school paranoia

ok, my little cherubs aren't even out of diapers yet, but I'm already having a crisis of motherhood in terms of deciding what to do with regards to preschool.  It would appear that I've already doomed them to failure before they've even started because every decision we are about to make affects their choices from now til eternity.  How's that you say?

Well.  I want them to be successful in life, right?  Among MANY other things, that means helping get them into the "right' college for them.  Not knowing if my toddler is more predisposed to engineering, or basket weaving, I have to at least prepare them for the OPTION of the more competitive route... which means a high school with a track record of sending its grads to great schools.  Don't even get me started on the banality of rankings, what's competitive in this field vs. that, or how we're overparenting to extremes. I could go on forever, and you sure don't want me to do that.

Now private high schools are not ranked, and are fairly private with their data (at least the data I care about).  Next, california public high schools ARE ranked, but the results tell you more about the demographics of the students than about the ability of getting grads into their top choice schools...  hell, most of us would go to Harvard/Stanford/Cal if we could, right??  

So there is some research out there that suggests private school kids are more prepared for college than public, though I doubt they're really comparing apples to apples.  Ignoring that issue for a second, lets posit that I believe private high school is the answer. or at least the step.

How does one get into a great private high school with a good placement record?  Donate a billion bucks.  Since that option is out, get admitted for preschool, elementary, or junior high, depending on what grade that school starts.  Now I'm learning there are some feeder schools that place a high proportion of students in the competitive upper schools.  But how do I find out which ones have the best track record?  Who knows.  Not me.  They recommend you research and visit them all looking for the "right fit".  Puhlease!!!  If one more person tells me that, I'm going to stuff a college admissions guide down their throat.

Each of the schools accept the majority of their students at various cutoffs (usually pre-k, K, 6, or 8).  And the admissions process is 9 months long for all of them!  Visit in the fall, apply in the winter,  get admitted in the spring, enroll in the early fall.

BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING TO BE LIVING NEXT YEAR!! Never mind in a couple or 5 years.    We want to buy a house, possibly in a different town that we are in today, but housing went insane in the the bay area, as everyone knows, we are known as FENCE SITTERS and even BUBBLISTAS.  We sit on our high horse and profess to believe the prices will come down soon, and we aren't buying until it does. 

Prices have crashed all over the country, and especially in southern Cal and the central valley, and even somewhat in the East bay.  But the peninsula is holding strong.  Too much demand from silicon valley, high ranked public schools,  no more buildable land, and lots of realtors still pushing the "real estate is local" mantra and "prices never come down here" propaganda.

  I digress.  

But the problem remains.  We have to find and get into a feeder school now to secure at least one option for our children's future.  If only I new which town so I could really get started.  There are 700+ preschools in california, dozens in every town on the peninsula.  Information paralysis in the extreme. Damn you Greenspan.