that would have provided a more fully-rounded education.

I'm very much an ala carte Catholic (I agree with this, I believe in that, that's a metaphor, God doesn't really care if I eat meat on Fridays in Lent, and so forth) but I do believe in God and I do want my children to have faith in their lives. So Catholic it is! Erm. Right?

So. Right. Catholic school. I mean, Catholic School! Woo-Hoo! Now. Which one? There are three under consideration at the moment, one being my alma mater (see? Catholic school education = Latin!). All with open houses toward the end of the month.

And not one with a team in the NCAA.