Wichita Collegiate School

Early last week I noticed a television commercial for an open house at the WCS's Early Childhood program.  I mentioned it to Ryan, and before leaving work that night he asked if we were going as a friend from work was headed there too.  We decided there was no harm in checking it out-never too early to prepare for something like school, right?

WCS is a highly acclaimed private school on the east side (of course) of Wichita.  I did forget to ask if they even allow children from the west side.  The WCS program starts at 2 years old and follows a typical academic calendar.  Your child can attend MWF or T/TH for half days.  This program was actually affordable??? $3000 for the year.  A friend broke it down based on the 9 months, half days, etc., and it seemed like a little less of a bargain.  Then again, I think I'm starting to become jaded by the inexpensive costs of childcare in Wichita in general.

Each person that greeted us asked looked around and over Ben's carseat as if they were hoping there was another, older child we were looking at the school for.  They were then very impressed that we were planning ahead-or so they said!!  I was stunned to meet the Headmaster, who was warm and smiling, yet professional.  The head of the early childhood program was also warm and relaxed.  I guess all of the staff seemed more genuine then I expected-not a snob or turned up nose among them.  Shame on me for going in with preconceived notions!

Overall, I /we, were very impressed by the school.  I will say I wondered how different the 2 year old program could be from the daycare's and preschools I worked at over the years.  Based on the teacher and curriculum, I was less impressed by this program than the 3-4 age classes and up.  At age 3, you can continue with a traditional or a Montessori based program until kindergarten when all children head into the lower school with a traditional curriculum.  At age 3 the prices also increase and make a STEEP jump at kindergarten.  Short of us winning the lottery, we could never afford to let Ben attend beyond preschool. And no, unlike the Mom/room advocate who also happened to be a Dr., for us it is not a choice.  She mentioned that you "have to decide whether you are willing to make sacrifices for your children's education."  While I applaud her career, success, and wholeheartedly agree with her sentiment, for us, that sacrifice might mean the roof over our heads, so it's just not a choice we can make.

I'm glad we checked it out and can compare other schools when the time comes-here's to hoping those other schools have mountains to the west rather than cornfields!