DC Lottery Results

[Anonymous]

Latin Cooper is moving to the new building. That makes it something of a question mark for 6th grade this year.

[Anonymous]

Are there any parents who currently have their child at Anne Beers? My daughter got a seat for second grade there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:here we go...
We live in Mt. Pleasant. Besides the list below, we also have the option of an immersion charter in a language we care about (though not a high-demand like Spanish or Chinese), which involves either a commute in the opposite direction from our jobs or a parent-organized bus. We know parents there, but there's no good feeder option.

All the options on this list involve a bus or commute, but at least they'd be in the direction of our (federal worker) jobs, and tbh in neighborhoods we'd be happy to move to someday, assuming our incomes and future interest rates agree (for now, we're golden handcuffed to MtP via a prepandemic rate). fwiw, looking at the lottery history, a few - Hyde-Addison, Murch, etc - accepted more from the wait list last year than our current wait list number. Not sure we currently know any parents at any of them. But some of them feed to Deal (forgive my ignorance, does that apply to lottery kids too?)

The closest/easiest option for us in terms of commute...also not on this list...is actually a private school which has offered very generous financial aid, where we know several parents - but of course, the annual tuition would still exceed five figures, once you add in aftercare. And this is just kid 1 of 2.

Honest questions, if anyone has thoughts:
What is the likelihood that any of the schools on this list might come through - and if they do, are they worth the commitment over the relatively known quantities (to us) of an immersion charter that comes with a few asterisks, or a private that comes with a non-zero price tag?

And while I guess it's sort of a pointless exercise to ask "what would you do?" - since everyone has different calculations and different weights they give various factors, and also we're not including some pertinent (to us) details here - I am curious anyway!

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1 Ross Elementary School Waitlisted - #22

2 Oyster-Adams Bilingual School (Oyster) - English Dominant Waitlisted - #47

3 Hearst Elementary School Waitlisted - #27

4 Murch Elementary School Waitlisted - #16

5 Stoddert Elementary School Waitlisted - #33

6 Hyde-Addison Elementary School Waitlisted - #23

7 Latin American Montessori Bilingual (LAMB) PCS Waitlisted - #22

8 Key Elementary School Match (enrollment pending)

We are at Key (in bounds) and I think something like 90%+ are IB. It's a great school (echoing another comment that it basically feels like a private school) but be ready that it's going to be tricky for playdates etc. My daughter only has one friend who is OOB and it's a real PITA to get to them for a playdate. Also Mt. Pleasant to Key in the afternoon is going to be a super long and annoying drive.

Honest question: is there any parent-pooled bus from Key to other neighborhoods, as some other schools have? I'm guessing that if 90+% are IB the answer is no...but all it takes is, like, 10 kids and the math works out fairly well. Even a few hundred dollars a month in transportation costs is still a bargain for a "private school" experience...

This is hilarious. You are not getting any private school experience in DCPS, far from it.

I was directly quoting two earlier posters whose children attend the school. Is your child in Key right now? If so, please elaborate. If not, then I’m not sure what you think your opinion adds to the discussion. But thanks for playing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prek3
No sibling preference

Matched LAMB

Kid is currently at a bilingual Montessori 4 blocks from our home, has been there for a year. Lamb is about 10 minute drive north from where we are in Columbia heights so will be a half hour X2 commitment daily. We admittedly did about a weeks worth of research before doing the DC lottery so we don't know all that much about lamb. Just looking to hear thoughts on Lamb. Thanks

Caveat - we did not apply to LAMB, but for this message board your post is the equivalent of posting that your child sent 1 college application to Harvard, was accepted, and then posting “has anyone heard of this school”?

[Anonymous]

Any feedback on 1st and 2nd grade at Capitol Hill Montessori?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any feedback on 1st and 2nd grade at Capitol Hill Montessori?

Avoid CHML at all costs. The administration is a disaster, and the school is in complete disarray. Student behavior is out of control, and there are zero consequences. It’s absolute chaos at every grade level (except middle school)

[Anonymous]

Is this true for PK at CHML too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this true for PK at CHML too?

No, PK is great! It’s the only part of the school that’s actually Montessori accredited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents who currently have their child at Anne Beers? My daughter got a seat for second grade there.

I don’t have a child there, but the principal has done an amazing job with the school. It is a top elementary school in the city as a result. The growth they have shown is amazing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prek3
No sibling preference

Matched LAMB

Kid is currently at a bilingual Montessori 4 blocks from our home, has been there for a year. Lamb is about 10 minute drive north from where we are in Columbia heights so will be a half hour X2 commitment daily. We admittedly did about a weeks worth of research before doing the DC lottery so we don't know all that much about lamb. Just looking to hear thoughts on Lamb. Thanks

Caveat - we did not apply to LAMB, but for this message board your post is the equivalent of posting that your child sent 1 college application to Harvard, was accepted, and then posting “has anyone heard of this school”?

+1

LAMB is a very popular school. I would do a search because there have been lots of discussions about LAMB and most people seem to really like the school. I realize we are in the very small minority but we turned down a spot at LAMB last year. We have some close friends who transferred out of the school and the reasons they chose to leave made us decide to turn down the spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prek3
No sibling preference

Matched LAMB

Kid is currently at a bilingual Montessori 4 blocks from our home, has been there for a year. Lamb is about 10 minute drive north from where we are in Columbia heights so will be a half hour X2 commitment daily. We admittedly did about a weeks worth of research before doing the DC lottery so we don't know all that much about lamb. Just looking to hear thoughts on Lamb. Thanks

We are happy at LAMB. I would try to post on the parent listservs instead of on here so you can talk to actual parents (not people anonymously). This really helped us get a feel for the school and we were able to talk to parents of young kids and upper elementary kids. People were very open and willing to share their experiences. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in feeder and DS and all his friends got into DCI. Everyone is so ecstatic and excited.

Please, DCI is just OK. There hasn't been nearly enough challenge in the middle school for my kid, other than for math, and many of the mostly young teachers have poor classroom management skills. We hear that high school is better, but not enough challenge there either. We can up through YuYing and are moving to VA for HS.

PS. If you got in on the Chinese track, be prepared for a program where 1 or 2 students in the entire middle school program mainly speak Chinese at home, more likely zero. So ridiculous that excitement is a stretch or at least should be.

And here I was thinking the excitement was refreshing.

Much easier to be excited when you haven't been at DCI for a few years than if you have. A kid who pulled out a taser in my kid's homeroom class in7th grade was never punished despite parents' complaints. It's IB for all, not a suburban test-in IB program.

Ignore this Debbie downer. You should have the opportunity to feel excited about DCI. It is not a perfect school, but it's good and gets better every year (now have a JR and 8th grader) and the rigor in the IB diploma program is no joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this true for PK at CHML too?

No, PK is great! It’s the only part of the school that’s actually Montessori accredited.

Yes, because it is MONTESSORI!!!! It is designed for ECE. The idea that children and preteens should get to pick what and how they learn is stupidity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this true for PK at CHML too?

No, PK is great! It’s the only part of the school that’s actually Montessori accredited.

Yes, because it is MONTESSORI!!!! It is designed for ECE. The idea that children and preteens should get to pick what and how they learn is stupidity.

Agreed. I was advised it’s fine for lower grades but to lottery out for middle. So we didn’t even put it high on our list for PK to avoid being in that spot. I also hate the idea of my kiddo being told they are “working.” It’s playing and learning. They are kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child is going into first grade. He's 8 on the waitlist for Shepherd, 10 for Lafayette, Bancroft and Murch, and 7 for Hearst. What is the likelihood of getting into any of these prior to the start of school?

Murch took nine off the first-grade waitlist last year, and not until after school started. It was -- by far -- the most they've taken off the first-grade waitlist in recent years. Lafayette also took more off the WL last year than any other year. I don't think you can count on that happening again.

PP also is right that you probably have zero shot at Bancroft. I'm going to guess that your best chance is Hearst out of those schools.