Devin will be attending preschool this fall!

Starting August 23rd Devin will officially be a big boy. Frank and I decided that 3 was a good age to send him to preschool part time for a few reasons. First, he loves to socialize and play with friends and does this well. Secondly, he knows his ABC's, most of the sounds, can count well and listens to directions when we do crafts and play games. Lastly, he is obsessed with older kids (like most younger kids) and wants nothing but to be in school just like our neighbors. Preschool seemed like the logical next step.

The search was a little over whelming. Las Vegas is really just a big town with little boroughs/sections of towns all around the strip. We live in the SW area of the valley and it takes about 25 min to get from one side to the other in either direction. I was fine with a small drive since I have to drive to get anywhere being as we live in the corner. I knew one thing when we started this search, I did NOT want a daycare center that offered preschool. I wanted a 'school' that accepted younger kids. I wanted the formality of a structured school without babies/younger toddlers as a distraction.

Having my type of school in mind made it much easier to narrow it down. There are only two kind of preschools in Las Vegas that are not daycare facilities as well; Private and Parochial. Both require kids to be 2 yr 9 mo/3 yrs old and fully potty trained. I wanted to make sure I saw as much as I could so I checked them both out. Two friends of ours are sending their children to Faith Lutheran preschool in the fall and they spoke highly of it, so that is where I started. We are not a religious family but we both felt that it was ok if a church based preschool is where Devin went if it fit our needs.

our needs
1. two days a week
2. half days-am session
3. not too too far away

The parochial school does teach religion and understanding of faith and Jesus. I would like Devin to learn about this at some point since Frank never did and I did not until college. We were both brought up with good morals and values just not taught from a church.

Next was the private preschools. We narrowed it down to three purely for price, location and parental reviews. We did our walk through at school one and Devin fell in love. This school offers age 3-5th grade. He sat down with the director of the preschool to "talk" which was to really evaluate what level he was going to be fit with. At this school the children in each age group are divided as to their skills. We then went out to the playground to see it and Devin joined right in with the other children and then when they had to go inside, he lined up with them. (sigh, so sweet) We stayed outside a bit longer and then once we walked into the classroom he was very inquisitive to what they were doing. Being time to go, the headmaster told Devin it was nice to meet him and he started to cry because he did not want to leave. The teacher gave him a special treat, and we were on our way.

Private school 2 which is closer and offers up to 8th grade was next. They just started to offer half day schedules, but require a 5 day attendance. I met up with the director and asked if we could split a full week with another family since we really only need part time. She said although it was highly requested, "NO."  Well ok then. School 2 was squashed within 5 min of the walk through.

Private school 3 did not have two days a week at part time available. They had 3 days a week part time or two days a week full time. Tuition wise, that was just way too much money considering I am a stay at home mom and do not 'need' to send him to school. School 3 now not an option.

So now after going back and forth between the parochial and private we decided private. At this point we figured it would be better for him that 100% of his school day be dedicated to scholastic study instead of scholastic and religious study. Three hours is a short amount of time to be shared with an additional concentration.  Devin will be attending Challenger Day School this fall! Hooray. We went yesterday and turned in his application and tuition and he is set to go Tuesdays/Thursdays in the morning. I already spoke to the director of the preschool and he has been accepted and from his previous evaluation he will most likely be grouped with the advanced group. Now I think it is funny they rate 3 year olds...but in the same sense it is great because I would rather him be learning with kids at his pace instead of having to relearn information he already knows. They say he will be reading this school year-PSHT we will see about that. I know he can sound letters out now, but reading?

Now for the bonus......if we are still in Las Vegas by the time he attends kindergarten in 2 years, I can get a job teaching at this school and tuition is taken care of completely for his kindergarten and Riley's preschool she would have to attend. Since it is private, you do not have to have a elementary teaching degree and after speaking to the director and headmaster they seemed pretty confident that I would have no problem. The Las Vegas school district is one of (if not THE worst) systems in the country as a whole. Florida is bad too....but I do believe Clark County rivals that. We would love him to stay private if we are out here but that will not work unless his tuition is covered by my employment.