Which charter elementary schools feed into middle schools? Or run from K/1st up through 8th?

[Anonymous]

We're trying to figure out next steps for our preschoolers. We're happy with our inbound DCPS elementary, but not with the middle school. Obviously don't want to put all our eggs into one basket for the lottery for 6th grade, so we're wondering if we can try to get into an elementary school in the new few years that would take us through 8th grade, either because the school goes through 8th or it feeds into a middle school. I've been digging around the DC Charter School websites, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to find this information.

We're in the Petworth area, but willing to travel a bit for decent options.

[Anonymous]

OP to add - I know that getting into a Hardy or Deal feeder is an option, I'm thinking about beyond that.

[Anonymous]

Capital City
EL Haynes
Creative Minds
Inspired Teaching
Two Rivers (but that's kinda far from where you live)

Bear in mind that a lot of these schools do well in preschool and lower elementary but then not quite as well in upper elementary and middle school. Just because a middle school exists doesn't mean you're going to actually be happy with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Capital City
EL Haynes
Creative Minds
Inspired Teaching
Two Rivers (but that's kinda far from where you live)

Bear in mind that a lot of these schools do well in preschool and lower elementary but then not quite as well in upper elementary and middle school. Just because a middle school exists doesn't mean you're going to actually be happy with it.

OP here - thank you! Yes, I know I might not be happy with the options, I'm just trying to get a list I can work off of. The full list of 123 public charters is intimidating and unhelpful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Capital City
EL Haynes
Creative Minds
Inspired Teaching
Two Rivers (but that's kinda far from where you live)

Bear in mind that a lot of these schools do well in preschool and lower elementary but then not quite as well in upper elementary and middle school. Just because a middle school exists doesn't mean you're going to actually be happy with it.

OP here - thank you! Yes, I know I might not be happy with the options, I'm just trying to get a list I can work off of. The full list of 123 public charters is intimidating and unhelpful!

If you are interested in/considering immersion, then there are the DCI feeders (though the strength of the feed, from a guarantee to just a preference, varies): Yu Ying, DC Billingual, Stokes, LAMB, Mundo Verde

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Capital City
EL Haynes
Creative Minds
Inspired Teaching
Two Rivers (but that's kinda far from where you live)

Bear in mind that a lot of these schools do well in preschool and lower elementary but then not quite as well in upper elementary and middle school. Just because a middle school exists doesn't mean you're going to actually be happy with it.

OP here - thank you! Yes, I know I might not be happy with the options, I'm just trying to get a list I can work off of. The full list of 123 public charters is intimidating and unhelpful!

If you are interested in/considering immersion, then there are the DCI feeders (though the strength of the feed, from a guarantee to just a preference, varies): Yu Ying, DC Billingual, Stokes, LAMB, Mundo Verde

DP, and just to be clear, these schools all have a feeder preference to DCI. What the PP is referring to in terms of "strength of feed" refers to two things:

1) DCI feeds from schools with Spanish, French, and Mandarin. There are way more Spanish students than anything else, and while there are more Spanish slots in DCI than French or Mandarin, as DCI gets crowded, you will likely have a much easier time getting a feeder spot with French or Mandarin than Spanish.

2) Each feeder school gets a certain number of feeder spots. Stokes and Mundo Verde have both expanded to new campuses in recent years, so it may be harder to get a spot from these schools than some of the smaller schools with just one campus.

In other words, some people believe that you stand a better chance of being guaranteed a DCI spot if you go to a school like Yu Ying or Stokes French, than a school like Mundo Verde or LAMB. But a lot of this is speculation based on current trends. DCI might expand before your kids reach MS, or things may change in terms of the language feeds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're trying to figure out next steps for our preschoolers. We're happy with our inbound DCPS elementary, but not with the middle school. Obviously don't want to put all our eggs into one basket for the lottery for 6th grade, so we're wondering if we can try to get into an elementary school in the new few years that would take us through 8th grade, either because the school goes through 8th or it feeds into a middle school. I've been digging around the DC Charter School websites, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to find this information.

We're in the Petworth area, but willing to travel a bit for decent options.

Reminder - many middle school charters start 5th grade. 6th grade you options are really slim

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're trying to figure out next steps for our preschoolers. We're happy with our inbound DCPS elementary, but not with the middle school. Obviously don't want to put all our eggs into one basket for the lottery for 6th grade, so we're wondering if we can try to get into an elementary school in the new few years that would take us through 8th grade, either because the school goes through 8th or it feeds into a middle school. I've been digging around the DC Charter School websites, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to find this information.

We're in the Petworth area, but willing to travel a bit for decent options.

Reminder - many middle school charters start 5th grade. 6th grade you options are really slim

So basically, for 5th you can lottery into Latin, the new Latin campus, or BASIS. That's basically your only shot at those schools, ever. For 6th you can lottery into DCI (slim chances) or other DCPS middle schools that aren't Deal and Hardy. Some schools (EL Haynes, Capital City, Sojourner Truth), you can lottery in at any grade but chances vary.

[Anonymous]

there are also some dcps schools with this set-up: oyster adams (spanish immersion), sww francis stevens, capitol hill montessori logan

[Anonymous]

The MS years start at Inspired and Capital City at 5th as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're trying to figure out next steps for our preschoolers. We're happy with our inbound DCPS elementary, but not with the middle school. Obviously don't want to put all our eggs into one basket for the lottery for 6th grade, so we're wondering if we can try to get into an elementary school in the new few years that would take us through 8th grade, either because the school goes through 8th or it feeds into a middle school. I've been digging around the DC Charter School websites, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to find this information.

We're in the Petworth area, but willing to travel a bit for decent options.

Reminder - many middle school charters start 5th grade. 6th grade you options are really slim

So basically, for 5th you can lottery into Latin, the new Latin campus, or BASIS. That's basically your only shot at those schools, ever. For 6th you can lottery into DCI (slim chances) or other DCPS middle schools that aren't Deal and Hardy. Some schools (EL Haynes, Capital City, Sojourner Truth), you can lottery in at any grade but chances vary.

In almost any other year this is accurate. Latin II held open slots for 5th grade that will be filled in 6th next year so it is a good year to be in the 6th grade lottery.

[Anonymous]

Capitol Hill Montessori is not a charter, but it's a city-wide DCPS (i.e., no boundary preferences) and goes through 8th. We know people who have transferred there (via the lottery) in later elementary and middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Capital City
EL Haynes
Creative Minds
Inspired Teaching
Two Rivers (but that's kinda far from where you live)

Bear in mind that a lot of these schools do well in preschool and lower elementary but then not quite as well in upper elementary and middle school. Just because a middle school exists doesn't mean you're going to actually be happy with it.

OP here - thank you! Yes, I know I might not be happy with the options, I'm just trying to get a list I can work off of. The full list of 123 public charters is intimidating and unhelpful!

If you are interested in/considering immersion, then there are the DCI feeders (though the strength of the feed, from a guarantee to just a preference, varies): Yu Ying, DC Billingual, Stokes, LAMB, Mundo Verde

Lamb doesn’t backfill students, so you have a better chance to get into dci from lamb or dc bilingual than from Mundo verde or stokes who have expanded.

DP, and just to be clear, these schools all have a feeder preference to DCI. What the PP is referring to in terms of "strength of feed" refers to two things:

1) DCI feeds from schools with Spanish, French, and Mandarin. There are way more Spanish students than anything else, and while there are more Spanish slots in DCI than French or Mandarin, as DCI gets crowded, you will likely have a much easier time getting a feeder spot with French or Mandarin than Spanish.

2) Each feeder school gets a certain number of feeder spots. Stokes and Mundo Verde have both expanded to new campuses in recent years, so it may be harder to get a spot from these schools than some of the smaller schools with just one campus.

In other words, some people believe that you stand a better chance of being guaranteed a DCI spot if you go to a school like Yu Ying or Stokes French, than a school like Mundo Verde or LAMB. But a lot of this is speculation based on current trends. DCI might expand before your kids reach MS, or things may change in terms of the language feeds.

[Anonymous]

Lamb doesn’t backfill students, so you have a better chance to get into dci from lamb or dc bilingual than from Mundo verde or stokes who have expanded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The MS years start at Inspired and Capital City at 5th as well.

Yes but unlike Latin or Basis, you can also lottery into these schools for elementary to get a feed for the MS, and both of these schools take kids at 6th or later via lottery.

This is in comparison to Latin and BASIS, where you basically get one shot for 5th grade. These schools do not have an elementary feeder so there is no alternative method for getting access to the school other than the 5th grade lottery, and they also almost never have spots for upper grades available in subsequent lotteries (BASIS in particular is known for choosing not to backfill even when students leave the school).

So these schools belong in different categories in terms of planning. You can start trying to lottery for these schools staring in PK3 and have many, many opportunities to get in by MS (especially if you have multiple kids). Not true for Latin/BASIS where you get one shot.