Quote Originally Posted by CrazyEight View Post
Oh man, the extended hours care offered through the school is INSANELY expensive! Plus, when I enquired about it, I was told that at our school, which is a decent size, they only had FIVE kindergarten spots, for JK and SK. Priority goes to returning kids, so you also don't find out until right before school starts if you get a spot or not, since they have to wait to see if kids that were in JK in the program last year are going to come back. I now have my own kids in JK and SK and they both brought home a "survey" a few weeks ago, asking if there was any interest in the program for next year. The cost has gone down a bit - last year when my daughter brought home the survey, it was a total of $32/day for b/a school, and $40/day for PA days. Now I believe it is $25/day for b/a school and still $40/day for PA days. Also, the hours on PA days are shorter, instead of being 7am-6pm on either side of the school day, PA day care is 8am-5pm, which would potentially screw parents who need those regular hours. I was just blown away - out of the whole school, 3 full kindergarten classes, they only have five kindergarten spots. It was ridiculous.

I had to terminate a JK boy the beginning of this year for extreme aggression issues, and the parents somehow got him a spot in the program after a few weeks, so I guess there wasn't a huge waiting list, but apparently all they do is run around in the gym the whole time. Which works very well for this boy, who's energy level is off the charts, and I'm sure every program is different, but I don't really like the sound of it. Frankly, though, I could never afford it, especially for 2 kids. For b/a school, I charge $17/day, just raised it from $15/day. The way I look at it, that's still major savings for parents looking at the school program, and as I'm right next door to the school and can pick up on snow days and PA days, it works out well.
Then I don't see the benefit of all day kindergarten. It's just an expensive daycare and if all they do is running around I think they do not need too many people watching the kids. It does not sound like a big competition for us. In here this mom said that the closest school that it's also at walking distance charges $40 per day (for about 3 hours). She will have to enroll her son further away from us since the other school charges about $25/day. Still I guess she will have to pay for the school bus service, or is this one free?