DC Bilingual (DCB) or Bancroft

[Mhale]

My daughter was recently accepted into Bancroft, and my husband and I are having a hard time deciding whether to make the switch. Since moving to the area, we’ve consistently heard that Bancroft, LAMB, and Oyster are among the top bilingual programs in DC.

That said, we’ve had a wonderful experience at DCB. Our daughter just completed Pre-K3 there, and we truly appreciated the support from the staff and overall school community. DCB is also consistently ranked as one of the top charter schools in the district, which makes this decision even more challenging.

Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to tour Bancroft due to the temporary relocation of Pre-K through Kindergarten to the Sharpe campus during the expansion.

We’re also trying to think long term—knowing that Bancroft feeds into Deal and DCB feeds into DCI adds another layer to our decision.

If anyone has experience with Bancroft—especially around its bilingual program, school culture, or how the temporary transition is going—we’d really appreciate any insights you’re open to sharing. Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

What is your commute? Are you very committed to Spanish? The DCB expansion means that you probably won’t be guaranteed a spot in DCI. Especially if you don’t have sibling preference.

[Anonymous]

I would go with Bancroft if the commute isn't horrible.

I would say majority of schools DCPS and charter do PK very well. It's the later grades that are the challenge. Coming from a bilingual charter (that was very sought after a several years ago) and now at a well performing DPCS, the difference is night and day.

Having teachers that have been with the school for a while, having a school that has it's processes "set", makes a big difference. And, I'm not sure about DCB, but at our previous immersion charter we learned that teachers were paid much less than DCPS and generally also were less experienced, which made a big difference in classroom management.

I would check out the teacher retention stats for Bancroft and see how they compare.

[Anonymous]

Are you inbounds for Bancroft? I assume you are if you got a PK4 slot. If so, I would also factor in the social and community benefits to going to your neighborhood school. You'll meet all the kids your kids age in the neighborhood, get to know their parents, playing with other kids is easier, more organic, and doesn't involve shlepping across town. Walking to and from school is fabulous. Running late one day? A neighbor can grab your kid and it's NBD.

I don't have any specific experience with Bancroft or DCB (though both or obviously good choices), but even though I picked our inbound partially for the above reasons, I've been blown away by how great it is. Way exceeded my expectations.

Another thing I'd think about if you're not IB for Bancroft - Bancroft will offer you the guarantee to a decent middle and high school. The problem with DCI feeders is if you get a terrible lottery number in 6th grade and are one of two kids who doesn't get a spot at DCI, you're totally screwed. There aren't any decent "safeties" for middle school and your kid would have to go to your IB middle school (or you'd have to move or go private or something). And that would keep me up at night if my IB middle school was a non-starter.

[Anonymous]

If you're nearby I'd go Bancroft. I would rather feed to J-R than DCI.

I think PP also makes a very good point about teachers. I will note DCI did unionize which is great.

[Anonymous]

I’m a DCB parent, and we love DCB, but I agree with other posters that if you are inbound for Bancroft and live nearby, it’s probably the better choice for the neighborhood advantages. Plus if you’re in Mt Pleasant the commute to DCB is a challenge!

[Anonymous]

I'm a Bancroft parent who lives in-bounds for Bancroft. Thus far we've been pretty happy with the school. My son is going into third grade and has been there since K. K was rough because it was 90% in Spanish and it took him a bit to understand what was going on. Now he has no problem with any of it. He won't speak to me in Spanish but I've heard him talk to his Spanish dominant classmates in Spanish.

The community in MtP is amazing. Because it is the neighborhood school , all his friends are within walking/biking distance. He plays sports with them during the year and we arrange camp schedules together during the summer for both fun and carpool purposes. Now that he is older he can go to Bancroft on the weekends with his friends and they play all day. He rides his bike around the neighborhood with the other kids. When they tire of the playground they end up at someone's house and then back to the playground.

I wasn't thrilled with my son's K teacher but she is no longer at the school but I've really liked the teachers he had in 1st and 2nd. I've heard from a couple of parents who have older kids that the teachers my son has for 3rd grade are also top notch. The classes are big (24-25) but as far as I can tell, the teachers have a pretty good handle on classroom discipline.

[Anonymous]

We live near 14th and U Street, so neither school is our in-bound option. However, the commute to both is very manageable—Bancroft is closer.

We’re committed to continuing our daughter’s Spanish education, as she has been in a Spanish immersion program since daycare. She previously attended the Upshur Centronía location.

When I reviewed the reviews in regards to Bancroft parents complained about class size. I spoke with the principal at Bancroft, she shared that Pre-K and Kindergarten classes typically have 20 students, with one teacher and one aide. As students get older, class sizes increase while staffing remains the same. In contrast, DCB generally has two teachers and two aides in the younger grades, which can be especially beneficial. DCB also recently received a National Blue Ribbon award, which speaks to its strong academic performance.

I also did some additional
Research and realized that there are very limited Spanish immersion middle schools in the district. I thought both feeders were Spanish immersion but I was informed that was incorrect.

All of this has made our decision a tough one, but we truly appreciate everyone who has shared their experiences—it’s been very helpful. It seems like everyone loves Bancroft so we shall continue our discussion to determine which school is a better fit for our daughter.

[Anonymous]

We are inbounds for Bancroft. K last year was 20-26 kids a class, depending on the size of the classroom. It’s a great community. One difference from DCB is that a large large percentage of kids live inbounds. It’s very much a neighborhood school, so most kids walk and they have BFFs that live around the block from them. Be prepared to be in the neighborhood all of the time for play dates/events. DCB has a great reputation and it sounds like you probably can’t go wrong. That said I would pick Bancroft for commute and feeder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live near 14th and U Street, so neither school is our in-bound option. However, the commute to both is very manageable—Bancroft is closer.

We’re committed to continuing our daughter’s Spanish education, as she has been in a Spanish immersion program since daycare. She previously attended the Upshur Centronía location.

When I reviewed the reviews in regards to Bancroft parents complained about class size. I spoke with the principal at Bancroft, she shared that Pre-K and Kindergarten classes typically have 20 students, with one teacher and one aide. As students get older, class sizes increase while staffing remains the same. In contrast, DCB generally has two teachers and two aides in the younger grades, which can be especially beneficial. DCB also recently received a National Blue Ribbon award, which speaks to its strong academic performance.

I also did some additional
Research and realized that there are very limited Spanish immersion middle schools in the district. I thought both feeders were Spanish immersion but I was informed that was incorrect.

All of this has made our decision a tough one, but we truly appreciate everyone who has shared their experiences—it’s been very helpful. It seems like everyone loves Bancroft so we shall continue our discussion to determine which school is a better fit for our daughter.

Wait, you got into Bancroft prek 4 out of bounds? I didn’t even think that was possible??!! Wow!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live near 14th and U Street, so neither school is our in-bound option. However, the commute to both is very manageable—Bancroft is closer.

We’re committed to continuing our daughter’s Spanish education, as she has been in a Spanish immersion program since daycare. She previously attended the Upshur Centronía location.

When I reviewed the reviews in regards to Bancroft parents complained about class size. I spoke with the principal at Bancroft, she shared that Pre-K and Kindergarten classes typically have 20 students, with one teacher and one aide. As students get older, class sizes increase while staffing remains the same. In contrast, DCB generally has two teachers and two aides in the younger grades, which can be especially beneficial. DCB also recently received a National Blue Ribbon award, which speaks to its strong academic performance.

I also did some additional
Research and realized that there are very limited Spanish immersion middle schools in the district. I thought both feeders were Spanish immersion but I was informed that was incorrect.

All of this has made our decision a tough one, but we truly appreciate everyone who has shared their experiences—it’s been very helpful. It seems like everyone loves Bancroft so we shall continue our discussion to determine which school is a better fit for our daughter.

Wait, you got into Bancroft prek 4 out of bounds? I didn’t even think that was possible??!! Wow!

if OP did spanish-dominant lottery, don't think about this until your kid actually passes the test.

[Anonymous]

The Spanish instruction at Bancroft will be better. DCB is a lovely school but the language instruction is not that great. We left for Oyster for this reason. Some our child’s classmates were barely conversational in Spanish after being at DCB since PreK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live near 14th and U Street, so neither school is our in-bound option. However, the commute to both is very manageable—Bancroft is closer.

We’re committed to continuing our daughter’s Spanish education, as she has been in a Spanish immersion program since daycare. She previously attended the Upshur Centronía location.

When I reviewed the reviews in regards to Bancroft parents complained about class size. I spoke with the principal at Bancroft, she shared that Pre-K and Kindergarten classes typically have 20 students, with one teacher and one aide. As students get older, class sizes increase while staffing remains the same. In contrast, DCB generally has two teachers and two aides in the younger grades, which can be especially beneficial. DCB also recently received a National Blue Ribbon award, which speaks to its strong academic performance.

I also did some additional
Research and realized that there are very limited Spanish immersion middle schools in the district. I thought both feeders were Spanish immersion but I was informed that was incorrect.

All of this has made our decision a tough one, but we truly appreciate everyone who has shared their experiences—it’s been very helpful. It seems like everyone loves Bancroft so we shall continue our discussion to determine which school is a better fit for our daughter.

Wait, you got into Bancroft prek 4 out of bounds? I didn’t even think that was possible??!! Wow!

May be possible for Spanish dominant lottery, I’m not sure it’s possible for English dominant, especially without sibling preference.

[Anonymous]

It has to be Spanish dominant. All English seats went to in bounds sibling attending. OP mentions their child went to immersion day care and then DCB, which is only 50% Spanish. Do you speak Spanish at home OP? Does your child communicate mostly in Spanish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It has to be Spanish dominant. All English seats went to in bounds sibling attending. OP mentions their child went to immersion day care and then DCB, which is only 50% Spanish. Do you speak Spanish at home OP? Does your child communicate mostly in Spanish?

+1

We had a fantastic lottery number for PK4 and weren’t even close to the top of the waitlist for Bancroft. Our number was so good we were placed with LAMB. If you put Spanish dominant, you will have to take a test before they actually allow you to enroll your kid.