Preschool

I picked up Robbie from Lisa's early yesterday so that we could meet up with Colin before the Springhill Preschool Open House. We decided to meet at the school and then we'll see what's in the area to grab a bite. Colin got there before us, at about 4, and there was already a line up forming! So we scratched the idea of a dinner before hand and we stood in line, of course it had to be the one day out of the week where there was a bitter cold windchill. Robbie's feeling a little under the weather these past couple days (dry cough - which makes for a pretty cute/funny voice) so he was a little impatient and little Lana had a bloody nose and mouth due to her two left feet. Lana and I waited in the car and snaked on raisins while RW wanted to stay with Daddy. They finally opened the doors right around 5 and it was a calm rush to the registration table, we were 4th? 5th? in line (Colin did some investigating and it seems like we were the 2nd kid for the 4yr old age group) So after we submitted our papers and gave them a $25 non-refundable deposit they told us that they were still processing their alumni students and they'll let us know by the weekend if they have a spot for Robbie.... That's not fair. We're giving you $25 why? To hold our papers for the chance to get a spot? You knew when the open house was, why don't you have your ducks in order? (first red flag)

So then it was open house time. Robbie flocked to the first room which was obviously the gross motors room - mini basketball, mini trampoline, tricycles, etc. What I was happy with was that there was no one there to talk to in this room. The registration table is in the hallway right beside this room and yet there's no one to talk to? There's a line-up going all the way down the hallway and outside so it was practically impossible to get to the other room. This room was where everything else went on - crafts, play, learning, etc. The parents and kids that were still waiting in line were in this room (while the other spouse stayed in line) talking to all the teachers and playing with the toys. So there was no one to talk to and RW was a little overwhelmed with all the people, noise and new toys. He wasn't listening at all, so we left shortly there after.

I was pretty disappointed in the whole process. I felt like a herded cattle, gave them $25.00 and in return got a "you'll know by the weekend" answer and there was no one available to talk to. It is a fair bit of a drive too, if RW did go into this school he'd finish @ 4 and seeing as though Colin's work is just 10 minutes away, having Colin pick him up could be fun for him (he's got a brand new seat in the black car which he's quite proud of). I was so excited about this school because it got wicked reviews from parents, I don't know... I wasn't getting those warm fuzzy feelings.

Last night we found 2 more preschools that are having an open house in the next two weeks, one of them is the same school that Jonas and Madyson (Lisa's kids) go to. It's close by and it sounds like they actually care who's attending their school, there's a family interview they do afterwards to make sure the family's a right fit for the school. It is a Christian school, so I'm not sure if that puts a red flag on us - but Colin is baptised and we have been talking about wanting to go to church so this could be a good fit for us.