Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you can still enroll your older child in free PK in DC if you are flexible on location.

That would be amazing! Crossing my fingers we can get in somewhere.

I only quoted a bit, but thank you for all that great info!

Preschools on the Hill are really hard to find spaces but Appletree Oklahoma Ave usually has space and is in the Hill East/Kingman Park area. This is in normal times. Also I will flag that honestly I’m not sure what school will look like in the fall so if you need totally reliable care, you may want to explore other options that will definitely be in person.

I lived on the Hill for years and it was pretty hard to find slots at daycares. Check out the STEM preschool, board of childcare, Thurgood Marshall child development center, little scholars—all located on the Hill. Another option, especially if you get your older into preK is a nanny share for the younger. Someone with an established nanny may be interested in doing a part-time share to help split some of the costs. Join MOTH list serve (aka moms on the Hill).

Agree with all of this and also recommend getting on a couple daycare waitlists for your youngest. Like PK, daycares on the Hill fill up very quickly. Though Covid has had a weird effect. It used to be easier to get an older kid in but impossible to find infant slots, now it’s easier to find infant slots and the toddler and PK rooms are always at capacity. But if you get on waitlists now, you may be well positioned in September as some of the older kids leave for public PK, assuming they are in person.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you can still enroll your older child in free PK in DC if you are flexible on location.

That would be amazing! Crossing my fingers we can get in somewhere.

I only quoted a bit, but thank you for all that great info!

Preschools on the Hill are really hard to find spaces but Appletree Oklahoma Ave usually has space and is in the Hill East/Kingman Park area. This is in normal times. Also I will flag that honestly I’m not sure what school will look like in the fall so if you need totally reliable care, you may want to explore other options that will definitely be in person.

I lived on the Hill for years and it was pretty hard to find slots at daycares. Check out the STEM preschool, board of childcare, Thurgood Marshall child development center, little scholars—all located on the Hill. Another option, especially if you get your older into preK is a nanny share for the younger. Someone with an established nanny may be interested in doing a part-time share to help split some of the costs. Join MOTH list serve (aka moms on the Hill).

Anonymous wrote:OP, you can still enroll your older child in free PK in DC if you are flexible on location.

That would be amazing! Crossing my fingers we can get in somewhere.

I only quoted a bit, but thank you for all that great info!

Anonymous wrote:Do you know what part of DC you'll be in? People might be able to toss out preschools/daycares that might have shorter waiting lists or spaces available.

I'm looking at Stanton Park, Capitol Hill, Hill East, Lincoln Park, Kingman Park, Noma, and Eckington mostly. I have a couple friends in Mt. Pleasant and it seems nice but maybe a little more expensive? Any insights about any of these places would be welcome!

OP, you can still enroll your older child in free PK in DC if you are flexible on location. Read the FAQs here:

https://www.myschooldc.org/faq/faqs/#post-lotto

After the lottery results are announced on April 2nd, schools that have not filled their classes will be listed on the site and you can apply to them via the myschooldc.org website. You will need to create a profile for your child but you can do that before actually moving here as long as your intent is to move. You will also be able to put yourself on the waitlist for schools that are full (and myschooldc will usually publish a list of schools with short waitlists to help people identify these schools).

PK programs are pretty consistently good across the city, so even if the available programs are in schools you wouldn't consider for your child for older grades, it should be fine for PK. The limiting factor will be location and commute. But if you know where you might live or are considering, we might be able to help you identify PKs likely to have spots or shorter waitlists. Though this will be a weird year because of Covid so no guarantees -- to some extent you'll just need to check the lists after the 2nd to find out what your options are.

Also, you should look into co-ops, especially if you want a part-time program. Most require some amount of parent volunteer work but there were definitely grad students in our co-op when we were there. Many co-ops are traditionally for younger kids (since most people send their kids to PK here), but I think some have expanded their age limits upward during Covid because of the lack of in-person school. I would just reach out to them directly and ask what they are planning for next year and what their application deadlines are. Again, very dependent on where you are living. We are on the Hill and there are several co-ops here (OATS, Capital Hill Cooperative Playschool, Gan Shalom, G Street, I think maybe others). I know parents in Brookland who have participated in them and I'm sure there are others in the city.

Realistically it would probably be cheaper to look for a nanny for the period of time you only need part-time care.

Nowhere in DC will let you pay for part-time. If you only want to use 3 days a week, that's fine, but you'll be paying full price. (I did this transitioning my daughter to daycare.)

Waitlists are really weird right now because fewer people want group care because of COVID, but also the groups are necessarily smaller. Do you know what part of DC you'll be in? People might be able to toss out preschools/daycares that might have shorter waiting lists or spaces available.

I'm starting grad school in the fall and I have two little kids, aged 4 and 2. We are moving across the country to DC sometime in the summer or late spring (if we're lucky). I missed the deadline for the free preschool and I've been researching day cares/preschools. I've been a SAHM since my oldest was born and, because of the pandemic, my youngest has never even had a babysitter. Upon doing research about preschools and day cares, I'm scared I won't be able to find a preschool for my 4 year old. He skipped preschool last year because of the pandemic and he wants to go so badly! I am looking for a little reassurance that I will be able to find SOMEWHERE for them to go. I am reaching out to places and trying to get on waitlists. What else should I be doing? What advice can you give me? Is it unreasonable to think we could start part time (3 days a week) and then switch to full time next January?