Pk3.. Is there a point to try and lottery into "better" DCPS's from OOB?

[Anonymous]

I feel like if you're inbound for Oyster and planning to go to Oyster there's no point. Just go for somewhere solid and easy to commute to.

Cleveland is also Spanish immersion, not far from you and I hear good things from friends, so maybe that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like if you're inbound for Oyster and planning to go to Oyster there's no point. Just go for somewhere solid and easy to commute to.

Cleveland is also Spanish immersion, not far from you and I hear good things from friends, so maybe that?

+1, OP had given the impression she was on Capitol Hill so I'd originally thought "well yeah, go ahead and try out Ludlow you never know." But it makes no sense to commute across town for Ludlow (a great school but definitely a way better experience if you are IB or at least nearby) when her kid is almost definitely just going to go to Oyster for K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell us what kind of schools you're interested in and we can be very helpful to you.

Appreciate that! We havent made a definitive list yet, but were initially looking at schools like Ludlow, Garrison, Peabody, Francis, Hyde-Addison, essentially, any of the better rated PK3's. Looking at the data, lotterying in at PK3 seems fairly tough most places. Inbound for Oyster but there is no PK3 and it it appears that it isnt a real option for PK4 either unless its spanish dominant.

Any suggestions for neighborhood ECE's that may potentially be lotteryable? Also open to Charter recommendations, but havent researched much beyond YuYing.

Look at Communikids. This is what oyster families I know do. Any DCPS school you can get into for PK3 is going to be worse than Oyster so you would probably want to switch, anyways.

The other alternative might be Marie Reed for PK.

[Anonymous]

OP — I’m in-bounds for one of those Hill schools, have sent two kids there and loved it. And I absolutely wouldn’t recommend commuting from Oyster zone daily for it. Do you work (5 days a week) on the Hill? That would maybe change the math a little but for me not entirely. ECE across DC is good. As others have said… Go somewhere close with the chance of making neighborhood / future Oyster friends.

[Anonymous]

OP here,

So the calculus was mainly figuring out what the pathway was for PK3/4 being that Oyster isnt an option until K. Thats why I was looking at other ECE's where we may end up enjoying and staying longer term. Thank you for the input and some new options I wasnt aware of.

[Anonymous]

A lot depends on if you want to move eventually. If so, sure, apply for yu ying and move to brookland if you like it. But trekking to ne and having your kid do mandarin for two years and then switching to oyster makes no sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell us what kind of schools you're interested in and we can be very helpful to you.

Appreciate that! We havent made a definitive list yet, but were initially looking at schools like Ludlow, Garrison, Peabody, Francis, Hyde-Addison, essentially, any of the better rated PK3's. Looking at the data, lotterying in at PK3 seems fairly tough most places. Inbound for Oyster but there is no PK3 and it it appears that it isnt a real option for PK4 either unless its spanish dominant.

Any suggestions for neighborhood ECE's that may potentially be lotteryable? Also open to Charter recommendations, but havent researched much beyond YuYing.

Look at Communikids. This is what oyster families I know do. Any DCPS school you can get into for PK3 is going to be worse than Oyster so you would probably want to switch, anyways.

The other alternative might be Marie Reed for PK.

😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PK is very competitive. In Capitol Hill, your best chance at a spot is probably your IB PK or a somewhat less competitive charter, like AppleTree. But you should go ahead and include some longshots you're interested in too; you never know.

If you really want immersion, it's worth trying for a spot now. But for OOB DCPS, kindergarten is often an easier entry year.

Commute time is also an important factor. Really think about the difference a 5 min, 10 min, or 25 min commute would make for your family.

NP. I may be starting to arrive at this conclusion and convincing myself to just go for IB PK, which for us is Maury. We're in a Spanish immersion daycare, and would have really loved to continue that kind of language exposure but not sure about a path in DC. Getting discouraged by either mixed feedback on the immersion PKs/ES like Mundo Verde and/or a long commute. Most kids in our current class live in the NE/Capitol Hill area, and it's been nice having close-by impromptu playdates and bonding so the idea of a neighborhood school is becoming more attractive. Especially when they're little, the longer commute sounds daunting.

How common is it for kids to (re)start immersion in K? If you could go to any school, which would you choose for immersion path / which neighborhood to move to? We like where we are and have family nearby, but I suppose moving isn't totally out of real of possibility.

[Anonymous]

Chisholm is bilingual, so that's worth checking out. It's a heck of a lot closer if you're zoned for Maury than any other school at does Spanish immersion.

Besides the costs, is there a reason you can't keep your child at the Spanish immersion daycare and then transition to DCPS in K?

[Anonymous]

For me, the primary benefit of my kids' elementary school is living within quick walking distance of the school and many of their friends. Trekking to an OOB that is nowhere near you is an unnecessary way to complicate your life and cancel out many of the benefits of a "better" school.

Get on the list for one of the non-lottery CBOs or lottery into AppleTree:
https://www.myschooldc.org/find-schools/school-options-outside-my-school-dc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chisholm is bilingual, so that's worth checking out. It's a heck of a lot closer if you're zoned for Maury than any other school at does Spanish immersion.

Besides the costs, is there a reason you can't keep your child at the Spanish immersion daycare and then transition to DCPS in K?

Cost is a factor and since the vast majority of kids leave, it seems like the program isn't as good for PK3 age and maybe not worth it. I've heard for at least one class, it's actually a mix of toddler 3s and PK3 age. I could see my kid being bored doing all the same stuff over again but with 2.5yos.

Chisholm is very close, walkable, but will be at Springarn location for those two years of PK3-PK4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chisholm is bilingual, so that's worth checking out. It's a heck of a lot closer if you're zoned for Maury than any other school at does Spanish immersion.

Besides the costs, is there a reason you can't keep your child at the Spanish immersion daycare and then transition to DCPS in K?

Cost is a factor and since the vast majority of kids leave, it seems like the program isn't as good for PK3 age and maybe not worth it. I've heard for at least one class, it's actually a mix of toddler 3s and PK3 age. I could see my kid being bored doing all the same stuff over again but with 2.5yos.

Chisholm is very close, walkable, but will be at Springarn location for those two years of PK3-PK4.

PP, adding: Acknowledging that the swing space for Chisholm is still closer than other immersion schools. But not close like walkable. We'd end up driving every day, in a opposite direction to where the rest of the day would take us.

[Anonymous]

If you in NE Capitol Hill and want immersion preK, the Chisholm swing space at Springarn is an opportunity/chance to score a spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PK is very competitive. In Capitol Hill, your best chance at a spot is probably your IB PK or a somewhat less competitive charter, like AppleTree. But you should go ahead and include some longshots you're interested in too; you never know.

If you really want immersion, it's worth trying for a spot now. But for OOB DCPS, kindergarten is often an easier entry year.

Commute time is also an important factor. Really think about the difference a 5 min, 10 min, or 25 min commute would make for your family.

Could someone clarify the bolded part here about entering in K? I was getting the impression that for the "competitive" schools, it's trying as early as possible or not much luck. Or am I misreading the feedback and data? Consider Maury for example.

[Anonymous]

Could someone clarify the bolded part here about entering in K? I was getting the impression that for the "competitive" schools, it's trying as early as possible or not much luck. Or am I misreading the feedback and data? Consider Maury for example.

- Since all students can attend their IB school by-right in K, the school often needs to add a classroom (e.g., PK4 has 2 classes, K has 3). When there are not enough IB kids for a full extra classroom, they'll pull kids from the lottery.
- Additionally, K classrooms can have more students than PK classrooms can (I think 16 max for PK3, 20 max for PK4).
- In K, OOB students are competing only with one another for lottery spots; there is no IB preference. That makes a big difference in your chances at many schools on the Hill where not even all IB students get PK spots.

Using Maury as an example, over the last five school years, there were 0 OOB lottery matches for PK3. Whereas they made several for K (and went decently deep into the waitlist the past two years).