Help! Need School Advice!
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Anonymous
| Maybe Van Ness near Navy Yard? It's a newly reopened neighborhood DCPS. It's possible there are OOB slots there for Kindergarten. |
Anonymous
| Consider Burroughs. Spanish classes, but not immersion, but a good DCPS that will probably have a spot. Great teachers, great play space. |
Anonymous
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I would say no to Montessori for you. It is great for bright kids but not for parents trying to find a school for their bright kid. I'm not being snarky - I am very laid back about early academics, and I still have little freak outs occasionally - it is just so different and for a parents expecting to see lots of impressive results, it will be frustrating. The kids all get there (and love love love the journey) but at their own pace. And the curriculum values depth, and depth just isn't as visible.
They will lose Spanish if they don't get it regularly, so I think al the advice you've gotten here is great. Are you driving or metroing? Creative minds also sounds like a good school for you, but I forget where it is now |
Anonymous
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OP here. I metro to work. It's subsidized (as in free), and parking is crazy expensive. Also, part of the point of moving to the city was to get out of the car.
I'm not sure how I gave the impression that I'm all about "impressive results". My son will immerse himself in what interests him and that's fine by me. My problem at this point is figuring out what that will be, because he's interested in *everything* (except sports). I just want him to be happy, confident, and challenged. I'm failing at instilling confidence in him, so I'm hopeful that the right environment will help us with that. I went to a subpar school in a subpar school system (in rural KY) until mid-8th grade, and I never really overcame the disadvantage of that (in terms of confidence, study habits, foundational knowledge) despite attending a very good high school and college. I want better for my kids. I agree with the statement that they will lose Spanish if they don't get it regularly. I spoke Hebrew fluently at age 3, and when I took an introductory class in college, I was completely over my head. (And I still speak zero Hebrew.) That's why I really want to continue the momentum with the Spanish. I went to a lot of trouble and expense to get this far with it, and I don't want to lose that investment or the far-reaching benefit for my kiddos of speaking a second language. I appreciate all the feedback and suggestions from everyone. I will check out all the schools you have put forward. I lean toward DC Bilingual because it's soooooo close to home and on the way to the metro, but of course there's no guarantee we'll get in, and their open house isn't until Feb 20. Then, as someone suggested, maybe I can get them both into LAMB next year on sibling preference, though I'm not sure if that works in reverse. I'll have to call the school. Later. Maybe we'll love where we end up so much that LAMB will be moot. Something else that may or may not be important: At this time my son identifies as a boy, but expresses as a girl (i.e. has long hair that he likes to wear in braids with pretty hair clips, wears dresses most days, loves his Elsa shoes). This may change, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. It came on gradually, but has been going on for a couple of years. At his preschool, the kids and parents were very accepting, though I think some of the kids actually thought he was a girl. Obviously, I want him to go to school in an equally accepting environment. I realize there will always be challenges with gender nonconforming, but the more we can minimize that, the better. I will of course speak to the management of whatever school we end up at, but are there schools that we should particularly avoid or seek out based on this? Strange that I (who don't generally bother with girly stuff) ended up with 2 girly girls (even if one of them is a boy). |
Anonymous
| OP again. Another question. I figured out all the other acronyms, but what are EOTP, AA, and OOB? |
Anonymous
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I posted earlier that you should consider creative minds, which is where my son is. Given the gender nonconformity, I want to encourage it even more. They spend a lot of time on themes (I'm forgetting what it's officially called), but they include respect, thoughtfulness, international mindedness (that one seemed a little loose to me, but the others are good). Anyway, I think that the student body is very respectful of differences and that your son would feel comfortable.
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Anonymous
Eotp: east of the park (rock creek) Aa: African American Oob: out of boundaries |
Anonymous
| Thanks from OP. |
Anonymous
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OP again. Did some research on the schools suggested, and really like a bunch of them:
DCB (of course), MV, Stokes, Oyster, Powell, CMI, and Bruce-Monroe. A couple of the others sound good, but I can't tell from their websites if they have any options for Spanish, which doesn't bode well. I'll have to call them. CMI is open tomorrow night, so I plan to try to get there with the kiddos. It will screw up our evening routine, but we'll manage. Forgot to mention that I only commute 2-3 days per week on average, so close to home is definitely preferable. |
Anonymous
You won't be able to get your older child into LAMB with sibling preference or ever. They simply do not admit past age 4, period. The Spanish immersion DCPS schools are Oyster, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Bancroft, Tyler, Marie Reed, and Cleveland. I believe a new program is also slated to open at Houston in 2016. Note that it can be impossible to get into most of these schools out of bounds. It's impossible to get into Ouster unless your child is Spanish dominant, and even then it's merely next to impossible. Powell did not take a single OOB student at K who was not a sibling of another enrolled child. I don't believe Bancroft did, either, and they had big wait lists. The Spanish immersion charters include Stokes, DC Bilingual, Mundo Verde, Bethune, and LAMB (admits pk3 and pk4 only), and they are likewise going to be hard to get into, except for Bethune (which has a disasterous administration and poorly managed lottery process, which keeps a lot of parents from deciding to send their kids there even if they get in). The other charter schools are highly sought after and have few slots for K (because they are filled by kids joining in pk3 and pk4, which are bigger entry years). Likewise, popular charters like Creative Minds are also going to be hard to get into, as they will have few slots and many applicants. Other solid charters, like Bridges, are easier to get into (for them, likely because they don't have a permanent home yet--once they do, it will likely be impossible to get in there, too). Munson Verde has alternately been impossible to get into, and easier (ie, this past year), as they've had growing pains--hard to say what will happen with them this lottery season. I mention all of this because the most important part of this process is not merely identifying schools you like. It's identifying schools you like where your child ALSO has a realistic chance of getting in. If you fill your list only with highly sought after charters and public schools that don't take OOB kids, you will likely be shut out and have no option but to enroll in your local DCPS. Put some long shots on there, but also find some realistic possibilities you can live with, just in case. I say this as a parent who lotteries last year with two kids, and got shut out of most of the schools you are mentioning--and we had very good lottery numbers for both. Most wait lists did not move this year, Mundo Verde being a notable exception. |
Anonymous
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I agree with previous poster that your list is fine, but you need more safety schools.Oyster and Powell take few out of bounds kids, if any. Stokes sometimes fills their preschool class with siblings alone, I.e. no room for new families. Most of the charters you have listed are very popular. Your child will have to attend K, so if you are shut out, you'll have to enroll in your zoned school, and you have indicated that you would prefer not to do that.
Many people use Bridges as a safety school. If you are interested in Montessori, you can try Capital Hill Montessori, a city wide school near Union Station. EL Haynes is a charter with a good reputation. I'm afraid there aren't too many immersion options that are easy to get into. |
Anonymous
| How about francis Stevens oob? Is that the one that merged with walls? Its downtown and small. Hyde was great for our kid but may not be near OPs work |
Anonymous
| op where do u work ? If you want to metro there and drop off kid you also should look at whether they have good before and after care. I have been in your shoes and found that a key component. |
Anonymous
| OP: I'm definitely putting DCB at the top of my list. Thanks for the solid advice regarding the rest. Bridges will be on there somewhere as well, but I want to get some immersion programs higher up. This is a very scary process. |
Anonymous
Every one I've looked at seems to have good before and after care. I'm definitely taking that into account. As I mentioned above, I don't commute every day, but only 2-3 days a week. My work is very flexible on timing, so I can accommodate most B/A care schedules, but I still have to get the work done. |