PLEASE help me choose schools for the DCPS lottery -- new to DC and confused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[snip!] If I were you, I'd do: Lafayette and Murch, Eaton, Hearst, Hyde, Stoddert. [snip!]

I think that's a pretty good list. I'm not sure the pre-K room would be better at Hearst or Stoddert, for example, than at, say, Cooke (where I'm in-bounds), Ross, or Thomson, but the commute sure would be easier and none of the neighbors would look at you like you've got two heads.

[Anonymous]

I'd take Cooke over Appletree or Bridges any day (not that either of those is a bad option either). Cooke has much more to offer in terms of specials, outdoor space, etc.

I don't think putting Cooke last on the list is bad advice. The PP is recommending schools that the OP has a chance of getting into. If Cooke is last, that means they go to Cooke if they don't get in anywhere else (they'll retain their waiting list status for the other schools. And, it is just for one year before they can move to the in-boundary K, unless they love Cooke.

I think PP list is pretty sound advice for someone without in-bound preference for the "so-called" top schools.

[Anonymous]

I suspect, but can't verify from actual experience, that if you end up moving inbounds for Janney, Murch, Mann, Lafayette, after the lottery is complete, if you show up at the school with a verified address, the school registrar would add you to the wait list. Above the OOB applicants. The last on the list of non-admitted in boundary applicants. If it turns out that something surprising has happened, and OOB applicants have already been admitted, I suspect, but can't verify in advance, that you would then be #1 on the wait list.

After the lotteries, the wait list goes to the individual school to manage. This is why I would not waste one of the 6 lottery picks on JKLMM (Janney, Lafayetter, Murch, Mann).

I am the PP who recommended Oyster. I have known English speaking PreK who did get in OOB in past years. Really poor chances, but you get 6 picks. IF spanish immersion is appealing to you, I think it is worth 1 of 6.

I agree with putting an easier to get into school on the bottom of your list. Cooke might qualify. I again suggest Shepherd and West as also qualifying and being somewhat easier to neighborhoods to navigate in and out of with a car, assuming you're driving to drop off. Cooke / Ross are more urban and congested.

[Anonymous]

Thank you thank you thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:op: Sorry. We are interested in pre-k and kindergarten. Thx. And help!

Don't sweat kindergarten -- you'll have a right to attend your local school wherever you end up (and the neighborhoods you're looking at all have strong local schools). For pre-K, you'll likely have to apply out-of-boundary everywhere (although once you get an address, you should contact your local school and try to get added to the waitlist as in-bounds) -- that counsels against burning slots where you won't get in out-of-boundary (e.g., Mann, Janney, Oyster [unless your DC is Spanish-dominant]). NW DC schools where OOB kids get into pre-K regularly include (in roughly the order of convenience for your likely neighborhoods): Murch, Hearst, Eaton, Stoddert, Cooke, West, Hyde, Francis-Stevens, Thomson.

Good luck.

good advice here. are there 6 spots? if so, i would go

murch
eaton
hyde
ross
hearst
cooke

Okay, this is absurd. Cooke is about 5 tiers down from any of the other schools on that list. Actually Ross isn't exactly a top tier or even 2nd tier school either. The OP is looking at moving into Chevy Chase. I know there are a couple of Cooke boosters on this board, but honestly that is completely ridiculous. It's downright mean to mislead to the OP like that.

JKLM are all good (Janney, Key, Lafayette, Mann, Much). The area you're talking about would be inbounds for either Lafayette or Murch, a PP is right that without a verifiable address you may not get in. Wouldn't hurt to at least try Murch and Lafayette since they're large and close by. By the end of summer/beginning of school you might get in off a waitlist, especially if you're inbounds and persistent about calling the school. Otherwise, Eaton, Hearst, Hyde, and Stoddert are all pretty good 2nd tier schools. They tend to have more OOB students than JKLM, but that might make them easier to get into.

One of the PPs mentioned Oyster, but unless you come from a Spanish-speaking household your odds OOB are dismal. Also if you're only going to be here for a couple of years there's not really any point to doing an immersion school.

And then there are some charter pre-schools: Appletree and Bridges. They're pretty well-respected and they each have their own lotteries. You might as well do them instead of paying for pre-school.

If I were you, I'd do: Lafayette and Murch, Eaton, Hearst, Hyde, Stoddert. It gives you a shot at the two top tier schools in your neighborhood but a few 2nd tiers to fall back on. And also do the Appletree and Bridges lotteries. Once you're inbounds and into K, you'll be in your neighborhood school as a matter of right so you won't have to deal with the lotteries any more.

You can download a copy of the DC School Chooser here. It's not as helpful as it used to be, but it does list all the public, charter, and private schools in DC and give you a little bit of info.

Good luck, and welcome to DC!

i am 16:28 poster and no, my recommendations were not absurd. fwiw, my child does not attend cooke (she goes charter) but i live nearby to the school and have friends/acquaitances with kids in pk3 and pk4 and they are quite pleased. also, the facility is beautiful. i don't think i qualify as a "booster." my recommendations were based on likelihood of getting in and the commute from CC. you'll see i ranked murch first and cooke last. murch tends to have more PK4 spots open up than the other jklm schools. also on my mind was public transport. the L2 runs down from CC into adams morgan. thank you. good night and good luck!!!

[Anonymous]

I think you're making this too complicated for yourself. 16:19 gave you the best advice. Chevy Chase, Spring Valley, Cleveland Park or Woodley all have good schools. So, don't sweat the lottery. If you are in bounds, then you get to go to that school no matter what happens (at least for Kindergarten). The complication is your PreK kid. You'd probably get good preference on the wait list for your PreK kid (you'd need to check with Margery Yeager on this to make sure [e-mail]), but here's a backup plan just in case:

Take a hybrid approach to the advice you've been given. If you moved to Woodley or Cleveland Park, then you'd be close to some of the good PreS PreK charter schools -- apply now for your PreK kid to Bridges, Apple Tree, Centronia (walk in to get on their waitlist for universal Prek), DC Bilingual (walk in soon to turn in your application for the lottery), Cap City, and Stokes. Then, do the lottery for the public schools that would be fairly close (Eaton, Lafayette, Murch, Eaton, Hearst, Hyde, Stoddert). Then, sit back and wait.

After all the lotteries for public and charters are done, re-evaluate: are you in anywhere? If not, talk to DCPS about expanding your wait list options to places like Bancroft, Cooke, and Ross, all fairly close to CP / Woodley and all perfectly fine for PreK.

What generally happens is, a lot of parents panic right after the lotteries 'cause "they didn't get in anywhere." But, all the waitlists are artificially inflated because on the DCPS side, you are automatically placed on waitlists for EVERY school that you applied to that you didn't get into. So, these waitlists move quickly and people get in. The charters waitlists move too - if everyone is applying 5 charters for their children, then every waitlist is inflated by a factor of 4.

So, move to the neighborhood of your choice (keeping in mind that CP and Woodley are closer in & metro accessible), enroll your K student, and in the meantime don't panic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd take Cooke over Appletree or Bridges any day (not that either of those is a bad option either). Cooke has much more to offer in terms of specials, outdoor space, etc.

I don't think putting Cooke last on the list is bad advice. The PP is recommending schools that the OP has a chance of getting into. If Cooke is last, that means they go to Cooke if they don't get in anywhere else (they'll retain their waiting list status for the other schools. And, it is just for one year before they can move to the in-boundary K, unless they love Cooke.

I think PP list is pretty sound advice for someone without in-bound preference for the "so-called" top schools.

Good heavens, why?! That makes no sense for a parent who wants a creative, social pre-school! OP doesn't have to worry about where to go after Pre-K, and the teachers at Bridges all have Master's degrees. It's an award-winning program, as is Appletree. Appletree has hosted national experts on pre-school education. These schools specialize in early childhood - why would you choose a crime corner at Cooke with pre-school homework? (OP isn't socio-economically disadvantaged, after all.) This just doesn't make sense for a middle or upper-middle class family....

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry - if you're going to state that Cooke has a crime-ridden corner (and note that none of those links were younger than 2007, and a lot happens in 3 years), then you have to acknowledge that Appletree had a murder IN FRONT OF IT twice in the past year. Cooke Crime ridden? You are on shaky ground.

[Anonymous]

I've looked at both. I live closer to Appletree than Cooke FWIW. And, I agree that Cooke is better than Appletree. Don't get me wrong, Appletree is great, but Cooke is better. The demographics of each are similar. Cooke has a dedicated playground, music, Spanish, Art classes.

And, if you are worried about crime on one corner or the other (which I think is pretty silly WRT either of these schools) Appletree is no better.

I think our anticooke troll is back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry - if you're going to state that Cooke has a crime-ridden corner (and note that none of those links were younger than 2007, and a lot happens in 3 years), then you have to acknowledge that Appletree had a murder IN FRONT OF IT twice in the past year. Cooke Crime ridden? You are on shaky ground.

Agree with this. Cooke's facilities are beautiful and the principal is completely engaged and passionate about her work. That, combined with greater parental involvement, and that school is primed for a big turnaround.

Also, this:

why would you choose a crime corner at Cooke with pre-school homework? (OP isn't socio-economically disadvantaged, after all.) This just doesn't make sense for a middle or upper-middle class family....

is just painfully elitist and insulting. "OP has money, how dare you suggest she cavort with the poor people in Adams Morgan." (Edited to delete the racial element I detect a strong whiff of as well...)

[Anonymous]

For PreK - there are a lot of great private PreK programs in the neighborhoods you are looking at that you may be able to get into and I would call around to see.

For example, I know St. Columba's in AU Park had space open for 4 YOs last year. I suspect other PreK programs at churchs had space as well.

Yes, you missed all the deadlines for the elite private schools that start at PreK (Sidwell as an example) but if you are just looking for a solid PreK experience for your child, there are a lot of options.

In addition, I think that many of these private PreKs in the neighborhoods that you are looking at are better than getting into a 2nd tier DCPS free PreK program. I would identify a handful of schools that you are interested and give the directors of admission a call. They probably can not commit an opening for you right now, but by the end of April when the elite schools need deposits and the 1st round of DCPS lottery results / enrollment has occurred, they will have a good feel if they can accommodate you.

[Anonymous]

New poster here. We live in Dupont/Logan so I think are in-bounds for a lot of the schools menitoned in this thread. We did not do any lottery/apply anywhere for Sept 10 (our daughter will turn 3 in aug). Out of curiosity, is there any chance at all of getting a spot for her in the fall at one of the schools mentioned given the shifting in waitlists etc.? We have done no homework whatsoever (yet) so don't know anything about any of the schools. If we have missed the boat completely (we are not even sure if we want to start her at 3) that is OK, we'll gear up for 2011 in time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster here. We live in Dupont/Logan so I think are in-bounds for a lot of the schools menitoned in this thread. We did not do any lottery/apply anywhere for Sept 10 (our daughter will turn 3 in aug). Out of curiosity, is there any chance at all of getting a spot for her in the fall at one of the schools mentioned given the shifting in waitlists etc.? We have done no homework whatsoever (yet) so don't know anything about any of the schools. If we have missed the boat completely (we are not even sure if we want to start her at 3) that is OK, we'll gear up for 2011 in time!

i'd see if francis stevens has any spots open for PS and also try to get on Cooke waitlist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster here. We live in Dupont/Logan so I think are in-bounds for a lot of the schools menitoned in this thread. We did not do any lottery/apply anywhere for Sept 10 (our daughter will turn 3 in aug). Out of curiosity, is there any chance at all of getting a spot for her in the fall at one of the schools mentioned given the shifting in waitlists etc.? We have done no homework whatsoever (yet) so don't know anything about any of the schools. If we have missed the boat completely (we are not even sure if we want to start her at 3) that is OK, we'll gear up for 2011 in time!

i'd see if francis stevens has any spots open for PS and also try to get on Cooke waitlist.

Plus Thomson. And there are charters with pk3 classes that haven't yet run their lotteries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster here. We live in Dupont/Logan so I think are in-bounds for a lot of the schools menitoned in this thread. We did not do any lottery/apply anywhere for Sept 10 (our daughter will turn 3 in aug). Out of curiosity, is there any chance at all of getting a spot for her in the fall at one of the schools mentioned given the shifting in waitlists etc.? We have done no homework whatsoever (yet) so don't know anything about any of the schools. If we have missed the boat completely (we are not even sure if we want to start her at 3) that is OK, we'll gear up for 2011 in time!

You'd only be in-bounds for one school. Check http://dcatlas.dcgis.dc.gov/schools/ to find out which school that is, and apply for PS there. You can also apply elsewhere, but frankly I think your chances are very, very slim.