Sibling Preference and Inspired Teaching

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I emailed MySchoolDC and they called back in just a few minutes! I was amazed.

They said if DC2 matches somewhere she ranked higher, she loses sibling preference at ITS and can not add it back as a sibling. Bummer.

MySchoolDC is an example of how the newly created government orgs are much better run than the old school agencies (who will never ever ever answer the phone or call back).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I emailed MySchoolDC and they called back in just a few minutes! I was amazed.

They said if DC2 matches somewhere she ranked higher, she loses sibling preference at ITS and can not add it back as a sibling. Bummer.

MySchoolDC is an example of how the newly created government orgs are much better run than the old school agencies (who will never ever ever answer the phone or call back).

Let's hope OSSE doesn't screw it up - MSDC was transferred there from the DME starting this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ITS did not move its wait list for several weeks over the summer ... I wonder if they are trying to manipulate their WL to create a more stable cohort.

It may not violate the specific rules of the system, but it does seem to be drifting away from its intent

Not gonna work.

--Underwhelmed mom whose kid was admitted in early Oct.

Yeah, they can try to jack people up on the Pk3 lottery but they'll still leave later if they want to.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know if this a new thing more schools adopted or something unique to Inspired Teaching? Do other schools handle sibling preference and waitlists the same way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if this a new thing more schools adopted or something unique to Inspired Teaching? Do other schools handle sibling preference and waitlists the same way?

OP here. I asked and the lady said Thurgood Marshall and one other that was an acronym like Shape or something, I had not heard of it.

[Anonymous]

NP. I think it’s a good rule. I think all schools should adopt. Sucks that people are still trying to game the system.

[Anonymous]

No opinion and think schools can do what they want but LMAO at game the system. So dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That feels really sneaky and disingenuous. I'm sure ITS is tired of losing people to language schools, but they also need to stop moving their waitlist only in August.

To me "committed" families is coded language for higher SES.[quote]

This hasn’t been our experience at the school. I’m sorry if it has been yours. I do think it’s weird and annoying to not have moved their list until so late but it seems like this year was worse on that front (anecdotally from what I can remember) so maybe it was a one-off. I think the more families express concern about it to the school directly instead of here, the better chance there is for improvement.

[Anonymous]

OP: if your second kid matches at another school that you prefer, even with sibling weighting at ITS,, why would it be ITS’s responsibility to take your kid ahead of another family who ranked it higher (in the first round!)? I would imagine that, unless your older is in a grade where the other school rarely accepts kids, your odds are as good that your older kid will get pulled in as for any sibling preference at the other school.

[Anonymous]

I can see both sides of this. We got a worry about "the grass is greener" a few years ago when we had an incoming PK3er. We got into a HRCS who basically refused to return our phone calls and said that there was little to no chance our Kindergartener could get in as 3-4 on the waitlist. So we reentered our kid with sibling preference at the school we were attending. Best decision our family has ever made.

Lots happens between December and August when you are talking about two year olds. It's basically 25% of their life!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: if your second kid matches at another school that you prefer, even with sibling weighting at ITS,, why would it be ITS’s responsibility to take your kid ahead of another family who ranked it higher (in the first round!)? I would imagine that, unless your older is in a grade where the other school rarely accepts kids, your odds are as good that your older kid will get pulled in as for any sibling preference at the other school.

Almost every other school is fine with it. What's special about ITS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If DC2 gets into a school other than ITS, wouldn't DC1 be #1/super high on that school's waitlist? (That's how it works for twins.) Are you worried because this other school doesn't generally accept students at DC1's grade?

I get the feeling that schools generally try to make sure siblings are at the same school, but I could be wrong.

Yes, DC1 would be high, but maybe not high enough. If it's Yu Ying or Stokes.

Unless there is another family who has a kid match and is trying to get a sibling into the same grade as DC1, I feel like even YY or Stokes could make it work because DC1 would be #1 on the waitlist. But I guess it's not a sure thing. If I were in OP's position, I'd probably just rank ITS #1 for DC2. Because in the alternative, even if DC2 gets a good draw and matches with another school, it's just going to cause stress about getting DC1 in.

I wouldn't be all that sure. Imagine 3 kids match at DCB for the fall and have 3 siblings in K, OPs child might be 3rd on the waitlist for 1 K spot. They can't make it work if there isn't room. (I guess the high demand schools will have many preK3 spots filled by those with siblings already in though, so maybe less of a worry?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: if your second kid matches at another school that you prefer, even with sibling weighting at ITS,, why would it be ITS’s responsibility to take your kid ahead of another family who ranked it higher (in the first round!)? I would imagine that, unless your older is in a grade where the other school rarely accepts kids, your odds are as good that your older kid will get pulled in as for any sibling preference at the other school.

Almost every other school is fine with it. What's special about ITS?

I wouldn’t be surprised if others followed suit. Why would a school want to prioritize you if you didn’t even want them. I don’t agree with the “lol at gaming the system” poster. It is gaming the system. You’re trying to hold your spot in line at the same time as getting in another line you think is going to check out faster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ITS did not move its wait list for several weeks over the summer ... I wonder if they are trying to manipulate their WL to create a more stable cohort.

It may not violate the specific rules of the system, but it does seem to be drifting away from its intent

Not gonna work.

--Underwhelmed mom whose kid was admitted in early Oct.

Could you share more about your experience? Why underwhelmed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ITS did not move its wait list for several weeks over the summer ... I wonder if they are trying to manipulate their WL to create a more stable cohort.

It may not violate the specific rules of the system, but it does seem to be drifting away from its intent

Not gonna work.

--Underwhelmed mom whose kid was admitted in early Oct.

Could you share more about your experience? Why underwhelmed?

Maybe it is just our teacher, but the math is not very differentiated and I rarely see any science projects. I also dislike the lack of a real gym because the kids are less active when it rains. It is a fine school, but aside from test scores doesn't seeem really any better than nearby IB schools. I wonder why there is not more economic diversity.