Looking ahead— DCPS PK3 lotto

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will get Apple tree or nothing. Likely nothing. You have literally zero chance at most of those schools. Even if your lottery number were the best in the city, in-boundary kids and siblings would get all the spots before you.

My friend got into Brent with lotto. Not true

Not as an OOB PK3er. No. They didn’t. They also didn’t get into L-T or Peabody as an OOB PK3er. OP has some chance of getting into Maury because they’re IB and a better chance at AT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, an extremely relevant question is how important public PK is for you, and whether you would be willing to pay for daycare/private PK if you don't get into one of your preferred schools (which, with your current list, is a real possibility).

Also, if you are IB for Maury, you can go there at K regardless. Is that okay with you or are you trying to lottery into a PK and then stay at that school longterm? Maury is a great school, though some people don't like the MS feed.

I can't answer that stuff for you, but I would consider the following schools, all of which would be perfectly good for PK (the first 3 would be fine beyond PK, TBH, though you would probably still prefer Maury at that point):

J.O. Wilson
Two Rivers (both campuses)
Capital Hill Montessori
Miner
Wheatley

Pretty sure Wilson and miner also only take IB kids at this point for pre-K. DC makes this super easy. Just look at the website that people have sent around. If it says only kids IB get in and you aren’t IB… don’t add it to your list. It’s amazing to me how many lists I see on here where someone has put Brent, Maury, Lt, VN, etc it makes no sense. There’s plenty of other schools to put on your list and DC has an easy list of them to look through.

If you have some flexibility on commute, these would also be viable options:

Stokes East End (Spanish and French programs)
Van Ness
Langley

Again, if you just need a program to get you through PK until you can have your guaranteed slot at Maury for K, you might be willing to do an annoying commute for a couple years. It's just PK. You are in a great situation because you are IB for a good elementary school. You just need a PK, and pretty much all the PKs in DCPS are fine. A lot of people are in a different situation (where their IB is not good and they are trying to lottery into a school for the longterm) and it's much more stressful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Pretty sure Wilson and miner also only take IB kids at this point for pre-K. DC makes this super easy. Just look at the website that people have sent around. If it says only kids IB get in and you aren’t IB… don’t add it to your list. It’s amazing to me how many lists I see on here where someone has put Brent, Maury, Lt, VN, etc it makes no sense. There’s plenty of other schools to put on your list and DC has an easy list of them to look through.

Fixed your formatting because I wanted to reply to this. Looking at the data for waitlists, Miner had a 10 person waitlist on results day and has made 10 offers, for PK3. So it's a great option for a Maury family that wants a decent public PK with a very short commute. It's actually surprising more people don't opt for it -- I have no idea why someone would prefer Appletree over Miner. I toured both when we were doing the PK3 lottery a few years ago and honestly preferred Miner.

J.O. Wilson is less likely but the waitlist often moves quickly late in the summer. They have had 14 offers on a waitlist of 24 already this year. Entirely feasible you could get in OOB if the waitlist cuts your way in terms of number of siblings and where else people get in. It's another one that I'm surprised people on the Hill don't aim for more frequently, especially if they are IB for schools like L-T and Maury, because it's right there, has a good PK program, and is a much easier to get into.

I hear Hill parents who are IB for L-T, Brent, Maury, and Peabody fretting over PK lottery and I honestly don't get it. It's weird entitlement. You are guaranteed slots at those schools for K! You don't have to stress about getting into a decent elementary, playing the charter roulette, contemplating long school commutes for years and years. You get that PK is just, like, supervised playtime, right? Your kid is going to go do morning circle, some reading/writing/numbers stuff, free play, and a few specials like foreign language and PE. It's pretty much the same curriculum everywhere. You could send your kid to PK at basically any DCPS or charter and then attend your IB for elementary, and you will be in a better situation than 90% of families in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Pretty sure Wilson and miner also only take IB kids at this point for pre-K. DC makes this super easy. Just look at the website that people have sent around. If it says only kids IB get in and you aren’t IB… don’t add it to your list. It’s amazing to me how many lists I see on here where someone has put Brent, Maury, Lt, VN, etc it makes no sense. There’s plenty of other schools to put on your list and DC has an easy list of them to look through.

Fixed your formatting because I wanted to reply to this. Looking at the data for waitlists, Miner had a 10 person waitlist on results day and has made 10 offers, for PK3. So it's a great option for a Maury family that wants a decent public PK with a very short commute. It's actually surprising more people don't opt for it -- I have no idea why someone would prefer Appletree over Miner. I toured both when we were doing the PK3 lottery a few years ago and honestly preferred Miner.

J.O. Wilson is less likely but the waitlist often moves quickly late in the summer. They have had 14 offers on a waitlist of 24 already this year. Entirely feasible you could get in OOB if the waitlist cuts your way in terms of number of siblings and where else people get in. It's another one that I'm surprised people on the Hill don't aim for more frequently, especially if they are IB for schools like L-T and Maury, because it's right there, has a good PK program, and is a much easier to get into.

I hear Hill parents who are IB for L-T, Brent, Maury, and Peabody fretting over PK lottery and I honestly don't get it. It's weird entitlement. You are guaranteed slots at those schools for K! You don't have to stress about getting into a decent elementary, playing the charter roulette, contemplating long school commutes for years and years. You get that PK is just, like, supervised playtime, right? Your kid is going to go do morning circle, some reading/writing/numbers stuff, free play, and a few specials like foreign language and PE. It's pretty much the same curriculum everywhere. You could send your kid to PK at basically any DCPS or charter and then attend your IB for elementary, and you will be in a better situation than 90% of families in DC.

I have heard people say the bolded before and don't understand why wanting a PK3 spot at your IB school is entitlement. People do not think that they are entitled to a spot- they just want to go there. There are reasons beyond curriculum that people want to go to specific schools. I wanted an IB spot for PK because the school was in walking distance, I wanted my kids to start making friends with kids that they would be going to school with and to start getting to know the school community. I never felt entitled to a spot so calling it that is simply not accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Pretty sure Wilson and miner also only take IB kids at this point for pre-K. DC makes this super easy. Just look at the website that people have sent around. If it says only kids IB get in and you aren’t IB… don’t add it to your list. It’s amazing to me how many lists I see on here where someone has put Brent, Maury, Lt, VN, etc it makes no sense. There’s plenty of other schools to put on your list and DC has an easy list of them to look through.

Fixed your formatting because I wanted to reply to this. Looking at the data for waitlists, Miner had a 10 person waitlist on results day and has made 10 offers, for PK3. So it's a great option for a Maury family that wants a decent public PK with a very short commute. It's actually surprising more people don't opt for it -- I have no idea why someone would prefer Appletree over Miner. I toured both when we were doing the PK3 lottery a few years ago and honestly preferred Miner.

J.O. Wilson is less likely but the waitlist often moves quickly late in the summer. They have had 14 offers on a waitlist of 24 already this year. Entirely feasible you could get in OOB if the waitlist cuts your way in terms of number of siblings and where else people get in. It's another one that I'm surprised people on the Hill don't aim for more frequently, especially if they are IB for schools like L-T and Maury, because it's right there, has a good PK program, and is a much easier to get into.

I hear Hill parents who are IB for L-T, Brent, Maury, and Peabody fretting over PK lottery and I honestly don't get it. It's weird entitlement. You are guaranteed slots at those schools for K! You don't have to stress about getting into a decent elementary, playing the charter roulette, contemplating long school commutes for years and years. You get that PK is just, like, supervised playtime, right? Your kid is going to go do morning circle, some reading/writing/numbers stuff, free play, and a few specials like foreign language and PE. It's pretty much the same curriculum everywhere. You could send your kid to PK at basically any DCPS or charter and then attend your IB for elementary, and you will be in a better situation than 90% of families in DC.

I have heard people say the bolded before and don't understand why wanting a PK3 spot at your IB school is entitlement. People do not think that they are entitled to a spot- they just want to go there. There are reasons beyond curriculum that people want to go to specific schools. I wanted an IB spot for PK because the school was in walking distance, I wanted my kids to start making friends with kids that they would be going to school with and to start getting to know the school community. I never felt entitled to a spot so calling it that is simply not accurate.

+1. Yeah, I think it's a mis-interpretation of what we're asking. ("We" meaning IB for a Maury-type school with no sibling preference, so not getting in for PK3, which is my situation as well.) I'm not doing the crazy, "OMG what PK3 is the BEST for my SPECIAL child to get into the Ivy Leagues?" routine, and I don't see many people doing that. Most people do understand that it's "just, like, supervised playtime, bro" once they start to think about it. I don't think I'm "entitled" to anything. I do understand that I'm guaranteed a great school at K, which is a blessing. I'm grateful for that. But like OP and several PPs I'm just trying to figure out what, if anything, I can do to try to make PK3 as convenient as possible (i.e. close to my house or work) through the lottery system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will get Apple tree or nothing. Likely nothing. You have literally zero chance at most of those schools. Even if your lottery number were the best in the city, in-boundary kids and siblings would get all the spots before you.

Agree with PP. It's worth putting Maury on your list since you're IB even though chances are slim without a sibling. But you're simply not going to get into Peabody, Brent and Ludlow. Where do you work? What about other charters nearby? Two Rivers, Center City? Depending on where you work, Stevens Early Learning Center could be an option too.

I work in Arlington.

Maybe you could manage Stevens ELC, or Amidon-Bowen?

I would not recommend either. Not have tons of high risk students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will get Apple tree or nothing. Likely nothing. You have literally zero chance at most of those schools. Even if your lottery number were the best in the city, in-boundary kids and siblings would get all the spots before you.

Agree with PP. It's worth putting Maury on your list since you're IB even though chances are slim without a sibling. But you're simply not going to get into Peabody, Brent and Ludlow. Where do you work? What about other charters nearby? Two Rivers, Center City? Depending on where you work, Stevens Early Learning Center could be an option too.

I work in Arlington.

Maybe you could manage Stevens ELC, or Amidon-Bowen?

I would not recommend either. Not have tons of high risk students

I don't know much about Stevens, but Amidon is quite diverse in the younger grades. However, it's likely moot as they have waitlisted in-bounds kids in the past few years. There are a lot of toddlers living in Southwest these days. Appletree is easier to get into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will get Apple tree or nothing. Likely nothing. You have literally zero chance at most of those schools. Even if your lottery number were the best in the city, in-boundary kids and siblings would get all the spots before you.

Agree with PP. It's worth putting Maury on your list since you're IB even though chances are slim without a sibling. But you're simply not going to get into Peabody, Brent and Ludlow. Where do you work? What about other charters nearby? Two Rivers, Center City? Depending on where you work, Stevens Early Learning Center could be an option too.

I work in Arlington.

Maybe you could manage Stevens ELC, or Amidon-Bowen?

I would not recommend either. Not have tons of high risk students

"High risk [sic]" isn't contagious

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Pretty sure Wilson and miner also only take IB kids at this point for pre-K. DC makes this super easy. Just look at the website that people have sent around. If it says only kids IB get in and you aren’t IB… don’t add it to your list. It’s amazing to me how many lists I see on here where someone has put Brent, Maury, Lt, VN, etc it makes no sense. There’s plenty of other schools to put on your list and DC has an easy list of them to look through.

Fixed your formatting because I wanted to reply to this. Looking at the data for waitlists, Miner had a 10 person waitlist on results day and has made 10 offers, for PK3. So it's a great option for a Maury family that wants a decent public PK with a very short commute. It's actually surprising more people don't opt for it -- I have no idea why someone would prefer Appletree over Miner. I toured both when we were doing the PK3 lottery a few years ago and honestly preferred Miner.

J.O. Wilson is less likely but the waitlist often moves quickly late in the summer. They have had 14 offers on a waitlist of 24 already this year. Entirely feasible you could get in OOB if the waitlist cuts your way in terms of number of siblings and where else people get in. It's another one that I'm surprised people on the Hill don't aim for more frequently, especially if they are IB for schools like L-T and Maury, because it's right there, has a good PK program, and is a much easier to get into.

I hear Hill parents who are IB for L-T, Brent, Maury, and Peabody fretting over PK lottery and I honestly don't get it. It's weird entitlement. You are guaranteed slots at those schools for K! You don't have to stress about getting into a decent elementary, playing the charter roulette, contemplating long school commutes for years and years. You get that PK is just, like, supervised playtime, right? Your kid is going to go do morning circle, some reading/writing/numbers stuff, free play, and a few specials like foreign language and PE. It's pretty much the same curriculum everywhere. You could send your kid to PK at basically any DCPS or charter and then attend your IB for elementary, and you will be in a better situation than 90% of families in DC.

I have heard people say the bolded before and don't understand why wanting a PK3 spot at your IB school is entitlement. People do not think that they are entitled to a spot- they just want to go there. There are reasons beyond curriculum that people want to go to specific schools. I wanted an IB spot for PK because the school was in walking distance, I wanted my kids to start making friends with kids that they would be going to school with and to start getting to know the school community. I never felt entitled to a spot so calling it that is simply not accurate.

+1. Yeah, I think it's a mis-interpretation of what we're asking. ("We" meaning IB for a Maury-type school with no sibling preference, so not getting in for PK3, which is my situation as well.) I'm not doing the crazy, "OMG what PK3 is the BEST for my SPECIAL child to get into the Ivy Leagues?" routine, and I don't see many people doing that. Most people do understand that it's "just, like, supervised playtime, bro" once they start to think about it. I don't think I'm "entitled" to anything. I do understand that I'm guaranteed a great school at K, which is a blessing. I'm grateful for that. But like OP and several PPs I'm just trying to figure out what, if anything, I can do to try to make PK3 as convenient as possible (i.e. close to my house or work) through the lottery system.

+1. Also, convenience aside, there's also something to be said for not having to switch schools in two years and getting to know one administration, set of teachers, move on to K with teachers who may already know your kid, and be with and get to know the kids and families you will be with for the next set of years. If you start in K, you start after other kids and families have known each other for two years already and it's a littler harder to get acclimated to the school and be part of the community, since the majority of the kids started in pre-k. Like the previous poster, we are also IB for a Maury-type school on the Hill and also didn't get in without sibling preference. I'm disappointed, but I knew it was likely based on numbers from past years. Definitely don't feel entitled to a spot, but it sure would have been nice for the reasons above to have good lottery luck. But enrolled my DC at Miner, bought a bike for the longer commute, and am hoping for a great year.

[Anonymous]

My kid is going to Stevens for PK3 next year and I'm incredibly excited. We toured (virtual and in person) and spoke with teachers - I think it's going to be a great experience, and I'm happy that it's all little kids as I was a bit intimidated about the idea of sending my tiny 3 year old into a school with (comparatively) big kids.

I view the fact that there are seats reserved for at-risk kids a benefit. It can be really hard to get outside your bubble and this is a great way for my kid to get to know and hopefully befriend kids from a variety of backgrounds. It will benefit her and them to have the various types of diversity present in a classroom.

[Anonymous]

New to this - so dumb question - we're moving to an apartment in VanNess/UDC - it doesn't look like there are any PK3 schools near there.

Are we then OOB for everything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New to this - so dumb question - we're moving to an apartment in VanNess/UDC - it doesn't look like there are any PK3 schools near there.

Are we then OOB for everything?

You do not have an IB choice for PK3 (you will for PK4 but most if not all seats will go to kids with siblings enrolled in the school). So you have 5 main options:

* An out of bounds seat at a DCPS school
* A seat at a DCPS school that doesn't have boundaries (Stevens, Military Road, Dorothy Height, School within School, Capitol Hill Montessori) but note that none are particularly close to you
* A charter school seat: none have boundaries
* The Community Based Option PKs https://www.myschooldc.org/find-schools/school-options-outside-my-school-dc
* Private daycare/nanny

You apply to the first three through myschooldc and the bottom two you apply to each school directly

I guess there's a 6th option: move somewhere that does have an inbounds PK3. But at some schools, even moving IB now is not going to get you a space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:. You could send your kid to PK at basically any DCPS or charter and then attend your IB for elementary, and you will be in a better situation than 90% of families in DC.

Again, if you just need a program to get you through PK until you can have your guaranteed slot at Maury for K, you might be willing to do an annoying commute for a couple years. It's just PK. You are in a great situation because you are IB for a good elementary school. You just need a PK, and pretty much all the PKs in DCPS are fine. A lot of people are in a different situation (where their IB is not good and they are trying to lottery into a school for the longterm) and it's much more stressful.

To the 2 PPs that posted the above, thank you for recognizing the plight of those of us the live in neighborhoods with IB with very poor results and without the financial means to move. I love my neighborhood but the IB school has very poor results. Lottery was not a matter of just PK for us but really about setting up DC for future long term success through 8th grade. IB with 18% proficient in core subjects necessary for just plain regular life, is heartbreaking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Pretty sure Wilson and miner also only take IB kids at this point for pre-K. DC makes this super easy. Just look at the website that people have sent around. If it says only kids IB get in and you aren’t IB… don’t add it to your list. It’s amazing to me how many lists I see on here where someone has put Brent, Maury, Lt, VN, etc it makes no sense. There’s plenty of other schools to put on your list and DC has an easy list of them to look through.

Fixed your formatting because I wanted to reply to this. Looking at the data for waitlists, Miner had a 10 person waitlist on results day and has made 10 offers, for PK3. So it's a great option for a Maury family that wants a decent public PK with a very short commute. It's actually surprising more people don't opt for it -- I have no idea why someone would prefer Appletree over Miner. I toured both when we were doing the PK3 lottery a few years ago and honestly preferred Miner.

J.O. Wilson is less likely but the waitlist often moves quickly late in the summer. They have had 14 offers on a waitlist of 24 already this year. Entirely feasible you could get in OOB if the waitlist cuts your way in terms of number of siblings and where else people get in. It's another one that I'm surprised people on the Hill don't aim for more frequently, especially if they are IB for schools like L-T and Maury, because it's right there, has a good PK program, and is a much easier to get into.

I hear Hill parents who are IB for L-T, Brent, Maury, and Peabody fretting over PK lottery and I honestly don't get it. It's weird entitlement. You are guaranteed slots at those schools for K! You don't have to stress about getting into a decent elementary, playing the charter roulette, contemplating long school commutes for years and years. You get that PK is just, like, supervised playtime, right? Your kid is going to go do morning circle, some reading/writing/numbers stuff, free play, and a few specials like foreign language and PE. It's pretty much the same curriculum everywhere. You could send your kid to PK at basically any DCPS or charter and then attend your IB for elementary, and you will be in a better situation than 90% of families in DC.

My oldest kid, who is now at our IB (LT), went to Miner for PK3 and had a really good experience. The old principal was fantastic (a shame he is leaving, but the new principal looks great on paper too) and the teachers & facilities are top notch. Miner has its ECE wing split from the rest of the school, so it's actually a really cozy ECE-only type environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Pretty sure Wilson and miner also only take IB kids at this point for pre-K. DC makes this super easy. Just look at the website that people have sent around. If it says only kids IB get in and you aren’t IB… don’t add it to your list. It’s amazing to me how many lists I see on here where someone has put Brent, Maury, Lt, VN, etc it makes no sense. There’s plenty of other schools to put on your list and DC has an easy list of them to look through.

Fixed your formatting because I wanted to reply to this. Looking at the data for waitlists, Miner had a 10 person waitlist on results day and has made 10 offers, for PK3. So it's a great option for a Maury family that wants a decent public PK with a very short commute. It's actually surprising more people don't opt for it -- I have no idea why someone would prefer Appletree over Miner. I toured both when we were doing the PK3 lottery a few years ago and honestly preferred Miner.

J.O. Wilson is less likely but the waitlist often moves quickly late in the summer. They have had 14 offers on a waitlist of 24 already this year. Entirely feasible you could get in OOB if the waitlist cuts your way in terms of number of siblings and where else people get in. It's another one that I'm surprised people on the Hill don't aim for more frequently, especially if they are IB for schools like L-T and Maury, because it's right there, has a good PK program, and is a much easier to get into.

I hear Hill parents who are IB for L-T, Brent, Maury, and Peabody fretting over PK lottery and I honestly don't get it. It's weird entitlement. You are guaranteed slots at those schools for K! You don't have to stress about getting into a decent elementary, playing the charter roulette, contemplating long school commutes for years and years. You get that PK is just, like, supervised playtime, right? Your kid is going to go do morning circle, some reading/writing/numbers stuff, free play, and a few specials like foreign language and PE. It's pretty much the same curriculum everywhere. You could send your kid to PK at basically any DCPS or charter and then attend your IB for elementary, and you will be in a better situation than 90% of families in DC.

I have heard people say the bolded before and don't understand why wanting a PK3 spot at your IB school is entitlement. People do not think that they are entitled to a spot- they just want to go there. There are reasons beyond curriculum that people want to go to specific schools. I wanted an IB spot for PK because the school was in walking distance, I wanted my kids to start making friends with kids that they would be going to school with and to start getting to know the school community. I never felt entitled to a spot so calling it that is simply not accurate.

Yes, I think you're being a bit harsh.

I live next to Maury. I mean literally, the school is our neighbor. Our street gave up give up half of our parking spaces for teachers (and will lose even more parking spaces now that Maury is again expanding its playground and getting rid of most of its parking lot).

We go to another PreK. It's fine. But it is frustrating to be across the street/IB to one school and then need to go way out of our way for another PreK.

So I don't think it's quite entitlement. It's just frustrating.