SW/Capitol Hill Elementary Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having a short commute is a big benefit. Amidon will go through a renovation at some point soon and that will suck, but I wouldn't lock in a long commute now unless you are very confident that you want immersion or something (I personally would rule out MV P St just based on the violent crime that happens nearby, but a lot of people go there). I also wouldn't focus too much on feeder patterns since a lot can change in the next 9 years.

Appletree is at a new location next year, but they've been in various locations in SW for over a decade and it would be worth asking how long their teachers have worked for Appletree.

You are not getting into Van Ness OOB, especially if you don't have an at-risk preference. If you want something close by that doesn't have a boundary, Eagle Academy in Buzzard Point could be an option and it goes through more grades than Appletree. I don't think it's any better than Amidon though.

Thank you! I'd heard something about the Amidon renovations and had forgotten about it, will definitely ask. I think the initial satellite location is clear across town, so that would definitely make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Watch the lottery video on MySchoolDC website.

Make a list that matches your true order of preference.

Understand that you will need a number in the top 20% of all kids to get into a school that's better for PK than Amidon-Bowen. There's no down side to listing schools you're unlikely to get into, unless you do 12 of those and don't list a safety school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here

Thank you so much, everyone! This is all very helpful, and I appreciate the advice to not over-think it (which I'm at high-risk for doing). Also totally happy to hear from any boosters (or detractors) and personal experiences at these schools.

I am planning to go to EDfest this weekend, I know people have mixed reviews but my mother, who is a retired elementary school teacher from an urban public school system, will be in town and wants to help. Do they have people there who can answer some questions specifically on how the lottery works? I've read a few conflicting things, mainly on how to do the ranking if you have some long-shot schools on your list. I know you can't "game" the system, but wasn't sure if there's really a up/downside to listing schools where you're unlikely to get in. I've seen advice either way -- don't bother, or rank them high just on the off-chance there's a miracle

The best advice anyone can give you is to rank your schools by your true preference order. That is, rank them in the order of where you would enroll your kids if you had 100% free choice. When you match at a school, you stay on the waitlist of those schools ranked higher and are dropped from those ranked lower so don't put a longshot school high if you prefer somewhere else. If there are some long/no shot schools that you would drop all options to attend and you don't have a full list of 12, there is zero harm in putting them there.

We actually got into our longshot school post-covid. It happens. But don't pin your hope on it and don't forgo other desirable options, especially for PK.

[Anonymous]

It's like this. If you match with a school, you don't get waitlisted at any school you ranked lower. So if your list has Amidon-Bowen #1, and SWS #2, then an amazing lottery number will place you at Amidon-Bowen and not waitlisted at all at SWS. A bad number will have the same result. A really terrible number will mean you get waitlisted at both, because not matching with Amidon-Bowen means you can be on the wait-list for schools you ranked below it.

If your list has SWS #1 and Amidon-Bowen #2, then an amazing number will match you to SWS and you will not be waitlisted at Amidon-Bowen at all. If your number is good but not amazing, you'll be waitlisted at SWS and match with Amidon-Bowen. If your number is really terrible you'll be waitlisted at both.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP who wrote about Thomson. We listed some long-shot schools, like CHML and SWS, below Thomson on our list, mainly because I had this thought in my head that I wanted to get to 12. There was no way in the world of course, that we were getting waitlisted at Thomson and somehow getting into SWS or CHML.

Even though some people on DCUM will tell you not to bother with stuff like that, I think it actually turned out to be good strategy because of the way the waitlists work. If you don't get into any schools initially, you can play around with your list order, even after you get an offer from a school you like.

We were originally waitlisted everywhere except AppleTree SW, our twelfth choice. We were I think, sixth at Thomson (our first choice) and like, 80th at CHML (our second choice).

We got into Thomson in May and I was able to move CHML up to first place before accepting Thomson's enrollment offer so that we stayed on the CHML waitlist at the same position, without losing our spot at Thomson. I figured if I attended Thomson's summer events for families (they had a bunch) and decided, whoa, big mistake, I actually hate this school, we still had a shot at CHML. I also moved Seaton and SWW@Francis-Stephens above Thomson before accepting for the same reason, but eventually took them off.

By October it became clear that a) Thomson had been the right choice, and b) we weren't getting in to CHML anyway. But I had kept my options open as long as I could. Hope that made sense, it's a hard process to explain!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here

Thank you so much, everyone! This is all very helpful, and I appreciate the advice to not over-think it (which I'm at high-risk for doing). Also totally happy to hear from any boosters (or detractors) and personal experiences at these schools.

I am planning to go to EDfest this weekend, I know people have mixed reviews but my mother, who is a retired elementary school teacher from an urban public school system, will be in town and wants to help. Do they have people there who can answer some questions specifically on how the lottery works? I've read a few conflicting things, mainly on how to do the ranking if you have some long-shot schools on your list. I know you can't "game" the system, but wasn't sure if there's really a up/downside to listing schools where you're unlikely to get in. I've seen advice either way -- don't bother, or rank them high just on the off-chance there's a miracle

The best advice anyone can give you is to rank your schools by your true preference order. That is, rank them in the order of where you would enroll your kids if you had 100% free choice. When you match at a school, you stay on the waitlist of those schools ranked higher and are dropped from those ranked lower so don't put a longshot school high if you prefer somewhere else. If there are some long/no shot schools that you would drop all options to attend and you don't have a full list of 12, there is zero harm in putting them there.

We actually got into our longshot school post-covid. It happens. But don't pin your hope on it and don't forgo other desirable options, especially for PK.

PP here- Obviously the caveat that I forgot to add to this advice is not to make a list of all longshots! You seem to have done your homework enough not to need that instruction, though.

[Anonymous]

List the longshots above your IB but only to the extent that you would actually prefer going there. Driving across town all year because you “matched” at a popular citywide or charter school that is somewhat nowhere near your home (while also seeing some of your neighbors with similar aged children commute two blocks down the street) might get old pretty fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a short commute is a big benefit. Amidon will go through a renovation at some point soon and that will suck, but I wouldn't lock in a long commute now unless you are very confident that you want immersion or something (I personally would rule out MV P St just based on the violent crime that happens nearby, but a lot of people go there). I also wouldn't focus too much on feeder patterns since a lot can change in the next 9 years.

Appletree is at a new location next year, but they've been in various locations in SW for over a decade and it would be worth asking how long their teachers have worked for Appletree.

You are not getting into Van Ness OOB, especially if you don't have an at-risk preference. If you want something close by that doesn't have a boundary, Eagle Academy in Buzzard Point could be an option and it goes through more grades than Appletree. I don't think it's any better than Amidon though.

Thank you! I'd heard something about the Amidon renovations and had forgotten about it, will definitely ask. I think the initial satellite location is clear across town, so that would definitely make a difference.

Yes, that would be a pain, but I don't think it should affect your decision...I mean, if you don't want a long commute in a few years, why would you want it for next year AND all the years after?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a short commute is a big benefit. Amidon will go through a renovation at some point soon and that will suck, but I wouldn't lock in a long commute now unless you are very confident that you want immersion or something (I personally would rule out MV P St just based on the violent crime that happens nearby, but a lot of people go there). I also wouldn't focus too much on feeder patterns since a lot can change in the next 9 years.

Appletree is at a new location next year, but they've been in various locations in SW for over a decade and it would be worth asking how long their teachers have worked for Appletree.

You are not getting into Van Ness OOB, especially if you don't have an at-risk preference. If you want something close by that doesn't have a boundary, Eagle Academy in Buzzard Point could be an option and it goes through more grades than Appletree. I don't think it's any better than Amidon though.

Thank you! I'd heard something about the Amidon renovations and had forgotten about it, will definitely ask. I think the initial satellite location is clear across town, so that would definitely make a difference.

Yes, that would be a pain, but I don't think it should affect your decision...I mean, if you don't want a long commute in a few years, why would you want it for next year AND all the years after?

Well theoretically OPs kid has the right to
return to Amidon anytime if the fam is in-boundary. So you could pick a closer-than-the-swing-space school for ECE and then enroll in Amidon’s brand new building for K.

[Anonymous]

Except the swing space is not until something like 2027 and a lot of the nearby DCPS schools dont have OOB spaces for ECE BUT they might for K up. So the planned renovation is a potential consideration but its also a you can potentially cross that bridge later type issue.

[Anonymous]

You might also consider attending the open-houses at Amidon and other schools you are considering. They are usually in Jan/Feb, before you need to lock in lottery choices. You have a chance to talk to the principal and teachers and see the classrooms while class is in session.

[1SWMom]

I wanted out amindon as number one, put your reaches first so that your waitlist is perserved when you match to Amindon (your in boundary)
Apple tree is a great ECE program especially for children coming straight from home, Lincoln park is preferred but I’ve never heard of issues at other locations.
Sounds like you need to think about uniform? Language? And even meals? Those are the things I considered and then I selected the closest.

[Anonymous]

Amidon parent here. PK experience has so far been great. The renovation is a big concern for me — parents are advocating for a closer location but no promises DCPS will listen to us. That being said, it won’t start until 2027 or 2028 (the year the kids need to move seems to vary depending on who we ask) so I’m staying here for a few more years. The 5 minute walk to school is unbeatable and the admin/teachers/community have been great.

We have a friend whose son is at Payne who is also very happy with their ECE experience there.

[Anonymous]

Do not send your child to Amidon. The school culture and behavior is horrible - especially past ECE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not send your child to Amidon. The school culture and behavior is horrible - especially past ECE.

“Horrible” with zero details about what your concerns are — which others might not share — isn’t helpful. Was that your intent?