9th grade student moving to area. What's the best way to find a good school?

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine is moving to the area and will be staying with me until she gets established with job, etc. She has a DD who will be entering 9th grade. The DD is very smart. Selected for Duke TIP, Honor roll (Straight A's for all of MS), and scored perfect on TX Standardized test. I live in Ward 5 so public school is out of the question. At this late stage all the good schools are already filled. What would be a good last option school? BASIS would be perfect for her, but they have a waitlist of 25 and Latins' WL is outrageous. She cannot afford private. Any suggestions? TIA.

[Anonymous]

Can she move inbounds for Wilson? That's probably the best option for her situation.

[Anonymous]

Tell her to move to MoCo or Fairfax...

[Anonymous]

OP here. I'm looking at worse case scenario in the event she does not find a job before school starts. Don't want her to still be sitting in my house submitting resumes when school starts and we made no plans for the DD. She has NO money to even get started here in the area which is why she is staying with me.

[Anonymous]

If she has a great academic record and no money, she should talk to the privates, they may be able to get her in on scholarship.

[Anonymous]

I suspect if you stay on top of Basis, she can get in there sometime in September. Add her to the OOB waitlist of Eastern. Also, add her to the waitlist at Capital City. I might also go straight to the principal of McKinley Tech with her grades. Actually, I'd email all of these principals with her story and a copy of her grades. Sometimes, they can make magic happen. (When we moved back here a couple of years ago, I hit the jackpot emailing the principals).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she has a great academic record and no money, she should talk to the privates, they may be able to get her in on scholarship.

OK, thanks. I'll post on the private board and see which schools to try first.

[Anonymous]

Is she a minority? Catholic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suspect if you stay on top of Basis, she can get in there sometime in September. Add her to the OOB waitlist of Eastern. Also, add her to the waitlist at Capital City. I might also go straight to the principal of McKinley Tech with her grades. Actually, I'd email all of these principals with her story and a copy of her grades. Sometimes, they can make magic happen. (When we moved back here a couple of years ago, I hit the jackpot emailing the principals).

OP here. Great ideas. She is coming tomorrow night, so Monday I will go with her to the various schools and submit applications. Not sure if her mom got a copy of her grades before she moved from TX, but we will definitely call to get them sent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is she a minority? Catholic?

Christian, not Catholic. She is biracial (white/black). Her mom (white) doesn't like it when I call the child black, but I'm sure if she can be classified as a minority, she won't mind the category too much.

[Anonymous]

Yes, being black will help. Defn mention this to private schools

[Anonymous]

If you are ward 5 - Bishop Carroll may be an option and possibly Elizabeth Seton. Both Catholic but good options. Also it would not be difficult to get into McKinley or Banneker. Both of those schools are doing ok so if she has initiative she will do well. Frankly if your friend is that poor she may not have options and just needs to make some things work.

[Anonymous]

Yes, check out Banneker, it is a magnet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she has a great academic record and no money, she should talk to the privates, they may be able to get her in on scholarship.

OK, thanks. I'll post on the private board and see which schools to try first.

Not at this late date, no. The $$ is already all given out for this year.

[Anonymous]

Don't worry! In DCPS, if 9th grade doesn't work out the first time, you can do it again!