Moving to the area midyear -- and PK lotteries

[Anonymous]

Hi all. We're moving to the area this March/April and I'm a little overwhelmed trying to figure out how DCPS and the lottery work. Our older child is almost 4 and would be old enough for PK4 in the fall. I would love to get some help thinking through some of the moving parts.

- Can we/should we apply for the March 1 lottery deadline even if we don't have a DC address yet? Our current thinking is that we will find a short-term rental starting maybe late March and look to buy asap, so our address may change multiple times but I hope it's settled by summer.

- Any advice on targeting schools if we haven't pinpointed our exact location yet? So far we have been liking houses in Petworth, Sixteenth Street Heights, Columbia Heights (or thereabouts).

- Obviously not much we can do about this, but are we at a lottery disadvantage coming in at PK4 instead of PK3?

- Any general thoughts on charter schools in DC? We are coming from the Boston area and I have to admit I have a little bit of an anti-charter school bias, but I'm not sure if that point of view translates as well to DC or if there are special considerations for the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi all. We're moving to the area this March/April and I'm a little overwhelmed trying to figure out how DCPS and the lottery work. Our older child is almost 4 and would be old enough for PK4 in the fall. I would love to get some help thinking through some of the moving parts.

- Can we/should we apply for the March 1 lottery deadline even if we don't have a DC address yet? Our current thinking is that we will find a short-term rental starting maybe late March and look to buy asap, so our address may change multiple times but I hope it's settled by summer. Yes you should apply for the lottery but if you don't have an address yet you will have no "inbound" option. Look for schools that tend to have lottery spots for PK4 that don't automatically go to kids with inbound and/or sibling preference. You can find this in last year's lottery data on the DCPS site: https://enrolldcps.dc.gov/node/61

- Any advice on targeting schools if we haven't pinpointed our exact location yet? So far we have been liking houses in Petworth, Sixteenth Street Heights, Columbia Heights (or thereabouts). I don't live in this area so can't suggest specific schools. I will suggest you figure out how big an area you will target to live in, and also decide what you are willing to do in terms of commute. There may be charters east of these neighborhoods that would interest you, but I can't know what you're willing to commit to in terms of commute.

- Obviously not much we can do about this, but are we at a lottery disadvantage coming in at PK4 instead of PK3? Yes. There will be fewer spots available pretty much everywhere at PK4 because the kids who did PK3 at the school will be able to re-enroll automatically. However, all is not lost. We got into a school at PK4 that we had lotteries for the previous year and not gotten an offer for. A lot of people will lottery again for PK4 and will move if they get something they really want (like language immersion, Montessori, a spot at their IB, etc.), which opens up spots for others. There is movement in every class and it's not all or nothing with PK3.

- Any general thoughts on charter schools in DC? We are coming from the Boston area and I have to admit I have a little bit of an anti-charter school bias, but I'm not sure if that point of view translates as well to DC or if there are special considerations for the area.Ugh, hard to answer. We are at a DCPS and I am generally happy with that choice -- I like being at a more established school with lots of longtime teachers, where the PTA is active and involved, and you don't have to deal with what seems like a sometimes non communicative and sometimes inept administration at some of these charters, especially the newer ones. But that's me. Charters often (but not always) have newer facilities, offer things like immersion that are rare in DCPS, and supposedly offer more differentiation for advanced students, though I personally have not observed that in terms of my friends' kids at charters. I will say that based on your target neighborhoods, a lot of people aim for L.A.M.B. in that neighborhood, which is a Spanish-language immersion Montessori that is very beloved by people who go. It is extremely hard to get into even at PK3, but if you are interested in it, I'd list it just in case because you never know -- you could literally win the lottery and get the 1st spot (which could mean your kid is actually 7th in line due to sibling preference, though that's not as common in your scenario because most kids with younger siblings at L.A.M.B. got in at PK3).

Answers above. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

You should do the lottery by the March 1 deadline. You can use any address in DC, you just need to have your address by enrollment time around mid to end of May I think. The caveat with that is many PK programs are hard to get into out of boundary. If you lottery and get a spot with an address for X school, then move and are no longer in boundary you would lose the spot.

One consideration is that you are guaranteed entry for Kinder and above at your in boundary school. So it may be worth focusing on identifying that school and looking in boundary for that. You can try a charter for PK and then go in bounds DCPS for kinder.

[Anonymous]

I would look at Bloomingdale, Eckington, and Edgewood. That way you'll have a nice in-boundary school where you're likely to get a spot even if you get the address a little later. It's a delightful neighborhood for small kids-- many parks and a pool, tons of families.

As for charters, try to understand that DCPS was once one of the lowest-performing school districts in the country, far worse than Boston ever was, and that charters are part of how it recovers. Many people are living in the city and attending sort-of-okay DCPS schools because they know they have the option of charters for middle and high school. Otherwise they'd just move to the burbs. If you think it through and decide to stick with non-charters for philosophical reasons, great, but the standard critique of that is that you're exercising "school choice by real estate".

[Anonymous]

I don't think you're at much of a disadvantage coming in for PK4. The allowable class size goes up, so most schools need to attract additional students beyond just replacing PK3 kids who leave. And there are some schools that don't have PK3, just have PK4, so I think the total number of seats in the system is actually greater for PK4. In PK3 there may seem to be a lot of seats available, but a lot of them go to siblings-- you never had a chance at those seats.

[Anonymous]

The thing about charter schools is they often market themselves more effectively than DCPS does, but that doesn't mean the teaching is actually better. Or they may be more attuned to the cultural preferences of high-income parents (crunchiness, more outdoor play, etc.) but that's not the same thing as excellence in academics. Lately some of the charters that once were very much in demand have come in for more scrutiny. Many of them are not especially impressive when you consider that their student body is mostly high-income. It's not rocket science to have upper middle class elementary-age kids performing on grade level, but they act like they're God's gift to the city.

[Anonymous]

Charter schools don't use an address-based system, so they might be your best option. At non-charter schools, the kids living within the school's boundary will get preference for preschool (since preschool is not guaranteed here), so if you don't live in the boundary you probably wont' get in. At a charter, your chances are as good as any other non-sibling's regardless of where you live. So I'd suggest you try to get more comfortable with charters

The big decision you need to make, house-wise, is do you want your in-boundary school to be a school that offers a lot of Spanish instruction, or not. And that should help you cut down your list of other schools to apply to as well.

[Anonymous]

There are also a few PK only schools that usually have spots: military road and Stevens (I think these are citywide DCPS?) and the Appletrees (charter). They’re a good option if you move in-boundary to a school that has few PK4 openings.

[Anonymous]

Also about charters in DC vs other places: most charters here are not the large conglomerates run as for profits. It’s a different landscape with lots of independent schools and leaders — that yes have often been strained in the pandemic. We are at a charter with long serving teachers, a family association, etc so it’s not all lacking as a PP indicated it might be at charters.

[Anonymous]

Where are you coming from? If by Boston area you mean Roxbury I'll frame my advice one way and if you mean Natick another

There are plenty of prek4 spots and you can move schools for Kinder. It will be fine. But, what are you looking for in a school? In a neighborhood? What about traditional public schools appeals to you over public charter schools?

[Anonymous]

I would apply to the Military Road city wide PreK as well as look into the city funded private programs. An easy one is CommuniKids. This way it is an easy holding place as you figure out your next steps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would apply to the Military Road city wide PreK as well as look into the city funded private programs. An easy one is CommuniKids. This way it is an easy holding place as you figure out your next steps.

Yes, you can also put your name on waitlists for community based options - these are private preschools with subsidized (free) spots. These are outside the lottery, but open regardless of income/geography. In my experience, the process for dolling out spots can be less transparent, but I know some offer internal lotteries. https://www.myschooldc.org/find-schools/school-options-outside-my-school-dc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would apply to the Military Road city wide PreK as well as look into the city funded private programs. An easy one is CommuniKids. This way it is an easy holding place as you figure out your next steps.

Yes, you can also put your name on waitlists for community based options - these are private preschools with subsidized (free) spots. These are outside the lottery, but open regardless of income/geography. In my experience, the process for dolling out spots can be less transparent, but I know some offer internal lotteries. https://www.myschooldc.org/find-schools/school-options-outside-my-school-dc

Agree with the advice above to apply to Military Road. I'd throw in one of the Appletree schools as well, and look into the CBOs linked above (we had a decent experience at Bright Start which is in Petworth - I'd probably choose a regular lottery school over it, but it's perfectly fine if you don't get into a lottery school).

[Anonymous]

it's hard without knowing precisely where you will live. PK4 is a lot harder than K and PK3. could you rent for a full-year and line the place/address up by 3/1? it can take time to get situated in dc.

after the initial lottery, you can in the post-lottery period still add yourself to any school with a short waitlist: https://www.myschooldc.org/short-waitlists . this might be one option just for PreK4 where you could then move as your right to your eventual in-bound school for K.

[Anonymous]

In addition to charters, there are also citywide DCPS options. The military road option is a good one based on your target neighborhoods. So is Dorothy Height.