uploaded to Flickr by alamosbasement
Hundreds of parents are expected at the annual Mothers on the Hill (MOTH) School Information Night Tuesday, November 15 from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Hill Center. For a view into the high stakes drama of choosing educational programs and schools on the Hill, watch the bevy of anxious parents that’s sure to gather and plot their chess moves as the new school year inches closer. Last year more the 400 people were in attendance. Public and private elementary school will be represented, as well as preschool and daycare centers, religious schools and charter schools. Representatives from programs ranging from Spanish instruction to cooking classes and speech therapy will also be fielding questions and making pitches.
If you’re new to parenthood like me, the variety of choices and decisions is daunting. OK, to be honest, it makes me shake in my shoes. But given my sidekick will be eligible for a 2-year old program come fall and a slot just might mean a morning or two of sanity with just one child in my charge, I’ll be beating down the door next week. The DCPS 3-year old pre-school programs and specialized Capitol Hill Cluster School programs are coveted and spawn debates over residency eligibility, but hopefully I won’t have to refinance the house for a coveted nap cot just yet!
I nearly fell out of my chair when a mom friend told me she’d attended School Night the autumn before her son was born. Pregnancy is like that, control what you can — how you spend a weekday night — because the host of things you can’t control as you look parenthood in the face will leave you unmoored. But hearing that over 70 programs are expected and the open forum event has no set program, I think I’ll need to attend for a few years before I have a true grasp on all the moving pieces. Many thanks to the MOTHs and DOTHs who work so hard to put this event together.