2nd round for PK3 lottery
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Anonymous
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Hi all, I posted about 12 hours ago, and got really valuable feedback regarding the lottery and my list. I'm making a 2nd round of it, and hoping to get some good feedback on it.
I realize we don't have a chance to get into most or any of those first round being OOB (overseas military), but my thinking is if we move IB in June, their preference will go up. Especially if we move IB for my K and 1st grader for Hyde or the Capital Hill Schools. If they actually get a spot, there's a possibility we just move sooner (May 1), but it'd be difficult so we'll see what happens. The top 5 are basically long reach schools that we'd be happy to go to but I'm not holding my breath for. For my PK3: 1. Yu Ying (for the dual immersion) 2. Hyde Addison 3. School without walls@Francis Stevens 4. School within school 5. Capital Hill Montessori (I don't know about this one since I saw some bad reviews here on the school) 6. Brent Elementary 7. Thomson Elem. School 8. Maury Elem School 9. Ludwig Taylor Elem School 10. Learn DC Public Charter School (military preference) 11. Stevens Early Learning Center (or maybe one of the Apple trees here) 12. Military Road Early Learning (or Apple tree) My K and 1st grader lists so far are: 1. Yu Ying 2. Oyster Adams (dual immersion) 3. Hyde Addison 4. School without walls @ Francis Stevens 5. School within School 6. Learn DC Public Charter School I don't really have a preferred order for the rest since we'd just move IB for any DCPS schools we'd be interested in that don't offer PK3 (Stoddert, Eaton, Janney, Mann, Hearst, Key, Ross). Then we'd try for IB sibling preference for PK4. But I guess since I'll put 12.. 7. Brent Elem 8. Thomson Elem 9. Ludwig Taylor Elem ...Literally no clue for 10-12. Any suggestions here? I guess I could put Amidon or Van Ness. I don't get the feeling those schools are any better then the schools listed, and we could move IB for them. A sincere thanks to you all, because this is really difficult not knowing the area or being in the area! |
Anonymous
| I would recommend replying to one of your other two recent posts with updates or additional questions, rather than starting another chain each time. Good luck! |
Anonymous
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Some of those schools are MacArthur feeders not JR . Is that ok for you?
https://dcps.dc.gov/page/sy23-24-school-feeder-patterns I would think very hard about your commute to LearnDC, how you will live in a safe neighborhood but still have an okay commute. Or is the plan to live on JBAB? |
1SWMom
Member Location: SW Waterfront
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Member Location: SW Waterfront
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| Seems like you don’t have any safety schools, most of your list appears to be hard reaches from my experience. |
Anonymous
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It's ok not to have safety schools if her plan is to move IB and pay for preschool.
OP, it's interesting that you have Yu Ying on your list. It will be hard for your 1st grader to get a seat-- since you're enrolling late, it might not happen at all, or not until after the school year starts. Since it's a charter, you can't move and have the right to it. So I question whether this is the right fit for your family. How will you feel if your 1st grader doesn't get in? Because if you rank Yu Ying 1st and your PK3 or K has a fantastic number and gets in, then they will not be waitlisted for any of the schools ranked below Yu Ying. And that means you've used a great lottery number on a school that isn't actually a good fit for your family. You can view lottery results data for past years here: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/MSDCSeatsandWaitlistOfferData_draft/MSDCPublicDisplay Since you've decided that Yu Ying is okay, and Spanish is okay, does that mean you're interested in other schools that feed to the same high school Yu Ying does (it's called DC International)? If so, I would recommend DC Bilingual and Latin American Montessori Bilingual, and I would not recommend Mundo Verde and Stokes. It seems like what you really want is to live in upper NW and attend a JR feeder. So I think maybe the best for you is to rank Communikids, Appletree, Military Road, etc. highest for your PK3, enroll your other kids by moving IB, and not get involved with Capitol Hill schools at all. If you're not someone who can embrace a school with poor test scores, you won't be happy there long term. |
Anonymous
If you move IB in June and enroll the big kids, yes, your preference will go up. You will be placed at the end of the IB sibling preference category. And for some schools, that will not be enough to get your PK3 in. Because you're not the only person planning to enroll an older child to bump your PK3 up the list. As people bring in enrollment paperwork, your PK3 will slip farther and farther down the list. Might get in, might not. And I notice you don't have any Capitol Hill backup schools on your list, such as Appletree locations or easier schools like JO Wilson, Miner, and Two Rivers. I would say Brent and Maury are long reach schools for your PK3. And personally I don't think you'd be happy with the academics at CHML. How about Seaton or Garrison to fill out your list? They are good schools, every bit as good as CHML and Amidon-Bowen and Van Ness. The only thing that puts people off Thomson is the lack of a playground. Oyster-Adams is a super long shot for your older kids, and DCPS is talking about changing its feeder high school too. It's hard that you're applying in a feeder and boundary review year! You can view lottery preference data here. https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiYjA5ZmM4Y2MtZThmOC00YjVkLTkwN2EtMzIwNzU2MjYwNmZkIiwidCI6IjJhYTA0NmVlLWIzNGUtNGEzMy05MmI3LTk5OWRmMmJjMGEzMiIsImMiOjF9&pageName=ReportSection |
Anonymous
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This is a really tricky issue and difficult to strategize. If you’re planning on moving to NW, I would focus on apple tree, military road, and CBOs for your PK kid. I would also add Shepherd, though your PK kid may not get in since you wont be able to apply in-boundary, sibling attending preference until you have an address there. Hyde might be similar.
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Anonymous
| OP- you need to take a breath and look at the data. You aren’t going to get into Hyde Addison, Brent or Maury for your prek3 kid because those slots are filled by kids with siblings at the school. If you move inbound to Maury, then maybe your older kids would pull your prek3 er in but that’s not going to happen post lottery. Your prek3 would be higher on the waitlist then kids without siblings OOB but these prek3s don’t have enough space for all in bound sibs so your kid could sit at the top of the waitlist and never get it. I suggest you pick a school where you can enroll your older kids in bound, plan on moving there, and eat the cost of private prek3 or charters where there is no preference and try the lottery again for prek4. What this could look like- Maury for your older kids, apply for your prek3 er. When you move in May, your child would be bumped up the list as an IB. Maybe they get a spot, maybe not, but you’ve put AppleTree on the list too and maybe you get a spot there. |
Anonymous
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^^ agree with the above.
OP, we’ve done the AppleTree/Maury combo and have loved it. (I also think AppleTree is an underrated program; it is a “safety” for some nearby families who can’t get into their own IB in that you can usually get a spot, but that says nothing about the quality of the program and teachers. It’s truly fantastic.) |
Anonymous
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Thomson might be the only school on your list that you have a realistic chance of getting in out of bound.
Also if you need aftercare/before care lists fill up quickly at certain schools so keep that in mind |
Anonymous
I didn't think that process through with Yu Ying. If my PK3 gets in, and my K and 1st don't, would they get preference for sibling preference? Is it possible to turn down a spot and stay on the wait list for the remaining schools? We're only interested in Chinese because it's available, and a good base to learn Korean. Our focus language is Korean, or Japanese (only because they are already fluent), and not Spanish at all. If they don't get into an immersion school for an Eastern language, we'll find some Korean and/or Japanese lessons after school. I think your assessment is correct about wanting to live in upper NW. I included Capital Hill schools because I heard they were good, and it is a better commute for my husband. But he'd be find with NW, too. Anyone know what the realistic commute would be driving from NW to McNair at 5:30am-6am and again at 3:30-4pm? What's the commute time like for metro'ing to the Pentagon? |
Anonymous
Yes they would have sibling preference at Yu Ying. But sometimes the 1st grade and K waitlists for Yu Ying just don't move very much. Because you're coming in late in the process, your 1st grader would be placed at the end of the sibling preference category. And because Yu Ying is one of the best schools in the area, there aren't a lot of people who turn down a waitlist offer or who enroll and then leave. It's possible to turn down a spot (or accept a spot) and stay on the waitlist for other schools if you re-order your lottery list to rank the other schools higher, which you can do at any time after the lottery. Capitol Hill *elementary* schools are good. Not the middle schools or the high school. I think the commute you propose would be okay in the early morning and a complete nightmare in the afternoon. Pentagon by Metro would be slow and boring but at least he could read a book or something. |
Anonymous
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On the other hand, I believe Yu Ying is expanding its preschool and K next year due to acquiring some extra space across the street. So maybe they would have more spots for new students in K. Not sure about 1st grade though. You'd have to ask specifically about that at an online open house. And as lovely as that neighborhood is to live in, it's not a great commute to McNair, and you don't actually seem to want Chinese very badly. It seems like what you want is JR.
Also, if you left DC for a while you couldn't come back into Yu Ying or its feeder middle and high school-- it's only the by-address schools that allow that. If you can afford it, why not Bethesda? If you're looking for great by-right schools that's where you'll find them. |
Anonymous
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How comfortable are you with uncertainty lasting until early October? Your plan is probably going to deliver that. Also, what is your housing budget and how many bedrooms do you want? It's not that easy to find a 3+ bedroom rental in many neighborhoods you're considering.
If you really want free PK, you're going to need either: * a ton of luck * a lease by May 1 in a school zone that offers PK3 (and a little luck) * a plan to do a post-lottery application for PK3 at places like Appletree and move/enroll your older kids near where the younger gets in; at the SW or Lincoln Park Appletrees that could allow you to send your littlest to school with their siblings if the waitlist works in your favor. If you want your kids at the same school and your husband to have a short commute, do what we told you before and move in-bounds for Amidon or Van Ness. If you want the highest-scoring schools, accept that your kids will not all be together next year, you might need to pay for PK, and your husband will have a longer commute. There is no magic solution here. |
Anonymous
Thomson mom here. I agree, though we have friends who somehow lotteried into CHML. We are happy at Thomson, OP. The facilities are not great but the teachers and school leaders make up for them. It was a top choice for us (we live very nearby tho we are technically out-of-bounds). But if you have it on your list at all, you will get in, even if you're waitlisted initially, so your kids will end up in a solid school, even though from your list it looks like it's not your number one choice. Also agree on aftercare! Sign up the day it opens. |