On Sunday afternoon, local parents gathered at The Big Backyard Nursery School in East Mt. Airy for the Annual Kindergarten Tea.
For several years now, The Big Backyard and the Cooperative Nursery School have co-sponsored this education fair for parents in Northwest Philadelphia. Representatives from many of the local schools were invited to staff information tables, handout promotional material, and answer the questions of preschool parents.
This year's tea included staff and current parents from public and private schools, including C.W. Henry, Germantown Friends, Greene Street Friends, John S. Jenks, Penn Charter, Plymouth Meeting Friends, Project Learn, Springside-Chestnut Hill Academy, The Waldorf School of Philadelphia and Wissahickon Charter.
The event has become something of a tradition for many of these schools, some of which attend every year.
At every table, school representatives were kept busy answering questions on a variety of topics, including school philosophies, application procedures, extracurricular activities, homework policies, economic and racial diversity, student-teacher-ratios, community service and financial aid.
For some parents, the kindergarten tea is one of the earliest steps in the long process of determining which school will be the best fit. Michelle Waldo's son, Ethan, won't begin kindergarten for a few more years, but today's event allowed Michelle to speak with schools informally and perhaps identify those schools that she may want to learn more about or even visit at a later date.
"Today I'm just hoping to get an overview of some of our options," said Waldo.
Other parents are nearing the end of their search and have already toured schools, narrowed their choices, and submitted applications. Leah Snyder Batchis and Wayne Batchis have a four year old daughter, Sadie, who will be starting kindergarten next fall. They're primarily interested in public and publicly-funded charter schools and have attended some open houses.
"Don't make assumptions about public schools—go visit your neighborhood school," Snyder advises.
Big Backyard teacher Theresa Raufer knows how overwhelming this process can be for families. Raufer is the parent of two children at Germantown Friends and a former kindergarten teacher. Her best advice for parents is to consider all of their options and examine the schools in person. There's no better way to experience a school than by taking a tour—or several—and by speaking with parents who are currently sending children to that school.
