Parents of 2-year-old in DC - what should we be doing NOW to prepare for the PK3 lottery?

[Anonymous]

Many of the PK4 lottery applicants already have a space somewhere and just played the lottery to see if they get in somewhere they prefer. There is not a need to add 800 spaces for PK4.

As to the other points, it is not possible to offer PK3 in WOTP schools unless the boundaries shrink and some people are assigned to schools across the park (WOTP parents will not go for these solutions) or if there were massive construction projects at every WOTP school (DC will not pay for this, and it would require the reduction of green space which parents don't like either).

The same issue exists with the suggestion of guaranteed IB PK. Very few schools waitlist IB PK applicants. Those that do, have no space to take more PK kids (PK classes are small, so a room can accommodate more 3rd graders than PK3ers).

Doing more combined PK3/4 classes could get a couple more kids into certain schools. Clustering some schools or offering some more PK only options could help as well.

Since the areas with the fastest-growing population of young kids is Petworth and Brightwood, what if Roosevelt had a wing for PK? That would make life easier for the HS and STAY students with kids, and there could be well-supervised vocational classes so the older students could graduate with CDA or other certifications. It would be a great way to use extra space at Roosevelt and bring kids into the feeder pattern from an early age. There could be IB preference for all kids IB for Roosevelt feeders. I don't live in Ward 4, but there seem to be a lot of active parents who could advocate for this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
One more https://ms-dc.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/2016-lottery-unique-applicants-on-wls-by-grade.pdf

Thank you for posting this list. I'm realizing that a huge number of students don't get in anywhere for PK. DC clearly needs more school options - even though the number of slots for students has been rising rapidly, the number of students seems to be rising even more rapidly. I wonder what the prospects are for:
1) WOTP schools to offer PK3 (Potentially parents who would aspire to move to a WOTP neighborhood eventually stay EOTP until their children are older to have an opportunity for PK3)
2) A guaranteed slot for PK3 at neighborhood schools instead of starting at kindergarten (some parents are perhaps choosing the lottery instead of their in-bounds school because of the lack of guarantee?)
3) Either additional schools open or existing schools expand their programs

Interested what people think of this.

Very unlikely. PK3 and PK4 is not a compulsory year in DC for good reason.

However, in the areas of most need (about 1 dozen Title 1 or likely Title I schools) they have now made PK3 and PK4 guaranteed to all IB students who enter Round 1 of lottery and list that school first.

The problem is parents are acting like they have a RIGHT to PK3 and PK4. And they don't.

See, I would say the problem is DC does not plan very well. Why offer PS3 in some areas when less than 50% of the IB kids can get into the program? I understand they are not guaranteed seats but I shouldn't have a better chance of winning money on a scratch off than getting my kid into their neighborhood school. I think this is one of the things the lottery is trying to hide by only releasing the WL movement numbers.

This is a problem in our EOTP neighborhood but there is little that can be done. Guaranteeing PK to IB families in neighborhoods with huge demand is no solution. You cannot have a school with more PK classes per grade than the upper grades, because you'd just be running a giant daycare with a school tacked onto it, not to mention physical space constraints. So say you have 2 classes per grade in grades 1-5, then your max is 2 classes for PK3 and the same for PK4.

I used to be upset about this, because I saw my neighbors not getting in and I wanted them at the school, for their sake and the school's. But over time I realized that K-5 is not nearly as over-subscribed, just PK3-4. And if that phenomenon occurred for just 1-2 years then it could be a demographic anomaly, like a snowstorm baby boom or something. But it continues, which tells me (and tells DC Central Office) that there is huge demand for PK3/4 mostly because it's free and an amazingly good alternative to $2k/month daycare which is often of no better quality.

But the demand reduces after K. Thus it would be bad policy to offer PK to everyone IB. I wish there was a way (and I bet DCPS wishes the same) to ascertain which parents were committed to stay until grade 5 and give them preference. But that doesn't exist, so the only rational policy is to restrict PK spots to equal K and above spots, per grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
One more https://ms-dc.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/2016-lottery-unique-applicants-on-wls-by-grade.pdf

Thank you for posting this list. I'm realizing that a huge number of students don't get in anywhere for PK. DC clearly needs more school options - even though the number of slots for students has been rising rapidly, the number of students seems to be rising even more rapidly. I wonder what the prospects are for:
1) WOTP schools to offer PK3 (Potentially parents who would aspire to move to a WOTP neighborhood eventually stay EOTP until their children are older to have an opportunity for PK3)
2) A guaranteed slot for PK3 at neighborhood schools instead of starting at kindergarten (some parents are perhaps choosing the lottery instead of their in-bounds school because of the lack of guarantee?)
3) Either additional schools open or existing schools expand their programs

Interested what people think of this.

1) Not gonna happen. Those schools are overcrowded in the compulsory grades. Yes, I think that re-zoning and considering opening additional schools would be a good idea, but we all saw how re-zoning went the last time that was tried and how pissed people still are about it.
2) This is already happening at some schools, as the PP mentioned. Parents are not lotterying because PK3 isn't available. If PK3 is available in the neighborhood school, they're listing it. They are also listing other things, because many people want something (that they perceive to be) better than their neighborhood school.

I definitely think that there is a bigger demand for PK3 and PK4 than DCPS bargained for. I would be interested to know if they are planning to expand in the upper grades. I don't know that it makes sense to do that now, but I think that adding an elementary school WOTP would make a lot of sense, as would expanding access to things like Montessori and dual language that are highly desirable.

I think that something important for the PK parents (particularly those whose first child will be entering the lottery for the first time this winter) to consider is that PK3 and PK4 are fairly low down on many schools' lists of concerns. They are dealing with older children who are struggling academically and socially. They are dealing with facilities that are crumbling and an opaque process for deciding what renovations will happen and when. They are dealing with a revolving door of teaching staff that stems from the difficult populations that many schools serve as well as the generally grueling work that teachers do. If you suggest to the overworked principal of a Title 1 school EOTP that they should open another PK3 class room, what they hear is "I want you to deal with the logistics of hiring 2 more teachers, finding classroom space and managing interactions with 15 more families."

Selfishly, as the parent of an older child at one of these schools, I am not particularly inclined to fight for expanded PK3 because I know that many PK3 families will leave our school the first chance they get. Sure, there may be people lining up behind them to take their place, but given the many other priorities we have at school, why would I pick that one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
One more https://ms-dc.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/2016-lottery-unique-applicants-on-wls-by-grade.pdf

Thank you for posting this list. I'm realizing that a huge number of students don't get in anywhere for PK. DC clearly needs more school options - even though the number of slots for students has been rising rapidly, the number of students seems to be rising even more rapidly. I wonder what the prospects are for:
1) WOTP schools to offer PK3 (Potentially parents who would aspire to move to a WOTP neighborhood eventually stay EOTP until their children are older to have an opportunity for PK3)
2) A guaranteed slot for PK3 at neighborhood schools instead of starting at kindergarten (some parents are perhaps choosing the lottery instead of their in-bounds school because of the lack of guarantee?)
3) Either additional schools open or existing schools expand their programs

Interested what people think of this.

Very unlikely. PK3 and PK4 is not a compulsory year in DC for good reason.

However, in the areas of most need (about 1 dozen Title 1 or likely Title I schools) they have now made PK3 and PK4 guaranteed to all IB students who enter Round 1 of lottery and list that school first.

The problem is parents are acting like they have a RIGHT to PK3 and PK4. And they don't.

See, I would say the problem is DC does not plan very well. Why offer PS3 in some areas when less than 50% of the IB kids can get into the program? I understand they are not guaranteed seats but I shouldn't have a better chance of winning money on a scratch off than getting my kid into their neighborhood school. I think this is one of the things the lottery is trying to hide by only releasing the WL movement numbers.

This is a problem in our EOTP neighborhood but there is little that can be done. Guaranteeing PK to IB families in neighborhoods with huge demand is no solution. You cannot have a school with more PK classes per grade than the upper grades, because you'd just be running a giant daycare with a school tacked onto it, not to mention physical space constraints. So say you have 2 classes per grade in grades 1-5, then your max is 2 classes for PK3 and the same for PK4.

I used to be upset about this, because I saw my neighbors not getting in and I wanted them at the school, for their sake and the school's. But over time I realized that K-5 is not nearly as over-subscribed, just PK3-4. And if that phenomenon occurred for just 1-2 years then it could be a demographic anomaly, like a snowstorm baby boom or something. But it continues, which tells me (and tells DC Central Office) that there is huge demand for PK3/4 mostly because it's free and an amazingly good alternative to $2k/month daycare which is often of no better quality.

But the demand reduces after K. Thus it would be bad policy to offer PK to everyone IB. I wish there was a way (and I bet DCPS wishes the same) to ascertain which parents were committed to stay until grade 5 and give them preference. But that doesn't exist, so the only rational policy is to restrict PK spots to equal K and above spots, per grade.

Most of this isn't true anymore in a lot of schools. In our school, most of the grades are 50 to 60 all the way up but they only offer half as many spots to 3 year olds. I would also push back on comparing it to daycare. Yes the reduced cost is nice, however so is the shift from being taught by hourly employees to being taught by people's with Master's in education.

The fact of the matter is that some school EOTP should drop PS3 like several schools WOTP.

[Anonymous]

There's no real *need* to add seats for PK3 and PK4--there are a few schools that can't take all of their IB kids, but the vast majority of schools have room for all their IB kids. The Appletrees provide a good option for PK3 and PK4 and those programs are generally well liked.

The real issue that OP and others are going to come up against is the relative dearth of non-sibling, non-IB spots at the highly regarded programs. I don't know what the actual numbers are, but I would wager that there are really only a few hundred of those seats available and thousands of parents who are trying to get in. It would be enlightening/depressing to see the actual numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
One more https://ms-dc.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/2016-lottery-unique-applicants-on-wls-by-grade.pdf

Thank you for posting this list. I'm realizing that a huge number of students don't get in anywhere for PK. DC clearly needs more school options - even though the number of slots for students has been rising rapidly, the number of students seems to be rising even more rapidly. I wonder what the prospects are for:
1) WOTP schools to offer PK3 (Potentially parents who would aspire to move to a WOTP neighborhood eventually stay EOTP until their children are older to have an opportunity for PK3)
2) A guaranteed slot for PK3 at neighborhood schools instead of starting at kindergarten (some parents are perhaps choosing the lottery instead of their in-bounds school because of the lack of guarantee?)
3) Either additional schools open or existing schools expand their programs

Interested what people think of this.

Very unlikely. PK3 and PK4 is not a compulsory year in DC for good reason.

However, in the areas of most need (about 1 dozen Title 1 or likely Title I schools) they have now made PK3 and PK4 guaranteed to all IB students who enter Round 1 of lottery and list that school first.

The problem is parents are acting like they have a RIGHT to PK3 and PK4. And they don't.

See, I would say the problem is DC does not plan very well. Why offer PS3 in some areas when less than 50% of the IB kids can get into the program? I understand they are not guaranteed seats but I shouldn't have a better chance of winning money on a scratch off than getting my kid into their neighborhood school. I think this is one of the things the lottery is trying to hide by only releasing the WL movement numbers.

This is a problem in our EOTP neighborhood but there is little that can be done. Guaranteeing PK to IB families in neighborhoods with huge demand is no solution. You cannot have a school with more PK classes per grade than the upper grades, because you'd just be running a giant daycare with a school tacked onto it, not to mention physical space constraints. So say you have 2 classes per grade in grades 1-5, then your max is 2 classes for PK3 and the same for PK4.

I used to be upset about this, because I saw my neighbors not getting in and I wanted them at the school, for their sake and the school's. But over time I realized that K-5 is not nearly as over-subscribed, just PK3-4. And if that phenomenon occurred for just 1-2 years then it could be a demographic anomaly, like a snowstorm baby boom or something. But it continues, which tells me (and tells DC Central Office) that there is huge demand for PK3/4 mostly because it's free and an amazingly good alternative to $2k/month daycare which is often of no better quality.

But the demand reduces after K. Thus it would be bad policy to offer PK to everyone IB. I wish there was a way (and I bet DCPS wishes the same) to ascertain which parents were committed to stay until grade 5 and give them preference. But that doesn't exist, so the only rational policy is to restrict PK spots to equal K and above spots, per grade.

Most of this isn't true anymore in a lot of schools. In our school, most of the grades are 50 to 60 all the way up but they only offer half as many spots to 3 year olds. I would also push back on comparing it to daycare. Yes the reduced cost is nice, however so is the shift from being taught by hourly employees to being taught by people's with Master's in education.

The fact of the matter is that some school EOTP should drop PS3 like several schools WOTP.

PP here, AFAIK zero WOTP schools dropped PK3 because zero had it to begin with because it began as a head Start program for low-income kids. Which is why EOTP schools should definitely not drop PK3. The research tells us that the worst thing about head start is that it doesn't start early enough, you need to start at pregnancy. The last thing you want to do is start low income kids at PK4 and have them miss another year of catch-up.

What you could do without any negative educational consequence is drop PK4 at WOTP schools with very low poverty, they don't need a head start program, but this is politically difficult because parents in those parts of town want to feel like they are getting value for their tax dollars too.

I think you misunderstood my sentence on daycare. I thought it was clear: I agree that PK3 at many EOTP schools is miles better than most daycares. IMO there is only a handful of daycares in the city that can compete with our EOTP PK3/4 program in terms of quality. My point was rather, that what is creating high demand for PK is parents who prefer PK but could afford daycare, some of whom have little intention of continuing at their DCPS after K. Those parents end up taking spots from the head start kids. Nothing can be done except use an income test for PK, but DCPS has decided, and I agree with this strategy, to do away with an income test in an effort to recruit educated parents and improve diversity at high poverty schools. In short there is no solution except building more schools or expanding existing ones.

Which brings me to your school, yes in this case I think your PK should be expanded. Why hasn't this happened, do you know? Maybe a building constraint? At most EOTP schools I know, PK classes per grade approximate classes per grade in upper years, albeit there are fewer kids per grade in PK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of the PK4 lottery applicants already have a space somewhere and just played the lottery to see if they get in somewhere they prefer. There is not a need to add 800 spaces for PK4.

As to the other points, it is not possible to offer PK3 in WOTP schools unless the boundaries shrink and some people are assigned to schools across the park (WOTP parents will not go for these solutions) or if there were massive construction projects at every WOTP school (DC will not pay for this, and it would require the reduction of green space which parents don't like either).

The same issue exists with the suggestion of guaranteed IB PK. Very few schools waitlist IB PK applicants. Those that do, have no space to take more PK kids (PK classes are small, so a room can accommodate more 3rd graders than PK3ers).

Doing more combined PK3/4 classes could get a couple more kids into certain schools. Clustering some schools or offering some more PK only options could help as well.

Since the areas with the fastest-growing population of young kids is Petworth and Brightwood, what if Roosevelt had a wing for PK? That would make life easier for the HS and STAY students with kids, and there could be well-supervised vocational classes so the older students could graduate with CDA or other certifications. It would be a great way to use extra space at Roosevelt and bring kids into the feeder pattern from an early age. There could be IB preference for all kids IB for Roosevelt feeders. I don't live in Ward 4, but there seem to be a lot of active parents who could advocate for this.

OMG I would fight that like a wildcat! Did you see the way Roosevelt students sexually abused one of their football teammates?!

There is no way in hell I would allow small children to be exposed to such animals.

[Anonymous]

you have decided that because some students are accused of a crime, that the student body is made up of "animals." Tell me a school where no student has ever been charged with a crime. And tell me a school where all students deserve to be lumped with their worst-acting peers.

Presumably, if you live IB for Roosevelt, you go to the grocery store with, ride the bus or metro with, visit the library with, and live next door to such "animals." You will also send your kids to school with their younger siblings and their children. If that is unacceptable to you, then I cannot imagine you will be living IB for Roosevelt for very long.

Nobody would force you to send your kid to PK at Roosevelt, or PK at all. Or even K-12 (you can home school or use private school). But there are lots of schools throughout the country (including Fairfax County) that have early childhood programs sharing a school campus with older students. Appletree SW is in portables next to Jefferson middle school. There's a day care at CHEC. This is not impossible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
One more https://ms-dc.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/2016-lottery-unique-applicants-on-wls-by-grade.pdf

Thank you for posting this list. I'm realizing that a huge number of students don't get in anywhere for PK. DC clearly needs more school options - even though the number of slots for students has been rising rapidly, the number of students seems to be rising even more rapidly. I wonder what the prospects are for:
1) WOTP schools to offer PK3 (Potentially parents who would aspire to move to a WOTP neighborhood eventually stay EOTP until their children are older to have an opportunity for PK3)
2) A guaranteed slot for PK3 at neighborhood schools instead of starting at kindergarten (some parents are perhaps choosing the lottery instead of their in-bounds school because of the lack of guarantee?)
3) Either additional schools open or existing schools expand their programs

Interested what people think of this.

this is "poors" line of thinking

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of the PK4 lottery applicants already have a space somewhere and just played the lottery to see if they get in somewhere they prefer. There is not a need to add 800 spaces for PK4.

As to the other points, it is not possible to offer PK3 in WOTP schools unless the boundaries shrink and some people are assigned to schools across the park (WOTP parents will not go for these solutions) or if there were massive construction projects at every WOTP school (DC will not pay for this, and it would require the reduction of green space which parents don't like either).

The same issue exists with the suggestion of guaranteed IB PK. Very few schools waitlist IB PK applicants. Those that do, have no space to take more PK kids (PK classes are small, so a room can accommodate more 3rd graders than PK3ers).

Doing more combined PK3/4 classes could get a couple more kids into certain schools. Clustering some schools or offering some more PK only options could help as well.

Since the areas with the fastest-growing population of young kids is Petworth and Brightwood, what if Roosevelt had a wing for PK? That would make life easier for the HS and STAY students with kids, and there could be well-supervised vocational classes so the older students could graduate with CDA or other certifications. It would be a great way to use extra space at Roosevelt and bring kids into the feeder pattern from an early age. There could be IB preference for all kids IB for Roosevelt feeders. I don't live in Ward 4, but there seem to be a lot of active parents who could advocate for this.

You wouldn't need to do that in the Roosevelt building - there's a separate school about a block away that was recently taken back from a failed charter school.

Since the neighborhood demand is currently a lot higher for PK than for the upper grades, it could be made into a neighborhood PK to pick up some of the extra demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of the PK4 lottery applicants already have a space somewhere and just played the lottery to see if they get in somewhere they prefer. There is not a need to add 800 spaces for PK4.

As to the other points, it is not possible to offer PK3 in WOTP schools unless the boundaries shrink and some people are assigned to schools across the park (WOTP parents will not go for these solutions) or if there were massive construction projects at every WOTP school (DC will not pay for this, and it would require the reduction of green space which parents don't like either).

The same issue exists with the suggestion of guaranteed IB PK. Very few schools waitlist IB PK applicants. Those that do, have no space to take more PK kids (PK classes are small, so a room can accommodate more 3rd graders than PK3ers).

Doing more combined PK3/4 classes could get a couple more kids into certain schools. Clustering some schools or offering some more PK only options could help as well.

Since the areas with the fastest-growing population of young kids is Petworth and Brightwood, what if Roosevelt had a wing for PK? That would make life easier for the HS and STAY students with kids, and there could be well-supervised vocational classes so the older students could graduate with CDA or other certifications. It would be a great way to use extra space at Roosevelt and bring kids into the feeder pattern from an early age. There could be IB preference for all kids IB for Roosevelt feeders. I don't live in Ward 4, but there seem to be a lot of active parents who could advocate for this.

You wouldn't need to do that in the Roosevelt building - there's a separate school about a block away that was recently taken back from a failed charter school.

Since the neighborhood demand is currently a lot higher for PK than for the upper grades, it could be made into a neighborhood PK to pick up some of the extra demand.

That's an interesting idea--have Dorothy Height gradually transition to a PK campus. It could graduate its current student year by year, but add more ECE. If other Roosevelt feeders start running out of room for their K-5 cohort, some could stop offering PK and just let it happen at Height. Then in the next boundary reassignment process, it could be decided whether Height keeps providing PK, gets its own boundary, clusters with another school, or something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of the PK4 lottery applicants already have a space somewhere and just played the lottery to see if they get in somewhere they prefer. There is not a need to add 800 spaces for PK4.

As to the other points, it is not possible to offer PK3 in WOTP schools unless the boundaries shrink and some people are assigned to schools across the park (WOTP parents will not go for these solutions) or if there were massive construction projects at every WOTP school (DC will not pay for this, and it would require the reduction of green space which parents don't like either).

The same issue exists with the suggestion of guaranteed IB PK. Very few schools waitlist IB PK applicants. Those that do, have no space to take more PK kids (PK classes are small, so a room can accommodate more 3rd graders than PK3ers).

Doing more combined PK3/4 classes could get a couple more kids into certain schools. Clustering some schools or offering some more PK only options could help as well.

Since the areas with the fastest-growing population of young kids is Petworth and Brightwood, what if Roosevelt had a wing for PK? That would make life easier for the HS and STAY students with kids, and there could be well-supervised vocational classes so the older students could graduate with CDA or other certifications. It would be a great way to use extra space at Roosevelt and bring kids into the feeder pattern from an early age. There could be IB preference for all kids IB for Roosevelt feeders. I don't live in Ward 4, but there seem to be a lot of active parents who could advocate for this.

You wouldn't need to do that in the Roosevelt building - there's a separate school about a block away that was recently taken back from a failed charter school.

Since the neighborhood demand is currently a lot higher for PK than for the upper grades, it could be made into a neighborhood PK to pick up some of the extra demand.

That's an interesting idea--have Dorothy Height gradually transition to a PK campus. It could graduate its current student year by year, but add more ECE. If other Roosevelt feeders start running out of room for their K-5 cohort, some could stop offering PK and just let it happen at Height. Then in the next boundary reassignment process, it could be decided whether Height keeps providing PK, gets its own boundary, clusters with another school, or something else.

From what I have heard, that's basically what Height is now. I believe there are 5-6 PS/PK classes. I wouldn't be surprised if they have space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of the PK4 lottery applicants already have a space somewhere and just played the lottery to see if they get in somewhere they prefer. There is not a need to add 800 spaces for PK4.

As to the other points, it is not possible to offer PK3 in WOTP schools unless the boundaries shrink and some people are assigned to schools across the park (WOTP parents will not go for these solutions) or if there were massive construction projects at every WOTP school (DC will not pay for this, and it would require the reduction of green space which parents don't like either).

The same issue exists with the suggestion of guaranteed IB PK. Very few schools waitlist IB PK applicants. Those that do, have no space to take more PK kids (PK classes are small, so a room can accommodate more 3rd graders than PK3ers).

Doing more combined PK3/4 classes could get a couple more kids into certain schools. Clustering some schools or offering some more PK only options could help as well.

Since the areas with the fastest-growing population of young kids is Petworth and Brightwood, what if Roosevelt had a wing for PK? That would make life easier for the HS and STAY students with kids, and there could be well-supervised vocational classes so the older students could graduate with CDA or other certifications. It would be a great way to use extra space at Roosevelt and bring kids into the feeder pattern from an early age. There could be IB preference for all kids IB for Roosevelt feeders. I don't live in Ward 4, but there seem to be a lot of active parents who could advocate for this.

You wouldn't need to do that in the Roosevelt building - there's a separate school about a block away that was recently taken back from a failed charter school.

Since the neighborhood demand is currently a lot higher for PK than for the upper grades, it could be made into a neighborhood PK to pick up some of the extra demand.

That's an interesting idea--have Dorothy Height gradually transition to a PK campus. It could graduate its current student year by year, but add more ECE. If other Roosevelt feeders start running out of room for their K-5 cohort, some could stop offering PK and just let it happen at Height. Then in the next boundary reassignment process, it could be decided whether Height keeps providing PK, gets its own boundary, clusters with another school, or something else.

From what I have heard, that's basically what Height is now. I believe there are 5-6 PS/PK classes. I wouldn't be surprised if they have space.

They do, quite a few. I have wondered what the story is with that school.

[Anonymous]

I think http://www.myschooldc.org/ is a very good resource. They have links to detailed info about each school, their demographics, teacher composition, test scores etc. It is fairly easy based on that info to get down to the list of 15 schools that you would want to check out in EdFest or open houses (and open houses are also listed on this web-site).

This page: http://www.myschooldc.org/resources/data/ has historic info on waitlist movements, so you can see which schools are in high demand and are thus less likely to get into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of the PK4 lottery applicants already have a space somewhere and just played the lottery to see if they get in somewhere they prefer. There is not a need to add 800 spaces for PK4.

As to the other points, it is not possible to offer PK3 in WOTP schools unless the boundaries shrink and some people are assigned to schools across the park (WOTP parents will not go for these solutions) or if there were massive construction projects at every WOTP school (DC will not pay for this, and it would require the reduction of green space which parents don't like either).

The same issue exists with the suggestion of guaranteed IB PK. Very few schools waitlist IB PK applicants. Those that do, have no space to take more PK kids (PK classes are small, so a room can accommodate more 3rd graders than PK3ers).

Doing more combined PK3/4 classes could get a couple more kids into certain schools. Clustering some schools or offering some more PK only options could help as well.

Since the areas with the fastest-growing population of young kids is Petworth and Brightwood, what if Roosevelt had a wing for PK? That would make life easier for the HS and STAY students with kids, and there could be well-supervised vocational classes so the older students could graduate with CDA or other certifications. It would be a great way to use extra space at Roosevelt and bring kids into the feeder pattern from an early age. There could be IB preference for all kids IB for Roosevelt feeders. I don't live in Ward 4, but there seem to be a lot of active parents who could advocate for this.

You wouldn't need to do that in the Roosevelt building - there's a separate school about a block away that was recently taken back from a failed charter school.

Since the neighborhood demand is currently a lot higher for PK than for the upper grades, it could be made into a neighborhood PK to pick up some of the extra demand.

That's an interesting idea--have Dorothy Height gradually transition to a PK campus. It could graduate its current student year by year, but add more ECE. If other Roosevelt feeders start running out of room for their K-5 cohort, some could stop offering PK and just let it happen at Height. Then in the next boundary reassignment process, it could be decided whether Height keeps providing PK, gets its own boundary, clusters with another school, or something else.

Before you clamor for the school's collapse, try to understand why it is still open, please?

There are families with students who are being served RIGHT NOW. Your grand plans to reengineer their school are no different from councilmembers trying to reengineer school boundaries. It's really easy to decide from afar what policy should look like, and very painful for the actual people involved to moved around like your little chess pieces.

Whenever people get arrogant like this, I almost can't wait for it to blow up in their faces.