I'd say those who middle class families who leave usually do so by 1st. A bunch leave after Pk3 or Pk4 when they get into Eaton or Murch or wherever their older child is. (These families never planned to stay at Bancroft past preschool.) Then more in Pk4 or K leave in the fall because they get into a charter.

But those are still at Bancroft in 1st grade tend to be committed to staying all the way through through 5th, at least from what I can see.

Are middle class families still leaving Bancroft after 3rd grade?

I have not heard of any plans to change the order of preference. I think that the dual language schools were meeting about this earlier this year but I don't think anything happened.

Anonymous wrote:Not all IB ps3 kids got in to Bancroft this year, so the odds are indeed low for OOB. That said, the woman who maintains the waitlist doesn't seem to have any real system for maintaining it. If your number is decent, I'd recommend stopping in early and often over the summer to increase your odds of getting a spot.

I thought a discussion began last fall about whether the order of preference (OOB w/sibling over IB without sibling) should be changed so IB families come first. When I looked at this year's lottery FAQs, though, it looks like this order is still in place for DCPS dual language schools. Does anybody know if DCPS is seriously considering changing it (for Bancroft at least) and if so when it would become policy?

Not all IB ps3 kids got in to Bancroft this year, so the odds are indeed low for OOB. That said, the woman who maintains the waitlist doesn't seem to have any real system for maintaining it. If your number is decent, I'd recommend stopping in early and often over the summer to increase your odds of getting a spot.

I looked at the chart linked to above, thanks pp. Does anyone know if odds for pk3 are similar this year, ie very little change of getting in oob?

Yes, most of the school is dual language. However there is one immersion class for PK3 and one immersion class for PK4. Daily special classes like art, music etc. are in English but the rest of the day is in Spanish.

It's not immersion. Bancroft is dual language. Split of the day.

My child's teacher at Bancroft is a native Spanish speaker.

Does anyone know what the quality of the Spanish instruction is at Bancroft? Immersion is good; immersion in bad Spanish would not be good. Thanks

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because of Spanish immersion and Tools of the Mind!

Because of that then what?
I know people who like the Spanish immersion and dislike tools of the mind.

I think you can still look up stats for last year (if you're willing to wade through spreadsheets).
http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Learn+About+Schools/Lottery+and+Admissions:+Apply+to+Our+Schools/Lottery/2013-14+Lottery+Results
But my impression is that K (and even preK-4) is not nearly as popular as PK3 in the lottery. Should be OOB spots for sure. (It's actually a new thing, I think, for higher SES families (IB or OOB) to join Bancroft in K. Until recently most wouldn't give it a chance if they had not already checked it out in preschool.)

Anonymous wrote:Because of Spanish immersion and Tools of the Mind!

Because of that then what?
I know people who like the Spanish immersion and dislike tools of the mind.

Because of Spanish immersion and Tools of the Mind!

No.

(If Stoddert isn't - see different thread - then why in the hell would Bancroft be?)

I see it mentioned a lot on this forum. Thanks