Already there. Or, a somewhat melancholy post

Earlier this week I toured the kindergarten of the school we already attend.

As I mentioned, we are enrolled at a private school that goes all the way to 8th grade. I don't want to say the name for safety reasons, but I felt that it would be unfair to tour all these public schools and not look at what is right there in front of me.

I am not going to go into intricate detail about the curriculum and the campus because, for one thing, the school isn't necessarily an option to the general public. But also because it's really not fair to compare public to private.

The private school classes have about 15 to 18 students in each class with two full-time teachers. And, wow. That is a crazy difference to the public ratio, which has plans to go up to 29 kindergartners and one teacher per class.

I will say that I loved what I saw. Totally loved it. And I think Marina would be happy because there's a big focus on art, music and a Jewish curriculum, which she loves. It's also a familiar environment and we are already part of this school's "family."

The only concern I have is that the level of religion she'll get at home versus at school don't really match up. Will she start asking me why I work on Saturdays or why why eat cheeseburgers?

That's a pretty minor concern, though. A bigger issue is that there's a tuition that we can't really afford. So if we make the decision to keep her where she is, we'd definitely have to apply for financial aid.

What this tour really did, however, was put this entire search process in perspective. Do we really need to live in a bigger house? Do we really need to go out to dinner all the time? My mom made the sacrifice for me to go to a good school and that stayed with me longer than an extra pair of shoes or a house with a bigger room.

Now I see that I'm willing to do the same.

Still, I am desperately hoping to get into a charter because I think those are equally as wonderful as private. I think considering our lifestyle and our finances, a charter is our first choice.
I will also continue to tour schools so that I can confidently fill in my application to get into one of the five best traditional public schools.

But for all the kicking and screaming I did about finding the perfect kindergarten, I think one of our better and more realistic options is sitting right there in front of me.