Private and Charter and Magnet, Oh My!

David is now in his last semester of school and you may be wondering just where we're going to live once he's done. Well we're still undecided. The whole time we've been living here we have assumed that it was temporary. We still have all the boxes we moved down with in the garage so we can pack everything up again. We kept Alberta registration on our vehicles. We've bought very little furniture that will be difficult to move by the time the year is up.

It feels strange to live in a temporary situation. What's the point of making good friends when we're going to move away anyway? Why buy a new bed when we're going to have to haul it across the continent in a few months?  It can be uncomfortable, both mentally (in the case of the lack of friends) and physically (in the case of the bed). But in some ways it's also nice. Yes, there are brown widow spiders in our backyard but we'll move away soon and never have to deal with them again (my mama bear instinct makes me want to annihilate every last one of them but the pacifist in me makes me apologize profusely as I do it).

One of the main reasons that I like to think about our time here being temporary is because then I don't have to think about where Asha would go to school next year. You would not believe the tizzy that people get themselves into about schooling around here. Westchester, the area where we live, is a fairly decent area. David recently read that it has the 4th lowest crime rate in all of  L.A.! It's no Beverly Hills but it's a pretty average, middle class neighbourhood. Soon after we moved here I heard several people comment that Westchester is a nice place to live but it's a shame that the schools are so terrible. I also couldn't help but notice that all of the kids on our street go to schools elsewhere. Our next-door neighbours pretend that they live at a friend's house so they can get their kids into school in an adjacent area called El Segundo. Doesn't El Segundo sound like a place where greasy men would sell Chihuahuas out of the back of a pickup truck? Well it seems to be a pretty exclusive place.

Anyway, I had been to a family fun day at the school that Asha is now going to and it seemed like a good school! I didn't get it. Were people just super picky about schools here? Well it turns out that the public elementary and middle schools in Westchester are pretty good but the problem is with the high school. Students get bussed in to Westchester High from the inner city much to the local people's dismay. My initial reaction was that the inner city kids deserve a good education too but apparently the school has become a pretty scary place.

So for the most part people try to get their kids out of the Westchester public school system as early as possible. There is a labrynthine system that one has to tackle in order to do this. There are charter schools which are kind of part of the public school system but they don't actually have to adhere to the rules and curriculum of a public school. They seem to be more granola than your typical school. I heard one parent comment that at a charter school called Ocean Charter School they don't learn to read until 5th grade. I think she was exaggerating. Charter schools are incredibly hard to get into. Most of them have a lottery system.

Then there are private schools. They are, as expected, very expensive but our neighbours' kids got some sort of subsidy so they're not as snobby as you might think. It is pretty commonplace for kids to go to private school here. Before I moved here the only people I heard of going to private school were Prince William and a kid I knew from elementary school who was really bad (and I think his parents just wanted to get rid of him).

The other option is a magnet school. These are schools that focus on a specific academic area. There are science magnet schools, performing arts magnet schools, even business magnet schools. Apparently you need points to get into magnet schools. You get points for living near the school, having a sibling in the school, etc. But if a child has gone to one magnet school you get points for other magnet schools.

So it's enough to make a person want to homeschool! And it's very hard not to get wrapped up in it all. I just keep telling myself that I don't have to worry about it. Asha and I were recently at a birthday party and it was all the parents could talk about. Maya's on the list for Open Charter so they've got their fingers crossed. Amanda's got an in at a magnet school because her sisters both go there. Malachi's mom is interviewing for a performing arts magnet school near their house. I couldn't help but notice that while all the other kids were playing in the bouncy house and playing elaborate imaginative games, Malachi was in the corner spinning wheels on a toy train for half an hour. Well he might not go for performing arts but at least he'll get points for another magnet school! The conversation was exhausting. It was so lovely that when they asked where Asha would be going I could say "we probably won't be living here next year".

David has said that if we do stay in L.A. he wants to put Asha in a private school. My initial reaction is that it is way to elitist for me. I believe in public education. I believe that every kid has the right to a good education for free. But the truth of the matter is that the public education system in California is a giant mess. The schools are so hung up on their ratings and test score that they've lost sight of what really matters. Several teachers have recently been caught helping their students cheat in order to boost test scores. I feel like private school is a band-aid solution but do I want Asha to go to Westchester High with students that carry guns and sell drugs?

So these are some of the fun little things that I have to consider if we are to stay here in L.A. When the lady from my bootcamp class said that you either need to live in a good area (and by good she means Beverly Hills) or pay for private school she wasn't really exaggerating!

I also feel like people put a lot of pressure on kids here to do well in school. They recently decided to shift the school year so that kids finish school early in June and start up again in August. This is apparently so that kids graduating from high school have time to do more summer school so they can be competetive with kids from the East Coast in university. What is going on!? Asha has a friend who started kindergarten this year in Chinese immersion in Venice Beach. Her mom drives her 45 minutes to school, then she has a full day of school (all kindergarten is full-day here which I personally think is messed up), then 45 minutes to get home. I think that's a pretty full day for a 5 year old. Well in order help her keep up her parents have gotten her an IPad so that she can practice Chinese for an hour each evening. When I saw her recently and asked her how school was going, she said "hard".

So, here's what I'm wondering... is this a California thing? I haven't decided if this mass hysteria is warranted or everyone around here has lost their minds. Is it like this in Canada? I have this notion that in Canada you just put your kids in the school closest to your home because that's what my parents did. There are some exceptions like if you want your kid in Catholic school or French immersion but I feel like there isn't this madness in Canada. Have I idealized the way things are back home?

One quick story to wrap up this tirade... the other day at beach bootcamp the ladies were talking about how to get into a great pre-K program in El Segundo. One of the women said "whatever you do don't teach your daughter to skip". Well apparently it's a program specifically for kids who are not ready for kindergarten yet so there's some sort of reverse competency test to get in. One of the gross motor skills they test is skipping so that if a child is able the skip then they're ready for kindergarten and don't get in. Parents actually help their kids flunk the test so they can get into the program. So much for putting too much pressure on kids to succeed! I found myself thinking "yes! Asha can't skip! She'd get in for sure!" Oh no. I'm becoming one of them...