Good Charter or DPS in Columbia Heights/16th Street Heights with Pre-K program

[Anonymous]

Would appreciate any advice on finding and getting into a good charter or public school in the Columbia Heights & 16th Streets Area. Also, any advice on how to get into a good out of boundary schools.

[Anonymous]

Is Cap City Charter close enough to those neighborhoods for you? It's a great school.

[Anonymous]

there is no real advice on getting into these schools, as they are all lottery based. if you are thinking about next year, the deadlines are quite soon (this week for dcps). the only strategy is to apply to as many as you can.

in that area, for charter/dcps....capital city, appletree, hd cooke elementary, bancroft elementary, centro nia (two schools)

[Anonymous]

Appletree (charter), Cap City (charter), Shepherd (DCPS) is a little ways north of that, but has an up & coming reputation.

I would avoid Bancroft & HD Cooke!

[Anonymous]

poster who would avoid bancroft and cooke--why? i've talked to several parents who are pleased with bancroft. and cooke is slated to open a brand new building with an IB curriculum next year.

[Anonymous]

OP, you should go find out about Bancroft for yourself. Don't take the word of some Anonymous poster.
Call the school, or get it touch with the PTA.

Bancroft Elementary School Open House

March 12 (Thursday) 9am-10:30am

*Meet parents and staff and learn about Bancroft’s dual-language (Spanish/English) program and multi-age classrooms; the application process; music & art instruction; new library; and after school options
*Take a tour of the school

Location:
1755 Newton St NW
Washington, DC 20010

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:poster who would avoid bancroft and cooke--why? i've talked to several parents who are pleased with bancroft. and cooke is slated to open a brand new building with an IB curriculum next year.

This has been discussed elsewhere (regarding both schools in this ward AND these two specific schools), but moving into a new building is not going to solve systemic problems with administration, staff, and culture. I've looked at the school's test scores and they're bad. Both of these schools are trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

[Anonymous]

This has been discussed elsewhere (regarding both schools in this ward AND these two specific schools), but moving into a new building is not going to solve systemic problems with administration, staff, and culture. I've looked at the school's test scores and they're bad. Both of these schools are trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

And from the tone of these messages, it seems as though many of these complaints are coming from one person.

OP, go and visit the schools for yourself, and then make your decision.

[Anonymous]

EL Haynes is one of the top Charter Schools in the City. It is technically in Petworth, but lots of the students live in MT. Pleasant, and Columbia Heights.

You should check it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would appreciate any advice on finding and getting into a good charter or public school in the Columbia Heights & 16th Streets Area. Also, any advice on how to get into a good out of boundary schools.

To find schools that fit your interests, use the School Chooser document. http://fightforchildren.org/pdf/SchoolChooser.pdf It has profiles and "how tos".

To get in somewhere, apply anywhere you are even remotely interested ASAP even if it's sight-unseen. You can change schools later. But like Vegas, you have to hedge your bets.

There is nothing you can do to influence admissions to an over-subscribed charter short of changing your name to Fenty or Obama. lol (Even that's no guarantee. Most charters wouldn't risk having their credentials and public funding pulled for admitting a VIP's kid.)

For public schools, you must move IN-BOUNDARY to guarantee a slot for Kindergarten or older. Pre-k is a crap shoot that depends on the school.

5 applications is not at all unusual in DC. The waitlists and final admissions will keep shifting until about August or September. So be patient but realistic.

Try not to panic, something will work out. There are lots of choices in DC.

[Anonymous]

pp here: I meant admitting a VIP's kid who didn't get in fair and square off the lottery.

[Anonymous]

and act quickly, because I believe that the OOB lottery closes tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

You should also look at West Elementary School (DCPS) --they have a great Preschool, Pre-K and K. And LAMB (Latin American Montessouri Bilingual).

Shepard Park Elementary is also GREAT, has an IB program and is bilingual (tr0lingual!). They are adding more pre-k classes so they have lots of slots!

And FYI--HD Cooke not only has a new building but new teachers and a new principal....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should also look at West Elementary School (DCPS) --they have a great Preschool, Pre-K and K. And LAMB (Latin American Montessouri Bilingual).

Shepard Park Elementary is also GREAT, has an IB program and is bilingual (tr0lingual!). They are adding more pre-k classes so they have lots of slots!

And FYI--HD Cooke not only has a new building but new teachers and a new principal....

No, it is not trilingual. Certainly not as in a trilingual program. It has two different bilingual tracks English/French and English/Spanish. There is no program nor implicit promise nor even a suggestion that students will be trilingual.
.

[Anonymous]

It is also not IB - they are trying to get IB-certified, but to date are several years (at minimum) away from achieving this. Plus there is some doubt that the current model, with both French and Spanish tracks - will survive. Language instruction has been cut way back this year from about 10 hours per week to roughly 3 (for preK-2nd grades) - less than that for grades 3-6), and there has been a real lack of commitment when it comes to resources and personnel for the French-language program.

And next year there will be just 2 preK classes, down from the current 3.