Charter pre-schools? DD will be 3 ion Dec. '09

[Anonymous]

I am looking into preschools for Fall '09. My daughter will be and "old 2" and will turn 3 in December of '09. I just started looking at charter schools as an option since the private pre-schools are so ridiculously expensive. Does anyone know what charter schools take kids this young? Does it vary from school to school? I live in the Col Heights/Mt.Pleasant area and would love to find something close by.

[Anonymous]

Regarding a DC Charter school, I assume they go with the same guidleines as set forth by the district.

"A child must be 3 years old on or before September 30th to enroll in a three year old program (pre-school, Head Start)"

Your child will need to wait until the next year to possibly get a DC Public School (or DC Public Charter School) spot. In many schools, there are not enough Pre-K spots for all the kids who are interested so it is done by a lottery.

If you are concerned about cost for pre-school, DC Parks and rec does a co-op pre-school program at some of the parks and rec centers. These are very reasonably priced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding a DC Charter school, I assume they go with the same guidleines as set forth by the district.

If you are concerned about cost for pre-school, DC Parks and rec does a co-op pre-school program at some of the parks and rec centers. These are very reasonably priced.

I'm actually sending my DD to a co-op preschool through DC Parks and Rec, and it's fine for now (great for her to interact with other kids, introduction to art projects, etc...), but I'm looking for something with a little more structure and more experienced teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding a DC Charter school, I assume they go with the same guidleines as set forth by the district.

"A child must be 3 years old on or before September 30th to enroll in a three year old program (pre-school, Head Start)"

That's what confuses me -- I looked at the Bridges Charter School and its says the child must be 3 by 12/31 for preschool, but 4 by 9/30 for Pre-K. Weird...

[Anonymous]

I actually think that the rules differ for charter schools with a PreK 3 program. I believe the deadline is 12/31 for "preschool" versus PreK.

I know offhand that Hope Community Charter School, Potomac Lighthouse, Bridges, and I think a couple other have the "preschool" program with the later deadline.

[Anonymous]

Look at Community Academy Public Charter School. They take them young.

[Anonymous]

Bridges PCS is in your neighborhood and they'll take your child turning 3 by 12/31. Once your child has had two years of public school, any of the other DC Public or Charter schools will take her in Kindergarten even if she ordinarily would be a year too young.