Admission to Stoddert Pre-K

[agpindc]

My son is only 15 months old, but already I'm starting to think about pre-k. Here is the question, if we live in Glover Park and are in the Stoddert district, am I understanding correctly that he doesn't automatically get in to Pre-K and that he's placed in a lottery? Does the lottery take into account where we live, or is it.....a lottery.....and completely random.

Also, at what age can a child start pre-k at Stoddert, specifically.

Have people been happy with Stoddert?

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Correct, you are not guaranteed a slot in any in-boundary preK program, although you do get preference in the lottery for your in-boundary school. (And once your child is in K or older, he/she is guaranteed a spot in the in-boundary school.) Traditionally most but not all in-boundary applicants do get a preK spot at Stoddert. Last year, however, Stoddert had the highest test scores in the city. It also has a brand new beautiful building In other words, it's becoming a lot more popular and with good reason, so you should have a backup plan for pre-K.

The age cutoffs are the same system-wide. Check the DCPS website, but I think for preK you need to be 4 by Sept 30. You have quite a way to go! Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I know that for the 2010 / 2011 school year, children who were OOB got off the waitlist.

If your child is currently 15 months, he will miss the cut-off for starting PreK the year he turns 4.