Murch Pre-K lottery, in-boundary

[Anonymous]

I think it's just for pre-K that out-of-boundary siblings get preference over in-boundary kids. Starting in K all in-boundary kids are guaranteed a spot.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else know if this is true?

[Anonymous]

it's true at least at lafayette

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else have a problem with that? I think letting any out of boundary kids in before the in boundary ones is just wrong!

[Anonymous]

I don't know--I think you've got to let out-of-boundary kids have a shot at the better schools and if there's no guarantee their sibs will get in, their parents might not be able to swing it. And I think all the kids benefit from the out-of-boundary kids since it keeps things from getting too insular. We're in boundary at Murch, applying for preK, so we're probably about to feel the pain directly...

[Anonymous]

Has the Murch lottery happened yet?

[Anonymous]

Yes--and they are "working on the letters"

[Anonymous]

Personally I was enraged to find out there is sibling preference -- particularly for out of boundary kids. I think diversity is great and it is one of the reasons we like Murch and support the public school system. And I know it would be a pain to have kids in two different schools. But the issue, to me, is whether it is right to reject in the neighborhood at their neighborhood PUBLIC school, giving preference to out of boundary students.

As the 9:39 poster commented, we will certainly "feel the pain." I don't know what that means to PP, but for us, and others I know, it would not mean just hurting our checkbook. It would mean seriously choosing between: not sending our child to pre-K at all; trying to send them out of boundary at a weaker school that is much further away; moving; borrowing heavily to pay for private pre-K; or me going back to work full time to pay for private pre-K and a nanny for our two kids. But I guess we will have to start looking at those options.

[Anonymous]

I am 9:39. For us it will probably mean staying in our daycare for another year. Even that would kill our checkbook and the preK program sucks. So it will be a big deal. But I am hoping it won't come to that--perhaps naively. The odds are in favor of getting a spot eventually even if its last minute.

[Anonymous]

Oh yes, I can assure you that out-of-boundary siblings have priority over in-boundary singletons for preK at Murch (and probably everywhere in DC, but I can't speak to that).

Last year we were denied a preK spot at Murch, which is 4 blocks from home. However the siblings we know from Dupont and Adams Morgan got in immediately. How great is that?

[Anonymous]

We have to go through this next year. I would say it is "great" enough (HA!) that I will be starting to write Michelle Rhee.

[Anonymous]

17.33, that's awful. where were you on the waitlist? And do you know how many other kids ended up not getting a spot? What did you end up doing?

[Anonymous]

didn't-get-into-Murch-preK here ....

We wound up at a really great preschool (because, as many have noted here, there are often openings at fine preschools in that 4-5 year old year bc kids go off to their preK-6/8 schools).

That said, it costs us $12K a year, I believe, whereas public preK would've been, well, free. And I have to drive to it instead of walking to my neighborhood school.

I don't mean to sound like a crazy bitter woman, and I am truly grateful that we have the means to opt for private preK. I am. (thinking about the Mt. Pleasant fire families makes me tear up, THAT is what truly sucks).

Now that said, I do indeed believe it is an incorrect DCPS policy to select siblings from across town over families that, in many cases, can see the school from their window. I respectfully disagree that sending neighborhood kids to their neighborhood school creates a problem of insularity.

Having a community school is an awesome thing! for the community. If all 75 (or whatever) DC public elementary schools were as great as Murch, Key, what have you, we wouldn't be having this conversation. So the problem is inequality among schools -- and it is a problem -- not insularity per se, IMO

[Anonymous]

I guess I'm on the fence. I love the idea of a neighborhood school where all the kids are from the community. But also like the diversity that the out-of-boundary process brings. At least I assume it does. if the kids are just privileged white kids from other parts of town then my theory falls apart.

[Anonymous]

I would say the the OOB kids are as described above...not from SE if that's what you were thinking.

I think the policy is ridiculous and unfair. Many families move to live in a specific school district and should not be denied spots in a public school.