School and preschools were high on our agenda when we first arrived. I enrolled my children in a Catholic early learning centre ( you didn’t actually need to be Catholic). The classes for my 3 year old ran from 8am to 2pm 5 days a week and she took a packed lunch to school and my daughter attended a “Tots and Moms” morning class once a week because she was only 2. The style of teaching was Montessori. This particularly suited my 3 year old who had attended UK preschool and was more interested in learning through play, if she realized she was being taught something she walked off! She is now the best reader in her class so I think it really worked. We looked at the Chicago Public school system but our local school ( which we would get automatic entry to) rated a poor 3 out of 7 on the various school rating sites. I visited some magnet schools which you enter via a lottery system and I was so unimpressed, most of the playgrounds had been converted to Tarmac car parks for the staff! When it was time for Kindergarten we moved out to the suburbs. Both my daughters have 16 in their class! The school bus picks them up and drops them off. We did put both of them into a church preschool for Kindergarten because our district only offered half day so they bussed over to that school to make it a full day. The one thing I was shocked about was having to buy school supplies likes books, pens, crayons etc Our school PTO offered to buy it all for a fee so we went for that option. They do not wear a uniform , most Catholic schools wear uniforms. There is a school nurse and psychologist and a policy of ” no child left behind” so children who have special needs are integrated but have their own extra ends teacher which I really like. The school meals are not very healthy, baked not fried but not something I would cook at home so I send them with packed lunches. Most schools have a nut free policy due to allergies. There are various extra curricular clubs like chess, brownies etc after or before school but they can be quite pricey. You may be asked to become a ” Room parent” this is generally to relay information by email to parents for special celebrations like Thanksgiving and Christmas, or to collect funds end of year for a class gift for the teacher. If you join the PTO you pay a membership fee and any supplies you purchase for various class projects are tax free at craft shops etc.
Every year you need to register at school and pay a registration fee, it’s a ” stealth tax” in my opinion and a bit cheeky. At this time you also need to provide documentation to prove vaccinations, hearing, sight and dental checks have been done, they have to be done by a certain date and not before, it’s almost impossible to get doctors and dental appointments in this period so find out these dates and book well in advance.
I also joined some meet up groups and went to play dates at family friendly coffee shops which helped me meet some people. I really recommend Mamapedia and Meet up sites. It’s easy to meet up in a park and let your kids run wild why you have some much needed adult conversation. It’s worth investigating local churches to see if they offer toddler groups, playgroups are not as popular as in the UK and I really missed that.
Check out your local school here : http://www.greatschools.org/illinois/
Across the pond we go 