Anonymous wrote:Lottery question here. I'm sorry but we are new

If we have 9 schools on our waiting list and add a #10 and get in, can we enroll there but stay on the waiting list for the other schools? Let's say we get into #9 after we enroll #10, do we go to #10 and unenroll or can we enroll in #9 and they tell #10 we have enrolled there? What if #10 is a charter and #9 is a dc public school?

if that's the case, does it look bad if you do that?

Like I said, I'm sorry this is a lottery question but we JUST moved here from across the country and I'm overwhelmed.

Anonymous wrote:Lottery question here. I'm sorry but we are new

If we have 9 schools on our waiting list and add a #10 and get in, can we enroll there but stay on the waiting list for the other schools? Let's say we get into #9 after we enroll #10, do we go to #10 and unenroll or can we enroll in #9 and they tell #10 we have enrolled there? What if #10 is a charter and #9 is a dc public school?

if that's the case, does it look bad if you do that?

Like I said, I'm sorry this is a lottery question but we JUST moved here from across the country and I'm overwhelmed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my kid has an early October birthday, does that mean in DC she is not eligible for PK3 until she is almost 4? I realize this is a stupid question.

Yes. There is no getting around this even if your kid is born on Oct. 1.

The only school that doesn't follow this rule is Bethune PCS, which allows students born up to Dec 1 to enroll in PK3.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is PK guaranteed to all residents?

No, PK is AVAILABLE to all residents at some school, but not necessarily the school you want or even your in bounds school. PK is a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK and others have very competitive lotteries.

Is there such thing as being "inbound" to a school for PK?

Yes. All addresses in DC are geographically zoned for one DCPS PK program. Whether your child gets into that program is based on a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK, but you still have to enter the lottery - it's not like kindergarten where you can basically show up whenever you want with your registration paperwork and enroll on the spot. Charter schools do not have geographic boundaries, so no one is "inbound" for them. There are also other types of preference, mostly related to having a sibling at the school.

Is it totally free? Full day?

The school day (8:45 to 3:15 or so) is free. Aftercare (3:15 to 6pm) is not free. How much it costs varies based on the school. Schools with high populations of low income students generally have cheaper aftercare rates, particularly if they're run by DCPS vs. a private program. At our school, aftercare was free for several years, and this past year it's been $82.50/month for families not receiving government assistance of some kind. For families on government assistance, it's still free. School lunch has a similar variation in cost. Charters set their own rates for both of those things. "Full day" in DCPS means 8:45 to 3:15 or 3:30. PK has the same hours as the rest of the school.

This is mostly accurate, but there are some addresses in DC that are not in bound for any PK3 program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my kid has an early October birthday, does that mean in DC she is not eligible for PK3 until she is almost 4? I realize this is a stupid question.

Yes. There is no getting around this even if your kid is born on Oct. 1.

Anonymous wrote:If my kid has an early October birthday, does that mean in DC she is not eligible for PK3 until she is almost 4? I realize this is a stupid question.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Is there a page on the website, or a booklet, that gives information on the different schools and their curriculums? I'm particularly interested in the charter montessories. Our IB school is Eaton, which has PK4. So you're saying we don't get automatic enrollment in Eaton when my son turns 4?

You don't get automatic enrollment for Pk4 at Eaton. You will get automatic enrollment starting at K. You will enter the lottery for Pk4 at Eaton. Children whose families also live IB for Eaton whose older siblings attend Eaton already will have priority over you for admission. Most IB families get in, but not necessarily all of them.

The exceptions are if your in-bound DCPS is an 'early action' school (typically Title 1 schools - so not Eaton) which offer guaranteed enrollment for Pk3 or Pk4.

Most school information is online, not in a booklet. Use the DCPCSB website to begin your search for various charter school options and find more on each school's website. You should also go to the Ed Fest school fair event in December as well.

As for charter Montessori schools, your choices are LAMB PCS (also dual-language); Breakthrough Montessori, Shining Stars Montessori and Lee Montessori.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is PK guaranteed to all residents?

No, PK is AVAILABLE to all residents at some school, but not necessarily the school you want or even your in bounds school. PK is a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK and others have very competitive lotteries.

Is there such thing as being "inbound" to a school for PK?

Yes. All addresses in DC are geographically zoned for one DCPS PK program. Whether your child gets into that program is based on a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK, but you still have to enter the lottery - it's not like kindergarten where you can basically show up whenever you want with your registration paperwork and enroll on the spot. Charter schools do not have geographic boundaries, so no one is "inbound" for them. There are also other types of preference, mostly related to having a sibling at the school.

Is it totally free? Full day?

The school day (8:45 to 3:15 or so) is free. Aftercare (3:15 to 6pm) is not free. How much it costs varies based on the school. Schools with high populations of low income students generally have cheaper aftercare rates, particularly if they're run by DCPS vs. a private program. At our school, aftercare was free for several years, and this past year it's been $82.50/month for families not receiving government assistance of some kind. For families on government assistance, it's still free. School lunch has a similar variation in cost. Charters set their own rates for both of those things. "Full day" in DCPS means 8:45 to 3:15 or 3:30. PK has the same hours as the rest of the school.

This is mostly accurate, but there are some addresses in DC that are not in bound for any PK3 program.

PP here.

Correcting myself to say that all addresses in DC are geographically assigned to one elementary school - most elementary schools in DC have PK3. The ones that don't are: Eaton, Hearst, Hyde-Addison, Janney, Key, Mann, Murch, Oyster-Adams, and Stoddert. Those schools start at PK4, and admission to PK4 is still a lottery.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is PK guaranteed to all residents?

No, PK is AVAILABLE to all residents at some school, but not necessarily the school you want or even your in bounds school. PK is a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK and others have very competitive lotteries.

Is there such thing as being "inbound" to a school for PK?

Yes. All addresses in DC are geographically zoned for one DCPS PK program. Whether your child gets into that program is based on a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK, but you still have to enter the lottery - it's not like kindergarten where you can basically show up whenever you want with your registration paperwork and enroll on the spot. Charter schools do not have geographic boundaries, so no one is "inbound" for them. There are also other types of preference, mostly related to having a sibling at the school.

Is it totally free? Full day?

The school day (8:45 to 3:15 or so) is free. Aftercare (3:15 to 6pm) is not free. How much it costs varies based on the school. Schools with high populations of low income students generally have cheaper aftercare rates, particularly if they're run by DCPS vs. a private program. At our school, aftercare was free for several years, and this past year it's been $82.50/month for families not receiving government assistance of some kind. For families on government assistance, it's still free. School lunch has a similar variation in cost. Charters set their own rates for both of those things. "Full day" in DCPS means 8:45 to 3:15 or 3:30. PK has the same hours as the rest of the school.

This is mostly accurate, but there are some addresses in DC that are not in bound for any PK3 program.

Anonymous wrote:Is PK guaranteed to all residents?

No, PK is AVAILABLE to all residents at some school, but not necessarily the school you want or even your in bounds school. PK is a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK and others have very competitive lotteries.

Is there such thing as being "inbound" to a school for PK?

Yes. All addresses in DC are geographically zoned for one DCPS PK program. Whether your child gets into that program is based on a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK, but you still have to enter the lottery - it's not like kindergarten where you can basically show up whenever you want with your registration paperwork and enroll on the spot. Charter schools do not have geographic boundaries, so no one is "inbound" for them. There are also other types of preference, mostly related to having a sibling at the school.

Is it totally free? Full day?

The school day (8:45 to 3:15 or so) is free. Aftercare (3:15 to 6pm) is not free. How much it costs varies based on the school. Schools with high populations of low income students generally have cheaper aftercare rates, particularly if they're run by DCPS vs. a private program. At our school, aftercare was free for several years, and this past year it's been $82.50/month for families not receiving government assistance of some kind. For families on government assistance, it's still free. School lunch has a similar variation in cost. Charters set their own rates for both of those things. "Full day" in DCPS means 8:45 to 3:15 or 3:30. PK has the same hours as the rest of the school.

Anonymous wrote:If my kid has an early October birthday, does that mean in DC she is not eligible for PK3 until she is almost 4? I realize this is a stupid question.