Chances of getting in to Brent for PS3 next year?

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I bet quite a few stay put at Van Ness, at least for K. I don't feel like K is Brent's strength....

[Anonymous]

There are differences between the three K teachers, including one who doesn't bother to follow basic Responsive Classroom practices. Kids will survive nonetheless and do just fine.

[Anonymous]

At least one kindergarten teacher is excellent; my child had her.

[Anonymous]

My take -- FWIW -- is that all three K teachers are fundamentally strong. Each comes with her own set of rules, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies which can be problematic for some parents and occasionally some students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With only 30 PreK3 spots left at Brent (down from 38 last year) and Lord knows how many names going in the hat in the 2015-2016 lottery season, I wouldn't hold my breath. The school was expecting two dozen in-boundary applicants with siblings in the last lottery season and got 42.

Take heart, Van Ness got nearly 20 of the Brent in-boundary 3 year olds and AppleTree LP got a dozen. If you land in either program (both solid and predominantly high SES), your kid will have plenty of K buddies/former classmates at Brent. Tyler Spanish Immersion, Ludlow-Taylor and Peabody also welcome multiple Brent in-boundary kids for PreK3 and 4.

Why are there are only 30 PreK3 slots this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it's a silly question, but I agree that no one is likely to have a good answer right now. The situation may not be as bad as last year because there shouldn't be as many new inbounds kindergarteners pulling their younger siblings in with them because most of the inbounds K cohort for next year is already at the school. That being said, your very best scenario probably isn't even a 50 percent chance. Have a backup plan!

I'm not sure I follow your logic. Wouldn't a PK3 applicant with an IB K sibling pull them in ahead a IB PK3 kid with no older sibling, regardless of whether they are already at the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With only 30 PreK3 spots left at Brent (down from 38 last year) and Lord knows how many names going in the hat in the 2015-2016 lottery season, I wouldn't hold my breath. The school was expecting two dozen in-boundary applicants with siblings in the last lottery season and got 42.

Take heart, Van Ness got nearly 20 of the Brent in-boundary 3 year olds and AppleTree LP got a dozen. If you land in either program (both solid and predominantly high SES), your kid will have plenty of K buddies/former classmates at Brent. Tyler Spanish Immersion, Ludlow-Taylor and Peabody also welcome multiple Brent in-boundary kids for PreK3 and 4.

Why are there are only 30 PreK3 slots this year?

Real estate crunch, pure and simple. Brent is running out of space- there isn't a spare classroom to be had. The giant art room was sub-divided over the summer to create another classroom. Many parents want PreK3 dropped to make more room for PreK4 but the PTA Board, LSAT, principal and DCPS aren't on board. There are plenty of PreK3 spots within a mile and in-boundary lottery applicant gets into more than one or more of these programs by summer's end. Making the best of things for PreK3 tends to work.

[Anonymous]

PreK3 seems doomed at Brent, irregardless of DCPS opposition. More and more kids are coming into K without being well prepared, and parents, teachers and admins know this, and are concerned by the trend. Many of us in-boundary won't be remotely surprised if this is Brent's last PreK3 lottery season.

[Anonymous]

Has there been any discussion about dropping PreK3 at the school? During an LSAT meeting or at any other forum?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm at Van Ness and count 17 or 18 Brent in-boundary kids in PreS3. Remember that more than 40 in-boundary kids were turned away for PreK3, and Van Ness is just six blocks from Brent. Some of us live closer to Van Ness than Brent!! Anybody's guess how many of these families actually return to Brent for K. I'd wager around two-thirds.

What are the demographics at Van Ness? What's your best guess at the FARM rate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PreK3 seems doomed at Brent, irregardless of DCPS opposition. More and more kids are coming into K without being well prepared, and parents, teachers and admins know this, and are concerned by the trend. Many of us in-boundary won't be remotely surprised if this is Brent's last PreK3 lottery season.

Seems lie a good idea until demographics on the hill start crowding out all OOB from LT, JO, Maury and Peabody. All of a sudden those Brent parents will start howling that they are getting screwed.

[Anonymous]

Nonsense, even the highest performing DCPS elementary schools, like Janney and Lafayette, still auction off some OOB spots in the higher grades.

Maury hasn't offered all IB PreK3 spots for several years now, and has few OOB PreK4 spots to auction off. Moreover, Peabody and Ludlow don't necessarily take OOB kids for PreK3 anymore.

Area AppleTrees, which only serve PreK3 and PreK4, have plenty of spots for Brent families. Their well-run Oklahoma Ave. and SW campuses are gentrifying steadily. Even Eagle Academy is attracting some gentrifiers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has there been any discussion about dropping PreK3 at the school? During an LSAT meeting or at any other forum?

Yes, various times at LSAT meetings, but the conversation goes nowhere because, thus far, nobody with the power to change this calculus is on board with dropping it.

DCPS doesn't seem to mind if Brent's PreK3 only serves younger siblings, and not every one of them. Rising parents are well advised to plan accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PreK3 seems doomed at Brent, irregardless of DCPS opposition. More and more kids are coming into K without being well prepared, and parents, teachers and admins know this, and are concerned by the trend. Many of us in-boundary won't be remotely surprised if this is Brent's last PreK3 lottery season.

You speak of kids "coming into K without being well prepared." I guess you mean your children: who uses "irregardless" as a word? It hurts just to type those letters in sequence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My take -- FWIW -- is that all three K teachers are fundamentally strong. Each comes with her own set of rules, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies which can be problematic for some parents and occasionally some students.

A accurate assessment in my opinion/experience