Public/Charter School Lottery Experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still want OP to come back here and defend her decision not to use the same schools as her neighbors. What is so bad about the neighborhood where she chose to live and raise a family that she cannot even consider sending her child to school with the children in the neighborhood?

Defend. LOL.

More than 50 percent of students in the city have parents who have made the same choice. OP worded it in a way that is easy to pick on in a way that I know you wouldn't have the courage to do to many of the families that have reached the same conclusion.

OP admits she's having "severe anxiety" over where her child will attend preschool, has a list of demands that are very difficult to meet, and what appears to be a shortlist of only a handful of highly popular schools that she'll consider. OF COURSE she's getting picked on. She wants something she cannot afford, and that at least 75% of the parents on this board cannot afford, which is an easy, convenient, sure bet of a free preschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still want OP to come back here and defend her decision not to use the same schools as her neighbors. What is so bad about the neighborhood where she chose to live and raise a family that she cannot even consider sending her child to school with the children in the neighborhood?

Defend. LOL.

More than 50 percent of students in the city have parents who have made the same choice. OP worded it in a way that is easy to pick on in a way that I know you wouldn't have the courage to do to many of the families that have reached the same conclusion.

This is incorrect. 50% of parents have chosen a charter rather than the IB school, but only a (much smaller?) subset of parents would not send their children to the IB under any circumstances, as the OP is suggesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still want OP to come back here and defend her decision not to use the same schools as her neighbors. What is so bad about the neighborhood where she chose to live and raise a family that she cannot even consider sending her child to school with the children in the neighborhood?

Defend. LOL.

More than 50 percent of students in the city have parents who have made the same choice. OP worded it in a way that is easy to pick on in a way that I know you wouldn't have the courage to do to many of the families that have reached the same conclusion.

OP admits she's having "severe anxiety" over where her child will attend preschool, has a list of demands that are very difficult to meet, and what appears to be a shortlist of only a handful of highly popular schools that she'll consider. OF COURSE she's getting picked on. She wants something she cannot afford, and that at least 75% of the parents on this board cannot afford, which is an easy, convenient, sure bet of a free preschool.

Just to be clear, it has gone beyond "afford" at this point. Even at the "good" schools, most ECE spots are taken by siblings. Even those that can afford a "good" school still need luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still want OP to come back here and defend her decision not to use the same schools as her neighbors. What is so bad about the neighborhood where she chose to live and raise a family that she cannot even consider sending her child to school with the children in the neighborhood?

Defend. LOL.

More than 50 percent of students in the city have parents who have made the same choice. OP worded it in a way that is easy to pick on in a way that I know you wouldn't have the courage to do to many of the families that have reached the same conclusion.

This is incorrect. 50% of parents have chosen a charter rather than the IB school, but only a (much smaller?) subset of parents would not send their children to the IB under any circumstances, as the OP is suggesting.

And, of course, there are charters in my area that I woulf not send a child to under any circumstances.

[Anonymous]

G,

Welcome to dcum where almost everyone is rude as hell for no reason. I’m sorry you have already been attacked for no reason.

Also, don’t listen to most of these posters. If you strategize you CAN indeed get into a good diverse school. I just moved to dc and this is my first year in the lottery for my daughter who is attending Yu Ying. A good school that is diverse is what I was hoping for, and it worked out. Someone has to get into these good schools and your chances are just as good as anyone else’s.

My strategy was to really do thorough research, choose around 8 schools that I really felt very comfortable with, 2-3 safety schools that I would feel comfortable with my daughter going to just in case, then to list my inbound school last. Remember early education is usually pretty good everywhere, so you’ll have some time if you don’t get the best number next year. You can also participate in Lamb’s lottery and they tend to go pretty deep into their prek3 waitlists.

Don’t stress it because you’ll be fine. And please only take what some of these posters here on dcum say with a grain of salt. Many of them are miserable who purposely steer people in the wrong direction. Good luck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:G,

Welcome to dcum where almost everyone is rude as hell for no reason. I’m sorry you have already been attacked for no reason.

Also, don’t listen to most of these posters. If you strategize you CAN indeed get into a good diverse school. I just moved to dc and this is my first year in the lottery for my daughter who is attending Yu Ying. A good school that is diverse is what I was hoping for, and it worked out. Someone has to get into these good schools and your chances are just as good as anyone else’s.

My strategy was to really do thorough research, choose around 8 schools that I really felt very comfortable with, 2-3 safety schools that I would feel comfortable with my daughter going to just in case, then to list my inbound school last. Remember early education is usually pretty good everywhere, so you’ll have some time if you don’t get the best number next year. You can also participate in Lamb’s lottery and they tend to go pretty deep into their prek3 waitlists.

Don’t stress it because you’ll be fine. And please only take what some of these posters here on dcum say with a grain of salt. Many of them are miserable who purposely steer people in the wrong direction. Good luck

What percentage of kids at Yu Ying are at-risk?


OP should understand that PP had extremely good lottery luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still want OP to come back here and defend her decision not to use the same schools as her neighbors. What is so bad about the neighborhood where she chose to live and raise a family that she cannot even consider sending her child to school with the children in the neighborhood?

To be fair, a lot of the problems with DCPS are because of the adults, not the kids. If someone is not happy with the faculty or leadership, that is an okay reason to me.

I'd agree if by adults you meant the parents. You can't place the primary blame on the staff at the low performing schools, most of whom are working very hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:G,

Welcome to dcum where almost everyone is rude as hell for no reason. I’m sorry you have already been attacked for no reason.

Also, don’t listen to most of these posters. If you strategize you CAN indeed get into a good diverse school. I just moved to dc and this is my first year in the lottery for my daughter who is attending Yu Ying. A good school that is diverse is what I was hoping for, and it worked out. Someone has to get into these good schools and your chances are just as good as anyone else’s.

My strategy was to really do thorough research, choose around 8 schools that I really felt very comfortable with, 2-3 safety schools that I would feel comfortable with my daughter going to just in case, then to list my inbound school last. Remember early education is usually pretty good everywhere, so you’ll have some time if you don’t get the best number next year. You can also participate in Lamb’s lottery and they tend to go pretty deep into their prek3 waitlists.

Don’t stress it because you’ll be fine. And please only take what some of these posters here on dcum say with a grain of salt. Many of them are miserable who purposely steer people in the wrong direction. Good luck

You were fortunate in the lottery. The chances of OP getting all of her wants in the lottery are slim. Those are just the numbers. If she doesn't put her IB on the list - and that's her floor, getting in anywhere will be a long-shot.

Also, OP wasn't attacked for no reason but because of her unrealistic expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still want OP to come back here and defend her decision not to use the same schools as her neighbors. What is so bad about the neighborhood where she chose to live and raise a family that she cannot even consider sending her child to school with the children in the neighborhood?

To be fair, a lot of the problems with DCPS are because of the adults, not the kids. If someone is not happy with the faculty or leadership, that is an okay reason to me.

I'd agree if by adults you meant the parents. You can't place the primary blame on the staff at the low performing schools, most of whom are working very hard.

Some of the staff are very good. Others very not. Downtown is a hot mess too. Have spring semester report cards even been mailed yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still want OP to come back here and defend her decision not to use the same schools as her neighbors. What is so bad about the neighborhood where she chose to live and raise a family that she cannot even consider sending her child to school with the children in the neighborhood?

To be fair, a lot of the problems with DCPS are because of the adults, not the kids. If someone is not happy with the faculty or leadership, that is an okay reason to me.

I'd agree if by adults you meant the parents. You can't place the primary blame on the staff at the low performing schools, most of whom are working very hard.

Can't really blame parents for what happened at Cleveland and Miner in recent years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:G,

Welcome to dcum where almost everyone is rude as hell for no reason. I’m sorry you have already been attacked for no reason.

Also, don’t listen to most of these posters. If you strategize you CAN indeed get into a good diverse school. I just moved to dc and this is my first year in the lottery for my daughter who is attending Yu Ying. A good school that is diverse is what I was hoping for, and it worked out. Someone has to get into these good schools and your chances are just as good as anyone else’s.

My strategy was to really do thorough research, choose around 8 schools that I really felt very comfortable with, 2-3 safety schools that I would feel comfortable with my daughter going to just in case, then to list my inbound school last. Remember early education is usually pretty good everywhere, so you’ll have some time if you don’t get the best number next year. You can also participate in Lamb’s lottery and they tend to go pretty deep into their prek3 waitlists.

Don’t stress it because you’ll be fine. And please only take what some of these posters here on dcum say with a grain of salt. Many of them are miserable who purposely steer people in the wrong direction. Good luck

You were fortunate in the lottery. The chances of OP getting all of her wants in the lottery are slim. Those are just the numbers. If she doesn't put her IB on the list - and that's her floor, getting in anywhere will be a long-shot.

Also, OP wasn't attacked for no reason but because of her unrealistic expectations.

Unrealistic expectations are not a reason to attack a person. She said she’s new to this, and needs guidance. She said nothing that warranted people being rude to her. You are all just rude and it needs to stop

[Anonymous]

To the original poster, I too had severe anxiety about the process. There are a few nuggets of sound advice nestled in with all previous bickering. 1) Check out a map and see what is near you in terms of charters if you don't like your in bound school; 2) Visit the ones that interest you. You will get the best idea of a school in person. Test scores may matter less to you once you do this. 3) Visit a few (maybe even your in bound) that don't interest you. You may be surprised. 4) Check out all the tableau data on MSDC to be sure you aren't trying to shoot the moon with an unrealistic list on lottery night. Break your list into 3 parts: hard to get in, a little less popular and safeties. Rank them using the knowledge gained from your visits. 5) Cross your fingers. The first year is the worst, but in the end it will end up OK one way or another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:G,

Welcome to dcum where almost everyone is rude as hell for no reason. I’m sorry you have already been attacked for no reason.

Also, don’t listen to most of these posters. If you strategize you CAN indeed get into a good diverse school. I just moved to dc and this is my first year in the lottery for my daughter who is attending Yu Ying. A good school that is diverse is what I was hoping for, and it worked out. Someone has to get into these good schools and your chances are just as good as anyone else’s.

My strategy was to really do thorough research, choose around 8 schools that I really felt very comfortable with, 2-3 safety schools that I would feel comfortable with my daughter going to just in case, then to list my inbound school last. Remember early education is usually pretty good everywhere, so you’ll have some time if you don’t get the best number next year. You can also participate in Lamb’s lottery and they tend to go pretty deep into their prek3 waitlists.

Don’t stress it because you’ll be fine. And please only take what some of these posters here on dcum say with a grain of salt. Many of them are miserable who purposely steer people in the wrong direction. Good luck

You were fortunate in the lottery. The chances of OP getting all of her wants in the lottery are slim. Those are just the numbers. If she doesn't put her IB on the list - and that's her floor, getting in anywhere will be a long-shot.

Also, OP wasn't attacked for no reason but because of her unrealistic expectations.

What part of me saying that I am new to this did you not understand? I didn't know that my expectations were "unrealistic".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:G,

Welcome to dcum where almost everyone is rude as hell for no reason. I’m sorry you have already been attacked for no reason.

Also, don’t listen to most of these posters. If you strategize you CAN indeed get into a good diverse school. I just moved to dc and this is my first year in the lottery for my daughter who is attending Yu Ying. A good school that is diverse is what I was hoping for, and it worked out. Someone has to get into these good schools and your chances are just as good as anyone else’s.

My strategy was to really do thorough research, choose around 8 schools that I really felt very comfortable with, 2-3 safety schools that I would feel comfortable with my daughter going to just in case, then to list my inbound school last. Remember early education is usually pretty good everywhere, so you’ll have some time if you don’t get the best number next year. You can also participate in Lamb’s lottery and they tend to go pretty deep into their prek3 waitlists.

Don’t stress it because you’ll be fine. And please only take what some of these posters here on dcum say with a grain of salt. Many of them are miserable who purposely steer people in the wrong direction. Good luck

Thanks for the warm welcome, LOL. If possible, please tell me where you did your research. I'm not sure if the information that I am finding is accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:G,

Welcome to dcum where almost everyone is rude as hell for no reason. I’m sorry you have already been attacked for no reason.

Also, don’t listen to most of these posters. If you strategize you CAN indeed get into a good diverse school. I just moved to dc and this is my first year in the lottery for my daughter who is attending Yu Ying. A good school that is diverse is what I was hoping for, and it worked out. Someone has to get into these good schools and your chances are just as good as anyone else’s.

My strategy was to really do thorough research, choose around 8 schools that I really felt very comfortable with, 2-3 safety schools that I would feel comfortable with my daughter going to just in case, then to list my inbound school last. Remember early education is usually pretty good everywhere, so you’ll have some time if you don’t get the best number next year. You can also participate in Lamb’s lottery and they tend to go pretty deep into their prek3 waitlists.

Don’t stress it because you’ll be fine. And please only take what some of these posters here on dcum say with a grain of salt. Many of them are miserable who purposely steer people in the wrong direction. Good luck

Thanks for the warm welcome, LOL. If possible, please tell me where you did your research. I'm not sure if the information that I am finding is accurate.

Sure. Most importantly you want to narrow down how far you want to drive for your commute to getting your kid to school. I’m assuming you want to have your kid go to a school in your ward or at least a ward near you. You can start on myschooldc. Once you’ve determined those schools in proximity to where you’re willing to drive, then decide if you want a more traditional setting, Montessori, language immersion, etc.

Once you’ve got more of a sense of the things above then you’re going to want to start doing a bit more research into school diversity, teacher retention, PARCC scores, and any other tidbits that are important to you. Reach out to the schools directly to see if they will allow you to tour the schools. I literally went on 9 school tours and ward fairs. These are what really gave me a better sense of the schools when I was able to speak to the teachers and administrators. It really is a long arduous process that takes months, but you’re doing the right thing by starting now.

But again, just be careful with the advice you take from dcum