School choice

Choosing a Kindergarten program for our almost five-year-old son Benjamin was agony for me.
We just moved into a weak public school district within our Hyde Park neighborhood. Lucky for us there are so many wonderful public schools close by. There are also great private schools.
It was our goal that our two boys be together to make our days easier. Our almost three-year-old son Yehuda can only go to Akiba Schechter Jewish Day School's nursery school.
It's Benjamin who has so many choices. I made pro and con lists for Akiba and Murray. We met with both Kindergarten teachers. I have to say this was a very hard choice. Both schools are great. But when Akiba gave our family more money to help us pay tuition, that tipped the scales.
I was influenced by the wonderful experience we had at the Bret Harte public state-funded pre-K program. We really connected with the other kids there, more than Akiba.
I don't want to abandon diversity, being with The People and public education. But the Jewish content was important to us too. I am hoping the smaller ratio mean a more active learning environment. Murray has 30 children in the Kindergarten. Akiba is expecting about 20, max.
Actually Benjamin had taken to saying when I asked him where he wanted to go to Kindergarten that he didn't want to go anywhere and just wanted to stay home with me and do projects.
He's a very social boy, very active and inquisitive.
We are hoping for a great year at Akiba.