A Bit of a Dilemma

Often times when people ask me if I like my daughter's school, I ask them how much time they have for me to tell them how much I love it. The school is a non-profit Montessori school that goes from preschool right up to Grade 6 and has visions to go beyond.

We have known for some time that the school is in a temporary location and will need to move in the next two years to somewhere new. The current location isn't ideal so most of the parents have been OK with this looming deadline. We received a note home this week that the board of the school (I sit on the Parent's Council, not the board) has found a possible location that they would like the larger community to view. The only problem is that the new location is on the far south west outskirts of town. For those who know the city - it is out at Red Deer Lake (along the 22x almost at Spruce Meadows). We have an open house tomorrow morning to tour the school and see how far of a drive it will be.

Right now, we are 10 minutes from school which is perfect. In bad snow weather, it can often take close to 30 minutes for us to get home but that is OK because the rest of the year, it is a convenient trip. The new location isn't - especially for Alan to pick up or drop off kids.

I love the school and the community but by September 2010 (the scheduled move date), I will have Isabelle in full-day classes and Kyla in half-day classes meaning I will be making 3 trips to & from school each day (and with baby # 3 on the way, this is what my life will look like for the following 4 years).

I'm trying to keep an open mind but if the drive is the 30 minutes that I think it is, the new location might be a "deal breaker" for me. I don't want myself (or baby # 3) to spend a minimum of 3 hours a day in the car when there are some great schools much closer. Still, I love the school . . . . . . I'll let you know how the meeting goes.