Any reports from families that attended?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are kicking off our school search this weekend, starting with the MOTH School Fair. Any BTDT advice? We are starting at ground zero, live in NOMA/Truxton area.

Are you looking for a public option for preK3? If so, I wouldn't bother with the MOTH school fair. The only public schools attending are the IB schools on the Hill, most of which no longer take OOB kids (or, if they do, your IB school in NOMA is just as good). Myschooldc will have a citywide fair later in the process that will probably be more useful.

If you are considering private schools, then definitely go to the fair tomorrow. The other PP is right to really focus on commute.

Thanks. However, I'm a little more focused on my kid, so I'll be looking for academics and safety.

HA! That sounds like me last year at this time. I'm two months into a cross-city commute to a great school and I want to shoot myself in the head every morning. Terrible mistake not to heed this advice.

And thus settle for a close-to-home low-academic school with safety issues? Really? Why don't you move closer to the "great" school then?

You don't understand until you experience it. After 5 years of cross-town commute from Ward 5 to Georgetown, I am over it. The school is awesome and my sons were really nurtured there, but losing 2 hours of my day, 5 days per week in DC traffic took its toll on me. I told hubby we either need to sell our home and move into a Georgetown apartment (cannot afford a mortgage in that part of town), or enroll our boys in a school close to home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are kicking off our school search this weekend, starting with the MOTH School Fair. Any BTDT advice? We are starting at ground zero, live in NOMA/Truxton area.

Are you looking for a public option for preK3? If so, I wouldn't bother with the MOTH school fair. The only public schools attending are the IB schools on the Hill, most of which no longer take OOB kids (or, if they do, your IB school in NOMA is just as good). Myschooldc will have a citywide fair later in the process that will probably be more useful.

If you are considering private schools, then definitely go to the fair tomorrow. The other PP is right to really focus on commute.

Thanks. However, I'm a little more focused on my kid, so I'll be looking for academics and safety.

HA! That sounds like me last year at this time. I'm two months into a cross-city commute to a great school and I want to shoot myself in the head every morning. Terrible mistake not to heed this advice.

And thus settle for a close-to-home low-academic school with safety issues? Really? Why don't you move closer to the "great" school then?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, the fair is tomorrow, Sunday, November 6 from 2-5 pm at Capitol Hill Day School. The focus has always been on Hill and near-Hill public and charter schools and then expands out from there. Yu Ying and 2 Rivers had conflicts, unfortunately, but there are some other schools of interest to all.

Most importantly for OP's situation is that it's a chance to speak 1-1 with the MySchoolDC representatives, the people who run the lottery. I have found that they send really good people to the event (and other events) and have always been able to answer my questions in quite a bit of detail. Can be something to check off your list for when you do the EdFest in December.

The DCPS Office of Enrollment is coming to talk about their special programs. Could be something interesting is happening in your area that you could find out about.

The reason I posted the list, though, is so that people can see if there are enough schools and other resources to warrant their attendance. All are welcome!

How do you know YY and TR had conflicts, or did they just decide to not attend?

Well, I suppose it's entirely possible that they decided not to attend and were just being polite when they told me they had conflicts. Entirely possible. Yu Ying has participated in the past, had agreed to participate again this year, but let me know that they are "so sad not to participate again this year." They have a concert at the school tomorrow afternoon. Two Rivers' admissions person called me today and apologized and said they had a conflict. So that's how I know. 52 schools are coming and, again, the reason I posted the list is because I saw the topic and thought it would be helpful for people to see exactly who will be there so they can make a decision on attending.

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, the fair is tomorrow, Sunday, November 6 from 2-5 pm at Capitol Hill Day School. The focus has always been on Hill and near-Hill public and charter schools and then expands out from there. Yu Ying and 2 Rivers had conflicts, unfortunately, but there are some other schools of interest to all.

Most importantly for OP's situation is that it's a chance to speak 1-1 with the MySchoolDC representatives, the people who run the lottery. I have found that they send really good people to the event (and other events) and have always been able to answer my questions in quite a bit of detail. Can be something to check off your list for when you do the EdFest in December.

The DCPS Office of Enrollment is coming to talk about their special programs. Could be something interesting is happening in your area that you could find out about.

The reason I posted the list, though, is so that people can see if there are enough schools and other resources to warrant their attendance. All are welcome!

How do you know YY and TR had conflicts, or did they just decide to not attend?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are kicking off our school search this weekend, starting with the MOTH School Fair. Any BTDT advice? We are starting at ground zero, live in NOMA/Truxton area.

Are you looking for a public option for preK3? If so, I wouldn't bother with the MOTH school fair. The only public schools attending are the IB schools on the Hill, most of which no longer take OOB kids (or, if they do, your IB school in NOMA is just as good). Myschooldc will have a citywide fair later in the process that will probably be more useful.

If you are considering private schools, then definitely go to the fair tomorrow. The other PP is right to really focus on commute.

Thanks. However, I'm a little more focused on my kid, so I'll be looking for academics and safety.

HA! That sounds like me last year at this time. I'm two months into a cross-city commute to a great school and I want to shoot myself in the head every morning. Terrible mistake not to heed this advice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are kicking off our school search this weekend, starting with the MOTH School Fair. Any BTDT advice? We are starting at ground zero, live in NOMA/Truxton area.

Are you looking for a public option for preK3? If so, I wouldn't bother with the MOTH school fair. The only public schools attending are the IB schools on the Hill, most of which no longer take OOB kids (or, if they do, your IB school in NOMA is just as good). Myschooldc will have a citywide fair later in the process that will probably be more useful.

If you are considering private schools, then definitely go to the fair tomorrow. The other PP is right to really focus on commute.

Logan, SWS and Lee Montessori are attending. They are city-wide.

Sure, but they will be at the citywide fair as well and are all long shot schools. It's just not a great use of your time if you are IB for a NOMA school. As someone who went through the lottery process last year for preK3, that would be my advice. I feel like a lot of people who respond on threads about the lottery are parents who went through it a number of years ago when the numbers were more promising. Among my fairly sizable group of friends, we are all at our IB school, or got shut out of our IB school and are at lower ranked DCPS schools in the neighborhood, none of which you are going to bother to drive to from NOMA. A few people do get into charters so it's worth going to the citywide fair, but don't waste your time tomorrow unless you are interested in private schools.

I will add that we ended up at a private school after washing out in the lottery, so if private school is in your budget at all, go and talk to some schools. It's good to have a back up plan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are kicking off our school search this weekend, starting with the MOTH School Fair. Any BTDT advice? We are starting at ground zero, live in NOMA/Truxton area.

Are you looking for a public option for preK3? If so, I wouldn't bother with the MOTH school fair. The only public schools attending are the IB schools on the Hill, most of which no longer take OOB kids (or, if they do, your IB school in NOMA is just as good). Myschooldc will have a citywide fair later in the process that will probably be more useful.

If you are considering private schools, then definitely go to the fair tomorrow. The other PP is right to really focus on commute.

Thanks. However, I'm a little more focused on my kid, so I'll be looking for academics and safety.

Sorry, the fair is tomorrow, Sunday, November 6 from 2-5 pm at Capitol Hill Day School. The focus has always been on Hill and near-Hill public and charter schools and then expands out from there. Yu Ying and 2 Rivers had conflicts, unfortunately, but there are some other schools of interest to all.

Most importantly for OP's situation is that it's a chance to speak 1-1 with the MySchoolDC representatives, the people who run the lottery. I have found that they send really good people to the event (and other events) and have always been able to answer my questions in quite a bit of detail. Can be something to check off your list for when you do the EdFest in December.

The DCPS Office of Enrollment is coming to talk about their special programs. Could be something interesting is happening in your area that you could find out about.

The reason I posted the list, though, is so that people can see if there are enough schools and other resources to warrant their attendance. All are welcome!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are kicking off our school search this weekend, starting with the MOTH School Fair. Any BTDT advice? We are starting at ground zero, live in NOMA/Truxton area.

Are you looking for a public option for preK3? If so, I wouldn't bother with the MOTH school fair. The only public schools attending are the IB schools on the Hill, most of which no longer take OOB kids (or, if they do, your IB school in NOMA is just as good). Myschooldc will have a citywide fair later in the process that will probably be more useful.

If you are considering private schools, then definitely go to the fair tomorrow. The other PP is right to really focus on commute.

Logan, SWS and Lee Montessori are attending. They are city-wide.

Anonymous wrote:We are kicking off our school search this weekend, starting with the MOTH School Fair. Any BTDT advice? We are starting at ground zero, live in NOMA/Truxton area.

Are you looking for a public option for preK3? If so, I wouldn't bother with the MOTH school fair. The only public schools attending are the IB schools on the Hill, most of which no longer take OOB kids (or, if they do, your IB school in NOMA is just as good). Myschooldc will have a citywide fair later in the process that will probably be more useful.

If you are considering private schools, then definitely go to the fair tomorrow. The other PP is right to really focus on commute.

Anonymous wrote:Think about commute a LOT. Learn to love your IB school because it's by far the most likely option.

Know that PK (if that's where you're at) is generally good at all schools and the teacher matters a lot more than the curriculum.

Ask how much outdoor time the kids get and what weather means indoor recess...some schools barely take the kids out in the winter at all!

You're kidding, right? What are the hours of the fair, so I can learn how to get away from my IB school?

Here's the final list of schools attending tomorrow. Please invite all friends and neighbors!

Level 2: Second Grade Classroom
Busy Bees Music & Art Playgroup
Capitol Hill Cooperative Nursery School
Capitol Hill Cooperative Playschool
Capitol Hill Learning Group
G Street Cooperative Play Group
Gan Shalom Cooperative Preschool
River Park Nursery School
The Hill Preschool
Toddlers on the Hill Montessori Experience

Level 2: Third Grade Classroom
DC International Public Charter School
Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Eastern High School
Eliot-Hine Middle School
Stuart-Hobson Middle School
Washington Global Public Charter School

Level 2: Hall
School Services and Resources
My School DC
DCPS Office of Enrollment

Level 3: Sixth Grade Classroom
Archbishop Carroll Catholic High School
Dematha Catholic High School
Our Lady of Victory School
St. Anselm’s Abbey School
St. Peter Catholic School
The Woods Academy
Waterfront Academy

Level 3: Science Classroom
British International School of Washington
Burgundy Farm Country Day School
Friends Community School
German School of Washington
The Lab School of Washington
Washington International School

Level 3: Rose Window Room
Alexandria Country Day School
Beauvoir, National Cathedral Elementary School
Capitol Hill Day School
Congressional School
Edmund Burke School
Jewish Primary Day School
The Auburn School Fairfax Campus
The Auburn School Silver Spring Campus

Level 4: Library
Classical Conversations Homeschool Group
Friendship Public Charter School Online
Fusion Academy
The Hybrid Academy at Capitol Hill Learning Group

Level 4: Language Classroom
Amidon-Bowen Elementary School
Peabody-Watkins Capitol Hill Cluster Schools
Capitol Hill Montessori School at Logan
Maury Elementary School
School Within a School at Goding
Tyler Elementary School
Van Ness Elementary School

Level 4: Loft/Common Area
Daniel A. Payne Elementary School
J. O. Wilson Elementary School
Lee Montessori Public Charter School
Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School
Myrtilla Miner Elementary School

Think about commute a LOT. Learn to love your IB school because it's by far the most likely option.

Know that PK (if that's where you're at) is generally good at all schools and the teacher matters a lot more than the curriculum.

Ask how much outdoor time the kids get and what weather means indoor recess...some schools barely take the kids out in the winter at all!

We are kicking off our school search this weekend, starting with the MOTH School Fair. Any BTDT advice? We are starting at ground zero, live in NOMA/Truxton area.