Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I really think the only way to have a chance at a decent DCPS is to list 12 up-and-coming schools and hope for the best. Not sure if I can identify 12 that show enough promise to make it on my list. It's a gamble in that there is no guarantee that the school I get matched to will ever get over that hump, but its no more of a gamble than trying to lottery for a highly sought after school.

I know this is way back from page 1, but it seems important to dispel this idea that you should only list "safety" or "up and coming" schools in your 12 choices next year. That is a really bad idea, for 2 reasons I can think of:

1) The way the common lottery works now, each applicant gets assigned one random lottery number. If you get a great number, there is an excellent chance of you getting into one of the upper schools on your list. Even most of the most popular charters this year (and maybe a few popular DCPS's?) had a few (or some, several) openings in the early grades. So those who ranked them high and got great random lottery numbers got in.

2) You never know which schools will have an "unusual" application season. When we toured schools for the '12-'13 school year, our #2 school we loved was Mundo Verde. We were mostly shut out for '12-'13 but applied again for '13-'14. Got into our #1 choice, horrible # at MV. Now think about this year: because of MV's change in locations, as we move into K, this would have been our year to get in! Every family we know who applied to MV for K for this upcoming year got in (that's 5 families). Obviously there's still a waiting list and not everyone got in, but the odds were so much better than the 1st 2 years we looked. Didn't Bridges also expand spots in one or more grades for the upcoming year?

Who knows which schools will change locales for '15-'16 school year? Isn't Creative Minds moving for that year? Shining Stars may or may not find a space now they like, so may move again? That's why this board is such a gift - you keep track of both "up and coming schools" and school changes, and then you put at least the top 2 schools that you actually like the best based on whatever info you've gathered. You can then have 10 up and coming schools... 8 up and coming and 2 "last resort" schools... whatever combo works for you.

But the last 2 years make it seem like a really bad idea to not use at least 2 spots for schools you really really would be excited to go to (if there are 2!).

Good luck next year everyone!

We applied to MV for K and got a WL # above 100. EVERYONE we know with a kindergartener applied to MV (even though most were happy where they were but would have moved only for MV) - that's at least a dozen people. I know ONE person who got their kid in for K. So, your friends are not representative.

Anonymous wrote:Even newly renovated elementary schools have a recommendation in the standard specs for metal detectors; don't know if they all put them in, but it is fairly standard these days and is meant to protect against school intrusions. But certainly if they are meant to protect students from other students, that is a whole other story. I would not send my kid to a school that needed that kind of security if I could help it.

My understanding is that the DCPS policy is that all elementary schools have metal detectors to stop an intruder. But what I think is really the case is that it's because a few students are armed, even in elementary school. A metal detector is not going to stop a bad intruder.... Some kids do come armed, even in elementary school. I don't think DCPS is being straight up honest on the basis of its policy. That's a problem.

Another vote for Seaton! If all the families we knew hadn't already been matched somewhere (and seem relatively happy with their results), when I heard Seaton still had seats I would have organized an adult field trip and made everyone get on a bus to check out Seaton! I've never set foot in the school myself, so let me be clear this is not based on actual personal knowledge, but part of how I judge these kinds of big decisions is on what people I trust, who I know do incredible research or have inside knowledge say. And let's just say I'm super-impressed with what I hear from people that absolutely know.

My guess is next year will still be a good year to apply there, pretty sure they won't have 11 preK slots even AFTER the 2nd lottery but at least there's still a solid chance of getting in. But then '16-'17 I bet the Seaton train will have very much left the station and it'll be mostly IB. That's my guess from all the strongly positive reports I get.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I really think the only way to have a chance at a decent DCPS is to list 12 up-and-coming schools and hope for the best. Not sure if I can identify 12 that show enough promise to make it on my list. It's a gamble in that there is no guarantee that the school I get matched to will ever get over that hump, but its no more of a gamble than trying to lottery for a highly sought after school.

I know this is way back from page 1, but it seems important to dispel this idea that you should only list "safety" or "up and coming" schools in your 12 choices next year. That is a really bad idea, for 2 reasons I can think of:

1) The way the common lottery works now, each applicant gets assigned one random lottery number. If you get a great number, there is an excellent chance of you getting into one of the upper schools on your list. Even most of the most popular charters this year (and maybe a few popular DCPS's?) had a few (or some, several) openings in the early grades. So those who ranked them high and got great random lottery numbers got in.

2) You never know which schools will have an "unusual" application season. When we toured schools for the '12-'13 school year, our #2 school we loved was Mundo Verde. We were mostly shut out for '12-'13 but applied again for '13-'14. Got into our #1 choice, horrible # at MV. Now think about this year: because of MV's change in locations, as we move into K, this would have been our year to get in! Every family we know who applied to MV for K for this upcoming year got in (that's 5 families). Obviously there's still a waiting list and not everyone got in, but the odds were so much better than the 1st 2 years we looked. Didn't Bridges also expand spots in one or more grades for the upcoming year?

Who knows which schools will change locales for '15-'16 school year? Isn't Creative Minds moving for that year? Shining Stars may or may not find a space now they like, so may move again? That's why this board is such a gift - you keep track of both "up and coming schools" and school changes, and then you put at least the top 2 schools that you actually like the best based on whatever info you've gathered. You can then have 10 up and coming schools... 8 up and coming and 2 "last resort" schools... whatever combo works for you.

But the last 2 years make it seem like a really bad idea to not use at least 2 spots for schools you really really would be excited to go to (if there are 2!).

Good luck next year everyone!

Anonymous wrote:Here is the point about 'reading it somewhere'. If it's not in a contact it does not matter. I can say that I'll pay you 100.00 an hour for extended day. You will agree to it, and then next year I'll change it. Why is DCPS so afraid of putting their promises in writing, and changing the contact?
And why are all you folks, who likely not even zoned for a bottom 40 school pushing extended day? Because you think it's good for the poor/black kids? Because you think teachers make too much money? Because you like to bash unions? There has to be a reason.

All I can say is I hope you're not a teacher at any DCPS school. Your grammar is very poor for a teacher. So either you're a teacher who has 1st hand knowledge that this is how DCPS operates, and one has to wonder about what you're teaching with grammar that poor... or you're not a teacher and then one has to wonder what your source for your statements above are?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of pom-poms on this thread. I can't imagine enrolling my rising 1st-grader in any school mentioned above.

It's easy to wax optimistic when your DC is enrolling for PS3. After paying for daycare, it seems like a gift.

Much the same for PK4, although by then you have a sense of opportunities greater than simply "free."

K is where the rubber meets the road. By now, you have friends who are enrolled in very desirable programs. They may be HRCS (the Highly Regarded Charter shortlist: Bridges, Cap City, Creative Minds, DC Bilingual, DC Prep, EL Haynes, Inspired Teaching, LAMB, Mundo Verde, Two Rivers, Stokes, Yu Ying) or OOB JKLM, or private.

By 1st, if you didn't have an exit strategy, you need Xanax. Better prepared families have been peeling off for years. And those who didn't get lucky in the lottery, or paid up to go private, have decamped for FFX and MoCo.

Meanwhile DCPS's improvement strategy has offered extended school days... only to be shot down by the WTU. Why? Because when it comes to improving the education of children in DCPS? Children don't pay Union dues! So they (and their families) can go to... someplace hot. Of course, the WTU does insist that they get to keep their massive raise package.

Just because they win, doesn't mean that the taxpayer does.

Please don't feed this troll!

DP - I don't see this as a troll post at all. That PP has raised good and REAL considerations. What do you see in that post that you think is clearly untrue? Every detail I know anything about is true (I just don't have much of a view of what the last 2 yrs have looked like in DCPS rising schools for 2-8th grade peeling off, but I can see how PP would be right about that too).

Anonymous wrote:Watkins ES and Stuart-Hobson MS. I hear the administration is top notch and really responsive to high-SES families.

You might want to follow this thread on Watkins. http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1335/381804.page

Even newly renovated elementary schools have a recommendation in the standard specs for metal detectors; don't know if they all put them in, but it is fairly standard these days and is meant to protect against school intrusions. But certainly if they are meant to protect students from other students, that is a whole other story. I would not send my kid to a school that needed that kind of security if I could help it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Watkins ES and Stuart-Hobson MS. I hear the administration is top notch and really responsive to high-SES families.

Are you smoking something that might be more or less legal tomorrow? Send your DC there if you never want to know the truth about safety issues and like getting fed BS. Love the metal detectors too.

Do you know if students at Deal and Hardy have metal detectors?

They both have metal detectors.

Then that begs the question, "Do these latter schools have metal detectors because of a uniform policy city-wide, or because they actually need them?" My understanding is that the former (Stuart Hobson) actually needs them.

Going to a park or baseball game is nice. Capitol Hill offers some good amenities as well--DC Youth orchestra, CHAW, some sports teams. But there are other things many families with older kids (let's say age 10+) would like that the neighborhood isn't going to offer, at least not at an affordable price. For example, a lot of parents would prefer to separate opposite-sex siblings, so a 2br apartment would be tough. It can be hard to have a pet when buildings don't allow them. Some kids will probably stay--and some in-bounds families will go to Jefferson and on to Eastern. But will there be enough in-bounds kids to fill 2 classes at each grade level from PK3-5? At least for the next few years, I can't imagine there will be 40+ families who

a) live in the Van Ness boundary
b) have a rising 5th grader
c) do not enter the lottery, or enter it and fail to get into BASIS, Latin, another charter, or a school that feeds into Hardy or Deal
d) decide to stay in the neighborhood

There will be some. But not enough to fill--or even come close to filling--two classes per grade, which is what DCPS plans to offer at Van Ness.
It seems much more likely that there will be several dozen out of bounds families who see Van Ness as pulling them into a better middle/high school feeder pattern without too onerous a commute.

A lot of this could have been avoided had the DME abolished the rule that getting into an elementary school OOB guarantees you a right to attend its middle and high school feeders. People might stay at Van Ness through 5th grade if they had a shot at an OOB slot at Hardy or Deal for 6th. Somehow forcing BASIS, Latin, and other middle schools to start at 6th grade would also help, but I think that ship has sailed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:agreed. I think Van Ness will probably be a pretty good school but I don't think it will be even close to 100% in bounds. The DME says there are currently 114 grade-appropriate kids in the neighborhood--it doesn't explain if that's grades PK-5 or in whatever grades Van Ness will take when it opens. Even if the early grades fill up early on, within 5 years I predict the school having a strong separation between mostly in-bounds lower grades and mostly OOB upper grades. Why?

* Not every family in the neighborhood wants to try out a new school. Some will also prefer dual-language, immersion, religious, Montessori, or any number of other DCPS/charter/private options.

* Families will try to get their kids into better feeder patterns. That will pull out a ton of 5th graders for Latin and BASIS and probably some lower grades as kids lottery into Wilson/DCI feeders or their families move into other neighborhoods or leave the District. Eastern is not an option for most of the neighborhood residents.

* There just won't be that many older kids in the neighborhood. The vast majority of housing in the area is rental, most of it studios and 1brs with a handful of 2brs. Even the condos under construction would be a tight fit with more than one kid.

* It is the closest Jefferson/Eastern feeder via public transit for many families whose in-bound middle and high schools are lower performing.

If this comes to pass, it will be very interesting to see how the school manages the inevitable culture clashes that occur when there are some very rich and some very poor families. Some DCPS schools and PTAs seem to handle this a lot better than others.

The divide between the stroller brigade of IB families who eventually flee and are replaced by lower income upper elementary is happening a lot of other schools too.

I agree the navy yard neighborhood is not very kid/family friendly once kids reach school age.

I think the Capitol Riverfront (when built out) will be very kid/family friendly. You have Virgina Avenue Park, Canal Park, Yards Park, and access to Garfield Park. You will also have access to the Anacostia River (They have kayak rentals there now). I think Van Ness Elementary School will end up becoming a true neighborhood school. Van Ness Elementary has the potential to be a top notch Ward 6 elementary school

Anonymous wrote:agreed. I think Van Ness will probably be a pretty good school but I don't think it will be even close to 100% in bounds. The DME says there are currently 114 grade-appropriate kids in the neighborhood--it doesn't explain if that's grades PK-5 or in whatever grades Van Ness will take when it opens. Even if the early grades fill up early on, within 5 years I predict the school having a strong separation between mostly in-bounds lower grades and mostly OOB upper grades. Why?

* Not every family in the neighborhood wants to try out a new school. Some will also prefer dual-language, immersion, religious, Montessori, or any number of other DCPS/charter/private options.

* Families will try to get their kids into better feeder patterns. That will pull out a ton of 5th graders for Latin and BASIS and probably some lower grades as kids lottery into Wilson/DCI feeders or their families move into other neighborhoods or leave the District. Eastern is not an option for most of the neighborhood residents.

* There just won't be that many older kids in the neighborhood. The vast majority of housing in the area is rental, most of it studios and 1brs with a handful of 2brs. Even the condos under construction would be a tight fit with more than one kid.

* It is the closest Jefferson/Eastern feeder via public transit for many families whose in-bound middle and high schools are lower performing.

If this comes to pass, it will be very interesting to see how the school manages the inevitable culture clashes that occur when there are some very rich and some very poor families. Some DCPS schools and PTAs seem to handle this a lot better than others.

The divide between the stroller brigade of IB families who eventually flee and are replaced by lower income upper elementary is happening a lot of other schools too.

I agree the navy yard neighborhood is not very kid/family friendly once kids reach school age.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Watkins ES and Stuart-Hobson MS. I hear the administration is top notch and really responsive to high-SES families.

Are you smoking something that might be more or less legal tomorrow? Send your DC there if you never want to know the truth about safety issues and like getting fed BS. Love the metal detectors too.

Do you know if students at Deal and Hardy have metal detectors?

They both have metal detectors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Watkins ES and Stuart-Hobson MS. I hear the administration is top notch and really responsive to high-SES families.

Are you smoking something that might be more or less legal tomorrow? Send your DC there if you never want to know the truth about safety issues and like getting fed BS. Love the metal detectors too.

Do you know if students at Deal and Hardy have metal detectors?

Anonymous wrote:Watkins ES and Stuart-Hobson MS. I hear the administration is top notch and really responsive to high-SES families.

Are you smoking something that might be more or less legal tomorrow? Send your DC there if you never want to know the truth about safety issues and like getting fed BS. Love the metal detectors too.