Whoot whoot! The littlest wee one is officially on the wait list for Montessori Children's School of Key West! In classic mommy-of-my-one-and-only-precious-child fashion, I'm not sure if I should be anxious, sad, or guilty that I actually feel soooo excited, but our two-year-old tot is growing up none-the-less. Sniff, sniff. But let's face it, it's time to let little one spread some baby birdie wings of his own.
This specific school (MCS) is one that Ally and I visited during our recon mission last June. Though closed for the summer season at the time, I had a particularly good feeling just standing on the perimeter of the property. The grounds were immaculate, and the building itself just as island cute as could be, the colors bright and cheerful. Uh-huh .. yup. Sucked right in. Ha! I promise, though ... I did much more homework than that!
At the basic level, the school certainly is licensed and meets all required accreditations. There are no complaints or citations filed, and the staff boasts all the appropriate credentials. Basic no brainers. The curriculum is innovative, creative, and developmentally appropriate. Love that, of course! However, I'm equally interested in the "little things" - the guts. I appreciate the director's time and courtesy while answering my many questions (don'cha just want to strangle the morons who refer you to their websites ... as if they had better things to do than answer pesky questions?). I'm new at this ... don't shoot me please! I am impressed with the professional quality, user friendliness, and currency of the main website. Minor details maybe, but important in my humble opinion. And I naturally appreciate the stellar reputation the school maintains within the community - word of mouth is oh-so-powerful!
To my great relief, I also admit that I very much appreciate having a variety of scheduling options, which is not always easy to find. By now, most pre-schools have already closed their enrollment seasons and are filled to capacity for fall sessions. Not knowing my employment status to date - full time teaching or working from home (or perhaps something else altogether!) - committing to a full-time program vs. part-time half days was tough. MCS was one of the few which offers both. By the time placements are made, I should have a better idea of our scheduling and can make adjustments accordingly.
Whew-whee! Schooling for a two-year-old. Who knew?
6 comments:
Hi There! I came across your blog, while searching for info on the Montessori Children's School of Key West. Thinking of enrolling my daughter(s) there and since your blog post was made a few years ago, I'm wondering how you/your child enjoyed the experience there. Thanks in advance!
Hi! Thank you for touching base, and it's so hard to believe I wrote this so long ago already! My son just finished his second year at MCS, and we have been very pleased all around. The staff is well-trained, the environment warm and friendly, and the campus is a treasure. We've also been very pleased with the curriculum and the overall Montessori experience. Give them a call! I'm sure they'd be happy to show you around campus. Good luck! :)
Appreciate your insight! We look forward to experiencing their program. Our spot(s) have come available on the waiting list, so we will turn in our enrollment paperwork this week or next. Thanks again!
Yay! Good luck!
Hello! My family and I are thinking about relocating to Key West. I am curious as to how you and your family are doing. I have been to Key West twice, once on vacation once to get married, so I am familiar with the adult fun. I would love to know about the responsible side of things. What you do for fun as a family. Education (my son is 6) just general family life. If you have the time thanks jklein413@yahoo.com
Hello! My apologies for the .... ohhh ... year and a half (yikes!) ... delay in response! I've been offline for awhile and managed not to update my alerts. I'm so sorry!
So this might be old news, but I hope you and your family are doing well and still thinking about Key West (unless you've already taken the plunge, of course!). We are still here and will be celebrating 5 years on our favorite rock in a few months. We so genuinely love it here and are still very grateful to be living in such a beautiful corner of the world.
To answer your question is quite simple. Our alarms go off at 5am every morning, we shuffle around the morning routine like most of our northern friends, bring our son to school (where I still teach, lucky me!), come home to homework, dinner, baseball, Cub Scouts, and all the other calendar-filling things that we would do anywhere else. We even groan about traffic (yes!) ... EXCEPT ... that we still know, love, and appreciate all the crazy, quirky, beautiful things about living here full time and take advantage of island living every single day. Even the baseball field overlooks the water and is surrounded by palms (well, and all that red clay too). Lol! Honestly, we rarely get down to Duval Street, but we do enjoy popping in and out of some of our favorite restaurants or bars for an evening out whenever we can, and I don't think this is so different than our previous life except for the plethora of food choices, open-air seating, lots of live music, and overall friendly people. Our son has his favorite sitters, and we're still generally home before the crowds get crazy. We also have our favorite family jaunts, as well. Hurricane Hole is our favorite together spot, for example - it's kind of hard to resist the giant pirate ship playground attached ;).
The family side of Key West is definitely alive and thriving! Key West is filled with parks and playgrounds, and we have kid clubs for probably every interest (soccer, lacrosse, football, baseball, skating, swimming, gymnastics, dance, ballet, church groups, sailing, Scouts (boys/girls), etc, etc, and honestly etc.). Tag on an extra dozen or so if you happen to be military or have access to military facilities, as there is a whole secret that my son's local friends can't access - sweet!).
As for schools, there are quite a few options. Without risking a favoritism for one over another (and there are several great schools to love!), I will just say that I've been very happy with both of the schools that my son has attended since we've lived here. For a little one, you definitely have some good options.
All in all, I hope this helped albeit delayed. If you've made other plans, don't forget to swing back every now and again for a visit!
Cheers!
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