Finding it hard to put words on a blank page? Struggling how to describe your kid? Pondering questions you didn’t expect?
Here’s my latest post about getting started writing and things to be sure to include in written applications for private elementary school. On Elizabeth Street.
One of our wonderful readers sent us the information about The Oaks School in Hollywood’s Holiday Bazaar. She’s one of the event co-chairs:
“The event is December 6th, 2013 from 2:30-7:30 p.m. is open to the community. It would be a great opportunity for families to see the school, our fantastic kids and meet parents. The very special thing about the Oaks is the sense of community we have and aside from our weekly parent coffee on Fridays, the Holiday Bazaar is one of the best times to witness this. Our students are very much a part of the Bazaar- we start after school and have an array of fun activities for the kids including a workshop by The Actor’s Gang, crafts, games and a photo booth. The children also have two booths at the Bazaar- one for crafts they have created and another for baked goods made by students. They staff the booths with the help of a few parent volunteers and sell their handmade items. In addition to terrific vendors, Loteria Grill will be serving dinner.” The Oaks School
Interesting article in The Atlantic which says black boys fit in more easily in white suburban schools than black girls and gives reasons as to why social acceptance of black boys happens more easily. (The Atlantic)
Pasadena Waldorf School’s 28th Annual Elves’ Faire. Sat. Nov. 23, 10 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Open to the community. Pasadena Waldorf School.
Start your weekend with these heartwarming, adorable photos of Momma’s Gone City’s toddler and their rescued puppy together daily at nap time. Love.
Private elementary school directors can be powerful gatekeepers or distracted notetakers. You’ll encounter them when you tour schools and/or have a parent interview at a private elementary school. Here’s a piece I wrote for Elizabeth Street about 3 types of admissions directors you’ll meet. –Christina
Here’s a previous post: Admissions Directors, The Keys To The Empire
It’s here! The Second Edition of Beyond The Brochure: An Insider’s Guide To Private Elementary Schools In Los Angeles is now available.
Here’s what’s in the Second Edition:
Anne, Porcha and I are extremely excited to release the Second Edition of Beyond The Brochure. Since the summer, we have been working on what can truly be called a labor of love: the second edition. When we began the book and the blog in Sept. 2009, we had no idea where it would take us. It has been one of the most wonderful and rewarding parts of our professional lives. We’ve read every email you’ve sent us, we read all your blog comments and we answer your questions whenever possible. As always, our goal is to help parents better understand the competitive private elementary school admissions process in Los Angeles.
THANK YOU, thank you, thank you, to each and every one of you for your support for our book, for reading our blog and for continuing to encourage our work with your kind words. We’ve enjoyed meeting many of you at preschool speaking events, as we talk about kindergarten admissions. To those of you who have become personal friends as a result of this book and blog, we are lucky to have met you.
The Second Edition of Beyond The Brochure is available now on Amazon and is also at It’s A Children’s World and Chevalier’s on Larchmont. Look for it in Barnes & Noble in about 6-8 weeks.
All our best,
Christina, Anne and Porcha
As the mother of a preschooler, I’ve been a faithful reader of this blog and the Beyond The Brochure book for a while now, so when it finally came time to start finding a Kindergarten for our son for next fall I felt pretty prepared. A month into the process, though, it was obvious I still had some lessons to learn!
1. Time flies
Wow, I feel like we just got into preschool and *bam* it’s already time to look for a Kindergarten. And I quickly discovered that the time between the fall Kindergarten fair and “tour season” is pretty short. I had to quickly finish my research in order to come up with our list of prospectives in time to rsvp for tours. Tours fill up fast so RSVP early!
2. Your preschool administrator really is your greatest resource
I think our son is perfect, of course, and would do well at any school but I was very overwhelmed trying to decide what school style would be the best fit for us. Traditional? Progressive? Big? Small? Our preschool director was a tremendous help here, and we really worked closely with her to come up with a list of prospective schools where our son could really thrive.
3. Tour early, tour often
This is one of the biggies that I wish I’d taken more to heart. If I’d toured even a few schools last year (ie: two years before our Kindergarten entry) like Beyond the Brochure recommends, that’s a few more schools I could’ve either seen again or crossed off the list and saved some hurried pavement pounding.
4. Take notes
This seems like a no-brainer, but I was surprised at how few parents at fairs or on tours actually take notes. Through fairs, tours, events, etc. we probably met easily 4-6 people associated with each school on our list. That’s a lot of names to mix up. When it’s application time I definitely want to be able to reference some of the administrators and teachers we met along the way.
5. Drive the route. During rush-hour.
There were some schools on our list that we really loved but after doing some test runs during the morning and afternoon commutes it became painfully obvious that it just wasn’t feasible to make it to school in one direction and then head all the way across town to work in the opposite direction. What seems like a blow-off at 10am for a tour is a completely different story at 8am, so unfortunately we had to cross an entire area of goods schools off our list. Because remember, however far away the school is, you’re in the car for four times that duration, going there and back and there and back!
6. Do your research and keep an open mind
The first school we toured I didn’t know much about and had considered it more as a backup but ended up loving it. Conversely, a couple of schools we really had high hopes for seemed great on the surface, but going, well, beyond the brochure and asking friends and fellow parents about the schools turned up some unpleasant surprises about their academics. And one popular school everyone raves about seemed perfect for us from the website but 30 seconds into the tour we could tell it wasn’t right for our family at all. School websites and brochures can tell you a lot about the place but don’t be afraid to dig a little deeper. And please, don’t be that parent on the tour who asks questions that are obviously answered on the school’s website!
The fall tour season seems a little frantic, but thanks to great tips from the Beyond The Brochure blog and book I actually feel somewhat prepared. Now that we’ve narrowed our list down to schools we like, I can’t wait for the next phase of the process: applications!
Sharie Piper (not her real name) is on pins and needles to see where her son ends up going to school next year and can’t wait to do it all again in a few years for her daughter.