Advice? Pk4 lottery (dual language)

[Anonymous]

Just moved from Arlington to DC (in-bounds at Bruce-Monroe). We will be moving again before school year starts and will try to rent in an area that we can walk to school. Prefer to be in a neighborhood with Latinxs - Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights, Petworth, maybe Fort Totten. Dual immersion, in any language, is a priority for us. Our kid is Spanish dominant. What changes would you make to the list?

1. Oyster-Adams
2. Latin American Montessori
3. DC Bilingual
4. Yu Ying
5. Bancroft
6. Powell
7. Bruce -Monroe
8. Marie Reed
9. Sela
10 - 12. Some combination of Stokes, Mundo Verde, and Global Citizens

Also planning to apply for Estrellitas Montessori and CommuniKids lotteries.

Anything else to ensure we get a prek4 spot?

Other considerations: A loving environment with lots of time for movement/ exercise/ running around. Our kid uses they pronouns.

We see the benefit of our child having an academic experience in Spanish, but are equally interested in Mandarin. We are teaching our kid to read and do math in Spanish at home already.

We went to the Yu Ying Open House today and were so impressed. I had no idea there were public schools that beautiful. We're going to some more open houses this week.

Thank you!!!

[Anonymous]

It's a fine list. I don't know much about 2-4 so I can't comment, but is there a reason that you would put Powell over Bruce Monroe? They seem very comparable in terms of academics and feeder path, and in fact purely on scores, Bruce Monroe looks a bit better. It's your IB, and when I visited BM some few years ago, I loved the vibes. Personally I would switch those two.

[Anonymous]

Also apply to some of the CBOs that are Spanish immersion (Communikids, CentroNia, etc)

[Anonymous]

I'd stick with spanish for sure. We got into Oyster Adams for PreK 4 - Spanish Dominant in July/August off the waitlist. The commute was too hard so we didn't end up taking it, but it's possible.

[Anonymous]

1) LAMB is not a good enough school to place so high on your list. It shows very well to preschool parents, but upper elementary parents tend to be really dissatisfied with the academics and the administration. Be sure you do your research and don't let your interest in Montessori in the abstract distract you from the real-life quality problems. If I were you I would put it below DCB at least.

2) Understand that if you match with Bruce-Monroe as an IB student, you can lose that status by moving out of the boundary.

3) Global Citizens is a new-ish school, so if you have to cut something, that's what I'd cut. It seems like you've listed other neighborhoods that are centrally located and have a lot of amenties, and then you've got Deanwood. Deanwood has certain things going for it (more affordable, nice indoor pool, Aquatic Gardens, easy to get into and out of town), but it's also kind of isolated and not as convenient as the other places you listed. I know people who love living there, but what does it mean for your commute?

4) If you put Mundo Calle Ocho and Stokes Brookland, you can live in the Brookland area, which isn't very heavily Latinx but you'd have a lot of classmates in the area, and it's a nice place to live.

[Anonymous]

Thank you! I'm the person who posted this. A friend just told me about DCUM yesterday and after reading more through the forum, I'm open to preschools in the Petworth and Columbia heights area, or walking distance, even if they don't offer dual language. Are there other schools in the area you recommend?