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@Oboe: @dcd's take on this is very similar to mine. Here's my anecdote: a couple of years ago, some friends of ours whose daughter was turning three, and who live in Columbia Heights took a look at their local elementary school--which had open slots for PS/PK--and immediately dismissed it. They then applied to the six most sought-after elementary schools in the city. They didn't get in to any of them. They then applied to several charters--and near-miraculously got into Haynes.

If they hadn't gotten into Haynes, they would have moved out of the city. So is this evidence against universal PS/PK in DC?

This is EXACTLY our situation (for a second I wondered if we know each other in real life), except than we intended to stay in a more limited private preschool for the pre-school year, got wind that ELH was starting a pre-school class, took a flier, and hit the lottery (so to speak). Our local CH elementary school (although it is reported to have made great strides in the past 2 years) was not an option, and with the lack of OOB slots at the more well-regarded DCPS schools, it is very, very likely that we'd have moved. (PS - it's likely that my daughter is friends with your friends' kid. Wild.)

@David: Also, keep in mind that parents can't often wait until October to see if they made it off of a waitlist, because private programs also have waitlists and notification deadlines.

There may be some parents for whom this is true, but I think it far more likely that the reason for the move is the failure to get into a pre-school program at a "good" school - which means the kids won't be able to attend that school from K-5. It's got a lot less to do with a preschool slot than it does figuring out the whole schooling picture.

by dcd on Jun 19, 2012 1:19 pm • link • report

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