Lottery Swami checking for lottery 18-19

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Swami, will you please register on dcum so that we can know when it is you posting? And can you please start a new swami thread that isn't filled with all these arguments, and maybe explain in the first post what you do? Thank you!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I'm in ward 3. Since there are no inbound schools for prek 3, I figure I'd have a better shot at Charter schools.
How do you rank:
Creative Minds International
AppleTree PCS- Columbia Heights
E.L. Haynes
Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom
Washington Yu Ying
Breakthrough Montessori
Meridian Public Charter School

Is there any point in applying to DCPS (see below) out of bounds?
Hyde-Addison Elementary School
H.D. Cooke Elementary School
Marie Reed Elementary School
Powell Elementary School
Ross Elementary School
School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens


If your goal is to pull your kid for PK4 or K and send to your IB, I would not go with the bilingual schools. You get all the hardship of a miserable commute and what is often a tough adjustment to the new language without any ultimate benefit of fluency.

Also, I'll say this - if you're the Ward 3 family that's trying to use my Ward 1 and 4 schools to park your kids through to K and aren't interested in the school community, find somewhere else. Too much work already trying to build community without families who are intentionally transient.

You’ll get into Appletree and you won’t piss people off by parking your kid there for only 1-2 years.

I'm sorry. All DC residents have equal rights to enter the lottery and put down choices that reflect their family situation. That means that Ward 3 families can lottery in for PK3 (and increasingly PK4 since those are being crowded out of overpacked schools) and then bail. You might not like it, but that is life. Ward 3 folks would love to have PK3 and to have enough PK4 slots. And no we are not all rich enough that sending our children to private school for 2 more years is a trivial choice.

+1. And people outside of Ward 3 have the right to apply for OOB slots at Wilson feeder schools and stay.

It goes both ways folks.

I am PP and I fully agree!!

Dude, you moved into Upper Upper for the privileges, and then want what I get because most of my neighbors are poor. Awesome.

Not sure what Dude did, but I moved from Columbia Heights to Upper Upper because the only home I could afford to buy was in Upper Upper. And you,PP, you bought and stayed in Lower Lower because you wanted your home to appreciate.

Unless you inherited a family home or your relatives would only help you with a downpayment if you bought in a specific neighborhood, there is no way that can be true. You could somehow buy a house in upper NW but not in Woodridge or Hillcrest or Congress Heights or Brookland or Hill East?

The PP said "home." You assume a SF house. Could well be an apartment or duplex.

You cannot honestly believe that the cheapest condo, apartment, duplex, yurt, whatever in DC is in upper NW. There are 2br condos EOTR for under $75,000. I get that there are lots of reasons why someone might choose Cathedral Heights over Congress Heights. The market certainly reflects that. But it is just not factual to say that someone can only afford to live in Upper NW. That's like saying the only food I can afford is steak.

[Anonymous]

lol that the cheapest housing was in NW. Sure, Jan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swami, can use your help ranking for PK3. Any schools we left off?

Shepherd
DC Bilingual
CMI
EL Haynes
Breakthrough Montessori
Powell
Capital City
Center City (BW)
Takoma
Center City (PW)
Bridges
Whittier (IB) - Considering leaving this off

PP you are in my neighborhood and don't leave Whittier off. I'm so sad you would even say that. It's a great school for ECE and you can't beat the commute. At least go to an open house.

I'm the PP who is considering leaving Whittier off. I'm sad about it too. I really wanted to like Whittier but then I went to the PTA meeting where they showcased the ECE curriculum and I was really disappointed. It seemed like a total mess. Left that meeting bummed and disheartened.

Hi- I'm sorry you felt it didn't go well. We were definitely having technical issues that night and we were all frustrated. Please don't base your feelings about the school on the quality of our microphone and the laptop. I'm happy to talk to you [e-mail].

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in ward 3. Since there are no inbound schools for prek 3, I figure I'd have a better shot at Charter schools.
How do you rank:
Creative Minds International
AppleTree PCS- Columbia Heights
E.L. Haynes
Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom
Washington Yu Ying
Breakthrough Montessori
Meridian Public Charter School

Is there any point in applying to DCPS (see below) out of bounds?
Hyde-Addison Elementary School
H.D. Cooke Elementary School
Marie Reed Elementary School
Powell Elementary School
Ross Elementary School
School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens


If your goal is to pull your kid for PK4 or K and send to your IB, I would not go with the bilingual schools. You get all the hardship of a miserable commute and what is often a tough adjustment to the new language without any ultimate benefit of fluency.

Also, I'll say this - if you're the Ward 3 family that's trying to use my Ward 1 and 4 schools to park your kids through to K and aren't interested in the school community, find somewhere else. Too much work already trying to build community without families who are intentionally transient.

You’ll get into Appletree and you won’t piss people off by parking your kid there for only 1-2 years.

I'm sorry. All DC residents have equal rights to enter the lottery and put down choices that reflect their family situation. That means that Ward 3 families can lottery in for PK3 (and increasingly PK4 since those are being crowded out of overpacked schools) and then bail. You might not like it, but that is life. Ward 3 folks would love to have PK3 and to have enough PK4 slots. And no we are not all rich enough that sending our children to private school for 2 more years is a trivial choice.

+1. And people outside of Ward 3 have the right to apply for OOB slots at Wilson feeder schools and stay.

It goes both ways folks.

I am PP and I fully agree!!

Dude, you moved into Upper Upper for the privileges, and then want what I get because most of my neighbors are poor. Awesome.

Not sure what Dude did, but I moved from Columbia Heights to Upper Upper because the only home I could afford to buy was in Upper Upper. And you,PP, you bought and stayed in Lower Lower because you wanted your home to appreciate.

Unless you inherited a family home or your relatives would only help you with a downpayment if you bought in a specific neighborhood, there is no way that can be true. You could somehow buy a house in upper NW but not in Woodridge or Hillcrest or Congress Heights or Brookland or Hill East?

The PP said "home." You assume a SF house. Could well be an apartment or duplex.

You cannot honestly believe that the cheapest condo, apartment, duplex, yurt, whatever in DC is in upper NW. There are 2br condos EOTR for under $75,000. I get that there are lots of reasons why someone might choose Cathedral Heights over Congress Heights. The market certainly reflects that. But it is just not factual to say that someone can only afford to live in Upper NW. That's like saying the only food I can afford is steak.

Why would I move away from Nw? I might as well move to Virginia or MD. It was the cheapest condo in NW. Looked at all zips there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in ward 3. Since there are no inbound schools for prek 3, I figure I'd have a better shot at Charter schools.
How do you rank:
Creative Minds International
AppleTree PCS- Columbia Heights
E.L. Haynes
Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom
Washington Yu Ying
Breakthrough Montessori
Meridian Public Charter School

Is there any point in applying to DCPS (see below) out of bounds?
Hyde-Addison Elementary School
H.D. Cooke Elementary School
Marie Reed Elementary School
Powell Elementary School
Ross Elementary School
School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens


If your goal is to pull your kid for PK4 or K and send to your IB, I would not go with the bilingual schools. You get all the hardship of a miserable commute and what is often a tough adjustment to the new language without any ultimate benefit of fluency.

Also, I'll say this - if you're the Ward 3 family that's trying to use my Ward 1 and 4 schools to park your kids through to K and aren't interested in the school community, find somewhere else. Too much work already trying to build community without families who are intentionally transient.

You’ll get into Appletree and you won’t piss people off by parking your kid there for only 1-2 years.

I'm sorry. All DC residents have equal rights to enter the lottery and put down choices that reflect their family situation. That means that Ward 3 families can lottery in for PK3 (and increasingly PK4 since those are being crowded out of overpacked schools) and then bail. You might not like it, but that is life. Ward 3 folks would love to have PK3 and to have enough PK4 slots. And no we are not all rich enough that sending our children to private school for 2 more years is a trivial choice.

+1. And people outside of Ward 3 have the right to apply for OOB slots at Wilson feeder schools and stay.

It goes both ways folks.

I am PP and I fully agree!!

Dude, you moved into Upper Upper for the privileges, and then want what I get because most of my neighbors are poor. Awesome.

Not sure what Dude did, but I moved from Columbia Heights to Upper Upper because the only home I could afford to buy was in Upper Upper. And you,PP, you bought and stayed in Lower Lower because you wanted your home to appreciate.

Unless you inherited a family home or your relatives would only help you with a downpayment if you bought in a specific neighborhood, there is no way that can be true. You could somehow buy a house in upper NW but not in Woodridge or Hillcrest or Congress Heights or Brookland or Hill East?

The PP said "home." You assume a SF house. Could well be an apartment or duplex.

You cannot honestly believe that the cheapest condo, apartment, duplex, yurt, whatever in DC is in upper NW. There are 2br condos EOTR for under $75,000. I get that there are lots of reasons why someone might choose Cathedral Heights over Congress Heights. The market certainly reflects that. But it is just not factual to say that someone can only afford to live in Upper NW. That's like saying the only food I can afford is steak.

Why would I move away from Nw? I might as well move to Virginia or MD. It was the cheapest condo in NW. Looked at all zips there.

I'm sorry this thread has been highjacked by this stupid debate. But I am continuing it. This is some serious BS. Let me find you a cheaper condo elsewhere in NW. Almost anywhere else, maybe EXCEPT CH.

[Anonymous]

20011 is in Northwest. And it just simply IS cheaper than 20016.

[Anonymous]

Even if a condo WOTP seems cheaper (and there are some, especially in Glover Park and near Van Ness, that have pretty low purchase prices) the condo fees are huge. Someone approved for a low mortgage or who hasn't saved a big down payment might be able to qualify more easily for those, but I don't know how they'll come up with an extra $800+ each month for the fees.

PP who couldn't afford anything other than Upper NW is full of crap and we all know it. She might not have been able to afford anything else *in a neighborhood she liked better* but that's not the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even if a condo WOTP seems cheaper (and there are some, especially in Glover Park and near Van Ness, that have pretty low purchase prices) the condo fees are huge. Someone approved for a low mortgage or who hasn't saved a big down payment might be able to qualify more easily for those, but I don't know how they'll come up with an extra $800+ each month for the fees.

PP who couldn't afford anything other than Upper NW is full of crap and we all know it. She might not have been able to afford anything else *in a neighborhood she liked better* but that's not the same thing.

Ding Ding Ding

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in ward 3. Since there are no inbound schools for prek 3, I figure I'd have a better shot at Charter schools.
How do you rank:
Creative Minds International
AppleTree PCS- Columbia Heights
E.L. Haynes
Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom
Washington Yu Ying
Breakthrough Montessori
Meridian Public Charter School

Is there any point in applying to DCPS (see below) out of bounds?
Hyde-Addison Elementary School
H.D. Cooke Elementary School
Marie Reed Elementary School
Powell Elementary School
Ross Elementary School
School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens


If your goal is to pull your kid for PK4 or K and send to your IB, I would not go with the bilingual schools. You get all the hardship of a miserable commute and what is often a tough adjustment to the new language without any ultimate benefit of fluency.

Also, I'll say this - if you're the Ward 3 family that's trying to use my Ward 1 and 4 schools to park your kids through to K and aren't interested in the school community, find somewhere else. Too much work already trying to build community without families who are intentionally transient.

You’ll get into Appletree and you won’t piss people off by parking your kid there for only 1-2 years.

I'm sorry. All DC residents have equal rights to enter the lottery and put down choices that reflect their family situation. That means that Ward 3 families can lottery in for PK3 (and increasingly PK4 since those are being crowded out of overpacked schools) and then bail. You might not like it, but that is life. Ward 3 folks would love to have PK3 and to have enough PK4 slots. And no we are not all rich enough that sending our children to private school for 2 more years is a trivial choice.

This. Also, I've got news for the unwelcoming PP: If you are at one of the DCPS where it's actually still possible to get in OOB, most of the UMC families in PK will also be "intentionally transient" because they will think the school might be fine for ECE but then do their best to lottery out of there for more long-term prospects, or move. So there is no real difference between them and a family from WOTP. And charters are city-wide, so you don't get special rights to them just because you live closer and have no other options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in ward 3. Since there are no inbound schools for prek 3, I figure I'd have a better shot at Charter schools.
How do you rank:
Creative Minds International
AppleTree PCS- Columbia Heights
E.L. Haynes
Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom
Washington Yu Ying
Breakthrough Montessori
Meridian Public Charter School

Is there any point in applying to DCPS (see below) out of bounds?
Hyde-Addison Elementary School
H.D. Cooke Elementary School
Marie Reed Elementary School
Powell Elementary School
Ross Elementary School
School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens


If your goal is to pull your kid for PK4 or K and send to your IB, I would not go with the bilingual schools. You get all the hardship of a miserable commute and what is often a tough adjustment to the new language without any ultimate benefit of fluency.

Also, I'll say this - if you're the Ward 3 family that's trying to use my Ward 1 and 4 schools to park your kids through to K and aren't interested in the school community, find somewhere else. Too much work already trying to build community without families who are intentionally transient.

You’ll get into Appletree and you won’t piss people off by parking your kid there for only 1-2 years.

I'm sorry. All DC residents have equal rights to enter the lottery and put down choices that reflect their family situation. That means that Ward 3 families can lottery in for PK3 (and increasingly PK4 since those are being crowded out of overpacked schools) and then bail. You might not like it, but that is life. Ward 3 folks would love to have PK3 and to have enough PK4 slots. And no we are not all rich enough that sending our children to private school for 2 more years is a trivial choice.

+1. And people outside of Ward 3 have the right to apply for OOB slots at Wilson feeder schools and stay.

It goes both ways folks.

I am PP and I fully agree!!

Dude, you moved into Upper Upper for the privileges, and then want what I get because most of my neighbors are poor. Awesome.

Not sure what Dude did, but I moved from Columbia Heights to Upper Upper because the only home I could afford to buy was in Upper Upper. And you,PP, you bought and stayed in Lower Lower because you wanted your home to appreciate.

Unless you inherited a family home or your relatives would only help you with a downpayment if you bought in a specific neighborhood, there is no way that can be true. You could somehow buy a house in upper NW but not in Woodridge or Hillcrest or Congress Heights or Brookland or Hill East?

The PP said "home." You assume a SF house. Could well be an apartment or duplex.

You cannot honestly believe that the cheapest condo, apartment, duplex, yurt, whatever in DC is in upper NW. There are 2br condos EOTR for under $75,000. I get that there are lots of reasons why someone might choose Cathedral Heights over Congress Heights. The market certainly reflects that. But it is just not factual to say that someone can only afford to live in Upper NW. That's like saying the only food I can afford is steak.

Why would I move away from Nw? I might as well move to Virginia or MD. It was the cheapest condo in NW. Looked at all zips there.

I'm sorry this thread has been highjacked by this stupid debate. But I am continuing it. This is some serious BS. Let me find you a cheaper condo elsewhere in NW. Almost anywhere else, maybe EXCEPT CH.

NP. I agree that it is hard to believe that the only house PP could afford was WOTP. But it is equally disingenuous to pretend that everyone who buys EOTP does so because they couldn't afford to buy WOTP. They wouldn't be able to afford the *same quality of house* there, but many of them could buy *something* there if they wanted. We bought a small fixer upper WOTP in 2009 that even back then was cheaper than some places we looked at in Mt. Pleasant and Capitol Hill. Even today, there are houses (and certainly condos) WOTP that are cheaper than many properties EOTP. There are tons of people with very high incomes EOTP, higher than that of some families WOTP. So to say that we don't deserve to lottery for PK3/4 because we are all rich and free PK is for the poor and those who choose to live near the poor is not only wrong but also very hypocritical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in ward 3. Since there are no inbound schools for prek 3, I figure I'd have a better shot at Charter schools.
How do you rank:
Creative Minds International
AppleTree PCS- Columbia Heights
E.L. Haynes
Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom
Washington Yu Ying
Breakthrough Montessori
Meridian Public Charter School

Is there any point in applying to DCPS (see below) out of bounds?
Hyde-Addison Elementary School
H.D. Cooke Elementary School
Marie Reed Elementary School
Powell Elementary School
Ross Elementary School
School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens

The chances for the charters are low except Appletree CH and Meridian, both of which have in the past few years accepted all PK3 applicants. I know a few people from WOTP who have been happy at Appletree CH, but do inform yourself about their discipline strategies and academic focus and see if that's what you want for your kid. I also know a family from WOTP who was happy in PK3 at Meridian, at least initially (we lost contact, so I'm not sure what became of them).

The chances at the DCPSs you listed are slim to none; you can look up the data to see which accepted any OOB students at all. Depending on what your commute is, I would add less popular DCPS as safeties - Truesdell, Whittier, Dorothy Height, and if you work downtown, Amidon-Bowen in SW, or the Appletree there. Most DCPS do ECE well, and I know someone who has been very happy at Truesdell.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Sorry. Swami was on a business trip. What did I miss other than arguments?

[Anonymous]

Lotterying for 1st and pk4:

SWS
Brent
Maury
Mundo Verde
Cap Hill Mont
Ludlow Taylor

We are at a HRCS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry. Swami was on a business trip. What did I miss other than arguments?

That you need to register an account so it's easier to see past the BS. But then, you knew I'd say that.