back-to-school bus - Boston Moms Blog

“Oh, you live in Boston… what are you going to do about school? Where are you sending your kids?” These are typical questions I expect when meeting someone and they learn I have two young sons. 

Growing up the ‘burbs, school selection was easy. You live on this street, you go to this school. Eventually, every kid in town ends up at the same high school. Typical suburbs. Well, I don’t live in the suburbs anymore. This is Boston. School selection is a real thing. And it starts at the pre-kindergarten level. My firstborn is 4, and I am already stressed over which school he will attend.

So, let me take you through the process for school selection. 

1. Drive around your neighborhood and locate the closest schools. 

2. Talk to anyone and everyone about which schools they like, don’t like, have been to, don’t want to go to, etc.

3. Sign in to the BPS system to find the list of schools your child can attend. It’s a long list — there are more than 80 schools that offer elementary grades!

4. Talk to more people.

5. Visit schools on the list. 

6. Ask questions, make judgments. 

7. Pick your top five schools. List in order of your preference. 

8. Dig to find all your residency proof papers, immunization sheet for your child, passport, original birth certificate, what?

9. Register your child at a BPS “welcome center.”

10. Wait…

I am currently on the last step. Waiting. I have to wait until the end of March, when we will learn whether our son was chosen (or not chosen!) to attend kindergarten at one of the schools on our list. At this point, there is nothing I can do to help his chances. Questions race in my mind. What if he doesn’t get into the first choice? Or second? Or anything on the list? What then? Where will he go next year? Should we apply to private schools? Look for a new house? These are all the questions I will hold on to until that much-anticipated letter with his placement comes to my email. 

And for the many parents who are hoping to secure a spot in BPS’s K0 or K1 classrooms (the grades just prior to kindergarten — public preschool, essentially), good luck! A seat isn’t guaranteed at any of the schools — there is a limited number of spots for children applying.

For us, we’ll keep waiting until we learn our fate from BPS. Stay tuned!

 

Krystal Avila
Krystal is a Massachusetts native who grew up in the 'burbs and is now loving the city life in Roslindale with her husband and 3 boys (9, 6, and 1). She and her husband met downtown working at a restaurant together, and since then their love of restaurants has kept their date nights exciting as they try out the latest places. Learning Spanish has been something Krystal has loved ever since middle school, and that has become her passion as a Spanish teacher, wife to a Salvadoran, and mother raising her children bilingual. Loves: family, friends, playing with her kids, a comfy hoodie on the beach when the sun goes down, nachos, baking, Christmas movies. Not so much: loud music, putting away laundry, terrible threes, and black pepper.