Private School Prek-4 Recs - near Woodley Park Metro, Courthouse Metro, or Mt. Pleasant

[Anonymous]

Hello Parents!
We're moving to the DC area and would love private school recommendations for Pre-k4. We plan to enroll only for one year then going the public school route. We'd like a school that's not affiliated to any religion. Bilingual/Dual language Spanish would be a plus. We're considering three different neighborhoods: in Mt Pleasant, near the Woodley Park metro stop, and near the Courthouse metro stop. We won't have a car, so can't be too far from these areas. TIA!

[Anonymous]

Would pick Woodley Park metro and try for oyster prek lottery (free bilingual). Or enroll in NCRC prek program and take Spanish classes. WIS prek offer Spanish immersion. Or you could do Little Folks in Georgetown and do after school Spanish. Or you could try for in-bounds public prek and take after school Spanish.

[Anonymous]

Definitely buy in Woodley Park if you can - easy access to Metro/downtown, and in-bounds for Oyster-Adams, a very good public bilingual school.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you want private PK for this fall, you may be out of luck already. Even if you have $26K for a school like Aidan Montessori in Woodley Park, there may not be any spots.

Did you try the preschool forum? You might find more leads on options for this coming school year.

Are you familiar with how public and public charter systems work in DC? About 45% of kids attend charters spread across the city. Oyster-Adams Bilingual near Woodley and Bancroft, also bilingual, in Mt Pleasant have around half their students from outside the assigned school boundary.

There's a combined lottery for public and charter seats every year with up to 12 options. A few charter schools have their own lotteries. Bilingual Spanish-English programs sometimes have language testing to enroll off of the waitlist.

Clear as mud, right?

I don't mean to be a downer, but DC education is not very straightforward. Woodley Park and Mt Pleasant are world's apart despite being quite close on the map. Only you can decide which is better for your family's lifestyle. Try not to let folks talk you out of or into an area or school until you've been there.

You might want to rent in a neighborhood before buying. Then visit lots of schools while your child is in PK before the next public school lottery in February and private school deadlines in January 2017.

Here's some DC info. Good luck! And don't worry, something will work out.

http://www.myschooldc.org/
http://www.learndc.org/earlychildhood
Independent schools in DC. https://www.aisgw.org/

[Anonymous]

Woodley Park neighborhood elementary school is strong and bi-lingual. feeds into a not great middle and high school (no longer Wilson I think).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would pick Woodley Park metro and try for oyster prek lottery (free bilingual). Or enroll in NCRC prek program and take Spanish classes. WIS prek offer Spanish immersion. Or you could do Little Folks in Georgetown and do after school Spanish. Or you could try for in-bounds public prek and take after school Spanish.

Nope. Not happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would pick Woodley Park metro and try for oyster prek lottery (free bilingual). Or enroll in NCRC prek program and take Spanish classes. WIS prek offer Spanish immersion. Or you could do Little Folks in Georgetown and do after school Spanish. Or you could try for in-bounds public prek and take after school Spanish.

Nope. Not happening.

Which is not happening? The post listed about five options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would pick Woodley Park metro and try for oyster prek lottery (free bilingual). Or enroll in NCRC prek program and take Spanish classes. WIS prek offer Spanish immersion. Or you could do Little Folks in Georgetown and do after school Spanish. Or you could try for in-bounds public prek and take after school Spanish.

Nope. Not happening.

Which is not happening? The post listed about five options.

I'm not that poster, but none of them are happening for the 2016-2017 school year:

1. DCPS lottery is over - too late to get into preK 4 at Oyster for next school year.
2. NCRC pre-K is likely to be full but may potentially have a spot, since some people leave to start the private schools that begin in pre-K. But it's not really walkable from Woodley Park - more like a bus ride away, plus a walk away.
3. WIS pre-K 4 is most likely full this year. I believe there is a waiting list. Plus, their elementary school is not walkable to any of the locations mentioned by OP. It's by Georgetown hospital.
4. Little folks is also not walkable to any of those locations.
5. Too late for public pre-K bc it's by lottery and the lottery is over.

OP- You may be able to find something but it will be tough. You may have to try a nanny or nanny share this year but if you're planning to go public, focus on where you want to be next year instead.

You may have luck with getting a spot at Communikids Spanish immersion. You could metro there on the red line from Woodley park.

BTW - I think DC is not an easy place not to have a car once you have kids. I strongly recommend that you get one. The only exception I can think of is if you move inbounds for Ross elementary in Dupont Circle. If you try that, then next year you'll be able to walk your child to school and then there are many public transport options to get to work (metro, bus, etc.) There are also many car sharing and bike sharing options in Dupont Circle, plus it's super easy to get an uber. The DC JCC preschool at 16 and Q in Dupont Circle might have room in pre-K since many kids leave for the free pre-K public options. It's very close to Ross elementary, so you can pick a place that's walking distance to both. There are also lots of after school classes and activities at the DC JCC, so it's a great place even once your child is at Ross.

[Anonymous]

You could see if Beauvoir has spots for it's ok next year. It's walkable from Woodley.

[Anonymous]

None of the private schools or preschools mentioned on this thread will have openings for next fall. Stop misleading op.

Beauvoir? That one requires a spit take

[Anonymous]

OP, if you are going the public route then you need to first decide what school you want in 2017-18, then work backwards. That's going to be your challenge.

You should also not be looking at the highly competitive preschools or PK with elementary schools as those will be full. You should look at the less competitive preschools.

Communikids Spanish immersion is a good idea. So are a lot of the church based schools (none of them are really very religious and most have kids of many faiths.) Those are really going to be your best options.

Also, what are you planning to do for after care or are you really looking at daycare+ preschool? Most of the preschools we're talking about here are 1/2 day.

[Anonymous]

Where did OP ever explicitly say it was for next year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where did OP ever explicitly say it was for next year?

So you think the OP has a 2 year old and is planning on moving in a year? That makes zero sense.

[Anonymous]

OP, in your situation, you need to look for a spot in the 4 year old room of a daycare. There are quite a few of them, many of them on the Red Line or in the neighborhoods you listed. A lot of them have good programs and use the same curriculum that the schools do. The biggest variable is probably facilities - there are many downtown daycares that are windowless and grim. But generally it is fairly easy to find a 4 year old spot, so you ought to have some options.

[Anonymous]

Call NCRC. A lot of the kids leave for other schools for prek.