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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

I understand where you are coming from, and that might work in some schools, but it would not work in our charter at all.  It would disadvantage the entire school.  As an immersion school, it is importatnt that the children begin as early as possible and continue in that lanugage for as long as possible. It would bve very difficlut to commit to using and learning a language for just the preschool years without it extending further; it would be a huge wasted effort for all the children involved.

Moreover, schools are communities that thrive at least partially on the investment of the parents into that community.  Parents of younger children tend to be more invested and more involved, at every income level.  Getting these parents involved early is imperitive for establishing a community of support.  I know that I am extraordinarily invested in my child's school, as are many of the other parents.  The investment is far, far greater than at our paid daycare because we know that this is a long-term project that we will all be involved with.  To cut that off at the knees by having to repeat the lottery would hurt every single student, every single teacher, and the school as a whole.[/quote]

I agree that language immersion and Montessori present a particular challenge, but nearly every school, even the language immersion charters, accept students at K. The idea that you can only be invested in a school if you start the school at PS3 or PK4 is completely false. Are the schools that start at PK4 less invested than those that start at PS3? Of course not. Nearly every elementary school in the nation begins at kindergarten. DC has created a unique culture that engages students at a very young age, but that is not the only model for success.[/quote]

That sounds good, but I have one question: are your kids now in or do you plan to put them in such a school, a PS3/PK4 only school?  No one anywhere in this or other connected threads have said that you can only be invested in the school if you start at PS/PK.  Nor has anyone said no one who starts later is ever invested.

The specific conversation is about whether and why it is fair/unfair to implement a "go where you want until K, but at K everyone starts over" lottery policy when that is mainly to benefit a smaller % of parents who don't want to enter their kids in PS/PK but don't want to get shut out at K.

My child is at Appletree, and we love it and are very grateful for it (it only is PS and PK).  But let's be real: we are only there because we got shut out of any good or great PS schools that go through 3rd or 5th grade.  What parent in their right mind - unless they already know they're going to leave DC or going private for K - would choose to go through 2 lotteries if they could only go through 1 until middle or high school?  You say schools that start at K do well, and the good ones no doubt do.  But in DC school options have been extended to PS and PK, you have a choice whether to send your kids or not, and if the rising PKers in the good schools that you want to get into create a shut out situation for K, that is a risk you take.  But to propose setting up PS/PK only schools - sure, that's great for those who only want that, but why is it a fair or appropriate solution to do away with "once you're in you're in" for PS and PK just to better position the paerents who choose to stay out until K?  Who do you envision will go to the PS/PK only schools that will not jump on a PS/PK-3 or PS/PK-5 slot if they're offered one?[/quote]

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