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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here.  I metro to work.  It's subsidized (as in free), and parking is crazy expensive.  Also, part of the point of moving to the city was to get out of the car.

I'm not sure how I gave the impression that I'm all about "impressive results".  My son will immerse himself in what interests him and that's fine by me.  My problem at this point is figuring out what that will be, because he's interested in *everything* (except sports).  I just want him to be happy, confident, and challenged.  I'm failing at instilling confidence in him, so I'm hopeful that the right environment will help us with that.

I went to a subpar school in a subpar school system (in rural KY) until mid-8th grade, and I never really overcame the disadvantage of that (in terms of confidence, study habits, foundational knowledge) despite attending a very good high school and college.  I want better for my kids.

I agree with the statement that they will lose Spanish if they don't get it regularly.  I spoke Hebrew fluently at age 3, and when I took an introductory class in college, I was completely over my head.  (And I still speak zero Hebrew.)  That's why I really want to continue the momentum with the Spanish.  I went to a lot of trouble and expense to get this far with it, and I don't want to lose that investment or the far-reaching benefit for my kiddos of speaking a second language.

I appreciate all the feedback and suggestions from everyone.  I will check out all the schools you have put forward.  I lean toward DC Bilingual because it's soooooo close to home and on the way to the metro, but of course there's no guarantee we'll get in, and their open house isn't until Feb 20.  Then, as someone suggested, maybe I can get them both into LAMB next year on sibling preference, though I'm not sure if that works in reverse.  I'll have to call the school.  Later.  Maybe we'll love where we end up so much that LAMB will be moot.

Something else that may or may not be important:  At this time my son identifies as a boy, but expresses as a girl (i.e. has long hair that he likes to wear in braids with pretty hair clips, wears dresses most days, loves his Elsa shoes).  This may change, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.  It came on gradually, but has been going on for a couple of years.  At his preschool, the kids and parents were very accepting, though I think some of the kids actually thought he was a girl.  Obviously, I want him to go to school in an equally accepting environment.  I realize there will always be challenges with gender nonconforming, but the more we can minimize that, the better.  I will of course speak to the management of whatever school we end up at, but are there schools that we should particularly avoid or seek out based on this?

Strange that I (who don't generally bother with girly stuff) ended up with 2 girly girls (even if one of them is a boy).[/quote]

You won't be able to get your older child into LAMB with sibling preference or ever.  They simply do not admit past age 4, period.

The Spanish immersion DCPS schools are Oyster, Powell, Bruce Monroe, Bancroft, Tyler, Marie Reed, and Cleveland.   I believe a new program is also slated to open at Houston in 2016.  Note that it can be impossible to get into most of these schools out of bounds.  It's impossible to get into Ouster unless your child is Spanish dominant, and even then it's merely next to impossible. Powell did not take a single OOB student at K who was not a sibling of another enrolled child.  I don't believe Bancroft did, either, and they had big wait lists.

The Spanish immersion charters include Stokes, DC Bilingual, Mundo Verde, Bethune, and LAMB (admits pk3 and pk4 only), and they are likewise going to be hard to get into, except for Bethune (which has a disasterous administration and poorly managed lottery process, which keeps a lot of parents from deciding to send their kids there even if they get in).  The other charter schools are highly sought after and have few slots for K (because they are filled by kids joining in pk3 and pk4, which are bigger entry years).

Likewise, popular charters like Creative Minds are also going to be hard to get into, as they will have few slots and many applicants.  Other solid charters, like Bridges, are easier to get into (for them, likely because they don't have a permanent home yet--once they do, it will likely be impossible to get in there, too).  Munson Verde has alternately been impossible to get into, and easier (ie, this past year), as they've had growing pains--hard to say what will happen with them this lottery season.

I mention all of this because the most important part of this process is not merely identifying schools you like.  It's identifying schools you like where your child ALSO has a realistic chance of getting in.  If you fill your list only with highly sought after charters and public schools that don't take OOB kids, you will likely be shut out and have no option but to enroll in your local DCPS.  Put some long shots on there, but also find some realistic possibilities you can live with, just in case.  I say this as a parent who lotteries last year with two kids, and got shut out of most of the schools you are mentioning--and we had very good lottery numbers for both.  Most wait lists did not move this year, Mundo Verde being a notable exception.[/quote]

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