School Daze

If you live in the city, choosing a school for your child can be overwhelming, but it seems like a good sign that there are at least more opportunities to talk about it.

One of them is coming up April 18, when I will be part of a panel discussion titled "School Daze: Choosing the right elementary school for your Center City Child." The discussion is from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Ethical Society, 1906 Rittenhouse Square.

Martha Benoff, a licensed psychologist, and Luise Moskowitz, who chairs the Outreach Commmittee of the Home and School Association at Greenfield Elementary, a public school in Center City, will join me on the panel.

Come if you want to learn more about how to find a "good fit" for your child and for yourself. We will talk about the differences between public, private and charter schools and about how to make the process less stressful for parents.

The discussion is free for members of the Center City Residents Association, which is hosting the event. Cost is $5 for everyone else, but hey, refreshments will be served, so basically, between the food and the information, this is one of the best deals in town.

When I started thinking about where to send my son after preschool, one of the first things I did was go to a talk by Len Lipkin, founder of the Philly School Search blog, an incredible resource that you can find here.

Lipkin has found a school for his children and no longer updates his blog, but his talk has helped me and many others clarify their thoughts about raising a child in a city where good public options seem limited, waiting lists for charters are long, and private is expensive.

So on the 18th, come, try the "talking cure" and see if it helps you think about your school search as much as it helped me.