Finding a school in Manhattan

In September, it’s Back to School season in New York.

If I say we have to think about a school for our daughter, 

turning 3 this weekend, some people may say, 

“Hey, what are you talking about? It’s too LATE!”

Because her friends have turned 3 or will, 

they will all enter pre-school this month.

Their mothers started to research schools last fall, a year ago.

They had some difficulties with the interviews in a cold winter, 

then finally got the approval letters in spring.

Oh, I didn’t know this shocking fact: that it takes so long for the preparation.

Sorry,  my daughter.

Your mother couldn’t possibly do such a feat.

Although I feel bad for my daughter, it is another, 

bigger shock that for private pre-school 

in Manhattan, tuition is around $20,000 a year on average.

At the famous girls’ school on the Upper East Side, 

the one Paris Hilton attended, tuition

is around $30,000….I can’t find the words..

It costs more than $2,000 a month, if I exclude holidays.

And to my surprise, even if we pay such a huge amount of money for our child,

some schools don’t take care of them all day, every day, but only a few hours, 

two or three days a week.

This unbelievably bad cost performance gives me a headache…

Mmm…. even if we had started last year,

I really wonder if we can send our daughter to pre-school….

Why is this cost so extremely high?

How can people send their child to pre-school so easily?

When I first came to New York, my head was full of question marks, 

but I think I can understand this complex situation little by little.

Most Japanese parents or expats  don’t have to pay themselves; 

their company supports their child’s education.

They don’t have any problems. It’s all clear to me.

Then there actually are superrich people like a Hilton in Manhattan, 

from all over the world.

To such millionaires or billionaires, $30,000 might be equal to $30 or $3…

That’s very clear, too.

Or many parents prepare carefully for the competitive application for 

a prestigious school, pre-kindergarten through high school.

If they send their child to such a school with a good reputation, 

he or she might have a better chance to enter an Ivy League college.

It makes sense to me.

Although in my estimation; most parents in the city may not fit into those categories.

Couples work hard and don’t have money to spare for luxuries, 

but they can still manage to send their child to a private school, 

even if it’s only for a few years.

Such parents may  be longing for a public school after pre-school.

In some way I can understand their parental love.

Or I know some parents are receiving financial aid, depending on income.

But……

We are not rich, double-income or covered by financial aid.

What should we do?

I am at a loss, but I encourage myself and start doing research 

night after night after my daughter goes to sleep,

On the website of the New York City Department of Education ( DOE ), 

I can find a Spanish version,

French, Hindi, Mandarin, Korean…and more than 10 translations, 

but no Japanese…

Sigh… it’s time to test my reading comprehension of English and patience.

While I’m surfing the web, I finally find information that the city provides public pre-kindergarten ( Pre-K ) for 4-year-olds.

Plus.....Wow, really? It’s all free?!

Yeah!!!!

Well, but wait.

One is $20,000 or $30,000, and the other is FREE.

Then why do people send their child to private schools?

Since this unfathomable mystery can’t be solved, 

I ask some mothers who have been living here for a long time.

They say, of course everybody wants to send their child to public pre-K, 

so it’s too competitive to get in. 

Children with elder siblings get first priority, and there are no seats 

for children without siblings.

They don’t take any tests or interview; it’s just luck if there’s availability or not.

To make matter worse, they say the public pre-K program is too limited to 

cover all school districts.

That’s why most children do not have a chance to enter public pre-K, 

and their unhappy parents pay a lot of money for private pre-school.

I see…but I still cannot give up on trying to get public service.

Are there any other ways?

I’m wondering if it’s human nature, but as I’m really desperate,

I can catch difficult, tiny English letters word by word on the website.

Again I read through the DOE website very carefully.

They prepare alternative service for children who can’t get into school.

They say "First Come, First Served”

So I need to fight to get approval, but it seems worth trying.

Well, I’m so surprised that the cost of educationt from elementary

to high school, if it’s public, is all FREE.

However, if it’s private it might be more than tens of millions more…

What a great difference!

Is it the national character to make things so black and white?

Not surprisingly, many parents aim to send their children to public schools.

I fully realize that to families raising children, where they live is 

closely related to school.

In New York City, especially Manhattan, even in public schools, 

each school has different features.

For example, their academic level, students’ races, school policy 

and curriculums vary.

If parents want to send their children to public schools, 

some of them think about a school first, and then start to search for

a place to live within the school district, just like us!

Around a neighborhood with good schools, there are many rich families

with high incomes, and housing prices are high, too.

In contrast, at schools in low-income residential areas, 

academic levels are proportionately lower and reflect the ethnic makeup.

I heard that in a very popular school district in Greenwich Village, 

some parents are eager to send their child to the public school, 

which has a good reputation. 

To qualify for the school, they even rent a studio in the school district.

It’s very similar to the problem of public nurseries in Tokyo.

Even so, families are assigned to different, unwanted schools 

in the next district and have no choice but to send their child to a private school.

It means that applying to a popular school with a long waiting list must be a big gamble..

Many people are sick and tired of such a competitive situation 

in Manhattan and think,

” Why don’t we get out of the city and buy a big house with 

a huge backyard in the suburbs if we spend a same amount of money?”

It’s very natural to think like that, and many couples leave the city 

once they have a baby.

To the families who want their children to go to public school, 

from elementary to high school, it’s very reasonable to move and 

rent or buy a new house depending on the schools.

In the same way, we’ve been searching for a new place to live to look toward

the future when my daughter can go to a public kindergarten when she is 5.

A kindergarten year is a preparation for 1st grade, 

but it seems like a unique system in America.

Since kindergarten is directly connected to the next five grades, 

it’s very important for parents to select a kindergarten.

But how to select an elementary school…

It’s still too far away for me to feel it is real.

Again…I work till late at night straining my eyes on the DOE website..

Once I start my research, I’m surprised that almost everything about 

a public school in New York City can be seen on the web! 

I’m overwhelmed by the mass of data, including test scores categorized 

by subjects, students’ progressive, bullying research, teachers’ salaries 

and reports from parents. Everything is totally open to the public!

What transparency…

I think I see America’s open-mindedness here.

When parents start to search for a school, the DOE never sends us 

a letter about application process. We need to do everything ourselves.

Some parents hire a private consultant, but usually, no one helps us.

We need to face this big project alone.

Parents have to keep checking the website a-- nd not only DOE’s, 

but many others -- and carefully collect information and analyze it.

Then if necessary, we have to hear the real voices some parents 

in front of the school gate.

Even if we are rejected for an appointment for the school tour, 

we can’t be shy, but have to negotiate…

So, parents have to have the ability to collect the right information 

and analyze it objectively. 

Moreover, it’s very important to have great negotiating and 

networking skills, and we should be patient and self-motivated…etc.

Sigh…we need to have countless competencies.

Where is such a super parent in this world?

So, especially for a mother like me who has recently come from abroad, 

searching for a school and a home is almost a full-time job.

Everything is our own responsibility.

This is America…..

I miss the ward office in Tokyo, sending me a letter notifying me of 

vaccines for my daughter.

In Japan, I often complained that the line was too long to wait or 

I was sent around a ward office, but it was nothing!! When I think it over, 

Japan is a good country, really…

Anyway, what is a GOOD school?

Is it good for parents?

While I’m in working on it, I tend to forget, but the important thing is 

that my daughter likes the school and wants to go there every day.

I want to remember all the time that it’s for my child, not for me.

Mother has such a wish and keeps working tonight in front of the PC.