Preschool Selection All Over Again???

On Monday, my colleague texted me to share a dreadful news with me. We were at the tail-end of our staycation and the message threw me and hub into a frenzy mode.

The dreadful news : Current preschool would have to relocate by end of next year because the landlord which is JTC has planned to revamp the retail sector of Fusionopolis. The new place would be at Synapse in Biopolis.

On first thought, it seemed like a harmless motion but if you had researched a little more, you realised that new location is inconvenient if you need to travel with public transport.

So after we checked out from our staycation, we made an impromptu visit to the new branch at West Coast Plaza. You see, we had run through several scenarios which I might to use public transport and the thought of walking the long distance to the nearest MRT station makes me feel faint.

The new MindChamps branch at West Coast Plaza is spacious with 7 classrooms, if I remembered correctly. Since it just started operation, there wasn't many students. The Vice Principal led a tour for us to view its premises. Due to building structure, there were pillars in classrooms which they had padded up. The pillar stood awkwardly in the classroom and certainly obstructed activities in the classroom. We also learnt that they used catered food  which means that lunch and afternoon tea break would be sent to school around 10-11am and kept warm with warmer. Breakfast would be prepared in-house. The reading-writing program would have the specialist sent down from headquarter but the other enrichment programs such as the NeuroMoves, Music for the Mind etc are taught by class teacher. Not sure what's the usual practice as over at Fusionopolis branch, there is always a specific teacher taking on the "gym activities" for all levels.

There is currently only 1 K1 student and 2 N2 students at the branch. So the VP explained for certain lessons, the students are grouped together. She explained she would be expecting more intake in December but mostly at Playgroup level. VP is a nice lady and seems experienced. We thanked her for her time and left to sort out our thoughts.

The stark difference between Fusionopolis branch and West Coast branch lies on the meal preparation. Fusionopolis branch prepares the meals in-house so the children are served freshly prepped food. Through the visit, VP explained that very few outlets have their own in-house cook now. New branches such as West Coast, Holland Village and Yishun uses the same caterers. Though they have large warmers to ensure the food is kept warm, it is still quite a damper.

Few students mean the class won't be very lively and busy like current class situations for both boys. Elder boy has recently made a remark that he would like us to pick him up late. He would tell us not to come so early. I take it as a positive remark that he has grown to love current preschool so much and has forged friendships. Taking them out and restarting them again is a decision we are not taking lightly.

We also took the opportunity to go onsite to witness the distance between the Synapse building to the nearest MRT station which involved long hilly walk. I don't think I can cope with the distance, lugging their bags and trying to get them to walk all the way.

We had wanted to visit the Holland Village branch but it started raining heavily. The rain made us realised that we would have problem shuttling them from car park to school. While there is an underground car park in the school building itself, slim chance that we would ever get  a lot there. Open space car park is more promising but the downside is there is no sheltered link way. So we have struck off Holland Village branch from our list.

The next day, I met with Fusionopolis branch's Principal and asked her about the relocating news. She has confirmed the move is for real but it would be a temporary move. At this moment, the management is still waiting for final detail to be released by JTC hence there is no official notice served to parents. She added that every tenant has to move out eventually because the whole retail sector would be affected. So while it is a temporary move to Synapse and it belonged to the same owner, they do not know how long is the temporary move, in another word, they do not know when they can come back to Fusionopolis again. It could be 6 months, it could be a year.

I have feedback that the new location at Synapse is rather inconvenient. But if the move is only lasting for 6 months, I probably will bite the bullet and live with the inconvenience. Otherwise, I might have to look at alternative places. We love Fusionopolis location being centrally located between my office and our home. It's also easily accessible by public transport which in emergency cases, the grannies would be able to help fetch the kids.

We are still exploring our options and re-look at nearby preschools around us. I do hope JTC could furnish the detail soon so that we would know clearer on the impending move. As Jon would be K1 next year, the decision we make is not going to be easy.