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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here, not a troll post - I'm just curious. I am applying to PK3 but I'm all over the place and hope to be able to edit rankings and things as I attend open houses. Right now I have things in this order:

Creative Minds International PCS
Mundo Verde Bilingual PCS
Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS
Washington Yu Ying PCS
Oyster-Adams Bilingual School (Oyster)
AppleTree Early Learning PCS – Columbia Heights
Two Rivers PCS at 4th Street
Bridges PCS
School-Within-School
Lee Montessori PCS
Marie Reed Dual Language

It looks like 3000 other people submitted their rankings already? Sheesh. 
[/quote]
Hi, OP.  I find little consistency of your rankings showing how much you care aboute dual language vs. non-dual language, your list really reads like a 
 charter popularity contest.

We went through that wringer a couple of times -  and actually got into one of the HRCS on our 'final' try in 1st last year only to be disappointed and return to our IB DCPS which, though it doesn't try to hard to sell itself, has a solid community and not a ton of turnover. All that to say, look for a safety school and our visit your IB DCPS, even though it's may not market itself as well and the HRCS.

And unless you have a boundary preference, you can forget about Oyster.

[/quote]

OP here. I appreciate the feedback and am working to tweak the list with input from others. I only have 11 right now and obviously Oyster is going to have to drop off. I actually do value dual language quite a bit but realistically think our chances our slim anywhere, so if I can't have School A, B, or C I might have to settle for a non-dual language school which has other things to offer. CMI seemed to have an international focus, smaller classes, and a very engaged parent community so I put that first but might actually want to drop it down below some of the immersion. And I am IB for Tubman so I should probably list it somewhere as a safety.[b] I am not sure on the commutes from my house but I would be willing to drive 2.5 miles even if it is out of the way for my kid's education.[/b]

This is our first child and the school environment here has a lot of different options, so I am honestly not sure what teaching style would work best for my kid... my DH thinks Lee might actually be a good fit, but we don't know anyone who has children who went through a full Montessori education so we don't know too much about it.[/quote]

OP, veteran lottery enterer and Columbia Heights neighbor.

Please actually try to do the commutes to each of the schools on your list. Do it at rush hour. Do exactly what you would do on a normal Tuesday. Traffic in this city is miserable, unpredictable except in its awfulness, and often counter-intuitive. My DD went to summer camp with the YMCA which was located at ITS this summer, and I will tell you that the commute to and from camp, particularly when I needed to get to and from my office downtown, was dealbreakingly bad. Depending on where you live in Columbia Heights, it can and will take you 30-40 minutes to get to Marie Reed, much less up to Bridges (moving to Ft. Totten) and back.

You have plenty of time to do the actual test drives. Every year, people say, "I'm willing to drive 2.5 miles out of my way for my kid's education" and every year, people switch schools because the commute is unsustainable. [/quote]

I can't stress this enough.

My school used to be in CH (so either MV or CMI) - 2 miles on some days could be over an hour.

When the school moved, I felt like a weight was lifted on my shoulders.  Now, the school is so fantastic, I would have kept doing that soul crushing drive.  But, know what you are getting into.[/quote]

1 hour is an exaggeration unless you're talking about round trip or don't know DC traffic patterns. Yes DC traffic is bad but it's not that bad. I can walk 2 miles in 45 mins with a 4 year old. Currently, I drive from Brightwood to Brookland (5 miles) and it takes about 20 mins on average. Worst day is 35 minutes. I used to commute from near Cap Hill to Petworth and it took 25-30.[/quote]

First veteran to stress the traffic issue here.

The PP were speaking to our lived experience. There is a difference between driving from Brightwood to Brookland and driving through the middle of crazy Columbia Heights at rush hour. 14th Street is a mess. 16th Street is a mess. Park Road and Columbia Road are a mess. The smaller cross streets are hit or miss in their messy-ness. It is faster for me to walk with DD than to drive, but when we drive, it can take 8 minutes to get from home to school (northern Columbia Heights to eastern Adams Morgan) or it can take 30 minutes. DC traffic is exactly that bad. There are ways to try to get around it, but they're not magic bullets.

Which is why the OP should make the actual drive, in rush hour, in bad weather. Take the worst possible scenario and make a decision based on whether you can live with it.[/quote]

We drove down 16th every day to U street area in under 20 mins. Key is to leave before 8am, but even after 8am never took as long as PP describes. Even bus took 35-40 mins, not an hour.[/quote]

Columbia Heights to U street took you 20 min?[/quote]

Sorry. Through Columbia Heights from Shepherd Park. Also continue to downtown for work from U Street. Never took an hour as PP indicates. I would pull my hair out.[/quote]

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