Help! Need School Advice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Know a happy DC Bilingual family. Aftercare sucks tho.

What sucks about it? We definitely need before and after care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not trying to be harsh here, but you sound kind of high maintenance. You're probably not going to be happy with what DCPS or charter schools offer, so I recommend looking at private schools where you can really pick the attributes you want.

My kids are very bright, and I'm happy with our fairly normal DCPS. But I don't really care about montessori, reggio, project / play based learning, or language immersion.

You are a terrible person.

Sure, kind of. But why do you think it's terrible to not care about the latest trends in education?

It's such a welcome relief to hear someone else (other than me) say this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: Went to CMI Open House tonight. Kids were ready to melt down by the time we got home, but my son is no longer convinced that kindergarten is a bad idea. The school sounds great, but they have exactly zero openings for kindergarten. The lady I spoke to was very reassuring, seemed pretty sure we'd find a good fit. We shall see.

This is the case with a lot of charters--there are very few, if not zero spots--in many, if not most of the schools. Definitely have a backup plan if you don't get in anywhere via the lottery (happened to us).

[Anonymous]

OP, your post could have been mine a little over a decade ago (DCUM didn't exist yet, just playground chatter). Bought a house, then had a child, and, well, okay, let's see, I think that baby needs to go to school some place. People looked at us in horror that we hadn't considered that way ahead of buying a house and, God forbid, conceiving a child. The school nearby, we were told, short of tortured children and was absolutely abysmal. And didn't we know that, how BAD the schools are?! (Are you stupid or what?) Well, we went on to having two children, thinking it really can't be THAT bad. And, you know what, it wasn't at all. OUR kids did really well in that "abysmal" school, where by the way they were never tortured, not even yelled at ever. They grew up to be excellent students, cheerful, driven, playful, and really very smart and well educated. They've passed several reputed tests all around; we aren't just hoping, we know. And, because we both work and don't really spend that much time hovering over homework - no tutors and all - we know that school deserves credit.

All this to say, take a deep breath and proceed with confidence!

[Smooglie]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your post could have been mine a little over a decade ago (DCUM didn't exist yet, just playground chatter). Bought a house, then had a child, and, well, okay, let's see, I think that baby needs to go to school some place. People looked at us in horror that we hadn't considered that way ahead of buying a house and, God forbid, conceiving a child. The school nearby, we were told, short of tortured children and was absolutely abysmal. And didn't we know that, how BAD the schools are?! (Are you stupid or what?) Well, we went on to having two children, thinking it really can't be THAT bad. And, you know what, it wasn't at all. OUR kids did really well in that "abysmal" school, where by the way they were never tortured, not even yelled at ever. They grew up to be excellent students, cheerful, driven, playful, and really very smart and well educated. They've passed several reputed tests all around; we aren't just hoping, we know. And, because we both work and don't really spend that much time hovering over homework - no tutors and all - we know that school deserves credit.

All this to say, take a deep breath and proceed with confidence!

Thank you!!

My main concern with our local school is teasing. The school is 0% white (we are about as white as it gets - and Jewish, to boot) and my sweet, sensitive boy looks like a beautiful girl. Can you say DIFFERENT?! I'm a big fan of diversity, but 0% white is hardly diverse. If he was more like my daughter - very outgoing, confident, gregarious - I wouldn't worry so much, but he's shy and gets his feelings hurt very easily.

Here's hoping we get in *somewhere*.

[Anonymous]

Fluent in Hebrew at age 3? Oy vey.

[Anonymous]

Smooglie wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, your post could have been mine a little over a decade ago (DCUM didn't exist yet, just playground chatter). Bought a house, then had a child, and, well, okay, let's see, I think that baby needs to go to school some place. People looked at us in horror that we hadn't considered that way ahead of buying a house and, God forbid, conceiving a child. The school nearby, we were told, short of tortured children and was absolutely abysmal. And didn't we know that, how BAD the schools are?! (Are you stupid or what?) Well, we went on to having two children, thinking it really can't be THAT bad. And, you know what, it wasn't at all. OUR kids did really well in that "abysmal" school, where by the way they were never tortured, not even yelled at ever. They grew up to be excellent students, cheerful, driven, playful, and really very smart and well educated. They've passed several reputed tests all around; we aren't just hoping, we know. And, because we both work and don't really spend that much time hovering over homework - no tutors and all - we know that school deserves credit.

All this to say, take a deep breath and proceed with confidence!

Thank you!!

My main concern with our local school is teasing. The school is 0% white (we are about as white as it gets - and Jewish, to boot) and my sweet, sensitive boy looks like a beautiful girl. Can you say DIFFERENT?! I'm a big fan of diversity, but 0% white is hardly diverse. If he was more like my daughter - very outgoing, confident, gregarious - I wouldn't worry so much, but he's shy and gets his feelings hurt very easily.

Here's hoping we get in *somewhere*.

Sela might really work for you guys, though.

[Anonymous]

OP I just want to be completely honest with you and let you know that the chances of you getting into a Spanish immersion school are very, very slim. You may have better luck in the 2017-18 lottery when your other child enters the lottery and you'll have more chances of them pulling each other up. However, your boy will be in 1st grade. You are in a pretty good location for many schools (many that are also harder to get into), but if you cast a wider net and lower expectations (Spanish and walkable to metro), you may have some luck next month.

My advise to you is (feel free to reverse order):
DCB (great Spanish charter)
Stokes Spanish (great Spanish charter)
MV (great Spanish charter)
Sela (Hebrew, if language is very important otherwise, I'd move this down a little)
ITS (great non language charter with strong teachers and Spanish as "special")
CMI (great non language charter with small classes and Spanish/Chinese as "specials")
Bridges (solid charter next door to DBC and even closer to metro)
Bancroft (reverse commute, may sub Shining Stars)
Cleveland (solid DCPS with solid scores, reverse commute for you)
Tyler Spanish (solid DCPS in Cap Hill)
Lee (new but super-loved Montessori next door it ITS for two years with promise to stay in same area)
Capital City (solid charter with solid history, feeds to middle/high and few blocks up N Capitol)

There is a catholic private in mt pleasant area that is Spanish and very affordable ($6k +$1800 aftercare) and could buy you another year in the lottery http://sacredheartschooldc.org/tuition We have a friend there that is pretty happy. If this is out of your price range, I would probably add bigger safety (Breakthrough maybe?, Burroughs) in the list somewhere or give it a college try at your IB (LaSalle?). Maybe add Stokes French as an option (not as popular as Spanish).

[Anonymous]

Oh and if language is important, I'd add YY in the mix.

[Anonymous]

You're not going to get in to any of those places for K. You will need a back up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're not going to get in to any of those places for K. You will need a back up.

PP with the list. For K, she has a very good chance of getting into one of them. I am at one of the schools and I can tell you there is a lot of movement for rising K kids. Nonetheless, that's why I gave cheap private for a back up and if that was too expensive, I suggested Breakthrough and Burroughs as safety and if all else fails, give IB a shot for a year. I can't imagine her IB will do any damage in K.

[Smooglie]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're not going to get in to any of those places for K. You will need a back up.

PP with the list. For K, she has a very good chance of getting into one of them. I am at one of the schools and I can tell you there is a lot of movement for rising K kids. Nonetheless, that's why I gave cheap private for a back up and if that was too expensive, I suggested Breakthrough and Burroughs as safety and if all else fails, give IB a shot for a year. I can't imagine her IB will do any damage in K.

Thank you for the list! I'm having trouble finding time to do research, so this is very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Smooglie wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, your post could have been mine a little over a decade ago (DCUM didn't exist yet, just playground chatter). Bought a house, then had a child, and, well, okay, let's see, I think that baby needs to go to school some place. People looked at us in horror that we hadn't considered that way ahead of buying a house and, God forbid, conceiving a child. The school nearby, we were told, short of tortured children and was absolutely abysmal. And didn't we know that, how BAD the schools are?! (Are you stupid or what?) Well, we went on to having two children, thinking it really can't be THAT bad. And, you know what, it wasn't at all. OUR kids did really well in that "abysmal" school, where by the way they were never tortured, not even yelled at ever. They grew up to be excellent students, cheerful, driven, playful, and really very smart and well educated. They've passed several reputed tests all around; we aren't just hoping, we know. And, because we both work and don't really spend that much time hovering over homework - no tutors and all - we know that school deserves credit.

All this to say, take a deep breath and proceed with confidence!

Thank you!!

My main concern with our local school is teasing. The school is 0% white (we are about as white as it gets - and Jewish, to boot) and my sweet, sensitive boy looks like a beautiful girl. Can you say DIFFERENT?! I'm a big fan of diversity, but 0% white is hardly diverse. If he was more like my daughter - very outgoing, confident, gregarious - I wouldn't worry so much, but he's shy and gets his feelings hurt very easily.

Here's hoping we get in *somewhere*.

I'm the person who posted the above account. Yes, our school was 0% white as well, with our kids 100% fair and blond. DCUM isn't the place to go on tangents about these aspects (check out the new Human Development Exhibit at the Natural History Museum, just stunning); but I can tell you first hand the kids won't know the difference, namely as little as those who were raised in all white communities can distinguish between skin tones. And I cannot remember an instance where either of my kids reported teasing over appearances, or otherwise really. Curiosity maybe for a little bit but even not much of that. It's just really not on their mind at that age. They will start to develop stereotypes, as much as they do for boy/girl or any other differences they try to make sense of. And on that I'll say they'll grow aware of class differences or learning differences before they become aware of what we may see as "black and white". If there are remarks, don't shudder and grow quiet. Discuss them, probe, ask questions, let them make sense, by probing questions, help them add nuances. And before long you'll be able to recognize nuances as well. It's really quite interesting to watch and learn.

[Anonymous]

Smooglie wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're not going to get in to any of those places for K. You will need a back up.

PP with the list. For K, she has a very good chance of getting into one of them. I am at one of the schools and I can tell you there is a lot of movement for rising K kids. Nonetheless, that's why I gave cheap private for a back up and if that was too expensive, I suggested Breakthrough and Burroughs as safety and if all else fails, give IB a shot for a year. I can't imagine her IB will do any damage in K.

Thank you for the list! I'm having trouble finding time to do research, so this is very helpful.

NP. Just to add:

Burroughs only had 6 kids matched and 8 K kids waitlisted
Tyler Spanish had 15 kids matched and 23 waitlisted
Cleveland Spanish had 2 kids matched and 2 kids waitlisted
Bridges (she has 75%+ chance of getting in IMO) had 26 kids waitlisted, my friend had high number and got call early in summer
Sela did not waitlist any K kids last year
SS waitlisted 20 K kids

[Anonymous]

I feel for you PP, but everyone goes through your angst. There are some wonderful schools in DC, but so few spots. Imagine if you were a native born Spanish speaker who wanted to share your native tongue and cultural traditions with your children, but you never got a spot in any Spanish immersion school. Every year your children forget more and more Spanish, while others snagged the handful of spots left. It sucks. I really hope you find a school for your children that you love.