Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ITS' PK3 waitlist is down from 307 last year to 205 this year. I'm a current parent and other than LAMB coming into the lottery and MV8's existence, I really can't think of a reason for this happening. If it weren't happening at various other schools similarly, I'd be concerned...

Pure speculation (isn’t that what DCMUM is for??) but my guess is that charter schools, even solid ones, that don’t offer some kind of speciality like language immersion or Montessori approach will increasingly lose ground as DC elementary schools continue to get stronger and better managed. Most families will find more value in going to school with neighbors, shorter commutes, better paid teachers and will stick with their inbound school, unless they want specialized instruction.

This. Langley, Seaton, and Garrison did not experoence a shorter waitlist this year. ITS is definitely our preference for upper elementary and middle, but for preschool and K I would not say it is head and shoulders above other schools. There are a lot of good ECE programs in the Bloomingdale area, we are blessed.

Langley is an early action school with a waitlist length of 14.... not comparable to ITDS.... lol

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ITS' PK3 waitlist is down from 307 last year to 205 this year. I'm a current parent and other than LAMB coming into the lottery and MV8's existence, I really can't think of a reason for this happening. If it weren't happening at various other schools similarly, I'd be concerned...

Pure speculation (isn’t that what DCMUM is for??) but my guess is that charter schools, even solid ones, that don’t offer some kind of speciality like language immersion or Montessori approach will increasingly lose ground as DC elementary schools continue to get stronger and better managed. Most families will find more value in going to school with neighbors, shorter commutes, better paid teachers and will stick with their inbound school, unless they want specialized instruction.

This. Langley, Seaton, and Garrison did not experoence a shorter waitlist this year. ITS is definitely our preference for upper elementary and middle, but for preschool and K I would not say it is head and shoulders above other schools. There are a lot of good ECE programs in the Bloomingdale area, we are blessed.

Anonymous wrote:

ITS' PK3 waitlist is down from 307 last year to 205 this year. I'm a current parent and other than LAMB coming into the lottery and MV8's existence, I really can't think of a reason for this happening. If it weren't happening at various other schools similarly, I'd be concerned...

Pure speculation (isn’t that what DCMUM is for??) but my guess is that charter schools, even solid ones, that don’t offer some kind of speciality like language immersion or Montessori approach will increasingly lose ground as DC elementary schools continue to get stronger and better managed. Most families will find more value in going to school with neighbors, shorter commutes, better paid teachers and will stick with their inbound school, unless they want specialized instruction.

ITS' PK3 waitlist is down from 307 last year to 205 this year. I'm a current parent and other than LAMB coming into the lottery and MV8's existence, I really can't think of a reason for this happening. If it weren't happening at various other schools similarly, I'd be concerned...

Meanwhile, at YY, not even 1% of the students mainly speak Chinese at home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what are the longest waitlists?

I see LAMB, MVP, and Yu Ying as over 400 for PK3.

The usual suspects are still having long WL. Also MVP does not seem very damaged by the issues debated on here or the unionization etc.

Exactly. But you know the DCPS parents love to bash charters overall because of their own insecurities with their schools.

No, we criticize charters mainly because the charter lottery system is ridiculous, we don't like how families drive all over town to access charters (contributing to pollution and clogging the roads), we don't like how charter teachers can't unionize, and how charter parent associations effectively have no power.

Case in point. Our neighbor's child would be perfect for BASIS - she's super diligent, a real math whiz with little interest in sports or music. But she's in the 200s on the BASIS 5th grade WL with effectively no shot of getting in. The family will stay at their DCPS for 5th grade, then move. Meanwhile, in the DC burbs, Boston, NYC, Miami, Chicago, Dallas etc. a kid like that could test into an excellent 6th-12th grade STEM magnet program.

Another case in point: In my state, MA, the local Mandarin immersion charter school has run an admissions lottery for native speakers for the last 15 years with no interference whatsoever from the US Dept. of Ed. The school actively recruits native speakers: and enrolls a sizeable cohort, roughly 30% of students. Meanwhile, at YY, not even 1% of the students mainly speak Chinese at home. At DCI on the "advanced Chinese track" it's been 0% from the get go.

Best practices in education? Not in our charter system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what are the longest waitlists?

I see LAMB, MVP, and Yu Ying as over 400 for PK3.

The usual suspects are still having long WL. Also MVP does not seem very damaged by the issues debated on here or the unionization etc.

Exactly. But you know the DCPS parents love to bash charters overall because of their own insecurities with their schools.

Anonymous wrote:So what are the longest waitlists?

I see LAMB, MVP, and Yu Ying as over 400 for PK3.

The usual suspects are still having long WL. Also MVP does not seem very damaged by the issues debated on here or the unionization etc.

Anonymous wrote:So what are the longest waitlists?

I see LAMB, MVP, and Yu Ying as over 400 for PK3.

The usual suspects are still having long WL. Also MVP does not seem very damaged by the issues debated on here or the unionization etc.

Anonymous wrote:So what are the longest waitlists?

I see LAMB, MVP, and Yu Ying as over 400 for PK3.

The usual suspects are still having long WL. Also MVP does not seem very damaged by the issues debated on here or the unionization etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looks like MV8 had 70 spots and only goes through 1st grade, so fewer grades for sibling preferences. Anyone think they’ll get through WL#20?

Its hard to know. About half of those 70 are siblings, but it’s still a good shot.

Anonymous wrote:Looks like MV8 had 70 spots and only goes through 1st grade, so fewer grades for sibling preferences. Anyone think they’ll get through WL#20?