What's your plan if you don't get into a good charter?

[Anonymous]

OP, are you on neighborhood email lists or facebook groups? That's the best way to find out about school stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're hoping for a good draw in the lottery but in the meantime bought a nice house in an excellent school district as a backup/move there for middle school.

Gotta ask: if you're so well off that you can afford to buy two houses in the District of Columbia in the last several years (really?) ... why cannot you afford tuition at an excellent DC preschool and then independent?

Your monthly nut x 2 is, what, $10,000 every month?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're hoping for a good draw in the lottery but in the meantime bought a nice house in an excellent school district as a backup/move there for middle school.

Gotta ask: if you're so well off that you can afford to buy two houses in the District of Columbia in the last several years (really?) ... why cannot you afford tuition at an excellent DC preschool and then independent?

Your monthly nut x 2 is, what, $10,000 every month?

No kidding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in NE DC and really love our neighborhood, but our in boundary school is terrible and won't improve enough for us to even consider sending our DC when she turns five (she is 18 months right now). I periodically "freak out" a little when I think about the school situation and whether we made a mistake moving to NE and instead should have pushed our budget to be in a good in boundary school in upper NW or should have sucked it up and moved to VA (which my DH would hate).

Does anyone else have these freak out moments? What do others plan to do if they don't get into a good charter? Private school? Move to the suburbs? Try to find a "walkable" area with good schools in MD or VA?

To be totally honest, you should just cut your losses and move. If you are the type of person to be worried about middle school already, and periodically 'freak out,' and are so scared of your neighbors' toddlers that you won't even consider sending your daughter to school with them ...

OP here - this is insulting to say that I am "scared" of my neighbors toddlers that I wont send my child to school with them. I WANT my local schools to be great and I WANT my child to go to a diverse school with people of mixed SES. However, that ideal does not always match up with reality.

spare me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a warning: getting into a good charter doesn't mean you can simply rest easy; you may still have to re-evaluate from time to time. My friend is at a HRCS that they were thrilled with the first couple of years. However, this family recently decided to pull their kids out, as the school was no longer meeting their needs academically. They'll be in private this fall.

NP. This. Every HRCS isn't for every kid, particularly in the higher Elementary grades. Pulled our 5th grader out of one this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the people who are like, 'oh, you'll be fine!' Listen - I live in NE and we lost the charter lottery many, many times. Ended up at Tyler for two years, which was a NIGHTMARE. Now homeschooling for a year while we prepare for a move to MoCo.

It's very unusual to strike out this badly. Everyone I know got into somewhere acceptable by K.

OP, I know it sucks to pay for private preschool, but that's what people in lots of other places have to do. I wouldn't pull up and leave a home and neighborhood you like over just one or two years of private. Start saving now if you're that concerned.

Everyone's got a story. Absolutely none of my friends (about 10) who played the lottery this year got in anywhere acceptable. And the chances of getting in after PK3 are far less. I don't know where this attitude of "you'll get in somewhere" comes from because I have only seen that very infrequently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the people who are like, 'oh, you'll be fine!' Listen - I live in NE and we lost the charter lottery many, many times. Ended up at Tyler for two years, which was a NIGHTMARE. Now homeschooling for a year while we prepare for a move to MoCo.

Tyler Traditional or Spanish Immersion? Which grades? Really, a nightmare? I know lots of people who like the SI program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the people who are like, 'oh, you'll be fine!' Listen - I live in NE and we lost the charter lottery many, many times. Ended up at Tyler for two years, which was a NIGHTMARE. Now homeschooling for a year while we prepare for a move to MoCo.

It's very unusual to strike out this badly. Everyone I know got into somewhere acceptable by K.

OP, I know it sucks to pay for private preschool, but that's what people in lots of other places have to do. I wouldn't pull up and leave a home and neighborhood you like over just one or two years of private. Start saving now if you're that concerned.

Everyone's got a story. Absolutely none of my friends (about 10) who played the lottery this year got in anywhere acceptable. And the chances of getting in after PK3 are far less. I don't know where this attitude of "you'll get in somewhere" comes from because I have only seen that very infrequently.

Don't believe this until I see all ten of their list of 12 they consider "acceptable"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the people who are like, 'oh, you'll be fine!' Listen - I live in NE and we lost the charter lottery many, many times. Ended up at Tyler for two years, which was a NIGHTMARE. Now homeschooling for a year while we prepare for a move to MoCo.

It's very unusual to strike out this badly. Everyone I know got into somewhere acceptable by K.

OP, I know it sucks to pay for private preschool, but that's what people in lots of other places have to do. I wouldn't pull up and leave a home and neighborhood you like over just one or two years of private. Start saving now if you're that concerned.

Everyone's got a story. Absolutely none of my friends (about 10) who played the lottery this year got in anywhere acceptable. And the chances of getting in after PK3 are far less. I don't know where this attitude of "you'll get in somewhere" comes from because I have only seen that very infrequently.

Don't believe this until I see all ten of their list of 12 they consider "acceptable"

+1. Some people are unreasonable, or fail to create a strategic list.

Look, you cannot have your "affordable" rowhouse, walkable neighborhood, proximity to downtown, and eat your suburban school district cake too. The iffy school is the reason you could afford your home! People act so put-upon, but these things are connected.

We got lucky-- at the time we bought in Edgewood, the school was pretty questionable. Didn't have kids then. Now that we have a child almost age, the school is ok, and every year we can try for a charter, and flip the house in a few years if we have to. Our gamble paid off. OP, you are also in the sweet spot to win here. You have the benefit of a lower housing cost because of Noyes having issues. But you'll probably be able to get into another school that's ok, and maybe a charter that's great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the people who are like, 'oh, you'll be fine!' Listen - I live in NE and we lost the charter lottery many, many times. Ended up at Tyler for two years, which was a NIGHTMARE. Now homeschooling for a year while we prepare for a move to MoCo.

It's very unusual to strike out this badly. Everyone I know got into somewhere acceptable by K.

OP, I know it sucks to pay for private preschool, but that's what people in lots of other places have to do. I wouldn't pull up and leave a home and neighborhood you like over just one or two years of private. Start saving now if you're that concerned.

If PP doesn't even consider any of the schools she can likely get into acceptable for PK, how are things going to look beyond that? I suppose you assume that she should plan on potentially paying for private preschool while continuing to play the lottery and getting really lucky by K, but if her demands are so high she can't even find a PK program with a decent chance to lottery into (there are still some true "safeties" available that are perfectly acceptable for PK IMO), she should know that she will likely move after that or pay for private for much more than one or two years. It is very possible to strike out three times in a row when it comes to the really desirable schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the people who are like, 'oh, you'll be fine!' Listen - I live in NE and we lost the charter lottery many, many times. Ended up at Tyler for two years, which was a NIGHTMARE. Now homeschooling for a year while we prepare for a move to MoCo.

It's very unusual to strike out this badly. Everyone I know got into somewhere acceptable by K.

OP, I know it sucks to pay for private preschool, but that's what people in lots of other places have to do. I wouldn't pull up and leave a home and neighborhood you like over just one or two years of private. Start saving now if you're that concerned.

If PP doesn't even consider any of the schools she can likely get into acceptable for PK, how are things going to look beyond that? I suppose you assume that she should plan on potentially paying for private preschool while continuing to play the lottery and getting really lucky by K, but if her demands are so high she can't even find a PK program with a decent chance to lottery into (there are still some true "safeties" available that are perfectly acceptable for PK IMO), she should know that she will likely move after that or pay for private for much more than one or two years. It is very possible to strike out three times in a row when it comes to the really desirable schools.

PP here, sorry meant "If OP doesn't even...".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the people who are like, 'oh, you'll be fine!' Listen - I live in NE and we lost the charter lottery many, many times. Ended up at Tyler for two years, which was a NIGHTMARE. Now homeschooling for a year while we prepare for a move to MoCo.

It's very unusual to strike out this badly. Everyone I know got into somewhere acceptable by K.

OP, I know it sucks to pay for private preschool, but that's what people in lots of other places have to do. I wouldn't pull up and leave a home and neighborhood you like over just one or two years of private. Start saving now if you're that concerned.

If PP doesn't even consider any of the schools she can likely get into acceptable for PK, how are things going to look beyond that? I suppose you assume that she should plan on potentially paying for private preschool while continuing to play the lottery and getting really lucky by K, but if her demands are so high she can't even find a PK program with a decent chance to lottery into (there are still some true "safeties" available that are perfectly acceptable for PK IMO), she should know that she will likely move after that or pay for private for much more than one or two years. It is very possible to strike out three times in a row when it comes to the really desirable schools.

PP here, sorry meant "If OP doesn't even...".

If she stays and pays for preschool, she might get lucky. If she moves to the burbs, she'll have to pay for preschool anyway. So why not stay and hope for the best? She's paying for preschool either way. If OP has another kid, she could get sibling preference for K or 1st.

[Anonymous]

OP, has anyone told you to ignore the test scores? They only test the older kids and you will be long gone by then. Focus on the preschool program and quality of teaching and leadership. Test scores don't matter in this situation.

[Anonymous]

There are also affordable Catholic alternatives in NE, as a back-up: Scrill School (preschool) and St. Anthony (Pk3-8).
Again, I know its not for everyone...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the people who are like, 'oh, you'll be fine!' Listen - I live in NE and we lost the charter lottery many, many times. Ended up at Tyler for two years, which was a NIGHTMARE. Now homeschooling for a year while we prepare for a move to MoCo.

It's very unusual to strike out this badly. Everyone I know got into somewhere acceptable by K.

OP, I know it sucks to pay for private preschool, but that's what people in lots of other places have to do. I wouldn't pull up and leave a home and neighborhood you like over just one or two years of private. Start saving now if you're that concerned.

Everyone's got a story. Absolutely none of my friends (about 10) who played the lottery this year got in anywhere acceptable. And the chances of getting in after PK3 are far less. I don't know where this attitude of "you'll get in somewhere" comes from because I have only seen that very infrequently.

Don't believe this until I see all ten of their list of 12 they consider "acceptable"

+1. Some people are unreasonable, or fail to create a strategic list.

Look, you cannot have your "affordable" rowhouse, walkable neighborhood, proximity to downtown, and eat your suburban school district cake too. The iffy school is the reason you could afford your home! People act so put-upon, but these things are connected.

We got lucky-- at the time we bought in Edgewood, the school was pretty questionable. Didn't have kids then. Now that we have a child almost age, the school is ok, and every year we can try for a charter, and flip the house in a few years if we have to. Our gamble paid off. OP, you are also in the sweet spot to win here. You have the benefit of a lower housing cost because of Noyes having issues. But you'll probably be able to get into another school that's ok, and maybe a charter that's great.

This. And I would absolutely consider Noyes for PK if I didn't get in anywhere better. Most DCPS PK will be ok. It's beyond PK that you have to worry.