Beyond the Brochure – Page 27 – By Christina Simon, Anne Simon and Porcha Dodson. A blog for parents who are applying to private elementary schools in Los Angeles. And, what life is really like at some of these schools.

The Lowdown on L.A. Private Elementary School Tours by Alice

August 11, 2015August 11, 2015 admin Leave a comment

If it’s your first time through the private school gauntlet, the tours are everything. As a family you are trying to make a decision that could impact the next six to twelve years of your lives and no other form of reconnaissance replaces boots on the ground. Even if you’ve seen the brochures, or have driven by a particular school countless times and even if all your best friend’s kids go there and they’ve given all the inside scoop, it still doesn’t replace the tour.

For me the campus was never exactly what I pictured. No matter how eloquent my friends were, or how well photographed a campus was, really walking around it was irreplaceable. It’s seeing the kids and their enthusiasm or lack there of. It’s feeling the buzz in the air, the way and where they eat, where the backpacks get tossed, the lockers, the fields, the size of the campus, how it’s maintained. All of these little vignettes come together to paint a picture. For most of us, it’s a feeling we get, that out kid would be happy, or not, in any given school.

It’s also really the best time to get your questions out. The “evening” that many of the schools sponsor specifically for Q & A’s with kids often feels staged and overly prepared. As my friend Karen said about one evening in particular, “The kids felt like they’d been too coached. The headmaster at the time stood off to the side. If questions went in a direction he wasn’t comfortable with, he’d jump in and steer things in another direction. “

Particularly if you get lucky and get a student led tour, even if your student guide is extremely well prepared and rehearsed, you’re going to have a chance for real interaction and get a more candid insights into what your guide loves about his or her school. For that reason alone, I’m a fan of student led tours.

However, many tours of K-8 schools are done by admissions officers and that’s still a good opportunity not only to see the school and ask questions, but to see if it’s a personality match. Don’t panic if your child is a total dolt through whole tour. Admissions people have seen it all. For most kindergarten classes they are looking more at the family than the child (assuming the child is not an outlier).

There are some schools that are so exclusive it’s hard to get a tour. I tried to tour John Thomas Dye and Curtis for my son, but I waited until September to call and apparently I was too late!. If you don’t get on the tour/application list over the summer at those schools you’re out, and there’s no getting back in.

Also buyer beware. Most schools do a good job of touring and your little one may fall in love. My son fell in love with Oakwood on the tour, but I had an early sense Oakwood wasn’t in love with us and I was right. He didn’t get in, so don’t let a five-year old’s emotions play too big a role in your decision making and what eggs you are putting in what baskets. The family and school have to be a match and that really isn’t going to be determined by the tour. You will learn things. You may decide a school is or isn’t right, but a lot of other things have to line up between the tour and an acceptance letter.

Final note, one woman I know got pretty offended when she was being toured by an admissions director only to look around and see the Headmaster touring another family. Why them and not me she thought? The truth is there could be a million good reasons, including they are his relatives. Let it go and enjoy the tour. It really is about you. It’s about your chance to see the place and get the feel for it and then all the other posturing, planning, applying, interviewing, waiting and suffering can take place.

God Speed.

Mother of three, Alice attended east coast private schools as a child and has been in the private school world as a parent for nearly twenty years. Her kids attended Mirman for elementary, then Harvard-Westlake and Brentwood for high school, with one still to go. She is a writer working in film, TV and for various magazines such as Family Fun, Wondertime, Glamour and Brides.

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“Happier” and “Sorta Awesome” Podcasts Chat About L.A. Private School Admissions

August 5, 2015August 5, 2015 admin 1 Comment

This summer I’ve been listening to podcasts as I drive around L.A dropping off my kids at camp, doing errands, folding laundry or even as I cook dinner. I’ve discovered they’re a nice break from radio and TV and they’re very easy to download onto my phone from iTunes.

Two new engaging and insightful podcasts recently mentioned the L.A. private elementary school admissions process, which, of course, made me smile. Isn’t this what so many L.A. moms of preschool age kids talk about?

Happier, hosted by New York Times bestselling author, Gretchen Rubin, and her sister, Elizabeth Craft, a television writer in L.A. co-host one of my favorite podcasts. This show is all about practical ways to make your life happier and more productive. In episode #2, Elizabeth gives herself a demerit (one of the show’s regular features, along with gold stars) for the tremendous stress she put herself through over whether or not to cancel a parent interview during the kindergarten admissions process. You’ll have to listen to find out if her reason for even thinking about trying to reschedule was valid.

Sorta Awesome is a fun new podcast co-hosted by Laura Tremaine (Hollywood Housewife) and her friend Megan Tietz. It is all about finding the awesome in everyday life, as they cover topics like parenting, friendship, how to host a great party and green and frugal living tips. I know Laura through blogging, so I was super-excited to see her launch this latest project. In episode #6, Laura shares her thoughts about some of the requirements involved in L.A. private school admissions. You’ll have to listen to hear more about what has her thinking aloud–and loudly!– on the subject. Laura has written previously about the ups and downs of finding the right preschool in L.A.

It’s always interesting to hear snippets of candid conversations from L.A. moms who are either applying–or thinking about applying–to schools. It’s a reminder that almost nothing about the admissions process is predictable.

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3 Things I (Unexpectedly) Found Challenging About L.A. Kindergarten Admissions

July 29, 2015July 29, 2015 admin Leave a comment

Photo: Emran Kassin, Flickr Creative Commons

If you talked to me the summer before we applied to kindergarten for my daughter, I would have told you certain things I was predicting would go smoothly and other things I was worried about. (I use “we” because schools are evaluating both your kid and your family.)

As with so many things in life, I got it only partially right. The stuff that was easy (in retrospect) wasn’t the stuff I thought would cause me to stumble. The things that I expected to go smoothly didn’t for one reason or another.

The private school admissions process in L.A. is very unpredictable. We all know that, but until you have the admissions letters in your hand, or an email in your inbox, you just don’t know how erratic it can be.

My kids have been accepted, wait-listed and in one case, we withdrew our application because the parent interview went so badly we knew the school would never admit our family (I write about this in the book). We were so appalled at they way the admissions director handled the interview we lost interest in the school.

Here are 3 things I (unexpectedly) found challenging:

Getting to the school on time at the correct location. Actually, I went to the wrong location at one school, completely stressing me out and leaving me a frazzled wreck. The school has two separate campuses and I went to the high school, not the elementary school. With L.A. traffic, the drive time is so unpredictable, it’s not even slightly humorous to discuss what it feels like to be running late to a school interview. Just leave even earlier than you think is super-early.

Sitting in a room with prospective parents while our kids were being tested for kindergarten. Listening to the conversations happening around me made me want to exit the room through a secret back door, if only one existed. “Kate is hosting Board Member X at her Aspen house and we’ll be there in a few weeks so I’m not worried,” says one mom to another.” “Alex tested off the charts gifted so Mirman is always an option for us,” says the other mom. “Ava’s soccer coach says he’s never seen a kid with so much talent.” “Ben’s writing his first book. So adorbable!” And so on and on and on and ON AND ON. BLAH BLAH BLAH. Bring a book or a magazine or a Kindle or something so you can block out all this chatter.

Realizing that the mom giving the tour isn’t always the best reflection of the school. Yes, she may be an ambassador for the school since she’s holding a very visible volunteer position. But, if her behavior is rude, disinterested or cluelessly uninformed, it doesn’t always mean the school is all of those things. Parents can be selected to lead tours for various reasons ($$$ donations) and now I know these volunteers are just one out of many parents at the school. Unfortunately, they just happen to be showing you around that day. Instead of focusing on her, here’s what you should be looking for.

Beyond The Brochure, the book and the blog contains all the information I wish I’d had before we applied to Los Angeles private elementary schools. It’s the issues, big and small, I’d tell you about if we were having coffee, just the two of us.

Coming Soon: Things I Thought Would Be Difficult, But Were Not So Bad

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5 Tips To Get A Head Start L.A.’s Fall Private School Admissions Frenzy

July 27, 2015June 4, 2017 admin 1 Comment

Few things can cause parents as much stress as navigating the private school admissions process. More and more, getting in to private schools, even starting at the elementary level, can be a daunting process.

Tip #1: Spend a few hours researching private elementary school websites; create a list of schools you want to tour, create a binder with sections for each school. If you prefer to organize your school search online, bookmark school sites and create folders for each school, adding information as you find it. This will save you a lot of time in the fall.

Tip #2: Familiarize yourself with the types of schools in your area; traditional, developmental, progressive, parochial. Keep an open mind and plan to tour more than one type of school!

Tip #3: Test drive the route. Drive to the school and back during morning rush hour with kids in the car to see if it’s too far from your home. If the school is a long walk or bus ride from your home, give that a try too. Many parents who enroll in schools that require extremely long commutes end up leaving the school after a year or two.

Tip #4: Tell everyone you know that you’re thinking about private elementary school; you’ll be surprised at the knowledge and contacts this will reveal. People are often willing to help by sharing information or even offering to write letters of recommendation.

Tip #5: If you’re interested in a school, request an application packet now, either online or by calling the school. They will gladly send you one immediately or add you to the list if the applications aren’t ready yet.

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An L.A. Private School Kid’s Very Unproductive Summer

July 20, 2015July 20, 2015 admin Leave a comment

What's your kid doing this summer? Photo: NASA — What’s your kid doing this summer?
Photo: NASA

Not sure about you, but it’s mid-July and I think I have to chalk this summer up to failure. My poor L.A. private school son is becoming totally uneducated as the days race unproductively by.

I talk to his classmate’s mothers and I know I’ve failed. His friends are in “coding” camp, or studying programming at UCLA. Or they are working out their artistic muscles doing theatre, studying music or painting. Others still are being tutored twice a week in preparation for fifth grade.

Those who aren’t so systematically being educated, seem to be on various educational trips, seeing Washington DC, or other important geographical locations in Europe or India.

In contrast, my kid is getting a lot of TV watching in, becoming more proficient at Googling inappropriate things and improving his Play Station 3 skills. He’s also learned Twitter. I’m so proud.

In my defense, I’d like to say he does read with his father and plays a lot of baseball. He has pretty much summarily rejected all camp as cruel and unusal punshiment. Even the baseball camps are too much for him any more. He wants to be “FREE!”

A few choice quotes from my poetic son: “I work all year, this is my time now!” “Parents send their kids to camps because they don’t like their kids! Don’t you like me?” “No more learning! I learned all year long. Enough!!”

He’s hard to argue with. But the $26K a year we spend on a private school education in L.A. is also apparently not enough. All the other parents seem to have gotten the memo early that more summer education would be required in order to succeed. In truth, I got the memo but ignored it. Now here it is mid-July and I’m scared. What if this summer of idle behavior and lazy days gets him so off course that we never recover? What if 5th grade is the end of him, because he’s the kid who forgets how to do math or spell his name?

I’m prone to hyperbole and am known to be a little dramatic, but the underlying fear is real. Everyone has it. None of those kids begged to go to “coding camp” or to brush up on their pre algebra. It’s just another lap in the rat race that we willing enter when we sign up for a private school education.

I know what I should have done. I’ve done some of those kind of camps before. We all know the list… Those places and offerings that will enlighten and educate our kids. This year I just boldly ignored it.

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