Reply to Moving to Washington from London - where are the best elementary schools

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[quote=Anonymous]Publicly funded school starts a year later in the US, but most middle class parents have their children in preschool starting at age 2-3.  (I think you guys call this nursery).  The city of DC has publicly funded preschool, which starts at age 3 in many parts of the city.  In the far northwest neighborhoods that you are looking in, public preschool starts at age 4, but there are not enough spots for all residents , due to school overcrowding, so many families in those neighborhoods send kids to private preschools. Starting at age 5, every child is guaranteed a spot in their assigned local school, so after age 5, it isn't the crazy scramble that you have in London. If you'd like a publicly funded preschool spot for your child before age 5, you have to enter a lottery.  That will be a little reminiscent of home.

In Bethesda, which is in a different state, and therefore a different education authority, publicly funded education begins at 5, and again, every child get a slot in their local school.  Most parents in Bethesda would send their kids to a private preschool, starting at age 3.

Religious schools don't get public money in the US, due to the separation of church and state.

Parents are also more involved in education here.  There are active Parent Teacher Associations, and they provide a lot of extras for the schools: book sales, afterschool programs in some cases, weekend funfairs etc.[/quote]

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