CommuniKids Preschool in Tenleytown offering FREE Pre-K 3 and Pre-K 4 for DC Residents!

[Anonymous]

But PK-3 and PK-4 are not universal.

And if you live in Ward 3 that is a good thing - at Janney at least they would need 2 additional classrooms just to accommodate all of the in-boundary PK-4 demand and I assume a similar number of classrooms for PK-3 which would swell the school to 825+ kids.

So if it is not universal and is in essence a scare resource who should get the seats? Even though we completely missed out on PK-3 and only got our youngest into PK-4 because of sibling preference and that probably cost us $40-$50,000 in extra day care costs I still think the seats should go to the kids for whom early intervention is of the most benefit and that is most certainly not my upper middle class kids.

I still think it is problematic that public money is going to a private pre-school especially in Ward 3 and I'm writing as someone who might have benefited from this arrangement.

[Anonymous]

"Problematic"

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Problematic"

LOL

Unless you are Betsy Devos not sure what you think is funny???

[Anonymous]

I think using the word problematic is funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But PK-3 and PK-4 are not universal.

And if you live in Ward 3 that is a good thing - at Janney at least they would need 2 additional classrooms just to accommodate all of the in-boundary PK-4 demand and I assume a similar number of classrooms for PK-3 which would swell the school to 825+ kids.

So if it is not universal and is in essence a scare resource who should get the seats? Even though we completely missed out on PK-3 and only got our youngest into PK-4 because of sibling preference and that probably cost us $40-$50,000 in extra day care costs I still think the seats should go to the kids for whom early intervention is of the most benefit and that is most certainly not my upper middle class kids.

I still think it is problematic that public money is going to a private pre-school especially in Ward 3 and I'm writing as someone who might have benefited from this arrangement.

It is "universal," but to DC that means there are seats, they just might be far away from where you live. http://www.urban.org/urban-wire/portrait-universal-pre-kindergarten-dc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But PK-3 and PK-4 are not universal.

And if you live in Ward 3 that is a good thing - at Janney at least they would need 2 additional classrooms just to accommodate all of the in-boundary PK-4 demand and I assume a similar number of classrooms for PK-3 which would swell the school to 825+ kids.

So if it is not universal and is in essence a scare resource who should get the seats? Even though we completely missed out on PK-3 and only got our youngest into PK-4 because of sibling preference and that probably cost us $40-$50,000 in extra day care costs I still think the seats should go to the kids for whom early intervention is of the most benefit and that is most certainly not my upper middle class kids.

I still think it is problematic that public money is going to a private pre-school especially in Ward 3 and I'm writing as someone who might have benefited from this arrangement.

It is "universal," but to DC that means there are seats, they just might be far away from where you live. http://www.urban.org/urban-wire/portrait-universal-pre-kindergarten-dc

Well that is not universal then - universal to me means you have a right to a slot at your designated school and that is definitely not the case. From the article:

The city guarantees access to pre-K for four-year-olds, but not necessarily in the child’s neighborhood, meaning that slots aren’t always available nearby.

Also the piece you cite, for whatever it is worth, does not reference PK-3 as being "universal."

[Anonymous]

You have invented a stupid, nonsense version of universal, so very sorry it doesn't meet your standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But PK-3 and PK-4 are not universal.

And if you live in Ward 3 that is a good thing - at Janney at least they would need 2 additional classrooms just to accommodate all of the in-boundary PK-4 demand and I assume a similar number of classrooms for PK-3 which would swell the school to 825+ kids.

So if it is not universal and is in essence a scare resource who should get the seats? Even though we completely missed out on PK-3 and only got our youngest into PK-4 because of sibling preference and that probably cost us $40-$50,000 in extra day care costs I still think the seats should go to the kids for whom early intervention is of the most benefit and that is most certainly not my upper middle class kids.

I still think it is problematic that public money is going to a private pre-school especially in Ward 3 and I'm writing as someone who might have benefited from this arrangement.

It is "universal," but to DC that means there are seats, they just might be far away from where you live. http://www.urban.org/urban-wire/portrait-universal-pre-kindergarten-dc

Well that is not universal then - universal to me means you have a right to a slot at your designated school and that is definitely not the case. From the article:

The city guarantees access to pre-K for four-year-olds, but not necessarily in the child’s neighborhood, meaning that slots aren’t always available nearby.

Also the piece you cite, for whatever it is worth, does not reference PK-3 as being "universal."

That is certainly NOT what universal PK means. The "universal" simply means all children are eligible, regardless of family income, children's ability, or anything else. It does NOT mean "guaranteed". It especially does not mean "guaranteed at your specific neighborhood school".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My favorite is that $350k is "relatively" high income. Wow.

+1. And that person was not from Ward 3.

Lol, that was me. Judging from professions, most of my neighbors are in the same range, so don't consider it super high.

Just because you live in an affluent bubble doesn't mean this isn't a high income. Please gain some self awareness.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a great opportunity, and I hope other private preschools do the same. But I'm uncomfortable with giving priority to families who are able to pay for the first year of the program -- that's not at all in keeping with the spirit of free PK, where it really is a lottery that is fair for all.

+1

If there are limited funds and hence limited spaces it does make sense to spend those funds on the kids who will most benefit from PK-3 (and 4).

I would love to have back the money we spent on pre-school when my kids were 3 which we could have really used but don't mind if the spot went to someone more needy and do mind if it went to someone with more money.

Either way I find this very strange that OSSE is diverting money to a private school to pay for PK-3, especially a school that is located in Ward 3.

+1 This is exactly what folks have been concerned about for a long time. Public funds to private schools, which then pick and choose their student body, or which make it difficult financially or logistically for non-wealthy families to participate.

-1 for poor comprehension. The more seats OSSE makes available (regardless of location), the better for everyone. OSSE can't pick and choose locations and tell someone to open a high-quality pre-school there. What they can do is route funding towards high-quality programs which open themselves up to all students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a great opportunity, and I hope other private preschools do the same. But I'm uncomfortable with giving priority to families who are able to pay for the first year of the program -- that's not at all in keeping with the spirit of free PK, where it really is a lottery that is fair for all.

+1

If there are limited funds and hence limited spaces it does make sense to spend those funds on the kids who will most benefit from PK-3 (and 4).

I would love to have back the money we spent on pre-school when my kids were 3 which we could have really used but don't mind if the spot went to someone more needy and do mind if it went to someone with more money.

Either way I find this very strange that OSSE is diverting money to a private school to pay for PK-3, especially a school that is located in Ward 3.

+1 This is exactly what folks have been concerned about for a long time. Public funds to private schools, which then pick and choose their student body, or which make it difficult financially or logistically for non-wealthy families to participate.

-1 for poor comprehension. The more seats OSSE makes available (regardless of location), the better for everyone. OSSE can't pick and choose locations and tell someone to open a high-quality pre-school there. What they can do is route funding towards high-quality programs which open themselves up to all students.

I really don't agree and you've not made a persuasive argument for funneling public money to what is a private school.

I don't know that this is a good private school, I don't know that they accept all applicants or that the limited spaces they allow for this OSSE program are allocated via the lottery but the fact that they are directly promoting the spaces suggests that is not the case. I don't know that they will keep all students and not kick out a disruptive student who would really benefit from the stability of a full year in pre-K. I'm also not aware that OSSE has located schools throughout the city to accept these funds - this is the first I've heard of it and somehow I think others would have referenced it on here by now if there were other private pre-K spots available. I also don't know whether these spaces are even necessary - certainly WOTP the pre-K slots are filled up but as I understand it citywide not all of the slots are taken so assuming that is true OSSE is spending money creating spaces that in net the city doesn't need and possibly will mostly benefit folks in Ward 3.

And another odd thing about pre-K is there is no way to know that a pre-K kid will even attend DCPS - two of my kids classmates last year both bailed for private schools after taking advantage of a year of free pre-K so those slots went to kids who 1)Could afford daycare and 2)who were not being prepped to attend DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WTF free private PK3 in Ward 3. That is so messed up. Sickening.

Sending great love, empathy, and a tsunami of tax dollars to the folks who find it "sickening" that Ward 3 families might actually -- gasp! -- have local access to the pk3 we already pay for, which everyone else gets without question. Bless your hearts.

Sure would be nice if we had free public pk3. You know, like you have. At your local school *and* at all of those charters in your ward. But that's just too much to ask for Ward 3.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WTF free private PK3 in Ward 3. That is so messed up. Sickening.

Sending great love, empathy, and a tsunami of tax dollars to the folks who find it "sickening" that Ward 3 families might actually -- gasp! -- have local access to the pk3 we already pay for, which everyone else gets without question. Bless your hearts.

Sure would be nice if we had free public pk3. You know, like you have. At your local school *and* at all of those charters in your ward. But that's just too much to ask for Ward 3.

+1

Sure this would be nice but it would require a new round of school construction and expansion - if you added PK-3 and accepted all comers you'd need to add 100-150 kids to a bunch of schools that are already over capacity and may not even have the space to expand. And Ward 3 is actually ahead of other parts of the city in terms of school renovations.

Pre-K (both 3 and 4) is capacity constrained so it makes sense for those spaces to go to the kids who most need them.

And FWIW lots of kids EOTP also don't get into PK-3 and PK-4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a great opportunity, and I hope other private preschools do the same. But I'm uncomfortable with giving priority to families who are able to pay for the first year of the program -- that's not at all in keeping with the spirit of free PK, where it really is a lottery that is fair for all.

+1

If there are limited funds and hence limited spaces it does make sense to spend those funds on the kids who will most benefit from PK-3 (and 4).

I would love to have back the money we spent on pre-school when my kids were 3 which we could have really used but don't mind if the spot went to someone more needy and do mind if it went to someone with more money.

Either way I find this very strange that OSSE is diverting money to a private school to pay for PK-3, especially a school that is located in Ward 3.

+1 This is exactly what folks have been concerned about for a long time. Public funds to private schools, which then pick and choose their student body, or which make it difficult financially or logistically for non-wealthy families to participate.

-1 for poor comprehension. The more seats OSSE makes available (regardless of location), the better for everyone. OSSE can't pick and choose locations and tell someone to open a high-quality pre-school there. What they can do is route funding towards high-quality programs which open themselves up to all students.

I really don't agree and you've not made a persuasive argument for funneling public money to what is a private school.

I don't know that this is a good private school, I don't know that they accept all applicants or that the limited spaces they allow for this OSSE program are allocated via the lottery but the fact that they are directly promoting the spaces suggests that is not the case. I don't know that they will keep all students and not kick out a disruptive student who would really benefit from the stability of a full year in pre-K. I'm also not aware that OSSE has located schools throughout the city to accept these funds - this is the first I've heard of it and somehow I think others would have referenced it on here by now if there were other private pre-K spots available. I also don't know whether these spaces are even necessary - certainly WOTP the pre-K slots are filled up but as I understand it citywide not all of the slots are taken so assuming that is true OSSE is spending money creating spaces that in net the city doesn't need and possibly will mostly benefit folks in Ward 3.

And another odd thing about pre-K is there is no way to know that a pre-K kid will even attend DCPS - two of my kids classmates last year both bailed for private schools after taking advantage of a year of free pre-K so those slots went to kids who 1)Could afford daycare and 2)who were not being prepped to attend DCPS.

Current Pre-K Expansion Programs. This program has been in effect for years now, by the way:

Enhanced Pre-K Program Participating Organizations



Associates for Renewal in Education, Inc.

45 P St NW | Ward 5 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6:30pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)


Barbara Chambers

1470 Irving St NW | Ward 1 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)


Big Mama's Children Center

4680 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SW | Ward 8 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 6:30am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)


Bright Beginnings

128 M St NW | Ward 6 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-11:30pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)


Bright Start

1202 Kennedy St NW | Ward 4 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6:30pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)


CentroNia

1420 Columbia Rd NW | Ward 1 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)


Dawn to Dusk Child Development Center

657 Lebaum St SE | Ward 8 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 6am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)


Easter Seals

2800 13th St NW | Ward 1 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)


Educare

640 Anacostia Ave NE | Ward 7 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)


Gap Community Child Center

209 Upshur St NW | Ward 4 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)


Happy Faces Learning Center

1905 9th St NE | Ward 5 | [phone]

Hours of operation: Sun-Sat, 5am-6am (24 hours)

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)















Ideal Child Development Center

3816 4th St NW | Ward 4 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-11pm

Before and after care available (Accepts vouchers)



Jubilee Jumpstart

2525 Ontario Rd NW | Ward 1 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7:30am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)



Kids Are Us Learning Center

1236 Southern Ave SE | Ward 8 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)



Kiddies Kollege

1130 Varney St SE | Ward 8 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)



Kuumba Learning Center

3328 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE | Ward 8 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)



Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute

801 Buchanan St NE | Ward 5 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)



Matthews Memorial Child Development

2616 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE | Ward 8 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 6:30am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)



National Children's Center

3400 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE | Ward 8 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)



Rosemount Center

2000 Rosemount Ave NW | Ward 1 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7:45am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)



Spanish Education Development Center

4110 Kansas Ave NW | Ward 4 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 7am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)



Sunshine Early Learning

4223 6th St SE | Ward 8 | [phone]

Hours of operation: M-F, 6am-6pm

Before and after care available (Fee-based; accepts vouchers)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But PK-3 and PK-4 are not universal.

And if you live in Ward 3 that is a good thing - at Janney at least they would need 2 additional classrooms just to accommodate all of the in-boundary PK-4 demand and I assume a similar number of classrooms for PK-3 which would swell the school to 825+ kids.

So if it is not universal and is in essence a scare resource who should get the seats? Even though we completely missed out on PK-3 and only got our youngest into PK-4 because of sibling preference and that probably cost us $40-$50,000 in extra day care costs I still think the seats should go to the kids for whom early intervention is of the most benefit and that is most certainly not my upper middle class kids.

I still think it is problematic that public money is going to a private pre-school especially in Ward 3 and I'm writing as someone who might have benefited from this arrangement.

It is "universal," but to DC that means there are seats, they just might be far away from where you live. http://www.urban.org/urban-wire/portrait-universal-pre-kindergarten-dc

Well that is not universal then - universal to me means you have a right to a slot at your designated school and that is definitely not the case. From the article:

The city guarantees access to pre-K for four-year-olds, but not necessarily in the child’s neighborhood, meaning that slots aren’t always available nearby.

Also the piece you cite, for whatever it is worth, does not reference PK-3 as being "universal."

If you actually want a right to a PK slot at your IB school, then you have to be ok with major changes to the boundaries. For example, sending a lot of kids from Lafayette to Brightwood/Macfarland/Roosevelt.