Kindergarten Search: Public School, lottery admission

This morning we toured a public school that admits by lottery.

My notes:

• 1 block from Charlie's work and a door to door commute of about 25 minutes.  It would involve a tram ride and 7 block walk or a train ride and a similarly distanced walk.
• Admissions priority is given to families working in the area.  I am not sure of the numbers for kindergarten but we did try to get a spot here for PreK but there were 450 applicants for 36 spots.
• 325 students enrolled in grades PK-8
• Definitely diverse, with 40% of student body being Hispanic, 7% Asian, 32% Black, and 15% White.  
• Socioeconomic diversity seems to span middle to lower incomes.  We know a handful of families with kids here.
• 24 kids in lower grade classes with 2 teachers in each class most of the time.
• Housed in a LARGE, old school building.  It is fairly well maintained for a public school.  The "complex" houses several schools so there are high school students in the same building, as well as an "infant program" which serves babies of teen mothers in one of the high school programs.  
• The school is progressive.  There is little focus on traditional assessments.  Teachers are called by their first names which irks me.  Small detail but not feeling that.
• The principal and assistant principal came across as with it and committed to the school.  Our tour was given by a parent who really is not well spoken or informative, sadly.  She was nice and loves the school but really isn't a person to be giving tours.  
• Mixed grades by design...Kinder/1 combo, 2/3 combo and so on.  Students have the same teacher for 2 years.
• No G&T program, which I figure goes with the philosophy of the school that they are meeting the individual needs of students so there is not a reason for a separate program.
• The classrooms were busy, but there didn't seem to be a lot of high quality instruction going on, or instruction that I felt pushed critical thinking.  
• There was a general feeling of disarray.  This was partly due to the structure of the instruction but also because of the lack of appropriate facilities in public schools, something I experienced.  There was stuff in the halls, classroom didn't have storage space, things that are difficult to control in public school settings.  
• No extras.  The school does seem to partner with some community organizations to provide some extras to students, but it is minimal at best.  I know students are able to swim regularly at a nearby community pool (can you even begin to imagine taking 24 kindergartners to the pool during the course of a school day?!?).  By and large if the kids are going to get anything beyond the basics of school it is only because the teacher works to integrate it into the regular classroom lessons.  I've been there.
• Looking at "performance scores" given by the state this is an average to below average school (although they tell you they don't put much stake into formal assessments and do not prep the way other schools due hence the poor scores), but seems to be performing better than our zoned district school on the island.  

How'd we feel?

• Probably not a good idea to have gone straight to this school after sitting in the $35,000 private school yesterday.  The facilities just do not compare.  This school had a nice library, a space for dance and art, a gym, but unfortunately the funding is not there to utilizes these spaces appropriately or to their full extent.  There is a nice library and you'd think with all of the schools housed in the building it would always be utilized but it was empty.  There is no librarian.  There is an exceptional public library across the street that I imagine gets visited.
• The progressive philosophy has some overlap with the school we interviewed with yesterday, but the execution just does not compare.  The focus and discipline were not there in the same way they were at the private school.  I don't think that to be necessarily a reflection on the faculty or staff, but they just don't have the same resources.
• Neither of us felt crazy about it.  
• Neither of us felt it would challenge Freddie.
• Both felt there was a chance of Freddie being exposed to a little "street life."
• Both of us though Freddie would probably be fine here, for a few years anyway.   

Next steps:  Submit application before March and wait to see if we get a spot in the spring.  We're not certain we'll apply though, but we have some time to think about it.