Ranking Mundo Verde & DC Bilingual for lottery (pre-K3)

[Anonymous]

I'm a parent of a rising preK-3 child, and we're applying to several DC charter schools - mainly the Spanish bilingual/immersion ones (Mundo Verde, LAMB, DC Bilingual), plus Creative Minds. LAMB and Creative Minds are doing their own lottery this year, so Mundo Verde and DC Bilingual are our only common lottery picks. I'm feeling torn about which one to rank first, especially since I'm assuming there's no chance we'll get into our second choice (and little chance of getting into our first!).

I've been to open houses for both and was impressed with both of them for different reasons. I know that Mundo Verde is moving for the fall, which is a bit of a strike against them in terms of location, though I imagine the new building & grounds will be great. And we've talked to people who have kids there and are very enthusiastic. My first impressions of DC Bilingual weren't as great in terms of the physical space, but I left the open house *extremely* impressed by the program, including the arts integration. And Columbia Heights is ever so slightly more convenient. (Full disclosure: I'll be coming from Chevy Chase DC.) Plus, it seemed that there *might* be more spots open at DC Bilingual for pre-K3; it sounds like more sibling spots might be taken up at MV, though I'm not sure exactly why that would be the case.

Any thoughts/advice/feedback about the schools, the locations, anticipated changes, where there are more likely to be open spots, etc.?

Many thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

I think that your chances of getting into DCB are a lot slimmer than you think. They only have one PK3 class, with 20-22 students, and that includes siblings. Also, there will be many more applicants this year because of the DCI feed.

[Anonymous]

OP here: I thought DCB said at the open house that they're doing two PK3 classes, for a total of 40 spots. Maybe that's a change for next year? Or did I just misunderstand...?

[Anonymous]

I'm confused why you say "there's no chance you'll get into your second choice (and little chance of getting into your first)". The ranking doesn't affect your chances?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I thought DCB said at the open house that they're doing two PK3 classes, for a total of 40 spots. Maybe that's a change for next year? Or did I just misunderstand...?

They have 1 PK3 class and 1 PK4 class. When they move (not next year), they would like to have 2 of each.

[Anonymous]

Don't worry about your chances in terms of the order of ranking. Which do you prefer? For me, that is an easy call, but you may differ.

[Anonymous]

I also liked both, but they are very different schools. If you are driving, I would think DCB would be MUCH better, especially once they move (as they are looking to move to move for the year after next, likely to wards 1 and 4). I think driving to MV would be absolutely awful, especially based on prior threads. Proximity though is extremely important to me, and it might not be as important to you.

[Anonymous]

OP here: Really confused now. Just looked back at my notes, and they definitely reflect the principal saying (multiple times, I think, and in response to questions about # of slots) that there were or would be 2 preK3 classes, with 20 spaces each. But maybe there was just a miscommunication. On phone now trying to get more info - will post if I learn more....

In terms of the ranking and available number of spaces, my assumption is that the available slots will fill up with people who have ranked that school first (especially in the case of these schools, which are likely to be pretty highly sought after). Meaning that there just won't be slots left for anyone who ranked it less than first.

[Anonymous]

OP here: Just FYI, just talked to someone at DCB, who confirmed that they have two preK3 classes.

As for preference... I think probably DCB, but I'm torn, especially since I've talked to parents at MV (but only a few) and none at DCB, so I feel like my insight from going to an open house is fairly limited.

[Anonymous]

That is really weird, because at the first open house, they definitely said there was only 1 PK3 class and that wouldn't change until they move. They are bursting from the seams already.

[Anonymous]

Huh. I have no idea what's up with that. It's hard to imagine they changed their minds between the two open houses, especially since the woman just said to me on the phone that they have two preK-3 classes *now*! And I asked again just to be sure I was hearing right. Any DCB parents have any extra intel...?

[Anonymous]

OP, I don't think that's correct about the ranking. Whether or not other people rank a school #1 does not affect your own results. Or rather, they don't take all the "1s" first, then move on down to "2s". You could rank it one, but someone who got luckier than you (i.e. had a better lottery number than you) could rank it 12 and get in, because all other 11 choices were full. You should just rank in order of your preference, then let the cards fall.

[Anonymous]

That's weird, because the PK4 class that we saw--which is apparently the same set-up as the PK3 class in the annex--is set up in a weird way where the English is in one corner and the Spanish on the opposite side, and then the kids switch within the same room. They said that if they had two classrooms, the kids would be able to switch between classrooms. I'm hoping I have it totally wrong, because it would be great news if they had two PK3 classes next year!

[Anonymous]

Now I'm thinking that I just misunderstood at the first open house. This didn't come from the principal, who didn't go over that and just said "we don't know" when we asked. It came from our tour guide, and he was not a PK teacher and didn't know much about the PK program, so it might be that he was confused or gave misinformation. Sorry that I confused everyone. Even if they have 40 spots, I assume quite a few will go to sibs. OP, assume you have a back-up plan if you don't get into any of the charters you listed, given that the're all popular and have lots of sibs that automatically get spots?

[Anonymous]

Ah - if that's true about the rankings, that's very good to know. As for the classrooms, the person who led our open house described it exactly the opposite way! She said the PK-4 classes switch classrooms, whereas the PK-3 classes stay in the same classroom and the teachers/language of instruction switch. At least, I'm pretty sure I've got that right. This is baffling. Maybe I'll put up a separate post just with this question, to see if we can get some definitive clarification.