Reporting almost live from the YY application line...

[Anonymous]

How many of the people in line are in bounds for a decent school, but really want the Chinese immersion? That will be the boat we are in next year.

[Anonymous]

I was told that Chinese families who apply the first day will also get a preference off the waitlist--just something to keep in mind y'all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was told that Chinese families who apply the first day will also get a preference off the waitlist--just something to keep in mind y'all.

That would be a clear violation of the law...and the by-laws the charters work under. Smells like a troll to me.

[Anonymous]

Smells like a troll to me too. Since the form doesn't ask if you speak Chinese and I didn't hear of the online app having the option of filling it out in Chinese, they are clearly not surveying for that info so doubtful it is being considered.

Not to mention it was raised I think by staff themselves at the Open House as one of the rumors or questions they get that wasn't true. (Maybe someone just asked, I can't remember but it did get raised and addressed very definitively).

[Anonymous]

Meant to also say the application doesn't ask about race, ethnicity or national origin either, so tell us poster, how would they even know who's Chinese?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't it be truly fair if it was just a lottery and your WL number was your lottery #? Waiting in line, if you can, doesn't make you a better or more "motivated" parent. Being on an ipad at 7:58 with a latte and a spreadsheet in your pjs doesn't make you "savvy".

It was unfair when Oyster did it and it's unfair when charters do it.

Call it a lot if things, but don't call it fair.

Good luck!

Actually getting up at 4 AM to try and get a spot a great school for your child does make you more motivated. And life is not always fair. Sometimes you need to take that extra step to get somewhere. My DH was in line this morning because we got triple digit waitlist numbers everywhere last year. Our neighborhood school is a mess. There were lots of parents switching off and the aunt of an applicant applying for her niece or nephew. It is one day out of your life-- if you are truly motivated then you will do all you can to make it work. Whining about how unfair it is will get you nowhere.

I'm one of the people who waiting in line this morning from quite early (before 6:00am). And I will also be the first person to say that yes, I'm grateful we were able to be there and do this, but I also know MANY single parents or parents with one spouse working/not home and who don't have family or the means to pay someone to watch their kids while they wait in line all night. It is one night/morning out of your life... but some parents simply would be VERY hard-presse4d to make this work without leaving their kids unsupervissed which of course is not ok either.

Yes, there's the lottery, and thank heavens for that, but if you have done your research and feel strongly that this is the school you most want your child to go to, there ARE some parents who would not be able to get there this morning (or not by 5:30am anyway).

Hopefully this year there won't be so many siblings that whether you were in person or online or got your application in by 10:00 somehow you will be ok. But from the tales of Oyster and other high high demand schools in the past, I don't see how anyone can say that a date-time stamped priority waitlist is really fair to all "motivated" parents.

I'm very grateful and don't take it for granted at all that we were able to make it work this morning.

It all depends on how much it matters to you. At worst, your friends could bring their kids with them.

Put it this way: Would your friends be in that line if their kid's life was on the line? They would find a way.

I'm going to assume that's a serious statement and just say

1) I actually don't know any parent who would have multiple kids out all night on a public sidewalk, possibly in the cold or rain, all night to apply at 8:00am. And young kids, that's toruture for the kids and the parent to the degree it just isn't doable (or appropriate) for most young kids. There's nowhere to park your car right where you wait in line, and you can't have your kids in a parked car out of your view all night, so really, you know that many parents with young kids who would have them out all night on line on the sidewalk in Oct in DC? And

2) Are you seriously comparing a medical emergency to registering your kid in school? OF COURSE any sane (or half sane) parent would do whatever they had to do to get their kid medical attention regardless of which kids they have to drag out of the house in their PJs in the cold and get on teh bus with etc, but a medical emergency is not the same as registering for school, as serious a decision and impact as school attendance is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meant to also say the application doesn't ask about race, ethnicity or national origin either, so tell us poster, how would they even know who's Chinese?

NP here. Presumably someone could guess from the last name of the child/parent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't it be truly fair if it was just a lottery and your WL number was your lottery #? Waiting in line, if you can, doesn't make you a better or more "motivated" parent. Being on an ipad at 7:58 with a latte and a spreadsheet in your pjs doesn't make you "savvy".

It was unfair when Oyster did it and it's unfair when charters do it.

Call it a lot if things, but don't call it fair.

Good luck!

Actually getting up at 4 AM to try and get a spot a great school for your child does make you more motivated. And life is not always fair. Sometimes you need to take that extra step to get somewhere. My DH was in line this morning because we got triple digit waitlist numbers everywhere last year. Our neighborhood school is a mess. There were lots of parents switching off and the aunt of an applicant applying for her niece or nephew. It is one day out of your life-- if you are truly motivated then you will do all you can to make it work. Whining about how unfair it is will get you nowhere.

I'm one of the people who waiting in line this morning from quite early (before 6:00am). And I will also be the first person to say that yes, I'm grateful we were able to be there and do this, but I also know MANY single parents or parents with one spouse working/not home and who don't have family or the means to pay someone to watch their kids while they wait in line all night. It is one night/morning out of your life... but some parents simply would be VERY hard-presse4d to make this work without leaving their kids unsupervissed which of course is not ok either.

Yes, there's the lottery, and thank heavens for that, but if you have done your research and feel strongly that this is the school you most want your child to go to, there ARE some parents who would not be able to get there this morning (or not by 5:30am anyway).

Hopefully this year there won't be so many siblings that whether you were in person or online or got your application in by 10:00 somehow you will be ok. But from the tales of Oyster and other high high demand schools in the past, I don't see how anyone can say that a date-time stamped priority waitlist is really fair to all "motivated" parents.

I'm very grateful and don't take it for granted at all that we were able to make it work this morning.

It all depends on how much it matters to you. At worst, your friends could bring their kids with them.

Put it this way: Would your friends be in that line if their kid's life was on the line? They would find a way.

I'm going to assume that's a serious statement and just say

1) I actually don't know any parent who would have multiple kids out all night on a public sidewalk, possibly in the cold or rain, all night to apply at 8:00am. And young kids, that's toruture for the kids and the parent to the degree it just isn't doable (or appropriate) for most young kids. There's nowhere to park your car right where you wait in line, and you can't have your kids in a parked car out of your view all night, so really, you know that many parents with young kids who would have them out all night on line on the sidewalk in Oct in DC? And

2) Are you seriously comparing a medical emergency to registering your kid in school? OF COURSE any sane (or half sane) parent would do whatever they had to do to get their kid medical attention regardless of which kids they have to drag out of the house in their PJs in the cold and get on teh bus with etc, but a medical emergency is not the same as registering for school, as serious a decision and impact as school attendance is.

Not the PP you quoted but I have to disagree. You do not have to be there all night. My DH got there at about 5:30 and was in the first 10 people waiting. He was out of there at 8:01 and 36 sec. That is 2.5 hours and it wasn't raining or freezing. I'm sure it would not be pleasant but it's not completely out of the realm of possibility to bring your children if you had no other choice and it was really that important to you. Your kids will not melt having to stay outside for 2.5 hours--first world problem.

[Anonymous]

No the problem is that those of you who think it's not a huge hardship to be out there in line (and I would be in that camp for my personal life -- could totally do it if necessary), don't have jobs in which you would lose your job if you were at YY at 8 am rather than at work. Jobs at which you are not at a computer. So it automatically locks out a whole group of people in this city. People who don't work at a desk, cannot be sitting home in their jammies at 8 am, can't miss work to stand on line. People who don't have internet access and have to go to the library to use computers there. These people do not necessarily care any less about their kids' education than those who were on the line this am and online, but they simply cannot make what you all did happen. It's sad that so many of you don't seem to realize this. What kinds of jobs do you think the people on FARMS have? It doesn't even have to be people who make low salaries. How is the cashier at the grocery, the person at the counter at McD's, the garbage man, the nurse, the surgeon, the police officer, the TEACHER, etc. etc. going to do this. My DH is a teacher and he's in the classroom teaching by 8 am every day. With students in front of him. I have a serious problem with YY choosing this method and an even more serious problem with people implying that if you care about your child's education, you can figure out a way to get your application in during those first 10 minutes. Washington Latin seems to be doing away with the waited waitlist idea for this year and I think YY should as well.

I don't have any interest in the school and my kids are past the age anyway, but these kinds of things in public schools drive me crazy. They are supposed to be open to ALL, regardless of your work schedule.

[Anonymous]

And that is really my point too. I was there today, I may potentially benefit from this weighted policy, and I am grateful that that is possible.

At the same time, it makes me absolutely bonkers at the ignorance and lack of realism of those who imply or flat out say that pointing the above out is "complaining" or that those parents prevented from doing this are any less "motivated".

I'm obviously not leading the charge to get rid of this policy since I was there today and would do what I had to again tomorrow if I had to do it all over again. But I also know many who would not have been able to do what I did and all I'm pointing out is that it is NOT a practice that all "motivated parents" will find a way to make work for them. Most, yeah, probably, and no, no system is perfect.

But the "If you care about your kids you'll make it work. Wouldn't you make it work if your kid's life depended on it? Bring the kids with you" attitudes are so removed from the realities of a LOT of REAL families... it just stuns me. But I'm also new to this forum - I'll probably get used to the judgement and lack of reality checking of the few pretty quickly. And I realize this is not the majority view.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Smells like a troll to me too. Since the form doesn't ask if you speak Chinese and I didn't hear of the online app having the option of filling it out in Chinese, they are clearly not surveying for that info so doubtful it is being considered.

Not to mention it was raised I think by staff themselves at the Open House as one of the rumors or questions they get that wasn't true. (Maybe someone just asked, I can't remember but it did get raised and addressed very definitively).

I don't think that, the statement is true. However, the Yu Ying online app had the words in both English and Mandarin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And that is really my point too. I was there today, I may potentially benefit from this weighted policy, and I am grateful that that is possible.

At the same time, it makes me absolutely bonkers at the ignorance and lack of realism of those who imply or flat out say that pointing the above out is "complaining" or that those parents prevented from doing this are any less "motivated".

I'm obviously not leading the charge to get rid of this policy since I was there today and would do what I had to again tomorrow if I had to do it all over again. But I also know many who would not have been able to do what I did and all I'm pointing out is that it is NOT a practice that all "motivated parents" will find a way to make work for them. Most, yeah, probably, and no, no system is perfect.

But the "If you care about your kids you'll make it work. Wouldn't you make it work if your kid's life depended on it? Bring the kids with you" attitudes are so removed from the realities of a LOT of REAL families... it just stuns me. But I'm also new to this forum - I'll probably get used to the judgement and lack of reality checking of the few pretty quickly. And I realize this is not the majority view.

Yes, I know people have to work, I am one of them, but I arranged to take 1/2 hour off this morning to be there instead of at my job promptly at 8. The cashier at my local Safeway got her daughter into Stokes many years ago by waiting outside and we commiserated about the process. If you plan ahead many things are possible. Teachers can take sick or personal days, hourly workers can request a day or morning off. Are you trying to say that regular "working folk"
like surgeons can't arrange their schedule to accomadate this? I'm pretty sure that most surgeons can probably pay someone to stand in line for them. I think there is a very, very small minority that couldn't figure something out if they tried.

[Anonymous]

Sorry meant to quote 19:02 above

[Anonymous]

When I waited in line for YY, one mother was there with her kids. She was first in line. I was really impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was told that Chinese families who apply the first day will also get a preference off the waitlist--just something to keep in mind y'all.

How are they allowed to do this, and what is the criteria? ie, if Eastern European Jews born in NYC adopt a baby from china, and raise her monolingual in woodley park, are they a Chinese family? How about the family where ds is 1/4 Chinese and nobody speaks the language or has set foot in china?