So, now that we know the location of our house it was time to finally visit all the schools I have been emailing with for months, then marry that with being able to live without a car and find a suitable school for Luke. I use google maps ALOT!
The first school we visited was St. Brigid's, which location wise would be the ideal choice. It is literally a 5 minute walk from the house. When we arrived the children were all playing in the school yard, which is so different than American schools. It is basically a gated parking lot (maybe more inner city American schools are more like this?) The principal was very nice and the children were adorable in their uniforms. There were two classrooms for Maya's age group, each had 30 kids in it. They were connected and there was an assistant teacher that floated between the two and each classroom also had a student teacher in it as well. The building was beautiful from the outside as was the street it was on. The inside of the building was a bit dingy and old, which made sense when the principal showed me plans for the new school they were building down the road that would hopefully be open in 2016. I left this school feeling ok, Maya would be fine here, but I wasn't ecstatic.
The second school we visited was St. Matthews School in Sandymount. This school is about 1.5km (just less than a mile) from the house which would translate into a 20 minute walk or about 8 minute bike ride. I have been looking into the cargo bikes from Denmark where the kids basically sit in a big bucket in the front - might also be useful for picking up large amounts of groceries etc. Anyway, my initial impression of this school was that the play yard was soo much larger than St. Brigid's, which I really liked and the building was much newer. It felt more like a small suburban school in the States opposed to St. Brigid's which had more of a city feel. When we were buzzed in, we were immediately greeted in the front office by a very lovely (yes, i am already adopting a lot of Irish terminology) secretary who called the principal to meet us for a tour. She took us to the one Senior Infant classroom in the school (this school was a bit smaller than St. Brigid's as well) and invited Maya to stay with the class to read a story, while Veron, and Luke and I went on to tour the rest of the school. Maya jumped at this opportunity and was very excited to be back in a classroom. The building was really new and clean, and the principal was fantastic. Another aspect of this school that I really liked was the fact that they have laptop and ipad carts, which I was told is not standard for Irish Primary Schools. Additionally, this school had a lot of options for after school activities, dance, ball skills, drama, and the ability to stay until 2:10 on a daily basis, which was not offered at St. Brigid's. Overall, I had a better feeling about St. Matthews. Unfortunately they do not wear school uniforms, which I was really hoping for to eliminate any early morning Diva fighting. But, I guess now we have a use for all the Diva clothes currently making their way across the Atlantic.
I have reached out to an American parent at St. Brigid's who has a son that would be in Maya's class there, to get her feedback, but at the moment unless she says that the teacher is an Anne Sullivan-like miracle worker, I have a feeling Maya will be attending St. Matthews. Of course the house we found was in Ballsbridge and the school I like is in Sandymount, but oh well - more exercise is not a bad thing. I also asked Maya which school she wanted to go to and she said, St. Matthews. I assume this means the children and teacher made a good impression on her while she was in the classroom. When I asked her why, she said, "Because the little girl sitting next to me while the teacher read a story also had long golden hair like me." It is all about the important things!
Now the search for Luke. Since Luke would have started at Harborlight this fall he is so ready for school at this point. We decided not to put him in school for the month back home and then move him once we got here. So, Luke has been told for months, "When we get to Ireland, you will start school." Well it took all of about 10 minutes after getting off the plane and he started asking when he was going to school. There are two Montessori Schools in Ballsbridge that are both convenient to our house. Now, making sure the times align for me dropping off/picking each up at school is more of the challenge. We got to tour Gateway Montessori first, we were greeted by the owner, Elanine who was so friendly and happy to give us a tour even though we did not have an appointment. She let Maya and Luke play outside in the garden with the class that Luke would be in. The classrooms were adorable and very traditional Montessori with all the familiar works on the shelves. Maya felt right at home and Luke also was very comfortable there. We toured the entire building and all classrooms were equally impressive. Also, this school is located right at the end of the lane where the house is located. So, location is ideal.
The next school we went to visit was Embassy Montessori School, I didn't think that there was going to be a school better than Gateway after my visit, but this principal was also excellent and VERY traditional Montessori, which I really loved! She also had a strong focus on reading/writing and mathematic, which I know Brendan will love. This school is a bit farther from the house, but I think in terms of the two schools together I would be walking two sides of a triangle opposed to the hypotenuse. Even if it is a bit longer, it might only be a minute or two when all is said and done. The kids loved this school as well. The garden area was larger and was left pretty empty aside from a great wooden play house for the children. She wanted them to be outside using their imagination rather than fighting over toys.
I asked Luke which school he preferred and he said Embassy, but I would really be happy with Luke at either school.
So, stay tuned and hopefully very shortly you will see which schools we choose for the kids.
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