Preschool Panic: This School's For You

This is my preschool tour look

I think I'm finally recovered enough from the time change to give the as-promised preschool tour review.  As I mentioned yesterday, we went on three preschool tours last week.  Thankfully, my anxiety about taking these tours has subsided now that I've been on five of them, so I'm no longer losing sleep over my skunk roots or my wardrobe.

The school that gave me the wrong time frame for the tour turned out to be really charming.  It has the best outdoor space by far, but the Director was less than inspiring and the other parents on the tour were  either not very "hip" or, worse, totally overprotective and psycho.  There seem to be a couple of the security freaks on every school tour, and I suppose it's impossible to avoid them given that we live in a huge city, but folks, they really get my goat.  I just can't handle the endless questions about gate codes, and security guards, and background checks of other parents.  Maybe the problem is with me and a lifetime spent living in large urban areas, but if you're expecting a school in the middle of Los Angeles to resemble something in a small town in Iowa, you're really barking up the wrong tree.  Anyway, setting aside the parents that I wanted to punch in the face, I really loved the energy of the second school we visited.  The Founder of the school was inspiring and artistic and warm and charming and just seemed fun.  The classrooms reflected this, and I loved that the kids have the same two teachers for all three years.  The other parents on this tour were hip and cool and totally my people (except for the token overprotective weirdos), but the outside space is meh.  So far, this place is in second position to the school we saw a few weeks back, only because the Hubby and I both like the idea of Noah staying at the same place for more than just preschool.

I mentioned this in yesterday's post, but the third school we looked at has been crossed off our list.  We loved that it looks like something from the East Coast, but the classrooms were cold, the teachers uninspiring, and the kids have to attend chapel once a week.  Supposedly this jaunt to the affiliated church is non-denominational, but that just didn't sit right with us.  Sure, we're a couple of Jews who celebrate Christmas, but that doesn't mean we want Noah being forced to learn The Lord's Prayer.  I'm all about freedom of religion except when it might be confusing for my son.  The other parents on the tour at this school were definitely Eastside parents, which I loved.  Lots of vintage clothes, tattoos and same sex parents - all the hipster stuff we're looking for in a preschool.  We did have a private laugh though, because one set of security freaks from earlier in the week were in our tour group.  Their raison d'etre on Sunday happened to be the lunch program, so we were treated to a never ending list of questions regarding the calorie count, the origin, and the preparation of all the food served to the preschoolers.  I finally reminded these nutritional Nazis that they are welcome to pack a lunch for their child, therefore negating any concerns they might have about the spinach in next week's quiche not being organic.  I'm sure they think I'm a real pain in the ass because I shut down their questioning, but Momma had a hangover and I didn't want to be stuck there all day hearing about how the grilled cheese is prepared. 

We're currently taking a hiatus from preschool tours until sometime next year, so I'm afraid you'll just have to wait with baited breath for further tales of freaky parents.