Calhoun vs Metropolitan Montessori vs West Side

Only apply to Calhoun if you are sure you'll be happy sending your kid there for the long haul. It isn't easy to switch once you're in, and though it can be tempting to take the spot for a 3 year old knowing that you don't have to go through the private school "process" again, Calhoun is NOT for everyone. I encourage you to tour, though, because many people do love it. I completely agree with whatever you've heard about the kids being happy and though I wouldn't go so far as to say ignorant, they're not the most academic kids either.

I'm not a fan of Montessori at all so I can't help much with that. Why are these 3 schools your only choices?

Thanks for the comment. Sorry I was just quoting a comment I saw on the internet about Calhoun. We are actually considering sending our daughter there.

Calhoun will be our first choice, but we have artistic kids (musicians) that tend to do great in this kind of environment. At 3, is hard to tell if your child will be more academic or artistic oriented.

Thanks for the comment mimi. true that at 3 it is hard to tell. Just curious how old your kids are. Do you know any Calhoun parents? Do you have any comments regarding the parent-school communication?

komin, I researched the schools and talked with people that knows about it, but no, I don´t know people that has kids there now. Some very interesting people have attended. It seems that Banks is very good, too, or so my friends say.
My kids are 1O and 15. Here is an interesting video about education: Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

By the way, we live overseas, but might return to NY soon, hence the interest in Calhoun.

Bit WSMS fans here.

Big....not Bit.

Our former neighbor/babysitter was a Calhoun HS student and I found her and her Calhoun friends to be quite wonderful...bright, articulate, down-to-earth, socially conscious, varied interests...she's now attending Wellesley and doing very well. Have you toured the Upper and Middle schools? Perhaps the school could provide you with the names of parents willing to talk with you about their experiences.

mimi thanks for the link. a very interesting speech.
UWSer, do you have any insights on wsms and mms? how do you think of their teachers/admin?
bdm3, yes we will try to reach out to some Calhoun families.
anyone has anythoughts on wsms and mms? thanks.

Komin: to a large extent, parents of children who go to XYZ school will be unreservedly enthused about said school. Brand protection + no other basis for comparison. Be careful of Calhoun and MMS - if neither are right for your kid, you may not get that much help going to another private. I've heard good things about WSMS exmissions. None of these UWS schools are the same exmissions machines as comparable schools on the UES, though Claremont, Mandell, WSMS, IPS send a good number to privates every year.

As for communication with parents, all preschools are not great at communicating with parents if there are classroom issues. Again, parents who say that communications have been great invariably have not had any classroom issues to address. If your child is having issues, you as the parent have to advocate for your child while the school is necessarily advocating for the other children and parents. Makes for an adversarial relationship from the get-go.

In addition to those in the title, does anyone have any insights into any of these schools: Woodside, Mandell, West-Side YMCA Co-op, St. Hilda's. Would be grateful to hear any thoughts. thanks.

Its not even close. Calhoun has no purpose or agenda. They let the kids do whatever they want. The classrooms are filled with trains and other toys that you already have at home. MMS on the other hand pushes the kids to learn and develop their cognitive skills and reasoning. They are not afraid to tell parents when children aren't where they should be and the specific areas that need to be worked on. I had a friend at work who went to Calhoun and when she was in High School they moved to California where she attended a traditional public school. She said she was absolutely lost for the first year and a half. She lacked the social skills to cope with that environment and wasn't used to the rigid grading/measuring system. When i went on the tour of calhoun's upper school i was shocked. Kids basically do whatever they want, whenever they want. They can get up and wander the halls or walk over to another classroom at any time. They talk with no regard for the teacher. This may be a little harsh, but basically i got the impression that Calhoun is where you send your kid if they aren't very bright and you don't want them to feel self conscious about it.

Thanks for all the comments guys. Another option we have been thinking about is not to send our daughter to a preschool at all and wait until kindergarden. Would this mean it is going to be much harder to get into a good kindergarden? any thoughts are welcome. thanks.