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

[Anonymous]

This is an incredibly insightful analysis. Certainly accurate and much more charitable and nuanced than pointing out that all this strum and drang among the Millennial/Petworth set is first and foremost about free childcare (and secondarily about upcoming real estate decisions. see, e.g., PoP)

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:This is an incredibly insightful analysis. Certainly accurate and much more charitable and nuanced than pointing out that all this strum and drang among the Millennial/Petworth set is first and foremost about free childcare (and secondarily about upcoming real estate decisions. see, e.g., PoP)

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.

Not to take away from the PP's analysis, but it isn't really incredibly insightful. It's actually glaringly obvious, particularly to those of us who have lived here for half a dozen years.

New parents are like teenagers. You think you've invented the world and everything interesting (music and passion and sex) for the first time. Alas, it was here before you, and will be here after you're gone. Glad you're interested in the scene, but don't let your enthusiasm overtake your brain. Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is shut up and listen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an incredibly insightful analysis. Certainly accurate and much more charitable and nuanced than pointing out that all this strum and drang among the Millennial/Petworth set is first and foremost about free childcare (and secondarily about upcoming real estate decisions. see, e.g., PoP)

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.

Not to take away from the PP's analysis, but it isn't really incredibly insightful. It's actually glaringly obvious, particularly to those of us who have lived here for half a dozen years.

New parents are like teenagers. You think you've invented the world and everything interesting (music and passion and sex) for the first time. Alas, it was here before you, and will be here after you're gone. Glad you're interested in the scene, but don't let your enthusiasm overtake your brain. Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is shut up and listen.

Don't be a dick; I guarantee I've lived in the District longer than you have, and I'm not a new parent. I guess this fine summary might be "glaringly obvious" to you guys with little kids in Park View, because you live it. It was refreshing to see a candid take on what most of you guys typically attempt to avoid saying outright: sure, you're in it for a few years, until you're not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an incredibly insightful analysis. Certainly accurate and much more charitable and nuanced than pointing out that all this strum and drang among the Millennial/Petworth set is first and foremost about free childcare (and secondarily about upcoming real estate decisions. see, e.g., PoP)

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.

Not to take away from the PP's analysis, but it isn't really incredibly insightful. It's actually glaringly obvious, particularly to those of us who have lived here for half a dozen years.

New parents are like teenagers. You think you've invented the world and everything interesting (music and passion and sex) for the first time. Alas, it was here before you, and will be here after you're gone. Glad you're interested in the scene, but don't let your enthusiasm overtake your brain. Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is shut up and listen.

Don't be a dick; I guarantee I've lived in the District longer than you have, and I'm not a new parent. I guess this fine summary might be "glaringly obvious" to you guys with little kids in Park View, because you live it. It was refreshing to see a candid take on what most of you guys typically attempt to avoid saying outright: sure, you're in it for a few years, until you're not.

I guarantee you have not.

Dick.