I live on the upper east side and the closest I could get a spot for pre-k was over in the west 120's deep in harlem, and a very dangerous area when we went to investigate. I was not impressed at all with the care or the curriculum in any of the public pre-k's. I know times are tough, but I prefer to keep my child in an educationally nurturing environment with low student-teacher ratio. My 4 year old is at Building Blocks Playgroup
( www.buildingblocksplaygroup.com ) and reads and writes, as well as being constantly exposed to early math, art, music, and movement classes during the week. He would lose alot of what he has learned if stuck in the public school environment, even public kindergarten doesn't prepare children for any kind of academics from what I've observed. The future looks far too challenging to give my child anything but the best start in life at this point, I've decided to continue with his private care and education rather than save money by short changing his potential.