What are the good public schools in NW - Applying out of bounds

[Anonymous]

I am struggling over which schools to apply to for my son who will be entering Pre-K in the fall. I live near Adams Morgan, and had made up mind to apply to Janney, Hearst and Murch. But when I went to the DC website..it shows that there are NO projected seats at Janney and Murch? Do I waste my chances? What about Ross. I did a tour, but it is just so hard to tell!

I know that Key is great, but it is pretty far for me, and also has NO projected seats.

Any advice?
Thanks.

[Anonymous]

For pre-K, I don't think there's any chance if you're out of boundary for Murch and Janney--there aren't even enough spots for the kids who live in-boundary, at least at Murch. Sorry for the bad news...

[Anonymous]

You could try John Eaton. It's not bad at all.

[Anonymous]

horace mann is the best public school. key is good as well and so is lafayette. ross is not supposed to be good at all. wouldn't go there. it is worth driving the extra 10 minutes to go to a good school that is safe.

[Anonymous]

That's true, there are no OOB slots for PreK at Janney, where 40+ in-bound families enter a lottery for 10 PreK slots each year. Janney does have some out of bounds kids at K and up, but chances are better at the upper grades.

[Anonymous]

Lafayette is good as well, but there are probably no out-of-counday slots there either. You might want to try John Eaton in Cleveland Park and Shepherd Elementary in Shepherd Heights.

[TwinsinAdMorg]

Hyde ES in Georgetown? In Adams Morgan/Columbia Heights there is Capital City public charter school. Lottery like everywhere else, but couldn't hurt to apply, right? Good luck. Things will work out.

[Anonymous]

i was on the same boat a month ago, and found no luck! Checked on the dcps site and found out zero spot for NW public schools. I love Lafayette!

so, leads us no choice than to pay enormous money for private preschool..

[Anonymous]

Check out Hyde in Georgetown. My daughter went there 1-5 and it was a great fit for her.

[Anonymous]

do people have any feedback on Hearst?

[Anonymous]

I'll second the nod to Shepherd Elementary in Shepherd Park, just off 16th street above Walter Reed. We've been there for two years now with DD#1, and next fall DD#2 will start. They are in process of acquiring their IB accredidation, and offer dual language (either Spanish or French). There are full time music and art programs as well.

[lisaconnor]

Shepherd Elementary is great. My son is in pre-K and we love it. It is very diverse and we have an active PTA -they are in the process of seeking a new prinicipal but should be done soon. I also hear they are adding a pre-K and Kindergarten class (3 total) next year so that should increase your chances.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Shepherd parents!!! We've been looking for language/IB programs, ideally in public school. It's a short bus ride from our house although out of bounds. We'll be applying OOB Shepherd for 09/10. Active PTA can have more impact than raw test scores (often flawed in DC). Thank you again! This is why DCUM exists, right? To help parents help each other.

Go DC!

[Anonymous]

PP from 8:34... I was just coming back to post about the proposed additional Pre-K and K classes for next year! (Lisa, ya beat me to the post!! ) It was just announced at our PTA meeting... And yes, we do have a very active PTA!!

I also wanted to mention that Shepherd offers fabulous and affordable before/aftercare and summer programs, too!

[Anonymous]

Thanks to my fellow Shepherd parents for promoting our wonderful school. I'm the President of the PTA there and would certainly encourage you to come check us out. We're located at 7800 14th Street NW. Call the main office, [phone], and they will happily set up some time to give you a tour.