I thought I was ready. How hard could school enrollment be?
Well, what if I told you the real parenting doesn’t start until your child enters kindergarten. Yes, it gets pretty real. If you thought selecting daycare was difficult, try choosing the right schools.
When Safiyyah turned 4, I was excited and scared for the beginning of my daughter’s adolescent years. Having a child entering kindergarten is fun and exciting but having very little information or direction about selecting schools can be very frustrating especially for first time parents, like myself.
I personally didn’t know what to expect prior to registering my child for school. I was unsure of what questions to ask or signs to watch for when inquiring about public or private elementary schools.
I became reluctant to push her into any school system; I wanted the best education my “zone” address could afford. I wanted kindergarten to be perfect for “us” okay, for her. Which meant deciding whether or not to send her to private or public schools. I had to ask myself, can I really afford private school on my income? Will her father be willing to pay the tuition?
Uncertain of what decision to make I asked myself, am I willing to pay now or later for a good education. The choices I make now can and will impact not only my life but Safiyyah’s as well.
After researching more schools in my district, I started to lose hope reading school rankings and reviews from parents and other educators.
I slowly regretted this tedious process.
Due to my lack of experience, I turned to Google, family, and friends to help decide what schools would be best. So, I asked my friends and family, “What should I do?” The unanimous response was to “MOVE.”
No one tells you, you should hire a realtor when searching for the “perfect” school.
Yes, they said, move, but to where? Why must I move? Now I must leave my beautiful home to seek out a good school? Nope, not happening, there must be another way.
I started my search over hoping to find a better solution. Eureka! After searching, I realized I didn’t need to sell my perfect house. I was relieved. I finally found a school that met my standards Wesley International Academy—a public charter school in east Atlanta. Their school website was full of smiling faces with the cutest uniform colors, and their reviews were nothing but five-star ratings from parents and educators.
Yes, all my hard work wasn’t in vain. I shouldn’t have had to fight for a better school in my neighborhood but I’m glad I did. My daughter graduated kindergarten this year and I couldn’t be prouder.
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nshirah Jihad is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and attended Atlanta Public Schools from K-12. She graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 2006. She continued her education at Georgia State University. Inshirah studied Business Administration/ Marketing with a concentration in entrepreneurship.
While continuing her education, she opened her own marketing company named Mirror Image Solutions Group, LLC. Although being a business owner is challenging, being a single parent to an active, intelligent, and inquisitive 6 year old is by far her best achievement.
Inshirah Jihad native of Atlanta, Georgia and attended Atlanta Public Schools from K-12. She graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 2006. She continued her education at Georgia State University. Inshirah studied Business Administration/ Marketing with a concentration in entrepreneurship.
While continuing her education, she opened her own marketing company named Mirror Image Solutions Group, LLC. Although being a business owner is challenging, being a single parent to an active, intelligent, and inquisitive 6 year old is by far her best achievement.