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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
Does everyone get in to pre-K in Arlington?
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Anonymous
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Moving to Arlington in July. We want to enroll our 4 year old DC in public pre-k. Seems the only choice is Montessori programs. That sounds like a good option. If you applied did you get in or were you wait listed? Trying to figure out how many pre-schools I need to apply to as I really want DC to get into school somewhere.
I am finding the whole pre-school application process crazy!!! Can not imagine college. At least DC will be able to do most of that process themselves!!! |
Anonymous
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Very difficult to get into the Arlington Montessori program, especially at 4. Some large % of slots are reserved for families with incomes under a set amount -- I think $60K. Additionally, since the program starts at 3 there probably aren't many 4 year old slots.
If I were you, I'd start looking into pre-K daycares or some of the church-based programs/montessoris, depending on your needs. There are many options in Arlington, but not very many PUBLIC options. The lottery programs usually run from December - February, so now is the perfect time. Arlington County has a list of preschools that you can google. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| Also - if you are not currently a resident, there may be restrictions on putting your child into the lottery. If you "win" the lottery, you need to provide evidence that you are a resident - not evidence that you are planning to be a resident. |
Anonymous
| It's very hard to get in. Applied to 4 schools and got in to none. You should apply (if you can - as pp mentioned you may need to be in county to actually apply) but not count on it. |
Anonymous
| Arlington resident here: many of us don't use Arlington schools for Pre-K. That solves the residency problem. |
Anonymous
Not sure what this means, but you do need to be a resident to send your child to the prek montessori program offered through the county. If you are lower income you stand a much better chance of getting in. |
Anonymous
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As others have said the answer is NO, not everyone gets into pre-K in Arlington. Lower-income families get an overwhelming percentage of the available spots and as someone else said, many children start at 3 and fewer spaces will be available for a 4 year old.
You should definitely put in the applications, and you should apply for as many programs/schools as you are eligible for as this will increase your chances. But I think it will still be difficult. You should start researching private (mostly church-based) pre-K programs and try to get applications in for those as well. Most will have information sessions and registration/lotteries in Jan/Feb of 2010 for the 2010-2011 school year. In some cases you may need to find someone locally to act as a proxy - submitting applications and being present for the lottery draws, for example. We coordinated preschool applications through my mom while we were living overseas - she submitted them and did all the leg-work for us (thanks Mom!) It's hard to coordinate from afar..... We only applied with two programs but that's because we had a very low level of priority to get into one and thought/knew it would be a sure thing so we just wanted one backup alternative. In the end she did get into both. If you don't have any priority though and are totally at the mercy of lotteries and waitlists, you may want to apply to more preschools to increase your chances. I do think there is always some movement and in the end you should end up with a space somewhere. Good luck! |
Anonymous
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13:47 again - just wanted to clarify that we also were seeking a preschool spot for a 4 year old which is more difficult since most kids start at 3 and continue on through to kindergarten. Although as I mentioned we did have a history with one of the preschools, it was still no guarantee we would get into it (they usually accommodate current students, siblings of current students, and church members first). That said, we ultimately did get in off a waitlist and also got a spot at another church preschool where we had no history/priority after getting off a waitlist there.
Just didn't want to sound too discouraging - it was stressful for us being out of the area but it did work out in the end. |
Anonymous
Agree with all of this. It is sort of a pain to have to physically go pick up the applications, but I wonder if you might be able to explain your situation and they would mail one to you. It is worth a shot! Like the PP, it was all very stressful applying, but everyone seems to get in somewhere eventually. And I know the school that my son is in (Westover Baptist) did have some openings in one of the 4 year old classes this year, so there are spaces. You just have to be patient. |
Anonymous
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17:07 - What I meant was simply that there are lots of relatively low cost options outside of the county. It isn't the case that all the kids get Pre-K through the county. If you aren't low income, many of the good preschools in the churches etc, won't cost you any more. Westover Baptist, Fairlington Methodist, Etz Hayim all have highly regarded programs....
That's what people do who are moving into town. |
Anonymous
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I am looking into this myself for my 3 year old, although we missed this year, we are looking to try to get her into one of these for the 2010/2011 year as a 4 year old.
There are waitlists and lotteries, and you need to send an actual copy of a lease or property title to prove residency, (they wouldn't even accept a voter registration card). The instructions and application forms are on this website: http://www.apsva.us/154010811517413/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=54621 |