The School Thing: Part I
It's school application season in DC. The playgrounds and listservs
have been abuzz with strategizing, fretting, and gossiping. The madness reached fever pitch on Monday when the public
school lottery results were released.
For an overview of the DC system, pause here and read this article by one of my neighbors.
The factor she doesn't mention in the article is that, in addition to the dozens of public school options in the neighborhood, there are also numerous private preschool options -- whose programs vary even more widely than the public programs. And you can't get away with researching just one or the other because there's no guarantee you'll get into either. Starting with kindergarten, you're guaranteed a spot at your in-bounds school (ours is Maury, the one the author wanted so desperately), but that's not the case for preschool. And the private programs have long waitlists too. That's the thing about the preschool years: everything is on the table, but nothing is guaranteed.
So I spent more time researching preschools for Henry than I did researching my own graduate school options. I mainly set my sights on the private schools because I want Henry in a part-time program. The 8:30-3:00 public school schedule is an awfully long day in a classroom for a three year old (something all of the teachers and principals seem to recognize, but DCPS does not). We don't need school as day care. I love that Henry and Ingrid have so much time together. I like that our lives don't revolve around the school schedule or calendar. I don't want to give up my dude all day, every day.
Now, back to the public lottery results.
The lottery gods must have been smiling on Henry. He was matched with our first choice school, a Montessori program in the neighborhood. Our friends and neighbors are all, "ZOMG I'm jealous no one gets in there you're so lucky." I'm angst-ridden about it. Those lottery gods must be the mischievous Roman sort of gods.
We'll wait and see if he gets into the private program that I really liked. If not, we'll enroll at the Montessori and give thanks for good lottery results. If the private program offers us a spot, I'll stress about the decision for as long as I can maintain the delusion that, through sheer force of research and fretting, I am able to engineer the perfect educational situation for the children.
To be continued...
For an overview of the DC system, pause here and read this article by one of my neighbors.
The factor she doesn't mention in the article is that, in addition to the dozens of public school options in the neighborhood, there are also numerous private preschool options -- whose programs vary even more widely than the public programs. And you can't get away with researching just one or the other because there's no guarantee you'll get into either. Starting with kindergarten, you're guaranteed a spot at your in-bounds school (ours is Maury, the one the author wanted so desperately), but that's not the case for preschool. And the private programs have long waitlists too. That's the thing about the preschool years: everything is on the table, but nothing is guaranteed.
So I spent more time researching preschools for Henry than I did researching my own graduate school options. I mainly set my sights on the private schools because I want Henry in a part-time program. The 8:30-3:00 public school schedule is an awfully long day in a classroom for a three year old (something all of the teachers and principals seem to recognize, but DCPS does not). We don't need school as day care. I love that Henry and Ingrid have so much time together. I like that our lives don't revolve around the school schedule or calendar. I don't want to give up my dude all day, every day.
Now, back to the public lottery results.
The lottery gods must have been smiling on Henry. He was matched with our first choice school, a Montessori program in the neighborhood. Our friends and neighbors are all, "ZOMG I'm jealous no one gets in there you're so lucky." I'm angst-ridden about it. Those lottery gods must be the mischievous Roman sort of gods.
We'll wait and see if he gets into the private program that I really liked. If not, we'll enroll at the Montessori and give thanks for good lottery results. If the private program offers us a spot, I'll stress about the decision for as long as I can maintain the delusion that, through sheer force of research and fretting, I am able to engineer the perfect educational situation for the children.
To be continued...
Oh my! I didn't read the whole article but it seems a crazy education system in DC. Happy to hear Henry got in and you can breathe a bit.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny to hear you say DCPS, which I realize is DC Public Schools. I work for DCPS, which is Duval County (FL) Public Schools.
ReplyDelete