Get in early???

[Anonymous]

I am just wondering why parents make such an effort to get their children into these schools for PK, when that's probably the most competitive year. Are DC elementary schools really that bad. Based on my unscientific observation, students have much easier time getting into the Big 3/4 in 7th or 9th grade. At that point, they can show off their smarts. PK and K just seem impossible for non-siblings. Am I missing something?

[Anonymous]

Because we are all freaking nuts!!

[Anonymous]

This is such a sane question that I am truly stunned into silence.

[Anonymous]

You make some good points.

I do think that it's not a breeze at all to gain admission in 7th and 9th grades at *some* of the schools -- not only are droves of bright DCPS kids applying from your Janneys, Manns and everywhere else, but also, that's a point when even private kids switch schools for a better fit.

I have heard more than one parent with a young child in a K-12 private say that they are paying $24K a year insurance for those Jr. and Sr. high school spots.

[Anonymous]

...and some of us just believe in private school and you start as you will go on.

[Anonymous]

I can't do it
financially or emotionally

[Anonymous]

I think it matters if you have 1 child or more than 1. One child you are just continuing on with the expense of daycare/nanny. If you have 2 it might be conceivable although a hardship Three is just insane. in terms of cost unless you money doesn't concern you. And lest you forget you have to pay for something for them to do in the summers!

[Anonymous]

In many schools, the admission tests, grades, transcripts and general criteria make it 'harder' on the student to be admitted after pre-k or k. That's why I did/do it.

[Anonymous]

If your kid is smart and you are not well-connected, it is probably best to do public and then private. If you have doubts about your child's ability to make the cut later, best to get in at PK.

[Anonymous]

I want my kids to be in nurturing place where they'll have every opportunity to learn to love learning, study a broad array of subjects, and get individualized help when necessary. My DCPS won't do that for me. I will prioritize the tuition because nothing is more important to me than having happy, well-adjusted, kids who love to learn.

[Anonymous]

Oh baloney. It's pretty well known that the kids who come in later tend to do better academically. I think a lot of parents who are desperate to get their kids in early do it so that their kids don't have to compete with the really smart kids later on. I've heard more than one private school parent comment about this. For us, it was more than worth it to wait and send our kids to DCPS for elementary school and then move to private. Not just from a financial perspective, but also from a social one as well. And remember, you're not doing your kid any favor by sending them to a school where they may not do well. In fact, for college purposes, it's probably better to do really well at a not-so-well-known school than to be middling at a well-known one.

[Anonymous]

It's much easier to have a young child visit schools and then handle the acceptances/rejections without them knowing what is going on. Also, at 7th grade they may not want to switch to private and leave their friends.

[Anonymous]

DCPS does not have a gifted and talented program at ANY level. The classes are taught to the median; slower kids (what the administration called the "basic" group in my public school) struggle, the gifted kids are bored out of their minds. The difference is that in private school you tend to get people with more solid or advanced academic skills, which matters when you are dying to learn to read or already reading and instead you have to sit in your chair for the next 25 minutes while the rest of the class finishes the cute little worksheet. In private schools they tend to have subgroups for reading and math so they can accomodate more learning levels.

True story: I was medicated in first grade at the school's request for ADD. It made me worse, so they stopped after a couple of months. Then they gave me an IQ test at the beginning of second grade. Well, what do you know? Although they knew I had already read every single book in the first grade classroom by the end of the first month of school, until they did the IQ test they did not figure out that I was acting out not because I had ADD (which I don't), but because I was BORED. Sure hope those drugs aren't going to give me early Alzheimer's or something. My school district did not get a G&T program until I was in the 5th grade.

I don't want that experience for my kids, and I live in the District, so I don't really have any other choice. Yes, I WILL shell out $25K or more for pre-K or Kindergarten, if that's what it takes.