Anonymous wrote:OP here: thank you! this is why I love this board. great insight.

Middle feeder will not matter. At least we don't think it will matter. Spouse works at a good charter school we can lottery in.

However, I guess it would be good to have a safety if that charter gets worse or he wants to switch schools..

IB is Brightwood.

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thank you! this is why I love this board. great insight.

Middle feeder will not matter. At least we don't think it will matter. Spouse works at a good charter school we can lottery in.

However, I guess it would be good to have a safety if that charter gets worse or he wants to switch schools..

IB is Brightwood.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should rank them in your order of preference. If middle school matters, probably Lafayette and Shepherd first. But if you plan to move anyway or commutes matter a ton, that could be different.

Would you consider trekking south? I have friends whose kids go to Dorothy Height and Barnard and have been happy there.

+1. True preference always. But if you wanted a middle/high school pathway, your true preference could be different than if you're just looking for a strong, convenient elementary school. The problem with Whittier, Lewis, and Takoma is that other families WILL start leaving in middle elementary for a different feeder pattern. Not everyone and not all in the same year, but you just can't know ahead of time if it will be your DC's primary friend cohort and how much it will bother your DC.

As someone in the same general neighborhood and a few years ahead of you, here's what I'd recommend. Decide both: (1) if you want to prioritize staying in your current house and if that means securing an OOB/charter feeder pathway; (2) and also if you feel confident in your current charter through third grade or so. If both are a yes, then I wouldn't move your DC from your decent charter until you get an offer that gives you a long term pathway. If you want to stay in your current house, but don't feel confident in your charter for another 5 years, then I'd rank true preference, accounting for feeder patter, and see where you get in. If another school can give you a solid, stable 5+ years, it's not ideal, but not the end of the world to move DC in middle elementary. They may moan and groan, but it is so common in DC that it's not the end of the world. Also consider whether you would be interested in DCI for middle and high school. Many, many families in the area choose DC because of academic standards and proximity, not language. If you'd consider DCI, then I'd lottery for any of those feeders you want, plus Powell and Bruce Monroe (which are easy to get into at K and build language skills until you can lottery into a DCI feeder in upper elementary).

Anonymous wrote:You should rank them in your order of preference. If middle school matters, probably Lafayette and Shepherd first. But if you plan to move anyway or commutes matter a ton, that could be different.

Would you consider trekking south? I have friends whose kids go to Dorothy Height and Barnard and have been happy there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally, my list would probably go:

Shepherd
Lafayette
Whittier
Lewis
Takoma

The first two get you into a good feeder pattern so would be worth ranking first IMO. Lafayette is huge and has an incredibly non-diverse student population (at least on paper) so gives me pause, but still probably worth it for the feeder pattern. Whittier is an incredible school; the one thing there is they're up for modernization so will be doing the trailer thing for a bit. I have a feeling that after the modernization, more neighborhood kids are going to buy in to Whittier and they won't have as many available seats, so now may be a good time to get in out-of-bounds if you're interested.

Whittier and Takoma both feed to Wells which seems like a very decent middle school option, but Coolidge continues to feel like a no-go. Things might change though as Wells gains traction! We've had friends at Lewis who loved it -- again, the long-term feeder pattern is an issue there. We had friends who lotteried out of Takoma after PK3 and had a bad experience overall, but that is a single anecdote.

At some point DCPS is going to have to deal with the fact that Coolidge was modernized with a third of its current population and if Whittier keeps on pace and there's community buy in Wells and Coolidge cannot basically share a building.

The schools have invested so much and when you look at the programming and some of the colleges Coolidge students are attending this year (Hopkins, Georgetown, Bucknell, Spellman) there's so much potential. But it's a tight building for one of the fastest growing areas in the city.

Well, they can stop making OOB lottery offers, for starters. They made 67 for 9th and 28 for 10th this past year. They could also reduce OOB offers at Wells to shrink the 9th grade entering class a little.

Another option is to zone some elementaries to Roosevelt.

I know reducing OOB enrollment has been discussed, but whether DCPS does it is another thing. I don't know that they'll be able to rezone for awhile after this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally, my list would probably go:

Shepherd
Lafayette
Whittier
Lewis
Takoma

The first two get you into a good feeder pattern so would be worth ranking first IMO. Lafayette is huge and has an incredibly non-diverse student population (at least on paper) so gives me pause, but still probably worth it for the feeder pattern. Whittier is an incredible school; the one thing there is they're up for modernization so will be doing the trailer thing for a bit. I have a feeling that after the modernization, more neighborhood kids are going to buy in to Whittier and they won't have as many available seats, so now may be a good time to get in out-of-bounds if you're interested.

Whittier and Takoma both feed to Wells which seems like a very decent middle school option, but Coolidge continues to feel like a no-go. Things might change though as Wells gains traction! We've had friends at Lewis who loved it -- again, the long-term feeder pattern is an issue there. We had friends who lotteried out of Takoma after PK3 and had a bad experience overall, but that is a single anecdote.

At some point DCPS is going to have to deal with the fact that Coolidge was modernized with a third of its current population and if Whittier keeps on pace and there's community buy in Wells and Coolidge cannot basically share a building.

The schools have invested so much and when you look at the programming and some of the colleges Coolidge students are attending this year (Hopkins, Georgetown, Bucknell, Spellman) there's so much potential. But it's a tight building for one of the fastest growing areas in the city.

Well, they can stop making OOB lottery offers, for starters. They made 67 for 9th and 28 for 10th this past year. They could also reduce OOB offers at Wells to shrink the 9th grade entering class a little.

Another option is to zone some elementaries to Roosevelt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally, my list would probably go:

Shepherd
Lafayette
Whittier
Lewis
Takoma

The first two get you into a good feeder pattern so would be worth ranking first IMO. Lafayette is huge and has an incredibly non-diverse student population (at least on paper) so gives me pause, but still probably worth it for the feeder pattern. Whittier is an incredible school; the one thing there is they're up for modernization so will be doing the trailer thing for a bit. I have a feeling that after the modernization, more neighborhood kids are going to buy in to Whittier and they won't have as many available seats, so now may be a good time to get in out-of-bounds if you're interested.

Whittier and Takoma both feed to Wells which seems like a very decent middle school option, but Coolidge continues to feel like a no-go. Things might change though as Wells gains traction! We've had friends at Lewis who loved it -- again, the long-term feeder pattern is an issue there. We had friends who lotteried out of Takoma after PK3 and had a bad experience overall, but that is a single anecdote.

At some point DCPS is going to have to deal with the fact that Coolidge was modernized with a third of its current population and if Whittier keeps on pace and there's community buy in Wells and Coolidge cannot basically share a building.

The schools have invested so much and when you look at the programming and some of the colleges Coolidge students are attending this year (Hopkins, Georgetown, Bucknell, Spellman) there's so much potential. But it's a tight building for one of the fastest growing areas in the city.

Anonymous wrote:Personally, my list would probably go:

Shepherd
Lafayette
Whittier
Lewis
Takoma

The first two get you into a good feeder pattern so would be worth ranking first IMO. Lafayette is huge and has an incredibly non-diverse student population (at least on paper) so gives me pause, but still probably worth it for the feeder pattern. Whittier is an incredible school; the one thing there is they're up for modernization so will be doing the trailer thing for a bit. I have a feeling that after the modernization, more neighborhood kids are going to buy in to Whittier and they won't have as many available seats, so now may be a good time to get in out-of-bounds if you're interested.

Whittier and Takoma both feed to Wells which seems like a very decent middle school option, but Coolidge continues to feel like a no-go. Things might change though as Wells gains traction! We've had friends at Lewis who loved it -- again, the long-term feeder pattern is an issue there. We had friends who lotteried out of Takoma after PK3 and had a bad experience overall, but that is a single anecdote.

Anonymous wrote:Personally, my list would probably go:

Shepherd
Lafayette
Whittier
Lewis
Takoma

The first two get you into a good feeder pattern so would be worth ranking first IMO. Lafayette is huge and has an incredibly non-diverse student population (at least on paper) so gives me pause, but still probably worth it for the feeder pattern. Whittier is an incredible school; the one thing there is they're up for modernization so will be doing the trailer thing for a bit. I have a feeling that after the modernization, more neighborhood kids are going to buy in to Whittier and they won't have as many available seats, so now may be a good time to get in out-of-bounds if you're interested.

Whittier and Takoma both feed to Wells which seems like a very decent middle school option, but Coolidge continues to feel like a no-go. Things might change though as Wells gains traction! We've had friends at Lewis who loved it -- again, the long-term feeder pattern is an issue there. We had friends who lotteried out of Takoma after PK3 and had a bad experience overall, but that is a single anecdote.