Is It Too Soon to Start Looking at Preschool?

Check the CPS website for locations and ratings of the public magnet schools. Another good resource is Northside Parents Network - they have a LOT of school information and info fairs throughout the year. I know from the CPS website (hey, my son is 8 months and I admit to having looked at this) that the application deadlines for most schools are in December. It is my understanding that magnet school lotteries go purely on racial balance. They have 3 separate lotteries: 1- sibling lottery - about 30% (?) of students are admitted through this one 2-neighborhood lottery (within 1.5 mile radius) - about 40% of students are admitted through this and 3- general lottery. So if there's a couple magnets in your area you can get into the neighborhood lottery and will have a better shot at it all. Good luck!

I went to my first preschool fair when I was (ahem) pregnant with my first. So, maybe I'm not the best person to ask - but I think it's definitely not too early to start getting ideas about what's out there, thinking about cost and logistics if you need to. And it is a good time of year for research since open houses for this fall are going on in Jan-Feb.

My little guy is 3 mos. old, and the few schools I've called have encouraged me to apply now! Nuts, right?

NO, start loonking reg. starts in Jan. and Feb. for the 2007-2008 school year that starts in Sept. , some schools offer 2 year old programs. I would start looking.

Definitely start looking. If you are researching magnet schools or private schools at all, the time is now. There is a lot involved with the research, school fairs, school tours, open houses, etc. Try the NPN website, as they have school fairs. My daughter is 2 1/2 and will be starting preschool next year. I spent a lot of time researching over the last 6 months and schools only admit a certain number of students and sometimes you do not get your first choice of schools. It seems if you do not get them into preschool it is very difficult to get them in the school for K-8, as the current preschoolers take the spots available. I applied for 3 schools, hoping for 1 of them. Good luck.