Monday morning we went for a tour of Northside College Prep.
We arrived to find two police cars and a "Paddy wagon" double parked by the entrance of school, all the same we parked our car and walked through the door and to the front desk.
The truth is the the director of admissions could not have been nicer. There were two other children, each with a parent, also on our tour. He walked us through the school, which was bright, clean and open. While they did not have much of the technology that is present at Lane's current school; they seemed to have all the basics. At separate times, we bumped into the two girls we knew attended Northside, they both ran up and gave us hugs.
We spent time speaking with the principle, who seemed quite competent and who answered questions openly. Among the questions were ones concerning the One Billion dollar short fall facing the CPS, and the resulting cut-backs. She was clearly unhappy that they were being forced to cut out all second year sports, particularly considering that she understood it was just the first of many shoes to drop.
The bottom line was Ilene and I both felt that this was a viable choice for Lane. Neither of us had any question that the school was a safe place, filled with smart kids. We did say that we were going to let Lane pick.... and I know as soon as Lane heard that the average class size was between 28 - 31 kids, his decision was made.
We arrived to find two police cars and a "Paddy wagon" double parked by the entrance of school, all the same we parked our car and walked through the door and to the front desk.
The truth is the the director of admissions could not have been nicer. There were two other children, each with a parent, also on our tour. He walked us through the school, which was bright, clean and open. While they did not have much of the technology that is present at Lane's current school; they seemed to have all the basics. At separate times, we bumped into the two girls we knew attended Northside, they both ran up and gave us hugs.
We spent time speaking with the principle, who seemed quite competent and who answered questions openly. Among the questions were ones concerning the One Billion dollar short fall facing the CPS, and the resulting cut-backs. She was clearly unhappy that they were being forced to cut out all second year sports, particularly considering that she understood it was just the first of many shoes to drop.
The bottom line was Ilene and I both felt that this was a viable choice for Lane. Neither of us had any question that the school was a safe place, filled with smart kids. We did say that we were going to let Lane pick.... and I know as soon as Lane heard that the average class size was between 28 - 31 kids, his decision was made.
While I would have loved not to have the pressure of having to write those large checks; I do believe Latin will be the right spot for him. To his credit, Lane was very concerned about the cost, and said he totally understands if we don't want to spend the money. We said it's OK, but understand there will be times when some of the kids in your class might be planning to fly off to Zurich for Spring skiing, and your going to have to tell them "Sorry, but my dad's Gulf Stream is in the shop." "Maybe Next Year."
Well, at least the process is complete.
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