i say convenience especially for prek. hybrid is still full-time work. i find it is really nice to be able to take a child to school quickly (maybe in sweatpants) even on telework days. i wouldnt myself rank the charters over the in-bound and it to me seems very unlikely to get a lottery number where you would get into a very popular charter or citywide but not your inbound option. you can always change to a longer commute later on but start w a long commute and you will not really ever know what you are potentially missing out on right nearby.

I'm not sure which is your IB school, but most of the schools in that area took all or almost all of the IB kids who applied. To not get in, you'd have a very bad lottery number, which would mean you aren't getting into a charter school that's in high demand.

I don't see a scenario in which you don't get in IB and get into one of the more distant schools.

Maybe if you named the schools, other people could comment.

Do not underestimate the benefit of walking/biking to school.

If you want your IB after K then pick pre-K based on proximity. If you don’t plan to stay in your IB, add the charters to your lottery list now.

Location, location, location. The incremental improvement, if any, in school quality you get by choosing a charter over your decently performing IB is absolutely not worth the daily strain of a long commute. I’m a Girl Scout leader and trust me, the charter kids are no further ahead than the DCPS kids by middle to late elementary.

Commute, neighborhood friends - we did our inbound and made friends with families nearby who could pick up our kid and head to Kalorama park for 30 min if we were running late. I’d much rather hang out with a cranky tired kid outside and walk home than strapping them into a car seat and looking for parking.

If you feel confident you'll want the IB for many years, pick ECE places that are convenient.

My kids are in MS. Proximity all day, every day. My spouse and I WFH. Being able to walk to and from school was excellent in ES. I for sure would not sign up for a commute for a charter that was not going to get me a MS or HS I knew was worth it.

You prioritize location. The PK curriculum is play based, so kids will be doing pretty much the same stuff everywhere. The only real difference is if you want bilingual.

So you apply for your inbounds and then aim for others along your potential commuting routes.

Also don’t forget the private daycares that take DCPS money for PreK3 and PK4. They are good because they will offer you priority for paid summer camp and paid coverage during school holidays. Pretty nice option. Communikids does this program.

I'd prioritize location if you think you're really looking at places just for ECE. You can't really underscore the benefit of a shorter commute for your kid -- and, that means on days you're working from home you have basically zero commute. pretty much all ECE programs in DC are good to great, and feel warm and inviting.

I chose a charter school we liked over more convenient options for prek3 and prek4.

Like you, we have an inbound that we have the ability to attend for K. Switching from daycare, if needed we could pay a babysitter to pick our kid up while still at the office if the commute was awful. Due to COVID commute times being shorter, a semi flexible schedule, and before/after care this has worked out for us such that we never needed a sitter to do pickup and drop off.

That being said, we are planning to switch next year to our inbound for K and I’m happy to have the extra time we spent commuting back. I would still make the same choice though.

I would still rank the places you like that are further if you are prepared to commute. Just rank them at the end. If you never get into the places that are closer, it becomes a moot point.

If you know you want your IB then I would prioritize location. Really there are very few schools that I would not consider for PK.

Not experienced but I'm prioritizing commute. Unless you would like to stick with the charters long term (e.g. there's a feeder pattern), I don't see a reason to go way out of your way for a preK education. I figure what the kids get out of education at this level is a lot more dependant on parental support than anything else and I'm going to be a happier parent if I don't have to car commute in DC.

I'd value commute. You get to spend more time with your kid, most PK programs are decent, and if you're fine with your IB, that will make your life so much better for years.

Would love advice from other parents who have contemplated the school performance vs. convenience decision before.

My spouse and I are both hybrid employees, but for now, go into our offices (West End/Glover Park respectively) 1-2 times per week. We live near Meridian Hill/Malcom X Park and while we have a car, have never used it to commute to work.

We'd love to get into our IB school for PK3, but it's not at all a guarantee. We've gone to the open houses for many of the charters and found 3 that we really liked, but all are very popular and would involve a car commute (which we could swing but would be a real lifestyle adjustment). IF we're willing to make the commute to these charters (which we are) should we still rank them, or would we better served staying nearby (there are a few charters that are walkable enough to us but not as in-demand)?

I guess the question is: are the charters we really liked (all around 3 miles away and a 15 min drive) worth a lifestyle adjustment in the long term (if we took a PK3 spot we'd want to see it through) or would we be better served finding interim PK3/PK4 (that may not be as high performing) until we can get into our IB school?