disappointed!
/By Joyce Szuflita
Seems like the Kindergarten Connect notification is coming out today. This is what I expect to hear a lot of -
"I put down 15 choices! My zoned school was my last choice! I got my zoned school! "Choice" is not choice! Everybody and everything s#@*ks!"
This is exactly what I anticipated. Give yourself a moment to be disappointed, but then move on. Your hopes seemed to be dashed in an instant. What you need to understand is that this is how this system works for most people and you need to be patient for it to work for you. This is the starting pistol in a marathon. It is too early to freak. This is the baseline.
Read your instructions carefully. The DoE will instruct you go to the school that you have been assigned to and "pre-register" in a timely way (probably in the next couple of weeks, but the DoE's calendar is still blank, thank you very much). They have previously said that you will be placed on an automatic wait list for any school that you ranked higher than the school you are assigned to. I would be looking carefully for that assurance. It is my assumption that the schools will shortly be getting a wait list of names of anyone that ranked them in order of their sib/zone/district "priority". As people register, as they know that they may have seats available they will be working down this list. This doesn't happen instantly. Remain calm.
Many people have gotten their notifications about seats in charter schools. They can now decide whether they prefer their charter placement to their KC placement. Wait lists on both sides will begin to move after the deadline for "pre-registration". G&T applications are due shortly. When the g&t families receive their placements, the wait lists will continue to move. This is a very slow process. Imagine a district wide, extraordinarily slow game of musical chairs. This process of changing chairs happens throughout the spring and summer - even into the early fall. When and if you are offered a seat from a wait list, you will look at your current school and you will decide if you are "trading up". Then you will register at the new program and you will be removed from your current school and that seat will be available for someone else. And so it goes. The people who are successful are the ones who remain calm, don't burn themselves out with anxiety and frustration and don't go away.
