get shorty
By annemarie on July 25, 2010 | Filed Under faces & places
When I first started corresponding with Karen from the soon-to-be-launched The Shorty List last spring I was intrigued by her idea:
The Shorty List is a soon-to-be launched Metro Vancouver website which will help parents make demanding choices about daycares, preschools, and elementary schools. We will have the hard facts – including satisfaction survey results, daycare sizes, class demographics, and test scores. We know it’s not just about the numbers though. It’s also about your stories, feelings, and perceptions. That’s why The Shorty List provides a space for parents to share info you can’t get anywhere else online. Real-life reviews of daycares and schools. Scoops from parents on the inside. We want to give you the word on the street, the playground talk between moms, and the confab between dads.
How was it going to work I wondered? Would parents be driven to post positive and negative reviews or just the negative? How can I trust what Jane22 says about the school or daycare down the block? How will Karen get enough mums across the city to contribute to make the list a truly valuable resource?
Well I don’t know the answers to those questions yet as The Shorty List is now in the process of being pre-populated with info – yes, you can get in your two cents in time for their launch, just visit www.theshortylist.ca and get typing – but I’m eagerly awaiting her launch and the opportunity to check it out. I know our article on preschools with availability that we ran during our very first summer is still one of our most referenced pieces (even though the info’s obviously a bit outdated) and I know we all stress so much about the choices we make for our kids in terms of childcare and eduction and I know I love watching someone take their great idea and bring it to fruition so for me I’m very intrigued by the Shorty List.
So what about you? What do you wish you’d known about your child’s school, preschool or daycare before they started? How would you define a great resource for parents trying to make the right choice for their kids? Oh and slightly off topic but something that came up today that piqued my interest – what are your thoughts on private school?
