Private Pre-K and Prep Pre-K?

[siandamgirl]

Does anyone send their little ones to private pre/prep-pre school? I am moving to San Francisco and I was wondering what the average price aroung the country was?? I will be paying $8,500 for Pre-K. and $6,500 for Prep Pre-K. There was only a few in close to us, so not many options as far as $$. Let me know if I am getting "ripped off".

 

[kkaisu]

Is that like pre-school? They go to get prepared for Kindergarten? My DD went to what you would call "private" pre-school through her Montessori daycare, it was like $100 a month, that was in 1997. From what I hear it is more like $150 now. The year before kindergarten, it was part-Montessori, part classroom instruction for 3/4 day, the rest of the day was kid time.
If you are talking some "super exclusive your pre-kindergartener must get into Harvard" type preschool, sorry that is just not my world I do not even think they have anything like that where I live - Des Moines, Iowa.

My DD was more than prepared for kindergarten by attending her pre-kindergarten class through her day-care center. She does go to one of the supposed "better" school systems in West Des Moines. We are lucky in Iowa to have GREAT public school systems - no need for private unless religion is a preference.

Sorry if pre-school is not what you mean - it's all I know. Hope whatever kind of school it is your child really enjoys it.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

Wow. That's another world to us too. Here in NC most all the private pre-K programs are through churches and run between 100-150.00 a month for 4-5 days/week- 1/2 day. I am the director of one of these programs and I can not imagine our kids being any more ready for kindergarten. They learn all the normal preschool skills including phonic and pre-reading skills. They also get lots of creative activites as well as a Christian foundation.
Perhaps your area has something along these lines as well as the more elete programs. The only issue is if you do plan to send her to kindergarten at this school, you may have to secure a place now as a preschooler.

Check any place out very well to be sure that is fits into your idea of what you want your child's preschool years to be like!!!!!!

Jordans' mom

 

[bean]

OK, please don't think I'm crazy because I realize how ridiculous it sounds to spend this much on preschool/pre-k. My DD (3) is in a school whose tuition next year is 18,500. This is not how I grew up! Granted, I work at the school ( I worked there before we had kids), so I get a lot of tuition remission. I live outside of Washington, DC and there are a ton of schools like this and the admission process to get in is extremely competitive. I can say that the school is terrific though. I think that in any major metropolitan area you'll find a lot of these schools. So, 8,500 would sound reasonable to me.

 

[twoprincesses]

My children are in PK3 and PK4.... Next year one will be in PK4 and the other in Kinder. They are at a private school that has tuition running from $4,000-5,000 a year. Wow bean, $18, 500 for Prek??! That's more than my college tuition for two semesters! But if you can afford it, more power to you!

 

[siandamgirl]

I Just found out:
Tuition Pre School $8500
Uniforms $250 each (5) $1250
Mandatory Lunch $6 per day (180 days) $1080
Lab & Activity Fee $250
Field Trips $300
Class Fee $150
Taxes $962.54 (that's what they told me)
Total $12,492.54 for a 4yo!

It is in San Francisco and I reserved a spot.
That is insane to me,but It is a good school..So....

 

[Bird-Mom]

Wow, Bean, I thought ours was pricey!

We pay $4000 for 4 mornings (3 hours)/week and about $1000 for the summer session. I am in Seattle, which is pretty pricey too. Five full days (six and a half hours) during the year would be $8500. It is a Montessori school.

Uniforms for preschool? That seems a bit over the top for me, but we are way casual over here. At 12K, I might keep looking a bit. Maybe a church school if you don't mind the religious affiliation? (I looked at one around the corner from us, and it was much cheaper, but we are not church goers, so I decided against it.)

 

[new_mouser]

I pay about $4,000 for private pre-school in Little Rock, so $8500 in San Francisco doesn't sound too bad. It's a secular private school. But $250 for uniforms? Ours run about $30-$40 each for the lovely polyester plaid that I know has been around since at least 1972 when my friend wore the exact same style to her kindergarten. Our lunches run $3.50/day but are not mandatory. (how do they have a mandatory lunch with all the allergies kids have these days?) Plus you have to pay taxes? Yuck. Do you get to claim the expenses on your tax return if the school is for-profit?

 

[emma'smom]

We pay about 6000. per year for our daughter's preschool. It is a Montessori school and includes lunch and an after school program. We are in small town Ohio. When we lived in NYC, tuition definitely was running in the high teens for preschool in many places.

 

[4theloveofdisney]

Wow! Living just outside of atlanta, I can tell you I only pay $115 a month. I think I would home school for those prices - lol!

 

[disneychrista]

I Just found out:

Uniforms $250 each (5) $1250

Do you really need 5 uniforms? That is simple crazy. At the price I would buy 2, maybe 3 and do a lot of laundry.

I don't spend $250 on MY closthes for the entire year.

 

[JustineMarie]

I live in NJ and we have Public Pre-K. It is a great program for 4 year olds. My DD goes 5 days a week and she is in the PM session so she goes from 12:30 - 3:30. I did put her in a private preschool last year when she was 3 and even that was only 105$ a month for 3 days and it was a great school.

 

[left210]

My son goes to a private Pre-K and it is $29 per week for 2 half days or I pay $110 per week which includes before and after school care and 3 half days of preschool. This includes lunches and the kids do not have to wear uniforms for pre-K but starting in Kindergarten they do. Wow I am amazed at the cost of some of the pre-K's mentioned. When my son starts private school next year at a Christian Academy it is only $3900 per year plus uniforms and I will have to pay for after school and summer care. I thought that was expensive but it sounds like that is a great deal now compared to what others mentioned.

 

[catherines_mama]

My DD goes to a private Prep school. She is in 4K now and will be in 5K (just like kindergarten) in the Fall. Its run as a Christian School but is attached to a local Assembly of God church but they teach Christianity not Assembly of God.

Tuition is $4,280 per year.

There is another non-church related private Prep school in town that is MUCH more. It is about as much as college. Jr K and K is $7,500 and 1st grade is $10.5 K per year.

The cost differencial means nothing. My daughters prep school makes it in US News & Today as one of the best Prep schools in the state, while the expensive one doesn't. So ya know, its just the school and the feel you get from it. I think a private education is priceless, my daughter loves her school as do I!

Good luck with the decision!

Editing to add, I just bought 1 dress, 2 shorts, 1 skort, 1 shirt for $70.
If the school does not have specific uniforms but says "khaki pants, white shirts" then you can get a lot at Sears.com. I think you DO need 5 or more especially in the warm months because they play outside (after school) and come home smelly. Just depends on how much you like doing wash & ironing.

 

[DawnM]

It really depends. When we lived in SoCal many families put their children in high priced pre-schools because they wanted their child to go to that school for K-whatever grade and in order to "reserve thier spot" they had to go to the pre-K program. Is that what you are doing?

I have been researching some of the whole "academic pre-K and K" thing and have found that studies are showing that reading earlier and forcing academics on children at younger and younger ages doesn't really do much for academics past 3rd grade. In other words, the child who was taught to read at age 5 doesn't read better at age 9 than the child who didn't learn to read until age 7. When they are both 4th graders, they are performing at the same level. The difference is that one waited until he was "ready" to learn the skill and so he picked it up quickly.

I will stop with this now because I could go on and on. I personally think that a young child should be allowed to be a young child and not forced into early academics, that should be reserved for later.

I know I am on a rant here and many will disagree with me. This is just something I feel passionate about. I am a High School teacher and a School Counselor and just recently have studied early childhood learning for my own children's benefit.

Dawn

 

[Rowlf]

I'm paying a bit over $17K for DS's preschool (he'll be 3) next year. And that doesn't include summer/break care. Argh.

 

[DawnM]

Hmmmm.....let's see. $17,000 plus summer care, maybe over $20,000.

I have 3 children so that would be $60,000 per year. I would need to make $85,000 gross to bring home $60,000. I would rather homeschool and save myself the stress.

Dawn

 

[Mom2Rae]

and will go to Kindergarten there as well before entering our local Public school for 1st grade.

I wasn't going to send her to Public kindergarten since she would be bored to death! She's doing things in Pre-K that public school kindergarteners aren't doing. It's not that I want my dd to find the cure for cancer by the 3rd grade! I just wanted a good start on her education and the smaller class size is a plus. She is moderately hearing impaired and the smaller the class, the better.

We will pay $5520 this year for Pre-K...that's being at school from 8:45 to 1:00. Next year for Kindergarten we'll be paying $6900 and that from 9:00 to 3:00.

They aren't uniformed, though. Wish they were! It would be cheaper than Limited, Too!!

 

[Rowlf]

Dawn, that's one of the reasons we have decided to stick to one kid! We don't want to move to the 'burbs for school, so that's just the way it is for us now. We could have kept him in his current day care, but I want to send him to this school for the elementary years and getting him in the PS3 class is the easiest way to ensure he's in!

ETA: I don't want to get in a homeschool debate, but it is important for both DH and me that he go to school - I don't think DH or I would be the best teacher for him. We're both better at earning the money for his tuition (and trips to WDW)!

 

[pixiepower1971]

My daughters have gone to private school up thru last year. They are currently 2nd and 4th grade. Depending on the school it ran between 5000-7000 per year per child. One school was a private school in Alabama and the other was a Christian school in FL.

We are homeschooling this year. Not as a money saving issue but because we moved this summer and could not find a private school that could take both of them this year. We tried public school but they are almost 2 years ahead academically. That made for very bored kids!

They will be going back to a private school next year. I do not regret one penny spent on a private school education. Once you start it is hard to stop, for a multitude of reasons.

As for early education I have not seen it hurt my kids except for the fact that they are very academically advanced. That makes keeping them challenged difficult. But I will take this challenge over many others! I have never and neither did their teachers, give them anything that they weren't ready for , emotionally and academically. They were motivated to learn and learned to love learning. They are sponges at preschool age. I think they should be given every opportunity to learn whatever they can. And they can still be fun loving happy kids while they do so!