School Choice Is Great...Until You Actually Have To Choose
In my day, specifically August of 1974, we didn't have "school choice". In Topeka, KS, your options were go to your nearest public grade school, or go to a parochial school. So there wasn't a whole lot for my parents to consider; I walked three blocks down the street to Carl Lundgren Elementary, and that was that. There was no "emphasis". There were no "styles of learning". Certainly, there was no "year round school" or "uniform" to consider.
All of that has apparently changed. In St. Paul, you have a very large variety of schools to choose from. On the one hand, you have what would be the equivalent of your generic neighborhood school, in our case Randolph Heights Elementary.
But there are also magnet schools, and schools with special emphases, such as:
Tri-District, which has a large campus with ponds, pastures, wooded areas. The emphasis is on environmental studies.
Crossroads, which offers both a science magnet program and a Montessori magnet program.
Adams, which is a Spanish immersion school.
And so on. There are just a lot of choices. In addition to all of these magnet schools, there are the parochial and private schools, which we won't be able to afford, and might not want to go to anyway.
It's great that there are all of these options, and that there are no real cost barriers to attending (though you may have to get on a waiting list or go through a lottery to get in). But I have to say, it's hard to choose a school with all of these choices. Which style of learning is best? What are the facilities like? There are a lot of open houses and education articles in my near future.
Most of all, it's hard to believe that my little boy is going to be getting on a bus sooner than I think, and riding away to a daily life that he will have to negotiate on his own terms. I can remember my own days in kindergarten very clearly. He's almost there himself. The time is just flying by.
9:23:30 AM 
|
