PK3 Inbound for solid school.. Where to rank?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to sit and truly decide if immersion is what you want. TBH, I think that's the biggest decision PK3 parents make, lottery-wise.

PK is done well across the district, and being in an amazing school vs. a pretty crappy school for PK3 - they're basically the same. Truly. We're doing the lottery for 1st right now and have done a ton of open houses and the differences in upper elementary across schools are enormous. But, the tours are dominated by PK3 parents, so I've seen a lot of PK3 classrooms and heard all the questions and answers and guess what? They're all basically the same. And the parents are all pretty clueless about what will matter to them as their kid gets older. You just can't evaluate an elementary school when your oldest child is 2.5 in any real way, it's not reasonable.

So forget about all that and make the one decision that matters: Do you want to commit to immersion or not? Because it DOES matter if you start at 3 or 5 or 7 when it comes to immersion. But I also think immersion only works if you're going to lean in as a family. In language summer camps, lots of books in the target language, maybe the parents learn a little? The payoffs can be huge if you lean in.

If you decide immersion is for you - rank every immersion school you can reasonably get to in true order of preference and put your IB at the end of your list as backup. If you decide it's not for you - just put your IB as your #1 slot, leave the rest blank, and revisit the whole school decision thing for K or 1st once you've been doing the "school" thing a few years. Spending PK at your IB school is a fabulous experience. Meet all the neighborhood kids, walk to school, easy playdates nearby, get to know families, have people you can call in a pinch to pick up your kids (cannot overstate the value of this!).

This all tracks except for the scenario of ranking the IB school and leave the rest blank. Depends on the school. Some people are IB for schools that almost never have spots for PK3 unless you have sibling preference. You'll want backups.

Definitely this advice. I listened to people in my neighborhood who did not have recent experience with the PreK lottery, and ended up not matching ANYWHERE because I had a super short list. It ended up working out, but it was a serious panic for a few weeks. Look at SY25-26 WL data for your IB and the schools you're targeting and make sure you have at least 1-2 "safeties."

I'm the one who initially said to put your IB as your #1 slot and leave the rest blank and you folks are TOTALLY right. I mis-read "solid school" as "safe school" and thought she was talking about an IB that reliable takes all IB kids every year (as ours was).

You absolutely need to check the waitlist data and make sure you have a school that clears its waitlist for PK3 on your list if your IB isn't a guarantee. So sorry about being so misleading about that!

However - I think my point about immersion stands - that's the big decision you need to make. Comparing CAPE scores at Yu Ying and LT doesn't make any sense. Do you want immersion, Y/N? Other decisions fall from that.

OP Here. Good School is the priority, if the immersion option is considered a better all aroundschool academically, environmentwise, leadershipwise etc. We would try to go that route. If the IB is stronger in these areas, we would stay IB. Trying to figure out how these schools measure to the parent community in areas that matter beyond immersion or non.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to sit and truly decide if immersion is what you want. TBH, I think that's the biggest decision PK3 parents make, lottery-wise.

PK is done well across the district, and being in an amazing school vs. a pretty crappy school for PK3 - they're basically the same. Truly. We're doing the lottery for 1st right now and have done a ton of open houses and the differences in upper elementary across schools are enormous. But, the tours are dominated by PK3 parents, so I've seen a lot of PK3 classrooms and heard all the questions and answers and guess what? They're all basically the same. And the parents are all pretty clueless about what will matter to them as their kid gets older. You just can't evaluate an elementary school when your oldest child is 2.5 in any real way, it's not reasonable.

So forget about all that and make the one decision that matters: Do you want to commit to immersion or not? Because it DOES matter if you start at 3 or 5 or 7 when it comes to immersion. But I also think immersion only works if you're going to lean in as a family. In language summer camps, lots of books in the target language, maybe the parents learn a little? The payoffs can be huge if you lean in.

If you decide immersion is for you - rank every immersion school you can reasonably get to in true order of preference and put your IB at the end of your list as backup. If you decide it's not for you - just put your IB as your #1 slot, leave the rest blank, and revisit the whole school decision thing for K or 1st once you've been doing the "school" thing a few years. Spending PK at your IB school is a fabulous experience. Meet all the neighborhood kids, walk to school, easy playdates nearby, get to know families, have people you can call in a pinch to pick up your kids (cannot overstate the value of this!).

This all tracks except for the scenario of ranking the IB school and leave the rest blank. Depends on the school. Some people are IB for schools that almost never have spots for PK3 unless you have sibling preference. You'll want backups.

Definitely this advice. I listened to people in my neighborhood who did not have recent experience with the PreK lottery, and ended up not matching ANYWHERE because I had a super short list. It ended up working out, but it was a serious panic for a few weeks. Look at SY25-26 WL data for your IB and the schools you're targeting and make sure you have at least 1-2 "safeties."

I'm the one who initially said to put your IB as your #1 slot and leave the rest blank and you folks are TOTALLY right. I mis-read "solid school" as "safe school" and thought she was talking about an IB that reliable takes all IB kids every year (as ours was).

You absolutely need to check the waitlist data and make sure you have a school that clears its waitlist for PK3 on your list if your IB isn't a guarantee. So sorry about being so misleading about that!

However - I think my point about immersion stands - that's the big decision you need to make. Comparing CAPE scores at Yu Ying and LT doesn't make any sense. Do you want immersion, Y/N? Other decisions fall from that.

OP Here. Good School is the priority, if the immersion option is considered a better all aroundschool academically, environmentwise, leadershipwise etc. We would try to go that route. If the IB is stronger in these areas, we would stay IB. Trying to figure out how these schools measure to the parent community in areas that matter beyond immersion or non.

You can compare a lot of metrics on DC School Report Card.

But remember, DCI feeder schools have a built in advantage and people will put up with a lot before they give up their DCI preference/guarantee. Does middle and high school matter to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to sit and truly decide if immersion is what you want. TBH, I think that's the biggest decision PK3 parents make, lottery-wise.

PK is done well across the district, and being in an amazing school vs. a pretty crappy school for PK3 - they're basically the same. Truly. We're doing the lottery for 1st right now and have done a ton of open houses and the differences in upper elementary across schools are enormous. But, the tours are dominated by PK3 parents, so I've seen a lot of PK3 classrooms and heard all the questions and answers and guess what? They're all basically the same. And the parents are all pretty clueless about what will matter to them as their kid gets older. You just can't evaluate an elementary school when your oldest child is 2.5 in any real way, it's not reasonable.

So forget about all that and make the one decision that matters: Do you want to commit to immersion or not? Because it DOES matter if you start at 3 or 5 or 7 when it comes to immersion. But I also think immersion only works if you're going to lean in as a family. In language summer camps, lots of books in the target language, maybe the parents learn a little? The payoffs can be huge if you lean in.

If you decide immersion is for you - rank every immersion school you can reasonably get to in true order of preference and put your IB at the end of your list as backup. If you decide it's not for you - just put your IB as your #1 slot, leave the rest blank, and revisit the whole school decision thing for K or 1st once you've been doing the "school" thing a few years. Spending PK at your IB school is a fabulous experience. Meet all the neighborhood kids, walk to school, easy playdates nearby, get to know families, have people you can call in a pinch to pick up your kids (cannot overstate the value of this!).

This all tracks except for the scenario of ranking the IB school and leave the rest blank. Depends on the school. Some people are IB for schools that almost never have spots for PK3 unless you have sibling preference. You'll want backups.

Definitely this advice. I listened to people in my neighborhood who did not have recent experience with the PreK lottery, and ended up not matching ANYWHERE because I had a super short list. It ended up working out, but it was a serious panic for a few weeks. Look at SY25-26 WL data for your IB and the schools you're targeting and make sure you have at least 1-2 "safeties."

I'm the one who initially said to put your IB as your #1 slot and leave the rest blank and you folks are TOTALLY right. I mis-read "solid school" as "safe school" and thought she was talking about an IB that reliable takes all IB kids every year (as ours was).

You absolutely need to check the waitlist data and make sure you have a school that clears its waitlist for PK3 on your list if your IB isn't a guarantee. So sorry about being so misleading about that!

However - I think my point about immersion stands - that's the big decision you need to make. Comparing CAPE scores at Yu Ying and LT doesn't make any sense. Do you want immersion, Y/N? Other decisions fall from that.

OP Here. Good School is the priority, if the immersion option is considered a better all aroundschool academically, environmentwise, leadershipwise etc. We would try to go that route. If the IB is stronger in these areas, we would stay IB. Trying to figure out how these schools measure to the parent community in areas that matter beyond immersion or non.

It doesn’t sound like language is a high priority for you. I would recommend your IB then.

Going immersion requires commitment from you and your child and it’s not well I think I’ll do it.

[Anonymous]

If you like the nearby IB option, that is your most likely match for PreK. Rank it below any schools would genuinely prefer over it BUT be very careful to not list anywhere where you might after matching be disappointed to no longer have the IB as an option. This basically means think really hard about the commute before listing anything above the IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to sit and truly decide if immersion is what you want. TBH, I think that's the biggest decision PK3 parents make, lottery-wise.

PK is done well across the district, and being in an amazing school vs. a pretty crappy school for PK3 - they're basically the same. Truly. We're doing the lottery for 1st right now and have done a ton of open houses and the differences in upper elementary across schools are enormous. But, the tours are dominated by PK3 parents, so I've seen a lot of PK3 classrooms and heard all the questions and answers and guess what? They're all basically the same. And the parents are all pretty clueless about what will matter to them as their kid gets older. You just can't evaluate an elementary school when your oldest child is 2.5 in any real way, it's not reasonable.

So forget about all that and make the one decision that matters: Do you want to commit to immersion or not? Because it DOES matter if you start at 3 or 5 or 7 when it comes to immersion. But I also think immersion only works if you're going to lean in as a family. In language summer camps, lots of books in the target language, maybe the parents learn a little? The payoffs can be huge if you lean in.

If you decide immersion is for you - rank every immersion school you can reasonably get to in true order of preference and put your IB at the end of your list as backup. If you decide it's not for you - just put your IB as your #1 slot, leave the rest blank, and revisit the whole school decision thing for K or 1st once you've been doing the "school" thing a few years. Spending PK at your IB school is a fabulous experience. Meet all the neighborhood kids, walk to school, easy playdates nearby, get to know families, have people you can call in a pinch to pick up your kids (cannot overstate the value of this!).

This all tracks except for the scenario of ranking the IB school and leave the rest blank. Depends on the school. Some people are IB for schools that almost never have spots for PK3 unless you have sibling preference. You'll want backups.

Definitely this advice. I listened to people in my neighborhood who did not have recent experience with the PreK lottery, and ended up not matching ANYWHERE because I had a super short list. It ended up working out, but it was a serious panic for a few weeks. Look at SY25-26 WL data for your IB and the schools you're targeting and make sure you have at least 1-2 "safeties."

I'm the one who initially said to put your IB as your #1 slot and leave the rest blank and you folks are TOTALLY right. I mis-read "solid school" as "safe school" and thought she was talking about an IB that reliable takes all IB kids every year (as ours was).

You absolutely need to check the waitlist data and make sure you have a school that clears its waitlist for PK3 on your list if your IB isn't a guarantee. So sorry about being so misleading about that!

However - I think my point about immersion stands - that's the big decision you need to make. Comparing CAPE scores at Yu Ying and LT doesn't make any sense. Do you want immersion, Y/N? Other decisions fall from that.

OP Here. Good School is the priority, if the immersion option is considered a better all aroundschool academically, environmentwise, leadershipwise etc. We would try to go that route. If the IB is stronger in these areas, we would stay IB. Trying to figure out how these schools measure to the parent community in areas that matter beyond immersion or non.

What does a “good school” mean to you OP? Because it’s a very subjective phrase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to sit and truly decide if immersion is what you want. TBH, I think that's the biggest decision PK3 parents make, lottery-wise.

PK is done well across the district, and being in an amazing school vs. a pretty crappy school for PK3 - they're basically the same. Truly. We're doing the lottery for 1st right now and have done a ton of open houses and the differences in upper elementary across schools are enormous. But, the tours are dominated by PK3 parents, so I've seen a lot of PK3 classrooms and heard all the questions and answers and guess what? They're all basically the same. And the parents are all pretty clueless about what will matter to them as their kid gets older. You just can't evaluate an elementary school when your oldest child is 2.5 in any real way, it's not reasonable.

So forget about all that and make the one decision that matters: Do you want to commit to immersion or not? Because it DOES matter if you start at 3 or 5 or 7 when it comes to immersion. But I also think immersion only works if you're going to lean in as a family. In language summer camps, lots of books in the target language, maybe the parents learn a little? The payoffs can be huge if you lean in.

If you decide immersion is for you - rank every immersion school you can reasonably get to in true order of preference and put your IB at the end of your list as backup. If you decide it's not for you - just put your IB as your #1 slot, leave the rest blank, and revisit the whole school decision thing for K or 1st once you've been doing the "school" thing a few years. Spending PK at your IB school is a fabulous experience. Meet all the neighborhood kids, walk to school, easy playdates nearby, get to know families, have people you can call in a pinch to pick up your kids (cannot overstate the value of this!).

This all tracks except for the scenario of ranking the IB school and leave the rest blank. Depends on the school. Some people are IB for schools that almost never have spots for PK3 unless you have sibling preference. You'll want backups.

Definitely this advice. I listened to people in my neighborhood who did not have recent experience with the PreK lottery, and ended up not matching ANYWHERE because I had a super short list. It ended up working out, but it was a serious panic for a few weeks. Look at SY25-26 WL data for your IB and the schools you're targeting and make sure you have at least 1-2 "safeties."

I'm the one who initially said to put your IB as your #1 slot and leave the rest blank and you folks are TOTALLY right. I mis-read "solid school" as "safe school" and thought she was talking about an IB that reliable takes all IB kids every year (as ours was).

You absolutely need to check the waitlist data and make sure you have a school that clears its waitlist for PK3 on your list if your IB isn't a guarantee. So sorry about being so misleading about that!

However - I think my point about immersion stands - that's the big decision you need to make. Comparing CAPE scores at Yu Ying and LT doesn't make any sense. Do you want immersion, Y/N? Other decisions fall from that.

OP Here. Good School is the priority, if the immersion option is considered a better all aroundschool academically, environmentwise, leadershipwise etc. We would try to go that route. If the IB is stronger in these areas, we would stay IB. Trying to figure out how these schools measure to the parent community in areas that matter beyond immersion or non.

What does a “good school” mean to you OP? Because it’s a very subjective phrase.

OP is not interested in immersion or committed to it. She said her IB is good so she should go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thank you for the information. Its very helpful! We are trying to sort out the differences in the PK 3-5th programs at Ludlow vs YuYing, Lamb, DCB and Mundo Verde.

YuYing reviews here seem to suggest easier curriculum comparatively, but not exactly sure how this is calculated. The Cape scores all seem relatively similar.

Don't overlook Elsie Whitlow Stokes, which is also an immersion school for Spanish and French.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If youre inbound for a popular school that you are interested in, but would also want to consider a few immersion options.. where would it be advised to rank the inbound school?

Immersion schools are very difficult to get into because demand is so high. In that case, you rank your inbound school last. In the event that you matriculate to an immersion school, just understand that you will likely not be able to go to your inbound elementary until Kindergarten, when they are obligated to admit all neighborhood students. So, are you willing to give immersion a try for at least two years? If so, then rank IB last. If not, then just skip immersion altogether, and give someone a chance who really is committed to that type of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If youre inbound for a popular school that you are interested in, but would also want to consider a few immersion options.. where would it be advised to rank the inbound school?

Immersion schools are very difficult to get into because demand is so high. In that case, you rank your inbound school last. In the event that you matriculate to an immersion school, just understand that you will likely not be able to go to your inbound elementary until Kindergarten, when they are obligated to admit all neighborhood students. So, are you willing to give immersion a try for at least two years? If so, then rank IB last. If not, then just skip immersion altogether, and give someone a chance who really is committed to that type of school.

I don't understand why you're saying you can't lottery into your IB in PK4. There are many schools that leave IB students on the waitlist for PK3 but are able to offer them a seat for PK4 once the class size expands. Very school dependent.