Moving to DC with 2 year old. Which full day preschools have I NOT missed the deadline for?

[Anonymous]

Are there any with March application deadlines that we can still apply to?

[Anonymous]

Lots of full day places don't have application deadlines. They do however have waitlist, which might be a more formidable problem.

[Anonymous]

Where in DC? Pre-k lottery deadline is tonorrow.

[Anonymous]

When will your 2 year old turn 3?

If before September 30, then you have 18 hours to get a public school lottery application in.

If after September 30 then I think you're gonna have more luck with daycares (which tend to go through 3 here), most of which have rolling admission. Check out the childcare forum for more info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When will your 2 year old turn 3?

If before September 30, then you have 18 hours to get a public school lottery application in.

If after September 30 then I think you're gonna have more luck with daycares (which tend to go through 3 here), most of which have rolling admission. Check out the childcare forum for more info.

Plenty of daycares have preschool programs that go all the way until K. Only home daycares tend to stop at 3, and even some of those continue, but usually with less of a true preschool program.

[Anonymous]

She won’t turn 3 until January, and we don’t have a DC address yet (which is irrelevant I guess since she’s not old enough anyway). How do I find a daycare with a spot for a 2 or 2.5 year old or a short wait list that’s going to meet my admittedly-high standards? Does anyone happen to know of one? We are flexible re where in DC we live.

[Anonymous]

Preschools tend to have deadlines but daycares don't. Even so, you can still apply to a preschool after the application deadline. A lot of first time parents dont know that applications for September start is February, so the 2 year old classes in a lot of places fill up a little later.

[Anonymous]

First round of admissions decisions are just being announced. The schools should know their yield in a couple of weeks. Call all of the schools and find out who might have spots - if so they will likely accept a late application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When will your 2 year old turn 3?

If before September 30, then you have 18 hours to get a public school lottery application in.

If after September 30 then I think you're gonna have more luck with daycares (which tend to go through 3 here), most of which have rolling admission. Check out the childcare forum for more info.

Plenty of daycares have preschool programs that go all the way until K. Only home daycares tend to stop at 3, and even some of those continue, but usually with less of a true preschool program.

Oh, very few of the ones I'm familiar with go beyond 3 years old, but I live EOTP in DC where everyone qualifies for PK3 after that. I think demand just drops so considerably it's a lot less common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She won’t turn 3 until January, and we don’t have a DC address yet (which is irrelevant I guess since she’s not old enough anyway). How do I find a daycare with a spot for a 2 or 2.5 year old or a short wait list that’s going to meet my admittedly-high standards? Does anyone happen to know of one? We are flexible re where in DC we live.

I might suggest searching or posting on the childcare forum. There's a ton of reviews of daycares, a google doc of options, etc. Wait lists for the good places are pretty long though so I wouldn't count on getting into your first choice on short notice. You might need to find a backup while you wait.

You could also look for some of the chains, there are a lot of Kindercares and Bright Horizons all over. I don't know what your "admittedly high standards" are so I can't really recommend one. I go to a rundown nonprofit one in my neighborhood so I'm probably not a good person to advise you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She won’t turn 3 until January, and we don’t have a DC address yet (which is irrelevant I guess since she’s not old enough anyway). How do I find a daycare with a spot for a 2 or 2.5 year old or a short wait list that’s going to meet my admittedly-high standards? Does anyone happen to know of one? We are flexible re where in DC we live.

I might suggest searching or posting on the childcare forum. There's a ton of reviews of daycares, a google doc of options, etc. Wait lists for the good places are pretty long though so I wouldn't count on getting into your first choice on short notice. You might need to find a backup while you wait.

You could also look for some of the chains, there are a lot of Kindercares and Bright Horizons all over. I don't know what your "admittedly high standards" are so I can't really recommend one. I go to a rundown nonprofit one in my neighborhood so I'm probably not a good person to advise you

Oh lol sorry I just realized we are in the daycare forum. I thought we were in the DC public schools forum for some reason.

Anyway I would check out the sticky thread with the google doc. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When will your 2 year old turn 3?

If before September 30, then you have 18 hours to get a public school lottery application in.

If after September 30 then I think you're gonna have more luck with daycares (which tend to go through 3 here), most of which have rolling admission. Check out the childcare forum for more info.

Plenty of daycares have preschool programs that go all the way until K. Only home daycares tend to stop at 3, and even some of those continue, but usually with less of a true preschool program.

Oh, very few of the ones I'm familiar with go beyond 3 years old, but I live EOTP in DC where everyone qualifies for PK3 after that. I think demand just drops so considerably it's a lot less common.

Most places WOTP or in inner suburbs continue since Pk-3 is either non-existent or very hard to get into. It can sometimes make it a bit easier to get a spot because some kids leave for PK3 though.

[Anonymous]

OP - call the JCC a.s.a.p. They are the BEST preschool downtown (Reggio-inspired), they go full day, and last I heard (as of about a week and a half ago) they still had spots in their 2 y.o. and 3 y.o. classes for next year because of their big expansion. The new classrooms are going to be awesome. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

What you're looking for would be daycare, so shouldn't be an issue with deadlines, just wait lists.

[Anonymous]

Try to decide if you want daycare or school. They are different in DC. Some parents use the terms interchangeably but a school will say they are a school in their name. Are you looking for a specialized private school like Montessori? Or a public DC school? The latter you will need a DC address and to lottery into. And the deadline passed. BUT private schools are sending out contract now and until they are full and many have rolling admissions if they aren’t currently full. So personally I’d decide between school and daycare, hours you need, and location.