Confused about age cut off in DCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is ridiculous. I already think it’s ridiculous that two year olds can start if they turn 3 in September. I know that’s the district cut off age but I’ve subbed in so many prek classes and the difference between those very young children and the already three year olds is pretty big. It might not matter later on in age but between late 2 and middle 3 there is a huge difference.

Agreed!

[Anonymous]

School typically starts late August and then cutoff is Sept. 30. That means that a 2yo is in school for at most 6 weeks before their 3rd birthday. As a mom of a kid with a Sept birthday, I'm not really sure what the problem is. My kid is holding his own, and the 4yos seems to be doing fine, too.

What do you think the new cut off should be? No matter what magical date you pick, there will always be a 1 year spread between the oldest eligible and youngest eligible kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School typically starts late August and then cutoff is Sept. 30. That means that a 2yo is in school for at most 6 weeks before their 3rd birthday. As a mom of a kid with a Sept birthday, I'm not really sure what the problem is. My kid is holding his own, and the 4yos seems to be doing fine, too.

What do you think the new cut off should be? No matter what magical date you pick, there will always be a 1 year spread between the oldest eligible and youngest eligible kids.

The OP isn’t arguing about the current cutoff but thinks someone is cheating to get her child in early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The school in question is a DCPS. Kid will turn 3 at the end of January and does not have any special needs. (I was doing an intake with the parent for a social service and I guess she could have lied about the lack of participation in Strong Start or Early Stages). Anyway, the school admitted the child in mid-September, so obviously they had space and are not a sought-after school. I just get so tired of the culture of cheating/lying. What are we teaching our children?

Why are you assuming that this mother lied or cheated? It seems more plausible to me that the school, which is not full or sought after, allowed the child to come in. So it’s the principal that someone would need to talk to. Don’t you assume that the child is going to want to celebrate his or her birthday at school? I don’t the family would keep that a secret.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School typically starts late August and then cutoff is Sept. 30. That means that a 2yo is in school for at most 6 weeks before their 3rd birthday. As a mom of a kid with a Sept birthday, I'm not really sure what the problem is. My kid is holding his own, and the 4yos seems to be doing fine, too.

What do you think the new cut off should be? No matter what magical date you pick, there will always be a 1 year spread between the oldest eligible and youngest eligible kids.

The OP isn’t arguing about the current cutoff but thinks someone is cheating to get her child in early.

I know, I was responding to the PP above me who thought it was ridiculous that the Sept 30 cutoff results in 2yos be in prek3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The school in question is a DCPS. Kid will turn 3 at the end of January and does not have any special needs. (I was doing an intake with the parent for a social service and I guess she could have lied about the lack of participation in Strong Start or Early Stages). Anyway, the school admitted the child in mid-September, so obviously they had space and are not a sought-after school. I just get so tired of the culture of cheating/lying. What are we teaching our children?

Why are you assuming that this mother lied or cheated? It seems more plausible to me that the school, which is not full or sought after, allowed the child to come in. So it’s the principal that someone would need to talk to. Don’t you assume that the child is going to want to celebrate his or her birthday at school? I don’t the family would keep that a secret.

Because outside of Early Stages, no one can enroll in PK3 outside of the MSDC process. You have to enter a birthdate and the system will reject the application if the child is too young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The school in question is a DCPS. Kid will turn 3 at the end of January and does not have any special needs. (I was doing an intake with the parent for a social service and I guess she could have lied about the lack of participation in Strong Start or Early Stages). Anyway, the school admitted the child in mid-September, so obviously they had space and are not a sought-after school. I just get so tired of the culture of cheating/lying. What are we teaching our children?

Why are you assuming that this mother lied or cheated? It seems more plausible to me that the school, which is not full or sought after, allowed the child to come in. So it’s the principal that someone would need to talk to. Don’t you assume that the child is going to want to celebrate his or her birthday at school? I don’t the family would keep that a secret.

Because outside of Early Stages, no one can enroll in PK3 outside of the MSDC process. You have to enter a birthdate and the system will reject the application if the child is too young.

Does not apply to Charter Schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The school in question is a DCPS. Kid will turn 3 at the end of January and does not have any special needs. (I was doing an intake with the parent for a social service and I guess she could have lied about the lack of participation in Strong Start or Early Stages). Anyway, the school admitted the child in mid-September, so obviously they had space and are not a sought-after school. I just get so tired of the culture of cheating/lying. What are we teaching our children?

Why are you assuming that this mother lied or cheated? It seems more plausible to me that the school, which is not full or sought after, allowed the child to come in. So it’s the principal that someone would need to talk to. Don’t you assume that the child is going to want to celebrate his or her birthday at school? I don’t the family would keep that a secret.

Because outside of Early Stages, no one can enroll in PK3 outside of the MSDC process. You have to enter a birthdate and the system will reject the application if the child is too young.

Does not apply to Charter Schools.

It applies to Charter Schools that are in the MSDC process. The only ones that are not are LAMB and Bethune.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School typically starts late August and then cutoff is Sept. 30. That means that a 2yo is in school for at most 6 weeks before their 3rd birthday. As a mom of a kid with a Sept birthday, I'm not really sure what the problem is. My kid is holding his own, and the 4yos seems to be doing fine, too.

What do you think the new cut off should be? No matter what magical date you pick, there will always be a 1 year spread between the oldest eligible and youngest eligible kids.

Okay? I’m giving you my opinion as someone who has subbed in about 10 different schools at that age. There is a difference between *most* turning threes and already 3. It is what it is. I don’t have an answer but it’s the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The school in question is a DCPS. Kid will turn 3 at the end of January and does not have any special needs. (I was doing an intake with the parent for a social service and I guess she could have lied about the lack of participation in Strong Start or Early Stages). Anyway, the school admitted the child in mid-September, so obviously they had space and are not a sought-after school. I just get so tired of the culture of cheating/lying. What are we teaching our children?

Why are you assuming that this mother lied or cheated? It seems more plausible to me that the school, which is not full or sought after, allowed the child to come in. So it’s the principal that someone would need to talk to. Don’t you assume that the child is going to want to celebrate his or her birthday at school? I don’t the family would keep that a secret.

Because outside of Early Stages, no one can enroll in PK3 outside of the MSDC process. You have to enter a birthdate and the system will reject the application if the child is too young.

But it seems completely plausible that this family went directly to the school to submit enrollment paperwork, bypassing electronic field limitations that would prevent someone from submitting a lottery application that didn't meet the bday parameters. MSDC is simply a lottery program. Families still need to submit hard copy enrollment paperwork to schools. Again, my guess is the school is not sought after, there was space and the parent went in and asked. Again, if the principal allowed the child in using his/her digression this is on the principal.

[Anonymous]

Is no one going to point out that it’s inappropriate for someone to disclose in a public forum information gained in a confidential social services intake interview? That’s what troubles me here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The school in question is a DCPS. Kid will turn 3 at the end of January and does not have any special needs. (I was doing an intake with the parent for a social service and I guess she could have lied about the lack of participation in Strong Start or Early Stages). Anyway, the school admitted the child in mid-September, so obviously they had space and are not a sought-after school. I just get so tired of the culture of cheating/lying. What are we teaching our children?

Why are you assuming that this mother lied or cheated? It seems more plausible to me that the school, which is not full or sought after, allowed the child to come in. So it’s the principal that someone would need to talk to. Don’t you assume that the child is going to want to celebrate his or her birthday at school? I don’t the family would keep that a secret.

Because outside of Early Stages, no one can enroll in PK3 outside of the MSDC process. You have to enter a birthdate and the system will reject the application if the child is too young.

But it seems completely plausible that this family went directly to the school to submit enrollment paperwork, bypassing electronic field limitations that would prevent someone from submitting a lottery application that didn't meet the bday parameters. MSDC is simply a lottery program. Families still need to submit hard copy enrollment paperwork to schools. Again, my guess is the school is not sought after, there was space and the parent went in and asked. Again, if the principal allowed the child in using his/her digression this is on the principal.

The principals don't have discretion for PK3. If a parent walks in to enroll a child, they are still supposed to help them fill out the form on MSDC.

Also, FWIW the new post-application period is under the purview of MSDC (from 10/5 til end of year). That means even if you want to enroll in your IB mid-year (for ALL grades, not just PK3 or Pk4) you must call MSDC and it will be processed through there. Some details on the new process and training for school staff about this change is in the MSDC Board minutes below.

http://www.myschooldc.org/sites/default/files/u56/DRAFT%20CLB%20Meeting%20Minutes%208.3.17.pdf
http://www.myschooldc.org/sites/default/files/u56/CLB%20Meeting%20MINUTES%2010.26.17.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The school in question is a DCPS. Kid will turn 3 at the end of January and does not have any special needs. (I was doing an intake with the parent for a social service and I guess she could have lied about the lack of participation in Strong Start or Early Stages). Anyway, the school admitted the child in mid-September, so obviously they had space and are not a sought-after school. I just get so tired of the culture of cheating/lying. What are we teaching our children?

Why are you assuming that this mother lied or cheated? It seems more plausible to me that the school, which is not full or sought after, allowed the child to come in. So it’s the principal that someone would need to talk to. Don’t you assume that the child is going to want to celebrate his or her birthday at school? I don’t the family would keep that a secret.

Because outside of Early Stages, no one can enroll in PK3 outside of the MSDC process. You have to enter a birthdate and the system will reject the application if the child is too young.

But it seems completely plausible that this family went directly to the school to submit enrollment paperwork, bypassing electronic field limitations that would prevent someone from submitting a lottery application that didn't meet the bday parameters. MSDC is simply a lottery program. Families still need to submit hard copy enrollment paperwork to schools. Again, my guess is the school is not sought after, there was space and the parent went in and asked. Again, if the principal allowed the child in using his/her digression this is on the principal.

The principals don't have discretion for PK3. If a parent walks in to enroll a child, they are still supposed to help them fill out the form on MSDC.

Also, FWIW the new post-application period is under the purview of MSDC (from 10/5 til end of year). That means even if you want to enroll in your IB mid-year (for ALL grades, not just PK3 or Pk4) you must call MSDC and it will be processed through there. Some details on the new process and training for school staff about this change is in the MSDC Board minutes below.

http://www.myschooldc.org/sites/default/files/u56/DRAFT%20CLB%20Meeting%20Minutes%208.3.17.pdf
http://www.myschooldc.org/sites/default/files/u56/CLB%20Meeting%20MINUTES%2010.26.17.pdf

It's great that you're so well versed in the rules and policies. However, this is still DC and if you think everything is always done by the book you're incredibly naive. At our WOTP DCPS I know for a fact that the grand-daughter of the registrar is enrolled and I'm not even sure she lives in DC, the child of one of the DPR employees that shares space on the campus is enrolled and doesn't live IB, the child of a teacher who I thought lived in MD is enrolled, etc. Shady stuff happens everywhere. Everyday. You have to pick your battles. So talk all you want about how everyone has to go through MSDC but in practice it's not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is no one going to point out that it’s inappropriate for someone to disclose in a public forum information gained in a confidential social services intake interview? That’s what troubles me here.

I'm totally with you on that one. OP, look inward if you want to chastise and lament about what we're teaching our children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It's great that you're so well versed in the rules and policies. However, this is still DC and if you think everything is always done by the book you're incredibly naive. At our WOTP DCPS I know for a fact that the grand-daughter of the registrar is enrolled and I'm not even sure she lives in DC, the child of one of the DPR employees that shares space on the campus is enrolled and doesn't live IB, the child of a teacher who I thought lived in MD is enrolled, etc. Shady stuff happens everywhere. Everyday. You have to pick your battles. So talk all you want about how everyone has to go through MSDC but in practice it's not true.

The city is trying to crack down and take the authority away from the school front office staff. Obviously, there's a long way to go but establishing a central repository is a good start, and more than they did before.

Also since you're aware of so many possible instances of residency fraud at just one elementary school, I hope you've reported them all to OSSE for investigation.