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what do you do if your child doesn't get into any private schools and you live in the city?
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Anonymous
| what if child doesn't get into any private schools and the public middle school isn't good? this hasn't happened yet but i am thinking for plan b if this happens? |
Anonymous
| If you are a stay at home parent or part time, and this is kindergarten, consider homeschooling. You get to spend a year with your child, for almost free. Wonderful time to bond. Probably better academic outcomes! The most important social interaction is with the parent. If you don't get in, turn it around and make it a positive. However, I hope that you get the school of your choice. Good luck. |
Anonymous
| Where do you live? Most of the elementary schools in upper NW DC are excellent -- Murch, Lafayette, Janney, Oyster, etc. If you live in one of these districts, why not take advantage of an excellent free public education for elementary and reapply to private later? My impression is that many families go this route -- public elementary, then private. |
Anonymous
| You mention middle school so I assume that is where your child will be going? Honestly, hopefully your child WILL get into one of the private schools. If not, I would consider moving out of the city. I believe you can also look into paying "tuition" to attend Mont County schools if a particular school is not overcrowded which may be another option. Middle school is such a challenging time for many children and you want your child to be in a school that you feel good about. |
Anonymous
| What about a charter school? There are some good charters (elementary and middle). I work in a DCPS elementary school and many students have gone on to Washington Latin for middle school. |
Anonymous
|
Move.
We're diehard city dwellers and it pains us to think about moving, but that's what we'll have to do if we don't get in/can't afford private school. Very depressing. |
Anonymous
| Washington Latin had fantastic test scores this year, but they're in a very turbulent time now (headmaster quit in dispute with teh board, very crowded). Still, worth a look. Otherwise, I don't have much encouraging info. You should look into paying out of state tuition in Montgomery though. |
Anonymous
| Anyone on who has actual experience with Deal? Seems like there are a lot of assumptions being made about the quality of education there, but I honestly have no idea what it's really like. I tend not to rely on the sort of summary data available on school system websites -- I want to hear from parents with kids there. Can anyone enlighten us? |
Anonymous
| you might post this on the "older kids" board too. I would be interested in responses as well. |
Anonymous
Do a search -- lots of Deal parents have posted lately, and there's a lot of excitement about the school (I'm not a Deal parent, btw). Major upgrades to physical plant, IB program, very involved PTA. I'm not sure where OP lives, but if it's in the Deal district, she might want to take a second look -- or do as an earlier poster suggested and send her kid to public ES then re-apply if she's not happy with the prospect of Deal as the time gets closer. |
Anonymous
| Consider Hardy. |
Anonymous
|
For a rising middle schooler? In alpha order:
Capital City (charter) Deal (DCPS) Hardy (DCPS) Two Rivers (charter) Washington Latin (charter) |
Anonymous
| PPs, thanks for the list. What order would they be in terms of best overall school with strong emphasis on academics? |
Anonymous
|
Sorry, I don't know enough to be able to rank them. Even if I did it would reflect my personal biases which may not be yours.
Here's what I would do: 1) Look up all the information on them that I could find, starting with the school chooser (http://fightforchildren.org/page05.html#chooser) and including anything I could find on DCPS's website. 2) Then I'd pay each of the schools a visit. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then surely a visit is worth 10x that much. 3) And of course, if I had specific questions I'd post them to DCUM to see if I could rustle up a parent or two from one of the schools I liked best. 
Good luck! |
Anonymous
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To the OP - your child not getting into ANY Private schools are slim. Maybe not the ones everybody talks about on this board but we are blessed to live in a city with lots of choices. Expand your research
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