Crown Street Public School

Yesterday morning we visited Crown Street Public School. We were a little early for our visit so we stopped at an outdoor cafe for a latte and some milk. Here are the boys at the cafe. Tucker is showing off his goofy smile. 

Oh, I forgot to mention that after many phone calls, we found out that Crown Street is our "neighbourhood" school. It was only the third school we were told was ours. Anyway, I made an appointment to meet with the principal, filled out all the paperwork (there is a lot!) and read up about the school online. 

Back to the day-- after coffee, we walked across the street to the school. It is in a beautiful, old building in a funky part of the city called Surry Hills. The school has about 300 students from Kindergarten to Year 6.  Here are two photos of the school from across the street.

The population of the school is somewhat diverse. It is 60% non-English speaking Asian students. The other 40% is pretty varied.  The kids in all the NSW school's wear uniforms. The school uniform is gold and green- a bit unfortunate for Coop as yellow/gold is not his colour. :) They have a rule at all the schools, "No hat, no play" because the sun is so strong down here. I love that rule! I used to say "No coat, no play" to my students when I was a teacher so I appreciate a strong stance.  

There are two kindergarten classes with anywhere from 18-22 students. One of the kindergarten teachers is a male which is always a great experience for students.  We watched his class for a bit and I liked what I saw. I think my biggest reservation will be true at any school- putting our little Cooper out there in a big school.  I will get over that in time.  It turns out he won't be the youngest in the class which is great. He should be somewhere in the middle age-wise. Phew.

So, I have one more school to visit.  We are guaranteed a spot at Crown Street because of our address, but Sydney has school choice so we can apply to any school we like.  I will look at the final school on Friday and then we will make our decision and move forward.