School Search

Brett and I took Hallie to visit a "prospective" elementary school last night. Yes, I know she in only 33-months-old (she turns 3 on April 28), but in a city like Memphis, we have to start looking at our options early.

The Memphis City Schools has, what I consider, two school systems: Regular and "Optional." Out of the hundreds of schools in the system, there are about a two dozen so-called Optional schools. These are schools, or "schools-within-schools" that students must test into and parents must wait in line more than a week in advance of registration to possibly get one of the few spots. That's right--wait in line! I haven't done that since I was in high school camping out to get a front row seat to a U2 concert (we didn't get front row, by the way). These are considered the "good" schools--excellent education, few discipline problems. So far we have visited two optional elementary schools: Downtown (which is in our district) and Grahmwood. We were very impressed with both. We may visit another, Snowden located in Midtown. Downtown is closest, obviously, and is brand-new--just four years old. Snowden and Grahmwood would require about 10 and 20 minute drives, respectively. But it would be worth it. My argument is, why aren't ALL the schools considered "optional?" Why don't they all have accelerated education programs for the kids who want to be there?

We are also visiting a few Catholic schools. That is why we are looking so early. We will have to get on waiting lists for the private schools now, maybe even enroll Hallie in a Pre-K program to secure a spot. We have heard good things about Holy Rosary, St. Agnes and of course, our parish school, Immaculate Conception Cathedral School.

Ideally, we'd like to keep her at her child care center, FLICC, as long as possible, where she is learning to speak Spanish. It is such a great school. The optional public schools offer at least one Spanish class each week for their students, so that is a plus.

We'll see and keep you updated as we start the school search.