My LO won't be in school for a few years, but I recently found out that in the town we just moved to, there is tuition for full-day kindergarten in the public school system! I have to say I was shocked! Half-day is free. Do you pay for public kindergarten? How much?
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What the what?!!
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@regberadaisy: Exactly!!! Totally shocked! This is PUBLIC school!!
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Yes we have a pay option, Its the top of your scale. I am still debating and wringing my hands about it. The school was suppose to move to full day this year but fell through and now these are my options. Public is cheaper, by a lot, than the full day at my sons private pre-school but its still a lot as you can see. I dont know if my son needs full day or if I can supplement and sign him up for additional enrichment classes through his pre-school. Im not sure what to do, this kindergarten thing is so much stressing than it was when I was a kid. I just want to make sure I am making the best choice for my son's education
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@Mrs. Chocolate: Well, that's what I'm wondering, too. LO is only 20 months and not in preschool yet, but I'm sure private preschool is costly and we'll be paying once she turns 3 anyhow. However, I also wonder about the half-day/full-day difference in terms of quality of education and readiness for 1st grade.
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I think it's $5000 at our neighborhood school, and at the rate it seems to go up each year it might be $6-7,000 by the time LO is in Kindergarten. This is ridiculous because we already pay more thank $12k a year in property taxes.
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@GreenThumb: Yes. I am stressed by this since its on my doorstep now. We had heard last year the town was moving to full day but it never materialized because of this and that and so we are back to the same program of free half day pay full day. I just wrote a blog about this actually but I have been reading Mrs Cowboys older posts about kindergarten and in honesty I think my son is ok and ready for kindergarten's curriculum. He knows quite a bit I think and so I think half day will be ok but part of me cant help but worry if it somehow sets him back still you know. Mrs Cowboy pointed out to me though when I emailed her with my concerns is that the majority of kids will most likely opt for the free option so 1st grade teachers will know where most kids stand so it should be ok. Im also wondering about enrichment programs to help maybe? I dont know but registration is in March and Sept is right around the corner. *Sigh*
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I don't pay for K - DS goes to a 1/2 K program - however I am stuck paying $600 a month for his DCP since its not all day (they do drop off and pick up) - which is about $6000 for Sept- June
The DCP does what they call Kindergarten Enrichment so they focus on what they are learning in K
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Half day is free & full day is $3,250. There's a lottery to get in though, not everyone gets into full day that would like to.
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Half day is free in our town, but full day is $3500/year (10 months)... plus before and after care if you need it to cover full working hours. Kindergarten will cost us just as much, if not more, than daycare once we include before and after care.
ETA: Full day is also lottery based, but I believe there's never any problems getting into full day if you want it.
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@GreenThumb: in terms of half day vs full day, half day doesn't eat lunch at school, so a good chunk of full day is used for a meal, rest time & a recess, all of which are important activities, but not anything half day kids are really missing out on. The same standards have to be met if they're half day or full day. Often full day programs have enrichment periods such as art, music or gym which half day kids may not get to do. I have mixed feelings about that since the first year in school really does have a huge influence over attitudes toward school & those enrichment periods are often ones that children look forward to.
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Our Kindergarten hours are 8:00-1:50. Then we have the option of paying for after school care. That costs $250/month.
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Holy sh*t you guys! $5K for public kindergarten sounds craaaazy to me. There's no way I could afford that.
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No, we don't have to pay extra, unless you need after school care. Our property taxes are very high so maybe that is why? Not sure!
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@macintosh: I know! I can afford it, barely, but I dont know if its worth it you know. Like is half a day going to make or break his education??
@Andrea: My property taxes are high (I consider them high) as well. I pay well over $xx,xxx.
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@Mrs. Chocolate:
Eeek, that stinks! Well, we might be going the private school route anyway, so it's definitely killing me that we won't be using this part of our tax benefit!
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I don't find this all that surprising. Isn't kindergarten half days most places? It makes sense that parents would have to pay for full day kindergarten if that isn't the standard.
Full day kindergarten is only available in our district for at risk kids. They are looking to expand it, hopefully they will by the time DD goes to school (in 4 years!).
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@macintosh: $5K is cheap compared to what I pay for daycare.
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Gosh, I was in one of the last half day classes of kindergarten..that was a long time ago. It is full day (9-3) in my area.
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Full day is free where I live! I know my taxes go towards it, though
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I thought most systems had moved to full day Kindergarten.
Our state also offers free half day Pre-Kindergarten (for 4 yr olds). So to make that a full day, I have to pay about $600/month.
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My city is just phasing this out.
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Our public K is free for half day and $340/month for full day.
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In our district they do offer a full day free K program but its only for the kids that need extra help
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@Andrea: @Mrs. Chocolate: We also have very high property taxes in my town, so I was really surprised about the cost.
We will be able to pay for it, and I know private school would be more expensive, but I guess I just thought that public school would be free.
I also think that full-day is becoming more common, so I don't want LO to be at a disadvantage if we choose half-day.
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In my school district Voluntary Pre-K for 4 year olds is either a half day or full day. Kindergarten (5 or 6 year olds) is a full day. Both are free.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: FREE Pre-K?? Nice!!!!
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: We have universal pre-k & free full day kindergarten. I never knew people had to pay for public school.
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@Mamaof2: yep! http://ece.browardschools.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29362&Itemid=100610
@mrsjazz: where I grew up the Pre-K and K was free too. The only limiting factor was the class sizes for Pre-K were very strict.
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Our school district is a half-day program only as well, so the other half is after school care that you pay for.
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Never heard of this! It's been universal full day K in my province for 25 years now !
Eeek, that stinks! Well, we might be going the private school route anyway, so it's definitely killing me that we won't be using this part of our tax benefit!
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