She's a kook. Has she actually been a parent or teacher in these schools or is she making her recommendations solely based on publicly-available data. Yeah, I thought so.

We did one of her group sessions, which was in the neighborhood of $50. It was good from my wife's perspective, who has never read DCUM. If you want to get the quick and dirty without doing your own research, it's not that bad an investment.

That said, she's a little...frenetic, and definitely opinionated. Her own preferences towards the arts and focus on kids with special needs prevails in her recommendations. To her credit, she seems to have spent a lot of time getting to know schools, principals, etc. So she can provide some interesting insight.

I think her advice would have been far more valuable under the old lottery process, where you had to manage a lot of waiting lists, game your entries, etc. Under the new process, it's a lot simpler. Also, her view of some of the "below the radar" schools is a bit out of date. She might have led one to believe that a school like Powell or Bridges would be a sure thing for you to get into this year, as they were up-and-coming. It's kinda like someone who thinks that Columbia Heights is the new undiscovered hip part of the city.

I think it depends on your geography, too. I met her at an open house at an upper NE DCPS. She had never been to that school or several others in the vicinity I asked about. She seemed to know the hill scene a lot better, but I'm glad she was trying to do her homework. (Though she arrived late and missed the presentation.) I didn't get the sense that she would know much about any hidden gems in my neck of the woodsor info I couldn't suss out myself. But if I lived on the hill and had money to burn or was new to the DC landscape, I might consider a session.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what, having gone through this process three times now and familiarized myself with many of the charter schools and the DCPS website/schools, I feel that I'm qualified to offer the same services.

I certainly seem to know more than any of my kid's teachers or others who work in these schools. (Which is frustrating and annoying, in itself.)

But, you know what, so do most of the people who read this board. You have to know and understand the system inside out.

Is there some magic tip that Ms. Downey knows that I don't?

No. I think she is only useful for those who know nothing.

Quite honestly, after 5 years of it myself, I have often thought of offering the same service. I do it now for free - provide tons of advice here and in real life. I participate in a neighborhood forum we put on exactly for this purpose. What I don't have is an entrepreneurial spirit. Marketing myself, putting myself out there, building a business, figuring out what to charge, dealing with taxes - ugh. Not for me. But the fact is, if you really dive deeply into this stuff, you can quickly become an expert, and often are easily more knowledgeable about the system as a whole than someone who works at one school.

It is a lot of work to get this deeply involved in DCPS. DCUM is a bubble - I learn a LOT here, and am grateful for it, but despite the gig traffic, anyone who thinks "everyone" reads DCUM as closely as many of us do is kidding themselves. Those of us who have immersed ourselves in it are in fact rare in real life.

I'm not saying everyone reads this part of DCUM. They clearly don't. My point is that her services are useful for those who don't know anything. There are tons of people like that in the city. For people who do things like go to open houses, attend the charter school expo, and check out school profiles online, her services are not particularly helpful. I found it to be a waste of money. The things she initially said about the algorithm were wrong, and she ended up having to send an email to clarify that. She has no more information than anyone else--it's just that some people don't want to put the time to go to open houses, look at school profiles, etc., and she can be helpful to them. But if you have done your basic research (not necessarily on DCUM), I think her sessions are not going to be helpful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what, having gone through this process three times now and familiarized myself with many of the charter schools and the DCPS website/schools, I feel that I'm qualified to offer the same services.

I certainly seem to know more than any of my kid's teachers or others who work in these schools. (Which is frustrating and annoying, in itself.)

But, you know what, so do most of the people who read this board. You have to know and understand the system inside out.

Is there some magic tip that Ms. Downey knows that I don't?

No. I think she is only useful for those who know nothing.

Quite honestly, after 5 years of it myself, I have often thought of offering the same service. I do it now for free - provide tons of advice here and in real life. I participate in a neighborhood forum we put on exactly for this purpose. What I don't have is an entrepreneurial spirit. Marketing myself, putting myself out there, building a business, figuring out what to charge, dealing with taxes - ugh. Not for me. But the fact is, if you really dive deeply into this stuff, you can quickly become an expert, and often are easily more knowledgeable about the system as a whole than someone who works at one school.

It is a lot of work to get this deeply involved in DCPS. DCUM is a bubble - I learn a LOT here, and am grateful for it, but despite the gig traffic, anyone who thinks "everyone" reads DCUM as closely as many of us do is kidding themselves. Those of us who have immersed ourselves in it are in fact rare in real life.

Anonymous wrote:^^ My mistake. I think I was recalling the cheaper mini-sessions around one or more of the school forums/events. I think it starts at $35 for lectures. The steeper prices in the hundred is for private consulting.

We paid $50 for our group session.

^^ My mistake. I think I was recalling the cheaper mini-sessions around one or more of the school forums/events. I think it starts at $35 for lectures. The steeper prices in the hundred is for private consulting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what, having gone through this process three times now and familiarized myself with many of the charter schools and the DCPS website/schools, I feel that I'm qualified to offer the same services.

I certainly seem to know more than any of my kid's teachers or others who work in these schools. (Which is frustrating and annoying, in itself.)

But, you know what, so do most of the people who read this board. You have to know and understand the system inside out.

Is there some magic tip that Ms. Downey knows that I don't?

No. I think she is only useful for those who know nothing.

I'm going to disagree. Full disclosure, E.V. is a long-time friend, and I am not her promise nor am I her other colleague. I did tell her about this thread so she may respond. I've only ever consulted with her on special ed issues and don't have the experience with her DCPS/DCPCS lottery sessions.

I will tell you that E.V. does visit all the schools she can to find out first-hand information, compares data and distills it to manageable categories for people. It may shock you but not that many people actually know about DCUM, and many are wary of info. from parents in 1 or 2 schools as it may not be complete or be biased.

She is Hill-based, no doubt. From what she has told me, she really thought her main business would be about private/special needs placements. The DCPS/DCPCS demand kind of took her by surprise. She does have the big sessions that I think are only like $10 if you want to test her out.

The group sessions are more like $40 IIRC.

Anonymous wrote:A housekeeper doesn't know any magic secrets about the Lemon Pledge that you don't, but you may not have the time or want to spend the time on it.

Exactly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what, having gone through this process three times now and familiarized myself with many of the charter schools and the DCPS website/schools, I feel that I'm qualified to offer the same services.

I certainly seem to know more than any of my kid's teachers or others who work in these schools. (Which is frustrating and annoying, in itself.)

But, you know what, so do most of the people who read this board. You have to know and understand the system inside out.

Is there some magic tip that Ms. Downey knows that I don't?

No. I think she is only useful for those who know nothing.

I'm going to disagree. Full disclosure, E.V. is a long-time friend, and I am not her promise nor am I her other colleague. I did tell her about this thread so she may respond. I've only ever consulted with her on special ed issues and don't have the experience with her DCPS/DCPCS lottery sessions.

I will tell you that E.V. does visit all the schools she can to find out first-hand information, compares data and distills it to manageable categories for people. It may shock you but not that many people actually know about DCUM, and many are wary of info. from parents in 1 or 2 schools as it may not be complete or be biased.

She is Hill-based, no doubt. From what she has told me, she really thought her main business would be about private/special needs placements. The DCPS/DCPCS demand kind of took her by surprise. She does have the big sessions that I think are only like $10 if you want to test her out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what, having gone through this process three times now and familiarized myself with many of the charter schools and the DCPS website/schools, I feel that I'm qualified to offer the same services.

I certainly seem to know more than any of my kid's teachers or others who work in these schools. (Which is frustrating and annoying, in itself.)

But, you know what, so do most of the people who read this board. You have to know and understand the system inside out.

Is there some magic tip that Ms. Downey knows that I don't?

No. I think she is only useful for those who know nothing.

. . . And really like to have their hands held and are afraid to make parenting decisions.

We went to one of her sessions b/c she claimed to know how the new algorithm worked and wanted more info. Turns out she didn't know shit about the algorithm, only speculations from what she probably got from DCUM. We did our research before going an attended a bunch o open houses. A parent that is afraid to make parenting decisions, no. Someone suckered in by self-propelled marketing wanting to do what is best for our DD, perhaps. She knows a lot about your HRCS and inbound schools...something we already knew. If you don't know anything and have no interest in going to an open house, then she could perhaps be beneficial. For folks that frequent this forum, definitely a waste of time and money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what, having gone through this process three times now and familiarized myself with many of the charter schools and the DCPS website/schools, I feel that I'm qualified to offer the same services.

I certainly seem to know more than any of my kid's teachers or others who work in these schools. (Which is frustrating and annoying, in itself.)

But, you know what, so do most of the people who read this board. You have to know and understand the system inside out.

Is there some magic tip that Ms. Downey knows that I don't?

No. I think she is only useful for those who know nothing.

. . . And really like to have their hands held and are afraid to make parenting decisions.

A housekeeper doesn't know any magic secrets about the Lemon Pledge that you don't, but you may not have the time or want to spend the time on it.

Anonymous wrote:You know what, having gone through this process three times now and familiarized myself with many of the charter schools and the DCPS website/schools, I feel that I'm qualified to offer the same services.

I certainly seem to know more than any of my kid's teachers or others who work in these schools. (Which is frustrating and annoying, in itself.)

But, you know what, so do most of the people who read this board. You have to know and understand the system inside out.

Is there some magic tip that Ms. Downey knows that I don't?

No. I think she is only useful for those who know nothing.

You know what, having gone through this process three times now and familiarized myself with many of the charter schools and the DCPS website/schools, I feel that I'm qualified to offer the same services.

I certainly seem to know more than any of my kid's teachers or others who work in these schools. (Which is frustrating and annoying, in itself.)

But, you know what, so do most of the people who read this board. You have to know and understand the system inside out.

Is there some magic tip that Ms. Downey knows that I don't?