1) include your in boundary DCPS (and go to its open house)

2) be prepared to move midyear, be prepared to have your kids at different schools at least for a short time

3) don't count on the status quo as a back up plan (because your child may mature and the existing daycare, preschool, elementary school may no longer work for your family). We only applied to one charge middle school for my DS, and we should have applied to two or three.

4) do enough research to make sure your safety options really are safeties.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, thanks for saying you wished you attended few open houses. That makes me feel a little better. We're moving to DC soon, but couldn't quite fit in a recon trip to attend open houses.

Sorry but Open Houses are very important, especially for charters. You learn a lot about a school's personality by seeing it, even without the children there. For DCPS, it isn't as important as the central office will change everything in the next year or two anyway.

For DCPS a visit can be quite important to see the difference between reputation and what's actually going on in the school. Also, the principal and staff play a huge role no matter what the central office does.

Anonymous wrote:PP, thanks for saying you wished you attended few open houses. That makes me feel a little better. We're moving to DC soon, but couldn't quite fit in a recon trip to attend open houses.

Sorry but Open Houses are very important, especially for charters. You learn a lot about a school's personality by seeing it, even without the children there. For DCPS, it isn't as important as the central office will change everything in the next year or two anyway.

PP, thanks for saying you wished you attended few open houses. That makes me feel a little better. We're moving to DC soon, but couldn't quite fit in a recon trip to attend open houses.

I did not stress and am happy about that.

However, I wish I had spent less time at open houses b/c the decision was essentially decided for me by the lottery. You don't really get to pick the school unless you have a very good lottery number, you just get what you get. I probably could have done a same or similar ranking without visiting a single school.

Anonymous wrote:I think it is more that a lot of people move by first grade if not wotp.

My child is 8, and she has only had a couple people move from the school we first entered. The parents are happy though, so most aren't trolling this board anymore. We played this game over 4 years ago, the only reason I follow it is because of my own interest.

I spent a bunch of time looking at public schools that weren't our in-boundary school, only to decide that whatever the improvements might be elsewhere, commute (yes, sorry, commute again) would trump that. Of course I can't know whether I was right, but I do feel like my child is having a good time and learning a lot with a great teacher, right in our neighborhood. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have visited so many other public schools--but then, I'm a leave-no-stone-unturned kind of person in these situations, so perhaps if I'd been given that advice, I would have ignored it!

I also just wish I had stressed out less--again, with regard to the fact that we ended up someplace I hadn't previously been excited about, and all is fine with the world.

Good luck!

I think it is more that a lot of people move by first grade if not wotp.