Waiting for Kindergarten

Penn Alexander, our neighborhood school is one of the few in the school district that has more demand for seats than there is space.  Most other schools are way under capacity, but ours has a lottery to distribute the relatively scarce spots, and the remainder of applicants go on a wait list.

You may recall that for Aaron and Jada, it was "first come, first served," which for Jada meant getting the very last spot even though I got in line two hours before registration started, and for Aaron meant not getting a spot even though I got in line TWENTY-SIX hours before registration started (on a very cold January day and night and next morning, no less).

The next year, parents started lining up FOUR DAYS before registration started, but later that first day a note was posted saying that the school was going lottery effective immediately and everyone should go home.  A lottery, while creating anxiety around uncertainty, is clearly a more equitable approach, given the significant resources (monetary, social) required to stop your life to wait in line for your five-year-old.

Several years later, I went to the school with my papers to register Asher.  It took less than five minutes, and later that month we got word he got a spot.  What a relief!  And now the big question: is Asher ready for Penn Alexander?  Maybe, given how difficult a child he has been, the bigger question is: is Penn Alexander ready for Asher?