So, we finally decided on a school for Nicholas. He is going to the Arbor School. It is a K-8 school in Tualatin, Oregon, which is about 25 minutes drive from our house. We thought long and hard about what we would be sacrificing by not signing Nicholas up for our neighborhood public school, which is a 3 block walk from our house, r/e the community and proximity of classmates, but ultimately we felt that the Arbor School would be the best choice.
When we went for his assessment, I joked that we should just follow the Toyota Priuses ahead of us to get there, which turned out to be correct. It is a very progressive (read liberal) school that seeks to teach its kids to think for themselves and to expand their world view. It does so without pretension and with a great deal of care and joy, and it's philosophy closely matches one described in a recent piece from the New York Times by a leading educator from Williams College.
When we asked Nicholas what was most important in choosing a school, he listed 4 things (his words, not mine- and yes, he is only 4): 1)great teachers, 2)great kids, 3)great toys, and 4)a peaceful environment. In the end, it was the the Arbor School, which met all those criteria, by a landslide.
Tonight, we mailed back letters in "thin envelopes" to the other private schools at which Nicholas was accepted declining positions there. However, I did make the case that they were great schools, too, and that we would be looking at them again for high school. I mentioned how I knew it would be competitive to gain admittance, but I also said that we have one amazing son...
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