DC School/Lottery Education Process 101

[Anonymous]

Also, go to the Charter School Expo on January 11th.

http://www.dcconvention.com/Events/DC_Public_Charter_School_Recruitment_Expo-(1).aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow!!! OP here. I was out with the little one this morning and highly anticipating the responses here and you all did NOT disappoint. Thank you, truly. This is really so helpful for us.

The In Bound school for us is Ross, and I'm really happy seeing how that's changed over the years. But the more you read, you know how you start to second guess yourself, and think, "Is this the best we could do? Should I also look at a charter or private option?" Knowing there's a charter expo is super helpful, I will look into that.

If we could expand in our current space, I'd love to stay here. We just may have to move elsewhere to get some more space and we're not even set on any particular neighborhood so that's definitely a wild card. But much like a PP said, I really can't make decisions for a move that hasn't happened yet, and the way we make decisions around here our kid could be in college before we move.

If I were you, I would first check out this year's wait list for Ross and see how many IB students were on the PK wait list. Were there 20 people who didn't get in? 50? 5? If you had a lot of kids who didn't get in IB...then I would rank Ross high on your list of 6. You don't have to pick 5 other schools, but you can. For example, there were only 4 other DCPS programs that I wanted to send my PS3 daughter to. I ranked them and my IB school was #4. We got in, but there wasn't a lot of IB students who didn't get in the year before us.

After that, I would see how many Charter School programs interest you. Both my husband and I have international background - so we wanted immersion and internation programs. We applied to schools with that in mind. It's difficult to decide, but I would apply to schools and visit AFTER you get in. No use falling in love with a school only to not be able to have your child attend.

Also, if possible, find a lottery buddy. The lottery sucks. It's always good to have a friend to go through it with. My neighbor and I did it together, and it helped.

Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. I'm the long-winded poster from 10:20.

Ross was the school I ranked as #1. We are out of bounds, with no preference, but I work in Dupont and it fit everything that I personally wanted in a school - from the aesthetics of the building to the outdoor space to the online presence, etc. I did not actually go to any open houses, but I got a lot of positive feedback from people whose kids went there or who had friends whose kids went there.

You will still have to lottery, and your in bounds preference will help, but this year, there were many children on the waitlist who were in bounds. It makes a difference at schools like these whether you are applying for PS3 or PK4 - by which I mean there were 10 more spaces in PS3 than PK4 this year (14 vs. 4).

There is no reason not to also explore charter options. You can get a pretty good feel from this board how people feel about the popular charter schools. As far as I know, there isn't any hype about charters that will be opening next year. The charter lottery is pretty stiff with siblings (at least it was this past year), but it's generally worth applying to schools you like even if you're reasonably sure that you're going to be staying with your neighborhood school.

FYI, we got into Marie Reed, and after touring, going to an orientation, and talking to a bunch of people from the school, we ultimately changed our minds and decided to keep DD in her daycare/preschool for another year. It just did not feel like a good fit at the end of the day. We did not get in anywhere else, so we are lotterying again next year.

Good luck to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow!!! OP here. I was out with the little one this morning and highly anticipating the responses here and you all did NOT disappoint. Thank you, truly. This is really so helpful for us.

The In Bound school for us is Ross, and I'm really happy seeing how that's changed over the years. But the more you read, you know how you start to second guess yourself, and think, "Is this the best we could do? Should I also look at a charter or private option?" Knowing there's a charter expo is super helpful, I will look into that.

If we could expand in our current space, I'd love to stay here. We just may have to move elsewhere to get some more space and we're not even set on any particular neighborhood so that's definitely a wild card. But much like a PP said, I really can't make decisions for a move that hasn't happened yet, and the way we make decisions around here our kid could be in college before we move.

If I were you, I would first check out this year's wait list for Ross and see how many IB students were on the PK wait list. Were there 20 people who didn't get in? 50? 5? If you had a lot of kids who didn't get in IB...then I would rank Ross high on your list of 6. You don't have to pick 5 other schools, but you can. For example, there were only 4 other DCPS programs that I wanted to send my PS3 daughter to. I ranked them and my IB school was #4. We got in, but there wasn't a lot of IB students who didn't get in the year before us.

After that, I would see how many Charter School programs interest you. Both my husband and I have international background - so we wanted immersion and internation programs. We applied to schools with that in mind. It's difficult to decide, but I would apply to schools and visit AFTER you get in. No use falling in love with a school only to not be able to have your child attend.

Also, if possible, find a lottery buddy. The lottery sucks. It's always good to have a friend to go through it with. My neighbor and I did it together, and it helped.

Best of luck!

10:20 here again. YES. The bolded part. 100% this. I actually had 3 people I talked to, and it was like being in therapy for 6 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. I'm the long-winded poster from 10:20.

Ross was the school I ranked as #1. We are out of bounds, with no preference, but I work in Dupont and it fit everything that I personally wanted in a school - from the aesthetics of the building to the outdoor space to the online presence, etc. I did not actually go to any open houses, but I got a lot of positive feedback from people whose kids went there or who had friends whose kids went there.

You will still have to lottery, and your in bounds preference will help, but this year, there were many children on the waitlist who were in bounds. It makes a difference at schools like these whether you are applying for PS3 or PK4 - by which I mean there were 10 more spaces in PS3 than PK4 this year (14 vs. 4).

There is no reason not to also explore charter options. You can get a pretty good feel from this board how people feel about the popular charter schools. As far as I know, there isn't any hype about charters that will be opening next year. The charter lottery is pretty stiff with siblings (at least it was this past year), but it's generally worth applying to schools you like even if you're reasonably sure that you're going to be staying with your neighborhood school.

FYI, we got into Marie Reed, and after touring, going to an orientation, and talking to a bunch of people from the school, we ultimately changed our minds and decided to keep DD in her daycare/preschool for another year. It just did not feel like a good fit at the end of the day. We did not get in anywhere else, so we are lotterying again next year.

Good luck to you.

What was your IB school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow!!! OP here. I was out with the little one this morning and highly anticipating the responses here and you all did NOT disappoint. Thank you, truly. This is really so helpful for us.

The In Bound school for us is Ross, and I'm really happy seeing how that's changed over the years. But the more you read, you know how you start to second guess yourself, and think, "Is this the best we could do? Should I also look at a charter or private option?" Knowing there's a charter expo is super helpful, I will look into that.

If we could expand in our current space, I'd love to stay here. We just may have to move elsewhere to get some more space and we're not even set on any particular neighborhood so that's definitely a wild card. But much like a PP said, I really can't make decisions for a move that hasn't happened yet, and the way we make decisions around here our kid could be in college before we move.

If I were you, I would first check out this year's wait list for Ross and see how many IB students were on the PK wait list. Were there 20 people who didn't get in? 50? 5? If you had a lot of kids who didn't get in IB...then I would rank Ross high on your list of 6. You don't have to pick 5 other schools, but you can. For example, there were only 4 other DCPS programs that I wanted to send my PS3 daughter to. I ranked them and my IB school was #4. We got in, but there wasn't a lot of IB students who didn't get in the year before us.

After that, I would see how many Charter School programs interest you. Both my husband and I have international background - so we wanted immersion and internation programs. We applied to schools with that in mind. It's difficult to decide, but I would apply to schools and visit AFTER you get in. No use falling in love with a school only to not be able to have your child attend.

Also, if possible, find a lottery buddy. The lottery sucks. It's always good to have a friend to go through it with. My neighbor and I did it together, and it helped.

Best of luck!

10:20 here again. YES. The bolded part. 100% this. I actually had 3 people I talked to, and it was like being in therapy for 6 months.

I think this is really critical. My "lottery buddy" basically kept me sane all summer as I inched number by number closer on the WL to our top choice school for my child. It's amazing how important this aspect is.

[Anonymous]

^^ Also agree it's critical to have a kindred spirit. I stuck it out alone and honestly developed PTSD from the whole BS, which started for me last October until I got word I got in to both my first and second choices (mid June for 1 and late August for the other). My spouse was not supportive- he doesn't get the whole DC lottery craziness thing regardless of all of the hard work I've done to get him up to speed- so it was a pretty gut-wrenching time for me.

[Anonymous]

According to another thread, it was confirmed at the Ward 5 education meeting that there will be a common lottery this year that will include some number of charters.

This means that if you would like to apply for any of those charters, you will rank them as well. It is not clear how many spots there will be in the combined lottery, but more than the current six. It's also not clear which charters have signed on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to another thread, it was confirmed at the Ward 5 education meeting that there will be a common lottery this year that will include some number of charters.

This means that if you would like to apply for any of those charters, you will rank them as well. It is not clear how many spots there will be in the combined lottery, but more than the current six. It's also not clear which charters have signed on.

So I think it's even more important to go to the Expo, to find out which of the charters have signed on.

IF they have pushed up the dates for the common applications AND they are adding this new ranking, this is going to be very confusing.

[Anonymous]

Lee Montessori is opening up next fall. Fall 2014.

http://www.leemontessori.org/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lee Montessori is opening up next fall. Fall 2014.

http://www.leemontessori.org/

Looks promising, but so much depends on location for us. I wonder when they will find out about Shaed, and what they will do if they don't get it. IT of course can just stay in its current space, but have no idea what Lee would do.

[Anonymous]

There may be a common lottery this year for DCPS and DCPCS which opens mid-December and will allow more than 6 choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. I'm the long-winded poster from 10:20.

Ross was the school I ranked as #1. We are out of bounds, with no preference, but I work in Dupont and it fit everything that I personally wanted in a school - from the aesthetics of the building to the outdoor space to the online presence, etc. I did not actually go to any open houses, but I got a lot of positive feedback from people whose kids went there or who had friends whose kids went there.

You will still have to lottery, and your in bounds preference will help, but this year, there were many children on the waitlist who were in bounds. It makes a difference at schools like these whether you are applying for PS3 or PK4 - by which I mean there were 10 more spaces in PS3 than PK4 this year (14 vs. 4).

There is no reason not to also explore charter options. You can get a pretty good feel from this board how people feel about the popular charter schools. As far as I know, there isn't any hype about charters that will be opening next year. The charter lottery is pretty stiff with siblings (at least it was this past year), but it's generally worth applying to schools you like even if you're reasonably sure that you're going to be staying with your neighborhood school.

FYI, we got into Marie Reed, and after touring, going to an orientation, and talking to a bunch of people from the school, we ultimately changed our minds and decided to keep DD in her daycare/preschool for another year. It just did not feel like a good fit at the end of the day. We did not get in anywhere else, so we are lotterying again next year.

Good luck to you.

Thanks. And in re: bolded part - I saw that in the results. Heart-wrenching. I've watched Ross go from a school almost shut down to a highly coveted school in just a few years. It's amazing how schools can turn around like that. I assume that there were less open seats for PK4 because the PS3 students had preference and continued on through to PK4.

I think unless I find otherwise in the open houses/searches, I would probably put Ross as #1. It looks like it was 50/50 odds and while I hate the idea of having to do Pre-School somewhere else if we don't get in, it seems like there are viable options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. I'm the long-winded poster from 10:20.

Ross was the school I ranked as #1. We are out of bounds, with no preference, but I work in Dupont and it fit everything that I personally wanted in a school - from the aesthetics of the building to the outdoor space to the online presence, etc. I did not actually go to any open houses, but I got a lot of positive feedback from people whose kids went there or who had friends whose kids went there.

You will still have to lottery, and your in bounds preference will help, but this year, there were many children on the waitlist who were in bounds. It makes a difference at schools like these whether you are applying for PS3 or PK4 - by which I mean there were 10 more spaces in PS3 than PK4 this year (14 vs. 4).

There is no reason not to also explore charter options. You can get a pretty good feel from this board how people feel about the popular charter schools. As far as I know, there isn't any hype about charters that will be opening next year. The charter lottery is pretty stiff with siblings (at least it was this past year), but it's generally worth applying to schools you like even if you're reasonably sure that you're going to be staying with your neighborhood school.

FYI, we got into Marie Reed, and after touring, going to an orientation, and talking to a bunch of people from the school, we ultimately changed our minds and decided to keep DD in her daycare/preschool for another year. It just did not feel like a good fit at the end of the day. We did not get in anywhere else, so we are lotterying again next year.

Good luck to you.

Thanks. And in re: bolded part - I saw that in the results. Heart-wrenching. I've watched Ross go from a school almost shut down to a highly coveted school in just a few years. It's amazing how schools can turn around like that. I assume that there were less open seats for PK4 because the PS3 students had preference and continued on through to PK4.

I think unless I find otherwise in the open houses/searches, I would probably put Ross as #1. It looks like it was 50/50 odds and while I hate the idea of having to do Pre-School somewhere else if we don't get in, it seems like there are viable options.

When you go to the open houses, ask how many people down the waitlist they went this year. You do have about 50/50 odds IB to get into PK4 in the initial lottery, but I'll be you they went into the waitlist in later months, and your odds of actually getting in are higher. Hope it works out for you! I think Ross is a great school. (As I am OOB, I have zero chance of getting in, so will not waste one of my six slots on it.)

[Anonymous]

NP. How would your approach differ if your IB school doesn't offer PK3?