Critique my list! (or give thoughts)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

How do you “know” so much about every DCI feeder? You don’t, you just repeat what you read hear from anonymous people. I have friends at LAMB, DCB, Stokes and MV and all of them are happy. I have never been able to confirm what I read hear, because it is exaggerated by the anti charter crew.

[Anonymous]

I would not leave Sela b/c of not liking the space - they just bought the building and are redoing it - and the playground, starting this summer. The middle school is a concern, but they are likely to have a middle school by the time your kid needs it, they are working on it. Commute, however, is a concern if you don't like your commute. That said, with parking concerns, even a shorter commute where there is no parking can be miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

How do you “know” so much about every DCI feeder? You don’t, you just repeat what you read hear from anonymous people. I have friends at LAMB, DCB, Stokes and MV and all of them are happy. I have never been able to confirm what I read hear, because it is exaggerated by the anti charter crew.

I’m sure you’re the only one of us with friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

How do you “know” so much about every DCI feeder? You don’t, you just repeat what you read hear from anonymous people. I have friends at LAMB, DCB, Stokes and MV and all of them are happy. I have never been able to confirm what I read hear, because it is exaggerated by the anti charter crew.

I’m sure you’re the only one of us with friends.

NP. You and your confirmation bias.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

How do you “know” so much about every DCI feeder? You don’t, you just repeat what you read hear from anonymous people. I have friends at LAMB, DCB, Stokes and MV and all of them are happy. I have never been able to confirm what I read hear, because it is exaggerated by the anti charter crew.

I’m not anti-charter. There are charters I would have chosen over our DCPS, and we may do a charter for middle school if it’s the right fit and the lottery allows. But charters aren’t an “answer” to DCPS and there are plenty of people that are looking to leave their charters in middle elementary, or choosing to stick it out despite issues because of a middle school feed. The point is that there are many pathways in the city and pre-K parents do not need to prioritize middle school over all else. A quality elementary experience is 6-8 years of your child’s life and, IMO, more important and possibly closer to home and more easily accessible in the lottery than the “HRCS”. We turned down some charters in first grade that we would have been thrilled to get into in pre-K. A LOT changes in a few years and often so do your priorities. And if you have a gifted or SN kid, just give up now and move to MCPS. DC just isn’t a great system for most kids at the far edges of the spectrum.

[Anonymous]

What about EL Haynes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

I’m the PP above and you must have a reading comprehension issue. OP is looking in 6-8 years for middle school and yes what I said above is going to be the trend for DCI. It’s virtually impossible to get in for Spanish now, French track will fill since Stokes expanded, and the only track left is Chinese. DCI is getting more and more buy in and more families from that track will think about trying out DCI. Every year more competition for middle school as more families don’t want to move. Why don’t I mark this thread and we can see how DCI turns out for non-feeder families in 6-8 years.

You also have no idea about the upper elementary seats in the feeders either. If it was so easy to get seats then there would not be many DCPS families in bilingual Spanish schools who now are facing reality of MacFarland or move. Why don’t you tell me exactly how many DCPS Spanish families you know that either got into DCI this year or a feeder. I’m waiting…..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

How do you “know” so much about every DCI feeder? You don’t, you just repeat what you read hear from anonymous people. I have friends at LAMB, DCB, Stokes and MV and all of them are happy. I have never been able to confirm what I read hear, because it is exaggerated by the anti charter crew.

I’m not anti-charter. There are charters I would have chosen over our DCPS, and we may do a charter for middle school if it’s the right fit and the lottery allows. But charters aren’t an “answer” to DCPS and there are plenty of people that are looking to leave their charters in middle elementary, or choosing to stick it out despite issues because of a middle school feed. The point is that there are many pathways in the city and pre-K parents do not need to prioritize middle school over all else. A quality elementary experience is 6-8 years of your child’s life and, IMO, more important and possibly closer to home and more easily accessible in the lottery than the “HRCS”. We turned down some charters in first grade that we would have been thrilled to get into in pre-K. A LOT changes in a few years and often so do your priorities. And if you have a gifted or SN kid, just give up now and move to MCPS. DC just isn’t a great system for most kids at the far edges of the spectrum.

I’ve been in the city EOTP for 15 years with a kid for 8 of those 15 years. Nothing has changed in DCPS in the mid to upper elementary in the poorly performing schools. Still majority of kids are poorly performing. It’s worst now post COVID. The only thing that has changed is middle class families now will take the free ECE at most schools. But most will leave by K and 1st. Sure you may have a handful or less sticking it out but it’s because many have struck out in the lottery, they just won’t tell you that.

Capitol Hill is different because their at risk is so low. Most stick it out thru elementary, at least till 4th grade. Then those that got into charters for 5th leave which is a significant number. But still no major buy in for the last 15 years to Hobson. In fact, Hobson has now regressed post COVID.

No one predicted the pandemic. It has had a disastrous impact on the kids in DC, especially the lower performing kids as the data shows. They always did poorly but much worst now. The achievement gap is real and got much worst since COVID.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

How do you “know” so much about every DCI feeder? You don’t, you just repeat what you read hear from anonymous people. I have friends at LAMB, DCB, Stokes and MV and all of them are happy. I have never been able to confirm what I read hear, because it is exaggerated by the anti charter crew.

I’m not anti-charter. There are charters I would have chosen over our DCPS, and we may do a charter for middle school if it’s the right fit and the lottery allows. But charters aren’t an “answer” to DCPS and there are plenty of people that are looking to leave their charters in middle elementary, or choosing to stick it out despite issues because of a middle school feed. The point is that there are many pathways in the city and pre-K parents do not need to prioritize middle school over all else. A quality elementary experience is 6-8 years of your child’s life and, IMO, more important and possibly closer to home and more easily accessible in the lottery than the “HRCS”. We turned down some charters in first grade that we would have been thrilled to get into in pre-K. A LOT changes in a few years and often so do your priorities. And if you have a gifted or SN kid, just give up now and move to MCPS. DC just isn’t a great system for most kids at the far edges of the spectrum.

I’ve been in the city EOTP for 15 years with a kid for 8 of those 15 years. Nothing has changed in DCPS in the mid to upper elementary in the poorly performing schools. Still majority of kids are poorly performing. It’s worst now post COVID. The only thing that has changed is middle class families now will take the free ECE at most schools. But most will leave by K and 1st. Sure you may have a handful or less sticking it out but it’s because many have struck out in the lottery, they just won’t tell you that.

Capitol Hill is different because their at risk is so low. Most stick it out thru elementary, at least till 4th grade. Then those that got into charters for 5th leave which is a significant number. But still no major buy in for the last 15 years to Hobson. In fact, Hobson has now regressed post COVID.

No one predicted the pandemic. It has had a disastrous impact on the kids in DC, especially the lower performing kids as the data shows. They always did poorly but much worst now. The achievement gap is real and got much worst since COVID.

I have a third grader at a Ward 4 DCPS. This is just not accurate information anymore. There are plenty of kids that stay until 4th-5th. The pandemic hurt charter students the same as DCPS students. Perhaps PP lives in Brookland, but Brightwood has a number of high performing DCPS schools that retain middle class families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

How do you “know” so much about every DCI feeder? You don’t, you just repeat what you read hear from anonymous people. I have friends at LAMB, DCB, Stokes and MV and all of them are happy. I have never been able to confirm what I read hear, because it is exaggerated by the anti charter crew.

I’m not anti-charter. There are charters I would have chosen over our DCPS, and we may do a charter for middle school if it’s the right fit and the lottery allows. But charters aren’t an “answer” to DCPS and there are plenty of people that are looking to leave their charters in middle elementary, or choosing to stick it out despite issues because of a middle school feed. The point is that there are many pathways in the city and pre-K parents do not need to prioritize middle school over all else. A quality elementary experience is 6-8 years of your child’s life and, IMO, more important and possibly closer to home and more easily accessible in the lottery than the “HRCS”. We turned down some charters in first grade that we would have been thrilled to get into in pre-K. A LOT changes in a few years and often so do your priorities. And if you have a gifted or SN kid, just give up now and move to MCPS. DC just isn’t a great system for most kids at the far edges of the spectrum.

I’ve been in the city EOTP for 15 years with a kid for 8 of those 15 years. Nothing has changed in DCPS in the mid to upper elementary in the poorly performing schools. Still majority of kids are poorly performing. It’s worst now post COVID. The only thing that has changed is middle class families now will take the free ECE at most schools. But most will leave by K and 1st. Sure you may have a handful or less sticking it out but it’s because many have struck out in the lottery, they just won’t tell you that.

Capitol Hill is different because their at risk is so low. Most stick it out thru elementary, at least till 4th grade. Then those that got into charters for 5th leave which is a significant number. But still no major buy in for the last 15 years to Hobson. In fact, Hobson has now regressed post COVID.

No one predicted the pandemic. It has had a disastrous impact on the kids in DC, especially the lower performing kids as the data shows. They always did poorly but much worst now. The achievement gap is real and got much worst since COVID.

I have a third grader at a Ward 4 DCPS. This is just not accurate information anymore. There are plenty of kids that stay until 4th-5th. The pandemic hurt charter students the same as DCPS students. Perhaps PP lives in Brookland, but Brightwood has a number of high performing DCPS schools that retain middle class families.

+1. Plenty of kids stay through 4th, it's true that less do through 5th. But to say nothing has changed is ridiculous! Look at Garrison-- it was almost closed due to low enrollment, but now it has a PK3 waitlist of over 100 kids, and is slated for enrollment growth of 32 kids in next year's budget-- almost 10% growth! Similar with Langley-- 10 years ago it didn't exist at all, was formed in a merger of two schools, and really really struggled to attract students. Now it's seeing significant enrollment growth, and the number of people I personally know with middle-elementary-age children there is higher than ever before. Before the pandemic, it wasn't even majority at-risk (49%). Staying at Seaton through 3rd or 4th, then lotterying into ITS, Latin, or BASIS is a commonplace strategy. Now I'm sure there are many contributing factors here (such as Mundo Verde losing its sparkle), but it's simply not true to say that nothing has changed. Nobody stays at these schools because they struck out in the lottery-- seats at many other schools can be easily had in upper elementary. People stay because they're choosing to.

[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:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

How do you “know” so much about every DCI feeder? You don’t, you just repeat what you read hear from anonymous people. I have friends at LAMB, DCB, Stokes and MV and all of them are happy. I have never been able to confirm what I read hear, because it is exaggerated by the anti charter crew.

I’m not anti-charter. There are charters I would have chosen over our DCPS, and we may do a charter for middle school if it’s the right fit and the lottery allows. But charters aren’t an “answer” to DCPS and there are plenty of people that are looking to leave their charters in middle elementary, or choosing to stick it out despite issues because of a middle school feed. The point is that there are many pathways in the city and pre-K parents do not need to prioritize middle school over all else. A quality elementary experience is 6-8 years of your child’s life and, IMO, more important and possibly closer to home and more easily accessible in the lottery than the “HRCS”. We turned down some charters in first grade that we would have been thrilled to get into in pre-K. A LOT changes in a few years and often so do your priorities. And if you have a gifted or SN kid, just give up now and move to MCPS. DC just isn’t a great system for most kids at the far edges of the spectrum.

I’ve been in the city EOTP for 15 years with a kid for 8 of those 15 years. Nothing has changed in DCPS in the mid to upper elementary in the poorly performing schools. Still majority of kids are poorly performing. It’s worst now post COVID. The only thing that has changed is middle class families now will take the free ECE at most schools. But most will leave by K and 1st. Sure you may have a handful or less sticking it out but it’s because many have struck out in the lottery, they just won’t tell you that.

Capitol Hill is different because their at risk is so low. Most stick it out thru elementary, at least till 4th grade. Then those that got into charters for 5th leave which is a significant number. But still no major buy in for the last 15 years to Hobson. In fact, Hobson has now regressed post COVID.

No one predicted the pandemic. It has had a disastrous impact on the kids in DC, especially the lower performing kids as the data shows. They always did poorly but much worst now. The achievement gap is real and got much worst since COVID.

I have a third grader at a Ward 4 DCPS. This is just not accurate information anymore. There are plenty of kids that stay until 4th-5th. The pandemic hurt charter students the same as DCPS students. Perhaps PP lives in Brookland, but Brightwood has a number of high performing DCPS schools that retain middle class families.

+1. Plenty of kids stay through 4th, it's true that less do through 5th. But to say nothing has changed is ridiculous! Look at Garrison-- it was almost closed due to low enrollment, but now it has a PK3 waitlist of over 100 kids, and is slated for enrollment growth of 32 kids in next year's budget-- almost 10% growth! Similar with Langley-- 10 years ago it didn't exist at all, was formed in a merger of two schools, and really really struggled to attract students. Now it's seeing significant enrollment growth, and the number of people I personally know with middle-elementary-age children there is higher than ever before. Before the pandemic, it wasn't even majority at-risk (49%). Staying at Seaton through 3rd or 4th, then lotterying into ITS, Latin, or BASIS is a commonplace strategy. Now I'm sure there are many contributing factors here (such as Mundo Verde losing its sparkle), but it's simply not true to say that nothing has changed. Nobody stays at these schools because they struck out in the lottery-- seats at many other schools can be easily had in upper elementary. People stay because they're choosing to.

PP here. This is exactly right. We have fifth graders that go to charter middle schools, WOTP schools to get Deal, DCB if they have Spanish for DCI, or MCPS for BCC/Whitman, etc. There are actually many families that specifically DON’T care about the middle school because the plan was always to move to MCPS for those middle and high schools. But they are waiting specifically because they want to be at their neighborhood school for second to fourth-ish. People are there because they want to be, not because they’ve struck out for all of those years in a row, likely for 2-3 kids. It just defies logic to think there would be so many kids in that scenario.

[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:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

How do you “know” so much about every DCI feeder? You don’t, you just repeat what you read hear from anonymous people. I have friends at LAMB, DCB, Stokes and MV and all of them are happy. I have never been able to confirm what I read hear, because it is exaggerated by the anti charter crew.

I’m not anti-charter. There are charters I would have chosen over our DCPS, and we may do a charter for middle school if it’s the right fit and the lottery allows. But charters aren’t an “answer” to DCPS and there are plenty of people that are looking to leave their charters in middle elementary, or choosing to stick it out despite issues because of a middle school feed. The point is that there are many pathways in the city and pre-K parents do not need to prioritize middle school over all else. A quality elementary experience is 6-8 years of your child’s life and, IMO, more important and possibly closer to home and more easily accessible in the lottery than the “HRCS”. We turned down some charters in first grade that we would have been thrilled to get into in pre-K. A LOT changes in a few years and often so do your priorities. And if you have a gifted or SN kid, just give up now and move to MCPS. DC just isn’t a great system for most kids at the far edges of the spectrum.

I’ve been in the city EOTP for 15 years with a kid for 8 of those 15 years. Nothing has changed in DCPS in the mid to upper elementary in the poorly performing schools. Still majority of kids are poorly performing. It’s worst now post COVID. The only thing that has changed is middle class families now will take the free ECE at most schools. But most will leave by K and 1st. Sure you may have a handful or less sticking it out but it’s because many have struck out in the lottery, they just won’t tell you that.

Capitol Hill is different because their at risk is so low. Most stick it out thru elementary, at least till 4th grade. Then those that got into charters for 5th leave which is a significant number. But still no major buy in for the last 15 years to Hobson. In fact, Hobson has now regressed post COVID.

No one predicted the pandemic. It has had a disastrous impact on the kids in DC, especially the lower performing kids as the data shows. They always did poorly but much worst now. The achievement gap is real and got much worst since COVID.

I have a third grader at a Ward 4 DCPS. This is just not accurate information anymore. There are plenty of kids that stay until 4th-5th. The pandemic hurt charter students the same as DCPS students. Perhaps PP lives in Brookland, but Brightwood has a number of high performing DCPS schools that retain middle class families.

+1. Plenty of kids stay through 4th, it's true that less do through 5th. But to say nothing has changed is ridiculous! Look at Garrison-- it was almost closed due to low enrollment, but now it has a PK3 waitlist of over 100 kids, and is slated for enrollment growth of 32 kids in next year's budget-- almost 10% growth! Similar with Langley-- 10 years ago it didn't exist at all, was formed in a merger of two schools, and really really struggled to attract students. Now it's seeing significant enrollment growth, and the number of people I personally know with middle-elementary-age children there is higher than ever before. Before the pandemic, it wasn't even majority at-risk (49%). Staying at Seaton through 3rd or 4th, then lotterying into ITS, Latin, or BASIS is a commonplace strategy. Now I'm sure there are many contributing factors here (such as Mundo Verde losing its sparkle), but it's simply not true to say that nothing has changed. Nobody stays at these schools because they struck out in the lottery-- seats at many other schools can be easily had in upper elementary. People stay because they're choosing to.

PP here. This is exactly right. We have fifth graders that go to charter middle schools, WOTP schools to get Deal, DCB if they have Spanish for DCI, or MCPS for BCC/Whitman, etc. There are actually many families that specifically DON’T care about the middle school because the plan was always to move to MCPS for those middle and high schools. But they are waiting specifically because they want to be at their neighborhood school for second to fourth-ish. People are there because they want to be, not because they’ve struck out for all of those years in a row, likely for 2-3 kids. It just defies logic to think there would be so many kids in that scenario.

This. Come on. Look at the data. If you have more than one kid, they'll all get into ITS or Two Rivers with a year or two of lotterying. Ludlow-Taylor clears its upper-grades waitlists. Maury makes some offers, so does Hearst, so does Shepherd, so do many. It's simply not the case that anyone is stuck at their EOTP IB school with no alternatives. Mundo Verde is clearing its waitlists in many grades, so is Lee. Anyone who's going to Langley, Garrison, Cleveland, or Seaton after K is going there because they choose to.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

How do you “know” so much about every DCI feeder? You don’t, you just repeat what you read hear from anonymous people. I have friends at LAMB, DCB, Stokes and MV and all of them are happy. I have never been able to confirm what I read hear, because it is exaggerated by the anti charter crew.

I’m not anti-charter. There are charters I would have chosen over our DCPS, and we may do a charter for middle school if it’s the right fit and the lottery allows. But charters aren’t an “answer” to DCPS and there are plenty of people that are looking to leave their charters in middle elementary, or choosing to stick it out despite issues because of a middle school feed. The point is that there are many pathways in the city and pre-K parents do not need to prioritize middle school over all else. A quality elementary experience is 6-8 years of your child’s life and, IMO, more important and possibly closer to home and more easily accessible in the lottery than the “HRCS”. We turned down some charters in first grade that we would have been thrilled to get into in pre-K. A LOT changes in a few years and often so do your priorities. And if you have a gifted or SN kid, just give up now and move to MCPS. DC just isn’t a great system for most kids at the far edges of the spectrum.

I’ve been in the city EOTP for 15 years with a kid for 8 of those 15 years. Nothing has changed in DCPS in the mid to upper elementary in the poorly performing schools. Still majority of kids are poorly performing. It’s worst now post COVID. The only thing that has changed is middle class families now will take the free ECE at most schools. But most will leave by K and 1st. Sure you may have a handful or less sticking it out but it’s because many have struck out in the lottery, they just won’t tell you that.

Capitol Hill is different because their at risk is so low. Most stick it out thru elementary, at least till 4th grade. Then those that got into charters for 5th leave which is a significant number. But still no major buy in for the last 15 years to Hobson. In fact, Hobson has now regressed post COVID.

No one predicted the pandemic. It has had a disastrous impact on the kids in DC, especially the lower performing kids as the data shows. They always did poorly but much worst now. The achievement gap is real and got much worst since COVID.

I have a third grader at a Ward 4 DCPS. This is just not accurate information anymore. There are plenty of kids that stay until 4th-5th. The pandemic hurt charter students the same as DCPS students. Perhaps PP lives in Brookland, but Brightwood has a number of high performing DCPS schools that retain middle class families.

+1. Plenty of kids stay through 4th, it's true that less do through 5th. But to say nothing has changed is ridiculous! Look at Garrison-- it was almost closed due to low enrollment, but now it has a PK3 waitlist of over 100 kids, and is slated for enrollment growth of 32 kids in next year's budget-- almost 10% growth! Similar with Langley-- 10 years ago it didn't exist at all, was formed in a merger of two schools, and really really struggled to attract students. Now it's seeing significant enrollment growth, and the number of people I personally know with middle-elementary-age children there is higher than ever before. Before the pandemic, it wasn't even majority at-risk (49%). Staying at Seaton through 3rd or 4th, then lotterying into ITS, Latin, or BASIS is a commonplace strategy. Now I'm sure there are many contributing factors here (such as Mundo Verde losing its sparkle), but it's simply not true to say that nothing has changed. Nobody stays at these schools because they struck out in the lottery-- seats at many other schools can be easily had in upper elementary. People stay because they're choosing to.

PP here. This is exactly right. We have fifth graders that go to charter middle schools, WOTP schools to get Deal, DCB if they have Spanish for DCI, or MCPS for BCC/Whitman, etc. There are actually many families that specifically DON’T care about the middle school because the plan was always to move to MCPS for those middle and high schools. But they are waiting specifically because they want to be at their neighborhood school for second to fourth-ish. People are there because they want to be, not because they’ve struck out for all of those years in a row, likely for 2-3 kids. It just defies logic to think there would be so many kids in that scenario.

This. Come on. Look at the data. If you have more than one kid, they'll all get into ITS or Two Rivers with a year or two of lotterying. Ludlow-Taylor clears its upper-grades waitlists. Maury makes some offers, so does Hearst, so does Shepherd, so do many. It's simply not the case that anyone is stuck at their EOTP IB school with no alternatives. Mundo Verde is clearing its waitlists in many grades, so is Lee. Anyone who's going to Langley, Garrison, Cleveland, or Seaton after K is going there because they choose to.

Or Takoma, West, Powell, Bruce Monroe. Anyone kindergarten and up is choosing these schools over Mundo Verde, at the very least. Add in a second kid and families have options if they want them.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

I’m the PP above and you must have a reading comprehension issue. OP is looking in 6-8 years for middle school and yes what I said above is going to be the trend for DCI. It’s virtually impossible to get in for Spanish now, French track will fill since Stokes expanded, and the only track left is Chinese. DCI is getting more and more buy in and more families from that track will think about trying out DCI. Every year more competition for middle school as more families don’t want to move. Why don’t I mark this thread and we can see how DCI turns out for non-feeder families in 6-8 years.

You also have no idea about the upper elementary seats in the feeders either. If it was so easy to get seats then there would not be many DCPS families in bilingual Spanish schools who now are facing reality of MacFarland or move. Why don’t you tell me exactly how many DCPS Spanish families you know that either got into DCI this year or a feeder. I’m waiting…..

Mundo Verde Cook cleared every waitlist kindergarten and up. Stokes Spanish cleared their fifth grade waitlist. Stokes French cleared third through fifth. DCB went over halfway through their fifth grade waitlist. There are seats if families want DCI at this point. People in DCPS aren’t taking those seats because they do not want those seats or DCI. Nobody is “facing the reality of MacFarland,” those coming from bilingual DCPS are choosing it or the number of other options that PPs have already mentioned. Non-bilingual DCPS families are making the same choices as families on the Hill and families at Lee or any of the other “acceptable” charters that don’t have “acceptable” middle school feeders - lotterying, moving, inbound, or private.

This is publicly available data. I’m not sure why the immediate PP is creating a false narrative, but the numbers don’t lie. I’m also done responding because it’s impossible to win an argument when you’re arguing against false facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are a ward 4 family zoned for Truesdell. We are putting DCB, Haynes, Creative Minds, John Lewis at top of list but I don’t know what else/how to rank the rest of our spots. Spanish is a priority, but not excited about LAMB and it being Montessori for later elementary years. I guess we’ll put stokes on there, but not excited about commute. The tests scores look abysmal nearly across the board. Would love some thoughts. If you’re not inbound for dcps, do you not even bother putting them in the list? Some look like they take no oob kids if you don’t have any priority category, is that right? Feeling disheartened by this board and my kid is only 3!

Do Bethune for the Spanish for pre-K, then by kindergarten you’ll either have DCB/LAMB/Stokes, or you can choose between Lewis, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Takoma, etc. All have a very solid high SES population that is active and forms a peer group. I wouldn’t list CMI unless you are okay with those test scores.

None of these schools feed into a good middle school.

I know…so what do you suggest I do then?

You don’t worry about middle school in pre-K. It’s really not as doom and gloom as DCUM makes it out to be. Many, many parents find that their middle school feed doesn’t work for their kids by the time they know what kind of kid and student they’ll be. You can lottery into a DCI feeder or Hardy/Deal feeder in mid to upper elementary pretty easily, particularly if you’re willing to commute across town for a year or two. Or your child may really need a smaller environment, gifted or special ed programming, or any number of other things. Any of those elementary schools will be good for elementary, while your enjoy the short commute, neighborhood school, and figure out what your kid(s) really need. And worst comes to worst, you can always start Chinese in sixth at DCI.

First of all there is no way you should lottery into any DCI feeder in upper elementary if your kid doesn’t know the language. They are not going to learn a lot of subjects taught in the language. They are going to fall behind, get frustrated, resent you for doing toys. Why would you do that to your kid? BTW there are really few of these spots anyway and not what DCUM likes you to believe.

2nd of all, by then the DCI Chinese track will be ultra competitive because many more kids from YY will likely have track to DCI as school gets better and better so not as many spots. If there are few spots if any, it will be ultra competitive as so many families are competing for it.

Lately, if the Deal/Hardy feeders are crowded, or are getting more crowded they will be taking in less OOB kids or none at all.

You cannot count on what PP above says at all. Look at middle school feeds when considering your list.

You may not know what your kid needs in middle school but you want to have as many options as you can. Take into the middle school feed when considering your list OP

So much speculation in this reply. I be this PP is at a DCI feeder and has no experience with the DCPS lottery for elementary. Foxhall and H-A will have spots, and you can do immersion at a DCPS elementary and easily switch to a DCI feeder. Mundo Verde will have pretty much guaranteed seats in upper elementary for the foreseeable future. DCB also goes far into upper elementary waitlists pretty consistently.

I personally would not pick somewhere like MV and have a very unstable elementary experience for the purpose of leaving a future option open. Or a lack of advanced differentiation at DCB (if your child needs that, not all are 2+ years above grade level, obviously). Etc etc. But clearly others disagree, so YMMV.

I’m the PP above and you must have a reading comprehension issue. OP is looking in 6-8 years for middle school and yes what I said above is going to be the trend for DCI. It’s virtually impossible to get in for Spanish now, French track will fill since Stokes expanded, and the only track left is Chinese. DCI is getting more and more buy in and more families from that track will think about trying out DCI. Every year more competition for middle school as more families don’t want to move. Why don’t I mark this thread and we can see how DCI turns out for non-feeder families in 6-8 years.

You also have no idea about the upper elementary seats in the feeders either. If it was so easy to get seats then there would not be many DCPS families in bilingual Spanish schools who now are facing reality of MacFarland or move. Why don’t you tell me exactly how many DCPS Spanish families you know that either got into DCI this year or a feeder. I’m waiting…..

Mundo Verde Cook cleared every waitlist kindergarten and up. Stokes Spanish cleared their fifth grade waitlist. Stokes French cleared third through fifth. DCB went over halfway through their fifth grade waitlist. There are seats if families want DCI at this point. People in DCPS aren’t taking those seats because they do not want those seats or DCI. Nobody is “facing the reality of MacFarland,” those coming from bilingual DCPS are choosing it or the number of other options that PPs have already mentioned. Non-bilingual DCPS families are making the same choices as families on the Hill and families at Lee or any of the other “acceptable” charters that don’t have “acceptable” middle school feeders - lotterying, moving, inbound, or private.

This is publicly available data. I’m not sure why the immediate PP is creating a false narrative, but the numbers don’t lie. I’m also done responding because it’s impossible to win an argument when you’re arguing against false facts.

Not PP but I think most people are unwilling to enter a dual language school in 5th grade unless their child is already proficient in the language.