What's your plan if you don't get into a good charter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think NE DC is both blessed and cursed by the number of good charters nearby. OTOH, most of the good charters nearby are doable commutes. OTOH, it's been a disaster for the local in boundary schools which are only just starting to gentrify in the lower grades, if at all. This dynamic really only applies in the area between Shaw and the Hill.

Seems like charters were necessary in DC's recent history to get educated families to stay in DC instead of heading to the 'burbs. I wonder if now we're approaching a stage where the proliferation of charters is doing more harm than good, in terms of undermining buy-in for DCPS neighborhood schools.

I definitely think there's a role for a few, "boutique" charters that offer things that DCPS does not/cannot offer in great numbers--immersion, Montessori, etc. Any more than that, and it seems it just leads to educated families bypassing the schools in their neighborhoods in a scramble to get into charters. Not to mention all the traffic it creates, even if some charters are just 2-3 miles away from home.

[Anonymous]

Students attending charters in Ward 5 are from all over the city, not just IB for Noyes and Burroughs.

http://www.dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/Choosing%20Quality%20Report.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think NE DC is both blessed and cursed by the number of good charters nearby. OTOH, most of the good charters nearby are doable commutes. OTOH, it's been a disaster for the local in boundary schools which are only just starting to gentrify in the lower grades, if at all. This dynamic really only applies in the area between Shaw and the Hill.

There are indeed many good charters, but the majority of my friends in Bloomingdale matched with Langley, Seaton, or Cleveland. If you are willing to travel as far as DCB, Sela, 2RY, etc., your chances may be better, but still not so good.

OP, I think it is safe to assume you will get into Burroughs, Langdon, Langley, or maybe Miner or JO Wilson OOB, if not in the spring then over the summer on the waitlist. Those schools are fine for preschool so that gives you two years. Save your freaking out for later! You live near so many desirable charters, it would be a shame to move without giving yourself a chance to get in.

[Anonymous]

She still might not be close to those good charters. We're in NE also, but just barely. We're in bounds for Brown, and the commute up to those NE charter schools and then back down would kill us. Our oldest is too old for the new TR campus and is somewhere ok for now (not sure what the hell we're going to do for middle school).

Youngest is only a year, so we have some time, but I'm nervous to do this all again in a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in NE DC and really love our neighborhood, but our in boundary school is terrible and won't improve enough for us to even consider sending our DC when she turns five (she is 18 months right now). I periodically "freak out" a little when I think about the school situation and whether we made a mistake moving to NE and instead should have pushed our budget to be in a good in boundary school in upper NW or should have sucked it up and moved to VA (which my DH would hate).

Does anyone else have these freak out moments? What do others plan to do if they don't get into a good charter? Private school? Move to the suburbs? Try to find a "walkable" area with good schools in MD or VA?

To be totally honest, you should just cut your losses and move. If you are the type of person to be worried about middle school already, and periodically 'freak out,' and are so scared of your neighbors' toddlers that you won't even consider sending your daughter to school with them ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in NE DC and really love our neighborhood, but our in boundary school is terrible and won't improve enough for us to even consider sending our DC when she turns five (she is 18 months right now). I periodically "freak out" a little when I think about the school situation and whether we made a mistake moving to NE and instead should have pushed our budget to be in a good in boundary school in upper NW or should have sucked it up and moved to VA (which my DH would hate).

Does anyone else have these freak out moments? What do others plan to do if they don't get into a good charter? Private school? Move to the suburbs? Try to find a "walkable" area with good schools in MD or VA?

To be totally honest, you should just cut your losses and move. If you are the type of person to be worried about middle school already, and periodically 'freak out,' and are so scared of your neighbors' toddlers that you won't even consider sending your daughter to school with them ...

No, stay! I am the type of person to worry about middle school, but I am staying and applying my gift of long-term worrying to improving the upper grades at our school. NE needs parents like OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in NE DC and really love our neighborhood, but our in boundary school is terrible and won't improve enough for us to even consider sending our DC when she turns five (she is 18 months right now). I periodically "freak out" a little when I think about the school situation and whether we made a mistake moving to NE and instead should have pushed our budget to be in a good in boundary school in upper NW or should have sucked it up and moved to VA (which my DH would hate).

Does anyone else have these freak out moments? What do others plan to do if they don't get into a good charter? Private school? Move to the suburbs? Try to find a "walkable" area with good schools in MD or VA?

To be totally honest, you should just cut your losses and move. If you are the type of person to be worried about middle school already, and periodically 'freak out,' and are so scared of your neighbors' toddlers that you won't even consider sending your daughter to school with them ...

No, stay! I am the type of person to worry about middle school, but I am staying and applying my gift of long-term worrying to improving the upper grades at our school. NE needs parents like OP.

How is OP going to do anything? She has already decided the local school is out of the question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in NE DC and really love our neighborhood, but our in boundary school is terrible and won't improve enough for us to even consider sending our DC when she turns five (she is 18 months right now). I periodically "freak out" a little when I think about the school situation and whether we made a mistake moving to NE and instead should have pushed our budget to be in a good in boundary school in upper NW or should have sucked it up and moved to VA (which my DH would hate).

Does anyone else have these freak out moments? What do others plan to do if they don't get into a good charter? Private school? Move to the suburbs? Try to find a "walkable" area with good schools in MD or VA?

To be totally honest, you should just cut your losses and move. If you are the type of person to be worried about middle school already, and periodically 'freak out,' and are so scared of your neighbors' toddlers that you won't even consider sending your daughter to school with them ...

No, stay! I am the type of person to worry about middle school, but I am staying and applying my gift of long-term worrying to improving the upper grades at our school. NE needs parents like OP.

How is OP going to do anything? She has already decided the local school is out of the question.

She is going to enroll as an OOB student in a better nearby school.

OP, seriously. Play the lottery in March and see where you stand. You will then have all summer to decide what to do. I live in Truxton Circle and my neighbors kids go OOB to Seaton and Langley and it is fine. Next year it will be even finer.

[Anonymous]

OP is not even starting pk3 until 2018-19. A lot can happen between now and then. OP, we got into one of the popular schools the year they first opened when anyone could have gotten in. The environment changes every year. Honestly, best advice I can give you is calm down and take it year by year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in NE DC and really love our neighborhood, but our in boundary school is terrible and won't improve enough for us to even consider sending our DC when she turns five (she is 18 months right now). I periodically "freak out" a little when I think about the school situation and whether we made a mistake moving to NE and instead should have pushed our budget to be in a good in boundary school in upper NW or should have sucked it up and moved to VA (which my DH would hate).

Does anyone else have these freak out moments? What do others plan to do if they don't get into a good charter? Private school? Move to the suburbs? Try to find a "walkable" area with good schools in MD or VA?

To be totally honest, you should just cut your losses and move. If you are the type of person to be worried about middle school already, and periodically 'freak out,' and are so scared of your neighbors' toddlers that you won't even consider sending your daughter to school with them ...

OP here - this is insulting to say that I am "scared" of my neighbors toddlers that I wont send my child to school with them. I WANT my local schools to be great and I WANT my child to go to a diverse school with people of mixed SES. However, that ideal does not always match up with reality.

[Anonymous]

OP again- I want to thank folks who suggested to just calm down and that out of boundary schools might work out. This has been a helpful discussion and to remember that there are a lot of people in my shoes who want DC to work out and to improve!

[Anonymous]

We're hoping for a good draw in the lottery but in the meantime bought a nice house in an excellent school district as a backup/move there for middle school.

[Anonymous]

As long as you put some (3 or more) schools where you have a good chance of getting in on your list and where you could see sending your child and doing the commute, you will likely get in somewhere. We have every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in NE DC and really love our neighborhood, but our in boundary school is terrible and won't improve enough for us to even consider sending our DC when she turns five (she is 18 months right now). I periodically "freak out" a little when I think about the school situation and whether we made a mistake moving to NE and instead should have pushed our budget to be in a good in boundary school in upper NW or should have sucked it up and moved to VA (which my DH would hate).

Does anyone else have these freak out moments? What do others plan to do if they don't get into a good charter? Private school? Move to the suburbs? Try to find a "walkable" area with good schools in MD or VA?

OP, you know you can start at three with free preschool here, right? And you probably wouldn't have that in the suburbs? So don't move now!

If you live in the eastern part of the Noyes zone I would suggest checking out Langdon's Montessori program. If you live in the western Edgewood part, strongly consider Langley, Seaton, and Cleveland. All of those schools admitted OOB students for PK3 this year-- who knows if they will in 2018, of course. Your chances are probably best at Langley because they may add a classroom. I am sending my kid there and it's totally fine! Two years from now, your cohort will benefit from everything we are working on now. Your involvement as a volunteer would likely be welcomed at any of these schools.

The best advice I can give you is to channel your anxiety into learning about DCPS. That way you'll be prepared to do everything you can to help your DD and her classmates. From one anxiety-prone mom to another, I promise, it'll be ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in NE DC and really love our neighborhood, but our in boundary school is terrible and won't improve enough for us to even consider sending our DC when she turns five (she is 18 months right now). I periodically "freak out" a little when I think about the school situation and whether we made a mistake moving to NE and instead should have pushed our budget to be in a good in boundary school in upper NW or should have sucked it up and moved to VA (which my DH would hate).

Does anyone else have these freak out moments? What do others plan to do if they don't get into a good charter? Private school? Move to the suburbs? Try to find a "walkable" area with good schools in MD or VA?

OP, you know you can start at three with free preschool here, right? And you probably wouldn't have that in the suburbs? So don't move now!

If you live in the eastern part of the Noyes zone I would suggest checking out Langdon's Montessori program. If you live in the western Edgewood part, strongly consider Langley, Seaton, and Cleveland. All of those schools admitted OOB students for PK3 this year-- who knows if they will in 2018, of course. Your chances are probably best at Langley because they may add a classroom. I am sending my kid there and it's totally fine! Two years from now, your cohort will benefit from everything we are working on now. Your involvement as a volunteer would likely be welcomed at any of these schools.

The best advice I can give you is to channel your anxiety into learning about DCPS. That way you'll be prepared to do everything you can to help your DD and her classmates. From one anxiety-prone mom to another, I promise, it'll be ok.

Exactly this. No need to pick up and leave tomorrow. Meet up with other folks in the real world in your neighborhood, talk about stuff and get involved. This site is great, but definitely anxiety-inducing at times. The antidote to that is real world interaction with real people in similar situations.