What's the best Pk3 and Pk4 programs in DC? Rank 1-5
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Anonymous
I have friends whose kids are happy at Marie Reed. But unless you are in-bounds, you're probably not going to get in there for PK3/4. They have a pretty hefty waiting list-particularly for dual language. |
Anonymous
| Really? You want to know how things are at Bancroft, Marie Reed and Powell, and then you admit you just want free PK? Crickets. |
Anonymous
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The name of the thread is BEST, and I am not necessarily looking for the best, hence the question.
Anyone with experiences with Garrison? |
Anonymous
Our children are at Bancroft. You will likely only get a spot if you live in boundary. Sure, not paying tuition is great but if you want a school like Bancroft to work, you need to embrace the dual language program and better yet, get involved. There is a great family community and making connections with English, Spanish and other language speaking families make the experience better for you and your child. Plus there are headaches - communication has greatly improved but there are still holes. If free day care / preschool is what drives you, you will not likely be happy at Bancroft. Our children are happier there every year - the kids, teachers, staff are really their second family - it works best as a longer term plan - and not just for free care. |
Anonymous
| Hyde-Addison in Georgetown is fabulous. |
Anonymous
We loved the PK program at Garrison (did both years there before moving across town). Amazing staff of teachers and I think the scores will show a real difference once the crop of kids who started with current principal reach testing age. It's a lovely community of parents and we miss it! |
Anonymous
This is a terrible way to approach the lottery. You have 12 spots. Put some of the best that appeal to you and work for your commute in the top. Then put some safety schools that work for you lower down. If you have questions about specific schools, search for those schools or start a new thread. Btw, if you're not inbounds, it's hard to get into many of those schools. I think, probably, it's comparable to getting into an he a, since any inbounds kid trumps yours. |
Anonymous
Oh, get over yourself. When my child was in PK3 I was extremely involved and I don't think his experience was drastically different from that of any other classmate who arrived at school with the baseline of being fed, rested and ready to learn. The community and connections are so you can feel warm and fuzzy but don't affect a 3yo in the classroom on a day-to-day basis. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
We are very happy at Marie Reed. The teaching is great, I really like the thematic units in Tools of the Mind, and the school is a very familial community. Keep in mind that with aftercare, summer camp, professional development days, parent teacher conference days, Winter Break, and Spring Break, the reduction in childcare costs is more along the lines of 45-55%, not 100%. You need good planning skills to stay on top of this. Each August, when the DCPS calendar comes out, I feel like Eisenhower organizing the Normandy Invasion. |
Anonymous
| We are at Cleveland PK3 in the immersion program and love it. |
Anonymous
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I agree that it's really impossible as a parent to rank PS3 & PK4 programs, because I only have experience with one, but our DD is a Barnard this year and we've been super happy with it. They have a lot of 3yo slots (60), but even with that, I think only in-bounds and sibling-preference kids got in last year, which is one of the challenges with DCPS schools. It's not too easy to get into many of them without some sort of preference. (Although I'm in favor of that - I think neighborhood schools are a good thing, both in terms of kids not having to travel long distances for school, especially at the elementary level, and in building community - both within the school and within the neighborhood).
One of the PP mentioned cost - while I do have to worry about the cost of summer camp and back-up care when DCPS is closed, because Barnard is a Title I school aftercare is free. I *believe* this is true at all Title I DCPS schools this year, but correct me if I'm wrong! |
Anonymous
I think that's usually true but not always. I think our Title I DCPS has sliding scale fees for aftercare. |
Anonymous
Another Hill poster here: No list of top-tier ECE programs is complete without Ludlow-Taylor. Not only does the school have significant neighborhood buy-in for ECE (and increasingly in upper grades), but LT is the only Rewards school on the Hill (meaning great test scores) and is still a real possibility for admission from OOB for PS3 and PK4. |
Anonymous
I admittedly don't know much about Ludlow Taylor's ECE, but by your logic good 3rd grade test scores means great PK? not sure I follow. By that argument JKLM are best ECE because they're top upper ES too. |