Attention West Zone parents: Your kid won't end up in a box under a highway ramp if she doesn't get into the Lyndon or Kilmer

I don't know if it's the same in the other two zones, but as a West Zone parent whose kid is in a public school, I can say the angst is real and it starts when your kid is 3 or 4 (the whole lottery thing) and continues through third grade (advanced work) and gets even worse in sixth grade (they call them exam schools for a reason - it doesn't help the kids take the test in November but don't get results back until January, and find out whether they've gotten in until February or March).

It's a lot more stressful than being a parent out in the burbs - because parents in Brookline or Newton or Concord don't have to worry about whether their kids will get a decent education at whatever schools they wind up at let alone getting knifed or beaten up in middle school (I'm not ashamed to admit I'm glad the kidlet's school went K-8, because, God, our local middle school seemed to be in the police blotter every single week and, yes, maybe it's gotten better with the new principal).

I'd think I should cut back on the caffeine, but I normally don't drink that much coffee (today was an exception - had two whole cups). :-).

It's the distance away from a school in which kids won't get a bus ride. It's also important because kids in the walk zone have a bit more of an advantage in the elmentary-school lottery (50% of the seats in a school are supposed to be assigned to walk-zone kids, although the exact number varies each year depending on siblings - since siblings of a kids already in schools automatically jump to the head of the class, um, line).