Bilingual PCS & Neighbourhood Schools: Lottery Chances?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS data is here: http://enrolldcps.dc.gov/node/61

DCPCS data is here: https://www.dcpcsb.org/evaluating/waitlist-data

If you're not sure she's Spanish-dominant, I wouldn't bet on her passing the screening. People trying to bend the rules here is a sore subject. Just going to an immersion daycare or having a Spanish-speaking nanny is not sufficient.

OP again. I totally understand and think it's frustrating when people bend rules like this. Our daughter hears both languages at home and goes to an immersion daycare. The fact that one side of her family is Spanish-speaking is the main reason we want her to have bilingual schooling. Just wanting to make it clear that I'm not trying to game the system--she really does get equal exposure to both, even outside of daycare. She doesn't have a "dominant" language per se.

Thanks for the links!

Ok. But you gotta understand, there is a lot riding on her willingness to speak Spanish during the test. If she is really a 50/50 kid, then 50/50 chance you lose your spot.

Very good point! Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS data is here: http://enrolldcps.dc.gov/node/61

DCPCS data is here: https://www.dcpcsb.org/evaluating/waitlist-data

If you're not sure she's Spanish-dominant, I wouldn't bet on her passing the screening. People trying to bend the rules here is a sore subject. Just going to an immersion daycare or having a Spanish-speaking nanny is not sufficient.

OP again. I totally understand and think it's frustrating when people bend rules like this. Our daughter hears both languages at home and goes to an immersion daycare. The fact that one side of her family is Spanish-speaking is the main reason we want her to have bilingual schooling. Just wanting to make it clear that I'm not trying to game the system--she really does get equal exposure to both, even outside of daycare. She doesn't have a "dominant" language per se.

Thanks for the links!

You will hear people say otherwise on here, but fact is she will count as Spanish dominant. Unless she answers even the Spanish parent in English (which you can work on between now and then).

I'd wait to buy. See how the lottery shakes out. Not a whole lot of IB options that are affordable and good anyway. Or, like someone said, buy IB at Powell or Bruce Monroe as a backup, but, if you are fine with suburbs you may just want to wait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS data is here: http://enrolldcps.dc.gov/node/61

DCPCS data is here: https://www.dcpcsb.org/evaluating/waitlist-data

If you're not sure she's Spanish-dominant, I wouldn't bet on her passing the screening. People trying to bend the rules here is a sore subject. Just going to an immersion daycare or having a Spanish-speaking nanny is not sufficient.

OP again. I totally understand and think it's frustrating when people bend rules like this. Our daughter hears both languages at home and goes to an immersion daycare. The fact that one side of her family is Spanish-speaking is the main reason we want her to have bilingual schooling. Just wanting to make it clear that I'm not trying to game the system--she really does get equal exposure to both, even outside of daycare. She doesn't have a "dominant" language per se.

Thanks for the links!

You will hear people say otherwise on here, but fact is she will count as Spanish dominant. Unless she answers even the Spanish parent in English (which you can work on between now and then).

I'd wait to buy. See how the lottery shakes out. Not a whole lot of IB options that are affordable and good anyway. Or, like someone said, buy IB at Powell or Bruce Monroe as a backup, but, if you are fine with suburbs you may just want to wait.

You likely won't get into either school for PK3 even if you do move IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS data is here: http://enrolldcps.dc.gov/node/61

DCPCS data is here: https://www.dcpcsb.org/evaluating/waitlist-data

If you're not sure she's Spanish-dominant, I wouldn't bet on her passing the screening. People trying to bend the rules here is a sore subject. Just going to an immersion daycare or having a Spanish-speaking nanny is not sufficient.

OP again. I totally understand and think it's frustrating when people bend rules like this. Our daughter hears both languages at home and goes to an immersion daycare. The fact that one side of her family is Spanish-speaking is the main reason we want her to have bilingual schooling. Just wanting to make it clear that I'm not trying to game the system--she really does get equal exposure to both, even outside of daycare. She doesn't have a "dominant" language per se.

Thanks for the links!

You will hear people say otherwise on here, but fact is she will count as Spanish dominant. Unless she answers even the Spanish parent in English (which you can work on between now and then).

I'd wait to buy. See how the lottery shakes out. Not a whole lot of IB options that are affordable and good anyway. Or, like someone said, buy IB at Powell or Bruce Monroe as a backup, but, if you are fine with suburbs you may just want to wait.

You likely won't get into either school for PK3 even if you do move IB.

She should as SD

[Anonymous]

What do most people do for PK3 since it seems so hard to get in? Our son is only 6 mos so I'm not at this point yet, but do most people just continue at daycare (and paying $$$)? I guess this isn't super related to your bilingual concern but I'm still curious...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS data is here: http://enrolldcps.dc.gov/node/61

DCPCS data is here: https://www.dcpcsb.org/evaluating/waitlist-data

If you're not sure she's Spanish-dominant, I wouldn't bet on her passing the screening. People trying to bend the rules here is a sore subject. Just going to an immersion daycare or having a Spanish-speaking nanny is not sufficient.

OP again. I totally understand and think it's frustrating when people bend rules like this. Our daughter hears both languages at home and goes to an immersion daycare. The fact that one side of her family is Spanish-speaking is the main reason we want her to have bilingual schooling. Just wanting to make it clear that I'm not trying to game the system--she really does get equal exposure to both, even outside of daycare. She doesn't have a "dominant" language per se.

Thanks for the links!

You will hear people say otherwise on here, but fact is she will count as Spanish dominant. Unless she answers even the Spanish parent in English (which you can work on between now and then).

I'd wait to buy. See how the lottery shakes out. Not a whole lot of IB options that are affordable and good anyway. Or, like someone said, buy IB at Powell or Bruce Monroe as a backup, but, if you are fine with suburbs you may just want to wait.

You likely won't get into either school for PK3 even if you do move IB.

She should as SD

Right. She'd have a good shot if her daughter is Spanish-dominant at either Bruce Monroe or Powell. (Though Powell did waitlist 3 Spanish-dominant applicants last year.) And still a small shot as IB English-dominant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do most people do for PK3 since it seems so hard to get in? Our son is only 6 mos so I'm not at this point yet, but do most people just continue at daycare (and paying $$$)? I guess this isn't super related to your bilingual concern but I'm still curious...

They go to their IB or a less desirable school. Or stick with daycare. Yes it's expensive, but school aftercare and summer care cost money too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do most people do for PK3 since it seems so hard to get in? Our son is only 6 mos so I'm not at this point yet, but do most people just continue at daycare (and paying $$$)? I guess this isn't super related to your bilingual concern but I'm still curious...

Most people do get in somewhere. We went through the PK3 lottery 1.5 years ago. Most of the people I know in my neighborhood who also went through it that year got a match for their kid. The two people I knew who didn't get a match didn't have any safeties on their lists.

[Anonymous]

We've been at Spanish immersion schools- both charter and DCPS.

You CAN get in for PS3 or PK4, but again, its a lottery. In our case, we were unhappy with our HRCS for a multitude of reasons and decided to sell- and then rent for a few years. So we moved cross town, enrolled at a DCPS Spanish immersion school and are very happy.

Lots of families in condos/co-ops plus single family homes/row homes. For us, the shorter commute to work in DC plus the assured enrollment made all of the difference in the world. No regrets!

(We have friends in Spanish immersion in Del Ray & in MD, but looking in the neighborhoods at those schools didn't find the cost savings we were looking for. (Especially when adding on commute time/costs, plus potential additional aftercare/sitters due to the longer commutes to get home to DC.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do most people do for PK3 since it seems so hard to get in? Our son is only 6 mos so I'm not at this point yet, but do most people just continue at daycare (and paying $$$)? I guess this isn't super related to your bilingual concern but I'm still curious...

Most people do get in somewhere. We went through the PK3 lottery 1.5 years ago. Most of the people I know in my neighborhood who also went through it that year got a match for their kid. The two people I knew who didn't get a match didn't have any safeties on their lists.

This. It's rare to truly strike out unless you live so far up in NW that nothing is feasible, or you choose not to list safety schools. Most safety schools are perfectly fine for PK3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do most people do for PK3 since it seems so hard to get in? Our son is only 6 mos so I'm not at this point yet, but do most people just continue at daycare (and paying $$$)? I guess this isn't super related to your bilingual concern but I'm still curious...

Most people do get in somewhere. We went through the PK3 lottery 1.5 years ago. Most of the people I know in my neighborhood who also went through it that year got a match for their kid. The two people I knew who didn't get a match didn't have any safeties on their lists.

This. It's rare to truly strike out unless you live so far up in NW that nothing is feasible, or you choose not to list safety schools. Most safety schools are perfectly fine for PK3.

+1 Bethune (Brookland and 16th St) and Shining Stars both have Spanish (Bethune is 50/50 bilingual from prek3-2nd grade and SSMA has a Spanish immersion pilot) and both schools clear their pre-k waitlists. They're not schools I'd want to be at for more than 2-3 years, but they're solid choices for ECE. You don't need all the bells and whistles for preschoolers, just solid teachers, and both schools have that.

[Anonymous]

You may not know that Houston Elementary School in Deanwood has a new-ish dual language program. The neighborhood would surprise you.

It really don't think it was part of the typical residential real estate conversation, and it's different from a lot of DC. A lot of that area is pretty open and a lot of variety in housing. Some of it is great and has been, some of it is odd, some of it is flipped, some of it needs to be torn down and replaced.

At minimum there are probably places you could afford there if you have a while to do a search, particularly if you have some ways to fund changes you might like. And a low purchase price could allow you room to renovate.

In addition to Houston, there's also a Rec Center and library with a pool. Ron Brown HS is over there. You've got decent access to some great green space.

Now I don't think DCUM folks are the most likely to jump on Houston in-boundary homes for bilingual programs, but it is definitely a dual language opportunity outside of the current conventional wisdom.

[Anonymous]

We've been at Bethune 16th St for a month now and have been really pleasantly surprised by how great it's been. Lovely, tight knit community with a great outdoor space and really high quality teachers. My child came from an immersion background and her Spanish has noticeably improved already, to which I give complete credit to her Spanish teacher. I was really disappointed by our lottery results this year, but am feeling much better now that we're settled in there. Can't speak to the Brookland location, but 16th St is worth considering IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You may not know that Houston Elementary School in Deanwood has a new-ish dual language program. The neighborhood would surprise you.

It really don't think it was part of the typical residential real estate conversation, and it's different from a lot of DC. A lot of that area is pretty open and a lot of variety in housing. Some of it is great and has been, some of it is odd, some of it is flipped, some of it needs to be torn down and replaced.

At minimum there are probably places you could afford there if you have a while to do a search, particularly if you have some ways to fund changes you might like. And a low purchase price could allow you room to renovate.

In addition to Houston, there's also a Rec Center and library with a pool. Ron Brown HS is over there. You've got decent access to some great green space.

Now I don't think DCUM folks are the most likely to jump on Houston in-boundary homes for bilingual programs, but it is definitely a dual language opportunity outside of the current conventional wisdom.

Deanwood could give you a triple shot: IB for Houston, an easy commute to Stokes EE, and even a reasonable hop-off/hop-on commute to Tyler if you take the metro downtown (and assuming your child will pass Spanish dominant test which is your only chance oob).

[Anonymous]

What is your current IB school? If it is bilingual, I would stay there until you get the lottery results. Then if you get into a charter you like you can move wherever you want, if you get in to your IB school you can stay there until at least K, and if you get in nowhere you can stay in your current day care and move or stay and play the lottery again the following year. If your IB school isn't bilingual, I might still stay where you are until the lottery results come. If you don't like your options, you can still stay at your current daycare and see how the waitlists move, or you can move IB for something you do like and that has a short Spanish-dominant waitlist.

Make sure you look at the non-lottery options for PK as well--they are free and focused on younger kids than a PK-5 school (or PK-8 like Oyster). CentroNia, Communikids, SED, and Rosemount, and maybe some others, are bilingual. You could do two years at one of them and then move IB for the bilingual school of your choice before K.