Changing preschools midyear...

Has anyone changed preschools midyear? What factored in to your decision? I'm liking the girls' preschool less and less. It's not one big thing that would warrant an immediate change, but lots of little things that have been occurring. The girls are not unhappy there - but I've found another option that I really think would be better. Thoughts?

 

The worst thing you will encounter is them being worried about making friends/people liking them. At preschool age, I have never seen that actually happen and actually the new kids are very popular. Talk to them about it and discuss how it would be new/better for them and they may be optimistic/eager to go to a new school.

 

I switched mine mid-year in Kindergarten and they were fine with it. They were very warmly welcomed by the class and no problems adjusting at all. They hadn't formed any real friendships yet at the old school and never expressed missing anyone in particular.
They did say a few times that they missed the old school .. but it was the first school they had gone to and it's understandable to miss it for the first few weeks.

Good luck with your decision !

 

We never switched, but we had a couple of new kids start in each year that we were there -- usually at the beginning of the year, but sometimes midyear. I agree that the new kids are usually very popular and sought-after! And (at least at our school) preschool, even pre-K, was still too young for the kids to be cliquey or judgmental of each other. Pretty much the only kids who had problems were the ones who were really disruptive (yelling constantly, hitting, etc.) or bossy to the point of having tantrums when people don't obey (just one of the girls really). The social dynamics were really fluid.

 

We switched Cricket and Piper from one preschool to another this year. The switch was technically at the beginning of the school year, but they had been doing camp at their old school, so it felt like we were moving mid-year. Anyway, the transition was great - no problems. For about a week, DH and I talked up the new school, then they got to visit and a few days later started going there instead. It's a much better place for our whole family (more communication from staff, better policies, and more play for the kids) so everyone is happy. My girls still talk about their old school but they haven't expressed any worry about being at the new school instead of the old.

If you're unhappy with your kids' current school, don't hesitate! Make the move. I'm so so so so so so happy we did.