Critic our rankings and chances of getting in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you like Whittier, I would keep it on the list. I am pretty sure OOB kids were offered WL spots for preK this year.

If you like DCB, don't leave it off just because you think "it's a non-starter". Some years they have 3 preK3 classes and most years some kids get in without siblings, even if not a lot.

They are out of space to add another Pre-k 3 class, which is how they've dealt with siblings on the waitlist in the past. There are no more classrooms to expand into, so unless demand goes down, non-preference spots are not going to open up.

Also, I am not sure which of the older grades (other than 1st) has a bump but I think there is one (so maybe 4th or 5th has 3 classes). When that group graduates, there will be room for a larger preK3 class.

[Anonymous]

OP not to be “that” poster but it’s “critique” not critic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is all good advice but a lot of it boils down to: if you are probably not going to stay somewhere past PK years, then you may as well go to your in bound. I think people like it this year. We were scared away from Bunker and the other DCPS in the neighborhood, but now I'm more aware that people are dissatisfied with a lot of charters beyond PK-K years as well. Those include: SSMA, CMI, Bridges, maybe Sela, Breakthrough. So, if you're likely to want to trade up anyways, may as well walk to school for a couple of years first. In other words, charters are not always better!!! However there is one elephant in the room which is that our DCPS often has zero white kids and probably zero gentrifiers. And by zero I really do mean zero.

We know at least one white family that is having a good pk3 experience at Bunker Hill and heading back next year.

Black and Latino families are also having a good PreK3 experience at Bunker Hill and heading back next year.

Yikes PP didn’t even try to be coded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is all good advice but a lot of it boils down to: if you are probably not going to stay somewhere past PK years, then you may as well go to your in bound. I think people like it this year. We were scared away from Bunker and the other DCPS in the neighborhood, but now I'm more aware that people are dissatisfied with a lot of charters beyond PK-K years as well. Those include: SSMA, CMI, Bridges, maybe Sela, Breakthrough. So, if you're likely to want to trade up anyways, may as well walk to school for a couple of years first. In other words, charters are not always better!!! However there is one elephant in the room which is that our DCPS often has zero white kids and probably zero gentrifiers. And by zero I really do mean zero.

We know at least one white family that is having a good pk3 experience at Bunker Hill and heading back next year.

Black and Latino families are also having a good PreK3 experience at Bunker Hill and heading back next year.

Yikes PP didn’t even try to be coded.

I think they were just saying there aren’t zero whites families.

[Anonymous]

Lots of families and kids like and choose to stay at Bunker Hill for all of Prk and beyond. It is a nice little school and particularly in Prk everyone will know your child by name and their personality. They had one of the highest score reviewed and ranked Prk teaching teams in the city. The Prk teachers are very good and they have a lot of extra supports being title 1 and early action. Not to mention the uniforms make Prk life so much easier. I think you will enjoy the school if you give it a chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you get a great master number you have a shot at some of these. If you have a crappy number you won’t.

Unless you have more than 12 schools you are willing to attend, I don’t subscribe to the wasted spot theory. Only put schools you would be willing to attend and rank in your true preference.

"Wasted" might be strong, but it feels a little pointless maybe to rank schools that haven't had spots for OOB kids in years. Even if OP had a master number of 1, they'd still be 60+ spots back on the wait list for LT, after the IB kids and kids with sibling preference. I think sometimes applicants think they increase their chances by using all 12 spots, but if the very best possible lottery draw won't get you into a school, you're not helping yourself by listing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is all good advice but a lot of it boils down to: if you are probably not going to stay somewhere past PK years, then you may as well go to your in bound. I think people like it this year. We were scared away from Bunker and the other DCPS in the neighborhood, but now I'm more aware that people are dissatisfied with a lot of charters beyond PK-K years as well. Those include: SSMA, CMI, Bridges, maybe Sela, Breakthrough. So, if you're likely to want to trade up anyways, may as well walk to school for a couple of years first. In other words, charters are not always better!!! However there is one elephant in the room which is that our DCPS often has zero white kids and probably zero gentrifiers. And by zero I really do mean zero.

We know at least one white family that is having a good pk3 experience at Bunker Hill and heading back next year.

Black and Latino families are also having a good PreK3 experience at Bunker Hill and heading back next year.

Yikes PP didn’t even try to be coded.

I think they were just saying there aren’t zero whites families.

I'm the PP who made the comment about knowing a white family having a good experience at Bunker Hill. I'm a white parent of a white kid having a great experience at another DCPS with very few other white kids. I'm not sure its actually that helpful for people to try and speak in code about race and schools. I'd much rather just tell other white families who are new to the experience of being a racial minority in a given space that we love our school, and our kid has friends and is thriving. They should give a school a chance even if the experience of being in the racial minority feels new to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is all good advice but a lot of it boils down to: if you are probably not going to stay somewhere past PK years, then you may as well go to your in bound. I think people like it this year. We were scared away from Bunker and the other DCPS in the neighborhood, but now I'm more aware that people are dissatisfied with a lot of charters beyond PK-K years as well. Those include: SSMA, CMI, Bridges, maybe Sela, Breakthrough. So, if you're likely to want to trade up anyways, may as well walk to school for a couple of years first. In other words, charters are not always better!!! However there is one elephant in the room which is that our DCPS often has zero white kids and probably zero gentrifiers. And by zero I really do mean zero.

I agree with this PP, except I think this is a little unfair. SSMA is going down in flames, CMI is falling steadily, Bridges is as stable as it's always been (fine to good for pre-k, weak after that), but I've heard nothing but really positive things about Sela and Breakthrough. Sela has amazing scores and is not competitive, and Breakthrough's scores are a little weak, but I think that's common for a Montessori at first since the methodology is so different.

I only included Sela and Breakthrough because I think parents do not tend to stay but look to lottery out for various reasons as the kids get older. I could be wrong.

Really? I hear Breakthrough parents saying the "done with the lottery now" stuff, but who knows whether that's just lip service and they're still secretly playing the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Creative Minds seems to be on a downward trajectory, I think it’s safe to assume it will be at least as easy to get in, probably easier.

We were very impressed with creative Minds at the open house this year. The outdoor space and specials offered there are fantastic as well. Our friends who are in K there say it’s on an upward trajectory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Creative Minds seems to be on a downward trajectory, I think it’s safe to assume it will be at least as easy to get in, probably easier.

We were very impressed with creative Minds at the open house this year. The outdoor space and specials offered there are fantastic as well. Our friends who are in K there say it’s on an upward trajectory.

I'm glad your friend is having a good experience, but the fact that they're almost clearing their waitlist for all grades indicates the majority of parents disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is all good advice but a lot of it boils down to: if you are probably not going to stay somewhere past PK years, then you may as well go to your in bound. I think people like it this year. We were scared away from Bunker and the other DCPS in the neighborhood, but now I'm more aware that people are dissatisfied with a lot of charters beyond PK-K years as well. Those include: SSMA, CMI, Bridges, maybe Sela, Breakthrough. So, if you're likely to want to trade up anyways, may as well walk to school for a couple of years first. In other words, charters are not always better!!! However there is one elephant in the room which is that our DCPS often has zero white kids and probably zero gentrifiers. And by zero I really do mean zero.

I agree with this PP, except I think this is a little unfair. SSMA is going down in flames, CMI is falling steadily, Bridges is as stable as it's always been (fine to good for pre-k, weak after that), but I've heard nothing but really positive things about Sela and Breakthrough. Sela has amazing scores and is not competitive, and Breakthrough's scores are a little weak, but I think that's common for a Montessori at first since the methodology is so different.

I only included Sela and Breakthrough because I think parents do not tend to stay but look to lottery out for various reasons as the kids get older. I could be wrong.

Sela has 80% retention - this is decent, actually.

Really? I hear Breakthrough parents saying the "done with the lottery now" stuff, but who knows whether that's just lip service and they're still secretly playing the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is all good advice but a lot of it boils down to: if you are probably not going to stay somewhere past PK years, then you may as well go to your in bound. I think people like it this year. We were scared away from Bunker and the other DCPS in the neighborhood, but now I'm more aware that people are dissatisfied with a lot of charters beyond PK-K years as well. Those include: SSMA, CMI, Bridges, maybe Sela, Breakthrough. So, if you're likely to want to trade up anyways, may as well walk to school for a couple of years first. In other words, charters are not always better!!! However there is one elephant in the room which is that our DCPS often has zero white kids and probably zero gentrifiers. And by zero I really do mean zero.

I agree with this PP, except I think this is a little unfair. SSMA is going down in flames, CMI is falling steadily, Bridges is as stable as it's always been (fine to good for pre-k, weak after that), but I've heard nothing but really positive things about Sela and Breakthrough. Sela has amazing scores and is not competitive, and Breakthrough's scores are a little weak, but I think that's common for a Montessori at first since the methodology is so different.

I only included Sela and Breakthrough because I think parents do not tend to stay but look to lottery out for various reasons as the kids get older. I could be wrong.

Really? I hear Breakthrough parents saying the "done with the lottery now" stuff, but who knows whether that's just lip service and they're still secretly playing the lottery.

Sela has 80% retention - this is decent, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is all good advice but a lot of it boils down to: if you are probably not going to stay somewhere past PK years, then you may as well go to your in bound. I think people like it this year. We were scared away from Bunker and the other DCPS in the neighborhood, but now I'm more aware that people are dissatisfied with a lot of charters beyond PK-K years as well. Those include: SSMA, CMI, Bridges, maybe Sela, Breakthrough. So, if you're likely to want to trade up anyways, may as well walk to school for a couple of years first. In other words, charters are not always better!!! However there is one elephant in the room which is that our DCPS often has zero white kids and probably zero gentrifiers. And by zero I really do mean zero.

I agree with this PP, except I think this is a little unfair. SSMA is going down in flames, CMI is falling steadily, Bridges is as stable as it's always been (fine to good for pre-k, weak after that), but I've heard nothing but really positive things about Sela and Breakthrough. Sela has amazing scores and is not competitive, and Breakthrough's scores are a little weak, but I think that's common for a Montessori at first since the methodology is so different.

I only included Sela and Breakthrough because I think parents do not tend to stay but look to lottery out for various reasons as the kids get older. I could be wrong.

Really? I hear Breakthrough parents saying the "done with the lottery now" stuff, but who knows whether that's just lip service and they're still secretly playing the lottery.

Sela has 80% retention - this is decent, actually.

For folks that aren't Spanish or bust and just want a "bilingual for the brain benefits" option, Sela is a hidden gem. It's our back pocket option if we are still not lottery winners by 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is all good advice but a lot of it boils down to: if you are probably not going to stay somewhere past PK years, then you may as well go to your in bound. I think people like it this year. We were scared away from Bunker and the other DCPS in the neighborhood, but now I'm more aware that people are dissatisfied with a lot of charters beyond PK-K years as well. Those include: SSMA, CMI, Bridges, maybe Sela, Breakthrough. So, if you're likely to want to trade up anyways, may as well walk to school for a couple of years first. In other words, charters are not always better!!! However there is one elephant in the room which is that our DCPS often has zero white kids and probably zero gentrifiers. And by zero I really do mean zero.

I agree with this PP, except I think this is a little unfair. SSMA is going down in flames, CMI is falling steadily, Bridges is as stable as it's always been (fine to good for pre-k, weak after that), but I've heard nothing but really positive things about Sela and Breakthrough. Sela has amazing scores and is not competitive, and Breakthrough's scores are a little weak, but I think that's common for a Montessori at first since the methodology is so different.

I only included Sela and Breakthrough because I think parents do not tend to stay but look to lottery out for various reasons as the kids get older. I could be wrong.

Really? I hear Breakthrough parents saying the "done with the lottery now" stuff, but who knows whether that's just lip service and they're still secretly playing the lottery.

Sela has 80% retention - this is decent, actually.

For folks that aren't Spanish or bust and just want a "bilingual for the brain benefits" option, Sela is a hidden gem. It's our back pocket option if we are still not lottery winners by 1st grade.

The location is kind of challenging, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is all good advice but a lot of it boils down to: if you are probably not going to stay somewhere past PK years, then you may as well go to your in bound. I think people like it this year. We were scared away from Bunker and the other DCPS in the neighborhood, but now I'm more aware that people are dissatisfied with a lot of charters beyond PK-K years as well. Those include: SSMA, CMI, Bridges, maybe Sela, Breakthrough. So, if you're likely to want to trade up anyways, may as well walk to school for a couple of years first. In other words, charters are not always better!!! However there is one elephant in the room which is that our DCPS often has zero white kids and probably zero gentrifiers. And by zero I really do mean zero.

I agree with this PP, except I think this is a little unfair. SSMA is going down in flames, CMI is falling steadily, Bridges is as stable as it's always been (fine to good for pre-k, weak after that), but I've heard nothing but really positive things about Sela and Breakthrough. Sela has amazing scores and is not competitive, and Breakthrough's scores are a little weak, but I think that's common for a Montessori at first since the methodology is so different.

I only included Sela and Breakthrough because I think parents do not tend to stay but look to lottery out for various reasons as the kids get older. I could be wrong.

Really? I hear Breakthrough parents saying the "done with the lottery now" stuff, but who knows whether that's just lip service and they're still secretly playing the lottery.

Sela has 80% retention - this is decent, actually.

For folks that aren't Spanish or bust and just want a "bilingual for the brain benefits" option, Sela is a hidden gem. It's our back pocket option if we are still not lottery winners by 1st grade.

The location is kind of challenging, though.

Challenge for who?