How does Pre-K work for Arlington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Pre-K in Arlington worked the same as Pre-K in Fairfax, which is that you find a private program that you like and pay for it. Enrollment usually starts in January or February, so you are starting to look around at the right time. For my first child, I didn't realize how early everything starts and only managed to get in off the waitlist in late August.

What are you talking about?

I thought that DC was the only area here with public pre-K and that in Arlington, as it is in Fairfax where I live, you send your preschoolers to private preschool. Other than the public Montessori at one ES in Arlington, other posters have confirmed that this is pretty much accurate.

There is VPI too. It's income-tested, though.

[Anonymous]

Your friends must have applied for, and won by lottery or wait list, spots in the APS Montessori. Only one third of the slots go to upper income families and they are very competitive but if you get lucky on the lottery draw and/or have the nerves to wait it out over the summer for waitlist movement you might get a spot (which you have to pay for). Can't remember all the details but I think also some of the schools do not permit Montessori/VPI children to use extended day or ride the bus because they are too young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your friends must have applied for, and won by lottery or wait list, spots in the APS Montessori. Only one third of the slots go to upper income families and they are very competitive but if you get lucky on the lottery draw and/or have the nerves to wait it out over the summer for waitlist movement you might get a spot (which you have to pay for). Can't remember all the details but I think also some of the schools do not permit Montessori/VPI children to use extended day or ride the bus because they are too young.

Bus transportation is provided for 3 and 4-year-old students at both Drew and Campbell, and extended day is available to those who turn 4 by the start of the school year. Transportation is provided for 4-year-olds at other locations IF they live within that school boundary. Not sure if they have an option for extended day.

VPI is exclusively for lower income students. Montessori is mixed income, with 1/3 of the spaces available to those whose children do not qualify for free/reduced lunch. The fee is based on a sliding scale. This is the only public pre-k option available to families whose children don't qualify for fr/l. There are a number of classrooms at the Montessori "hub" which is currently Drew. But there are satellite classrooms throughout Arlington (our child is at one). They give priority to siblings of currently enrolled ES students, so it's fairly competitive at some locations. At other locations, your chances are better because there's a smaller pool of applicants. Your chances will be better, as a 4-year-old, in areas that have more turnover, because someone will have to leave to open a spot at the 4-year-old year. Do you know what area of Arlington (what school zone) you're targeting?

More info available here: https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Montessori_application_english_2017_18.pdf

[Anonymous]

Pre-k through the county is not necessarily any cheaper than private pre-k unless you are relatively low-income, and it can be hard to get if you're not VPI. I would start looking at private preschools/daycares in addition to putting yourself in the public pre-k lottery.

If you start researching now and putting out feelers, you should be able to find a spot by the time you want to move.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much for the info. Really appreciate it. The people I know have kids at Taylor, Tuckahoe and Drew. Now that I think about it they all have older siblings, so that might be part of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so much for the info. Really appreciate it. The people I know have kids at Taylor, Tuckahoe and Drew. Now that I think about it they all have older siblings, so that might be part of it.

I think you don't know the whole story. Tuckahoe only has a special needs classroom. So if they are Pre-K at Tuckahoe they are special needs. (it is also slightly possible they are a 'peer model' at Tuckahoe for the special needs classroom. The same goes for Taylor- if they are pre-k at Taylor they are special needs. Drew is Montesorri. That is the lottery otherwise discussed. You literally have to audition your kid to be a peer model. It is super competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Pre-K in Arlington worked the same as Pre-K in Fairfax, which is that you find a private program that you like and pay for it. Enrollment usually starts in January or February, so you are starting to look around at the right time. For my first child, I didn't realize how early everything starts and only managed to get in off the waitlist in late August.

What are you talking about?

She's talking about what people do when they can't get a spot in Arlington's public school preschool.

All of the churches have preschools (there are also some Jewish options). And, most of the daycares (Little Beginnings, for example) run preschool as part of the day care programs.

[Anonymous]

VPI is income based (although the income is higher than most people thing to qualify) We got in when my now 4th grader was in pre-k and we were not what I would consider poor.

[Anonymous]

I am confused by OP. You have daycare where you are now and you're happy with it? Why would you change?

Arlington is getting slightly better, as some new facilities have opened up, but Arlington is notorious for long wait lists at its daycare centers. When I was pregnant and began phoning places, the Bright Horizons' places all said that unless I was a Federal employee, it might be 3-5 years to get in and the other facilities were similarly long waits. We ended up driving my DS to Fairfax County as that was the only place with open enrollments!!

I also enrolled my son in APS PreK and when he was 4-1/2 he was offered a spot at Hoffman-Boston, but by then we were in our third year at a private daycare facility and it seemed suicidal to move him for 6 months and then start K at a different school. So I don't think getting into the APS PreK is particularly easy, although I'm sure some lucky people don't take 2-1/2 years to get off the waitlist... APS isn't DC where there is guaranteed admission. APS is more like a place that is bulging at the seams and, for all the nannies and au pairs in the county, it still doesn't seem to have enough preK capacity.