Kindergarten Krunch in Hoboken

The odds of winning the New Jersey Megamillions Lottery are about one to 40. The odds of getting into a Hoboken charter school for kindergarten are about the same.

When my family made the decision to stay long-term in Hoboken, I spoke to other moms and received positive feedback about local traditional public as well as charter schools. 

I knew that the charter schools had relatively small enrollments (22 per year at Hoboken Charter, 32 at Elysian and 44 at ) but received assurances from older moms that spots opened up throughout the year with many families trying out multiple programs before finding the right fit. Nobody has factored in, however, the population bulge that has caused a crisis among the parents of four year olds applying to kindergarten for the 2011-12 school year.

With sibling preference removing between 44 and 72 percent of seats from the charter school general admission pool, this year offered dismal odds for Hoboken residents. Three percent of applicants were admitted to Hoboken Charter, about 9 percent to Elysian and roughly 20 percent to . For those of us far down on the waitlist (my family is number 32 at Elysian and number 57 at Hoboken Charter) the chances are virtually zero of getting in, even mid-year when many families move away.

I believe that the odds are only going to get worse over the next two years, when my younger child applies to kindergarten. The free Abbott pre-school program has seen enrollment increases of  percent in each of the last couple of years. Maria at Hoboken Charter explained that every year, my family will have two chances at admission (if one child gets in the other gets bumped to the head of the waitlist). But I am not holding my breath.

I have been talking to other families with toddlers, and the general consensus seems to be that they have no option but to move away from Hoboken because of the school situation. Greatschools.org ranks Connors the lowest of the three public schools, with a rating score of two. Wallace earns a four, and Calabro a seven. There are five private elementary schools in town, but with tuition ranging from $5,000 to $17,300, paying Hoboken property taxes plus tuition is an unattractive prospect.

With the recent construction of many family-size condos, the schools have to improve to the point where they are comparable to those in the suburbs (without huge property tax hikes). The recent who has a track record of turning around failing programs gives me hope that he will be able to effect significant change within the next three years, when the current four year olds reaches third grade.

To read more about what makes Kathy Zucker tick, check out her blog at http://hobokenmomcondo.com/momblog and follow her at http://twitter.com/kathyzucker