DCPS Open Houses

[Anonymous]

I am compiling a list of the charter and public school open houses that I'd like to attend to learn more about public school options for my DC who will be starting K next year. I have only founds a few, and was hoping that parents with kids in the school could fill in the blanks, and/or recommend PUBLIC schools in DC that they are having good experiences with. I have make the decision to be committed to public schools and am not applying to any privates...

School: Open House Date/Time
Capital City PCS
Two Rivers
EL Haynes
Yu Ying

John Eaton Tues Nov 18 9-11AM
Hyde (in Georgetown) Friday Nov 11 9-10:30
Oyster
Key

[Anonymous]

I am trying to be rude, but just call the schools...

[Anonymous]

LAMB was great for us...

[Anonymous]

And don't forget Janney and Murch

[Anonymous]

OP. Good for you for taking initiative. Don't worry. There's plenty of time. Many open houses are not scheduled yet and most won't have applications for next year ready yet. As pp mentioned, you may find it easier just to call the schools you listed since every school is different. Some charters are happy to let you visit during non-drop off/pick up hours.

Pretty much it all comes down to lotteries: the pull-from-a-hat kind at charters are typically around April and the DCPS computerized out-of-boundary (OOB is school-speak) lottery is usually Feb-March.

As you've probably noticed, test scores and AYP results can be a bit contentious/misleading/just plain frustrating, so you may want to use that as your last - not first - criteria. Just my 0.02

[Anonymous]

Yu YIng open house dates

Open Houses at 6pm on the following days -

December 3
January 13
February 5
March 2
Yu Ying, 4401 8th Street, NE, Washington DC 20017

[Anonymous]

I think you need to broaden (word?) your search. Those are among the most popular schools in the city (and Key does not take OOB lottery) and I think it is likely you will not get into any of those schools. A friend applied to 5 charters and 5 OOB schools last year and did not place anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to broaden (word?) your search. Those are among the most popular schools in the city (and Key does not take OOB lottery) and I think it is likely you will not get into any of those schools. A friend applied to 5 charters and 5 OOB schools last year and did not place anywhere.

K is also hard since most of these places filled up for preK already.

[Anonymous]

I think she will be OK. One additional school you might want to had to your search is the charter school Elsie Whitlow Stokes.

[Anonymous]

I applied to charters and OOB's, and got one of each, and they were both my favorite pick in each category......so you can have success.
But you will NEVER get into Key, or Janney. Better off trying schools that have a better chance

[Anonymous]

PP here. My only point is that it IS a lottery, so you have lottery-like chances and the more popular the school, the worse your odds are. At K for example, there may be 2 spots at Capital City PCS, and more than 100 applicants...so unless she likes those odds, she might consider opening her search a bit! Add to DCPS: Hearst, Ross, Murch, etc. Add to Charters: LAMB, CentroNia...

[Anonymous]

BTW, Hyde is officially a magnet program and doesn't participate in the DCPS lottery. You have to go directly through the school. I have a vague memory that it may not be for all grades, just the early ones. Best to check directly.

FROM DCPS website:

Note on Specialized Schools Programs, and Academies:

Schools, programs and academies such as McKinley Technology High School, School Without Walls, Oyster Bilingual ES, Health and Human Services Academy at Eastern SHS, Hyde ES Reading and Writing Project Program etc) do not participate in the out-of-boundary process. Please contact the school directly for more information.

[Anonymous]

You can also go through DCPS--we did and got a spot at Hyde this year for preK. We had been 30 something on the list and got the spot in September in case anyone's interested. Turned it down though.

[Anonymous]

2 Rivers is hosting an open house on Thurs., Nov 20 at 9:00 a.m., and again on Wed., Dec 10 at 9:00 a.m.

[Anonymous]

You might also check out Lafayette and the Capitol Hill cluster schools.

K is a tougher year than Pre-K, most schools in DC like to catch their students at the Pre-K level so by K those classes are pretty much filled with existing students.

& I think there are french & spanish immersion at Shephard.