Pregnant and moving to PG (Hyattsville/Riverdale)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The French Immersion is top rated but not for everyone. One of the advantages of it is that it goes through middle school which (research based) is the preferred model.

How hard is it to get into French Immersion? What are the acceptance rates vs application rates? Is that info public?


Is it a strict lottery system for French Immersion, or are there any other criteria they look at? (maybe one of the parents being francophone, etc?)

You can probably call and get that information on enrollment vs applications. It also depends on which school you are zoned for Dora Kennedy in Greenbelt is harder to get into than Maya Angelou which is in the southern part of the county. Maya Angelou had open K slots at the beginning of this school year. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/820268.page#15476641

There are no other criteria considered in the lottery but if you don't get in for K and you child can pass a French exam they can probably test into the program in in 1st or higher. They have kids who leave and then they can only fill those slots with kids who can pass the French exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The French Immersion is top rated but not for everyone. One of the advantages of it is that it goes through middle school which (research based) is the preferred model.

How hard is it to get into French Immersion? What are the acceptance rates vs application rates? Is that info public?


Is it a strict lottery system for French Immersion, or are there any other criteria they look at? (maybe one of the parents being francophone, etc?)

You think your kid would have a better chance bc they are a child of a Francophone? Omg that’s rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Is it a strict lottery system for French Immersion, or are there any other criteria they look at? (maybe one of the parents being francophone, etc?)

It is strict lottery for Kindergarten, but one way parents get their kids enrolled if they don't make it K year is to hire a tutor or somehow teach their child French, and then have the child enroll in grade 1 or 2 when there is less competition.

Dora Kennedy French Immersion is considered a good school but it is not good if your child has learning challenges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is it a strict lottery system for French Immersion, or are there any other criteria they look at? (maybe one of the parents being francophone, etc?)

It is strict lottery for Kindergarten, but one way parents get their kids enrolled if they don't make it K year is to hire a tutor or somehow teach their child French, and then have the child enroll in grade 1 or 2 when there is less competition.

Dora Kennedy French Immersion is considered a good school but it is not good if your child has learning challenges.

I think that can be said for a lot of the Specialty Program schools.

[Anonymous]

Not true of our TAG school which does a pretty good job for twice exception kids IMO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not true of our TAG school which does a pretty good job for twice exception kids IMO

True....Kenmoor MS does an excellent job. It also has an autism program so they also have a lot of resources for special education.
I think the TAG programs are better because most of them are housed in neighborhood schools.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all for the responses!

For the interim, it looks like really only the Montessori schools do pre-K?

What other options do people use in the area - do most people do paid pre-K if they can? Which ones are popular? Do you need to get your name on a list early?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all for the responses!

For the interim, it looks like really only the Montessori schools do pre-K?

What other options do people use in the area - do most people do paid pre-K if they can? Which ones are popular? Do you need to get your name on a list early?

You mean daycare?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all for the responses!

For the interim, it looks like really only the Montessori schools do pre-K?

What other options do people use in the area - do most people do paid pre-K if they can? Which ones are popular? Do you need to get your name on a list early?

You mean daycare?

Sorry yes! I must be scatterbrained right now. And also I realize that there is another forum for that question, I just thought I'd ask about the daycare/preK options in the area since previous posters might be familiar...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all for the responses!

For the interim, it looks like really only the Montessori schools do pre-K?

What other options do people use in the area - do most people do paid pre-K if they can? Which ones are popular? Do you need to get your name on a list early?

You mean daycare?

Sorry yes! I must be scatterbrained right now. And also I realize that there is another forum for that question, I just thought I'd ask about the daycare/preK options in the area since previous posters might be familiar...

College Park Nursery School, Greenbelt Nursery School and Cheverly Weekday Nursery are all good but they are not full time programs. I have several friends who sent their kids to St. Jeromes for pre-K.
There are a lot of SAHP in the Hyattsville/Riverdale/Cheverly/Greenbelt neighborhoods. There are also a lot of nanny shares and in home daycares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ah, OP here - sounds like it's more a magnet system than a charter system - thanks for educating me.

Sounds like there is at least a medium good chance of getting into the language immersion and montessori elementary schools? They are considered pretty good? And if you don't get into one of those you might be able to arrange transport for your child to one of the under-enrolled elementary schools in the area if you prefer one of those schools.

Where can I find more info about TAG? Is the testing pre-k or later? Do you just go to your zoned ES first and then test into TAG programming later?

My son got into TAG but there were no more spaces in the program.

Another time:

We tried many times and never got into any programs due to either lack of space or the ineptitude of the systems. We were #2 on the list for one program. Teachers said their classes were not full at all. But the computer system was messed up and said the school was full.

For a high school program, they do not have a science teacher so the kids are in a room and asked to fill in worksheets.

It is a hot mess in this county.

Getting a specialty program spot now is a lot easier than it was 7 or more years ago. PGCPS has expanded language immersion, Montessori and TAG programs significantly. My son is in K and all of his neighborhood friends who applied for specialty programs got into at least one.

That may be true.

This happened to us fewer than seven years ago.

The Montessori is no longer a real Montessori. Some of the teachers do not have the right training or background.

Even just a few years ago, one of these programs could not figure out what it was doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That may be true.

This happened to us fewer than seven years ago.

The Montessori is no longer a real Montessori. Some of the teachers do not have the right training or background.

Even just a few years ago, one of these programs could not figure out what it was doing.

Montessori is almost impossible to get into unless you have sibling preference of can qualify after K. And the program at Hoyer is mediocre at best.