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Preschool and Daycare Discussion
Moving to DC and VERY concerned about preschool
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Anonymous
| I agree it's important to figure out your commute as part of where you look, but I just wanted to add that I have heard very good things about the Reggio Emilia School-within-school on Capitol Hill, which has both pre-k and k classes. |
Anonymous
The Reggio program is by lottery, even for in-bounds kids. |
Anonymous
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Re Woodley -- agree that it's a nice neighborhood and very convenient (although no more so than Cleveland Park), but disagree that Oyster would be the best school for just a year or two. First, pre-K is by lottery even for in-bounds kids, many of whom (at least those in the English-dominant contingent) do not get in until K. Second, you can't even apply as in-boundary unless you have an in-boundary address by February 28th (and if you don't apply as in-boundary and you're not Spanish-dominant, you're not getting into pre-K). Third, fabulous as language immersion is (and I'm truly a fan), it doesn't really "stick" unless you stay in for at least 3-5 years. Finally, Oyster is always overcrowded at K and disorganized at all levels -- it may well be worth that headache if you're sticking around through 4th or 8th, but it's a lot to deal with for just K.
For just pre-K and K years, I wouldn't pick Oyster over Mann, Lafayette, Eaton, Janney, Murch, or even Hearst in the neighborhoods you're considering (although, as a neighborhood for young families, I would slot in Woodley right after Cleveland Park and CC-Lafayette). |
digitalgiga
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| I agree that woodley is nice. I moved out here a while ago from New Mexico, and with such a big change we had a ton of stuff to move out, we didnt really know anything about the Washington DC area so i literally asked my movers what they thought. They had a ton of helpful info. I think you should ask your movers and see what they say. |
Anonymous
Pre-K lottery is tough for Woodley, but guaranteed for K. Pre-K lottery at any of these NW schools is a crap shoot, though. As for immersion not being worthwhile, I think it depends on the family. For some families, even a few years of immersion at an early age, or at any age, is seen as a very desirable experience. |
Anonymous
That's nonsense -- all in-bounds kids get into Eaton, Murch, and Hearst for pre-K, and practically all (if not all) at Mann, Lafayette, and Janney. Most English-dominant pre-Kers do *not* get into Oyster -- it's the only "crap shoot" of the bunch. And OP mentioned two years, not "a few." |
Anonymous
|
That's nonsense -- all in-bounds kids get into Eaton, Murch, and Hearst for pre-K, and practically all (if not all) at Mann, Lafayette, and Janney. Most English-dominant pre-Kers do *not* get into Oyster -- it's the only "crap shoot" of the bunch. And OP mentioned two years, not "a few." Wrong. We are in Lafayette's district and only 2/3 of the in-bounds kids get into preK. |
Anonymous
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Ok, big picture OP. It's only for 2 years. With kids that young, is it worth the hassle and expense of engineering around waitlists, lotteries and boundaries? (It's bad enough when you live here.) DC has very, very different demographics and neighborhood attributes. You may want to start with where you want to spend time outside of school. If you lead with school, you might find a perfect daycare/preschool combo and be bored out your mind off hours or spend lots of time schlepping around in cars.
Come on down for a visit and see for yourself. Hope you like it! (Strongly recommend starting with Capitol Hill for a truly "DC" experience.) |
Anonymous
|
Ok, big picture OP. It's only for 2 years. With kids that young, is it worth the hassle and expense of engineering around waitlists, lotteries and boundaries? (It's bad enough when you live here.) DC has very, very different demographics and neighborhood attributes. You may want to start with where you want to spend time outside of school. If you lead with school, you might find a perfect daycare/preschool combo and be bored out your mind off hours or spend lots of time schlepping around in cars.
Come on down for a visit and see for yourself. Hope you like it! (Strongly recommend starting with Capitol Hill for a truly "DC" experience.) |
Anonymous
|
Ok, big picture OP. It's only for 2 years. With kids that young, is it worth the hassle and expense of engineering around waitlists, lotteries and boundaries? (It's bad enough when you live here.) DC has very, very different demographics and neighborhood attributes. You may want to start with where you want to spend time outside of school. If you lead with school, you might find a perfect daycare/preschool combo and be bored out your mind off hours or spend lots of time schlepping around in cars.
Come on down for a visit and see for yourself. Hope you like it! (Strongly recommend starting with Capitol Hill for a truly "DC" experience.) |
Anonymous
That's nonsense -- all in-bounds kids get into Eaton, Murch, and Hearst for pre-K, and practically all (if not all) at Mann, Lafayette, and Janney. Most English-dominant pre-Kers do *not* get into Oyster -- it's the only "crap shoot" of the bunch. And OP mentioned two years, not "a few." Wrong. We are in Lafayette's district and only 2/3 of the in-bounds kids get into preK. Exactly--we're in Janney and last year the in boundary acceptance rate for pre-K was <50% if you didn't already have a sibling in the school. |
Anonymous
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Don't forget, there are also public charter pre-schools. Unlike at, say, Bright Horizons they are all certified, degreed teachers and will save you well over $10K per year.
Have a look at Appletree and Bridges. Be advised that you will need to call these schools and talk about how to get into their lotteries (that is also the case with DCPS schools as well). Lotteries are held in the spring so it's good that you're asking these questions now! |
Anonymous
| Will you be working in the city? If so, you may want to consider the DC JCC and School for Friends preschools. Both are full-day programs that take 2 and 4 year olds and are located close to downtown. |
Anonymous
| Second the suggestion to call Appletree and Bridges. They are both great schools! You have the same chance in the lottery as anyone else - the upper NW DCPS Pre-Ks are good too, but you can't take it for granted that you'll get in even in-boundary. |
Anonymous
| The Janney and Lafayette numbers mentioned on this board reflect initial lottery results, not the kids who actually were seated for class in August (regardless of whether they were waitlisted in March). I'm pretty sure all in-bounds pre-K kids got seats at Lafayette this year, and all but maybe one or two at Janney. |