Day 331 | Losing the [School] Lottery

I've let the news of the school lottery set in for a few days. The initial shock of our terrible pick (see above) has turned into two emotions that seem to have stuck: disappointment and rejection.

1. Disappointment: I had managed to stay pretty optimistic (this rarely happens) through the lottery waiting game. This is what I get for trying to be optimistic. We had faith in the process and we were hopeful that we would at least get a somewhat decent waitlist number at our number one pick. Not so much.

2. Rejection: After about a day, I realized that this was the emotion that was sneaking in. Even though we had no control over the process (none!), it still hurts when someone tells you you didn't make the cut. Ouch. 

Where do we go from here? We're working that out currently. There's a small chance we will make it into one of these schools eventually (think: late next school year) but that's questionable. And we could enter the second round of the lottery (they'll post schools that still have openings), but we're pretty sure that's out of the question. We don't want to expand our search too much, mostly because expanding our search means lengthening our commute. Not something I'm willing to deal with five days a week. So, our plan remains what it was (as a back up) from the beginning: Chase will stay put at his preschool for another year, two days a week. We'll remain on the waitlists and hope there's a ton of movement. If there's not (which we're not exactly holding our breath about), we'll reenter the lottery for the 4 year old class a year from now. 

I continue to remind myself that "whatever happens is meant to be" and am working on letting go (a constant struggle for my control freak tendencies). We'll find the perfect school home for Chase (and eventually Robbe), I know that to be true. 

Side note: have no fear, I'll keep you posted as our waitlist numbers change (and they will!). Who knows? Maybe I'm wrong and we'll have better luck than I currently think possible.

Day 329 | Mommy and Me Morning

Chase and I busted out of the house this morning without Robbe. Woohoo!

What did we choose to do with this super special quality time? We took the train (request #1) to hang out with his buddy John (request #2). And we dyed Easter eggs. 

Chase had a blast and kept repeating, "I like riding choo choos," while we were on the metro.

Side note: The DC school lottery results came in late last night. Let's just say I'm pretty disappointed (ie Chase is wait-listed everywhere). I'll provide a full-debriefing on the topic when I've figured out exactly how I feel about all this madness. Stay tuned.

Day 317 | Lottery Picks

I totally forgot to report back about our DC school lottery picks that we submitted on March 2. Have you been waiting anxiously since this post? No more!

Here's what we ended up with:

1. Capital City Public Charter School: Our obvious first choice. It's five minutes from our house and it was super-impressive during the open house. Fingers crossed!
2. Creative Minds International Public Charter School: Kind of a dark-horse that piqued our interest late in the game. It's moving locations so it wasn't on our radar until too late for a tour. We've heard great things, though, and it has some unique program offerings.
3. E.L. Haynes Public Charter School: I was pleasantly surprised with this one during its open house. It's a bit further away (six minute drive) and the facility leaves something to be desired but it's still a solid choice. And one we would be very excited about.
4. Takoma Education Campus: Beautiful campus but I had a few reservations after a tour. Nothing that would make me hesitate to send Chase there, but just enough to knock it down a few pegs.
5. Shepherd Elementary School: I didn't tour this one but, again, we've heard good things. The commute isn't ideal (probably around ten minute drive) but it has a great reputation.
6. Bridges Public Charter School: Our back up school. I didn't tour it (it's moving locations after next year anyway), I don't know much about it, but it's close-ish and has a decent reputation.

Oh, and we applied to one other school outside the lottery system. LAMB Public Charter School holds their own lottery (this Friday!) and manages their own waitlist. [Here's an article on some of the waitlists from last year, if you're interested.]

So, that's it. One lottery. Endless internet research. Four school tours. Six finalists. Hopefully a school my little sweet pea can call home next year. 

Check back with me on March 27. There will be news (and hopefully it's good!).

Day 286 | Valentines

Chase has his first school Valentine's Day party at school today. So sweet!

The top photo is the Valentine I made for his classmate and the bottom left and right photos are of the goods he brought home from school (including a fun Valentine mask). He was so so excited!

As if that weren't enough excitement for this morning, I toured what I hope will be Chase's future school. It's a five minute walk away, great facilities, is super-diverse, and has passionate staff. Sounds perfect, right? Now hopefully we can secure one of the highly sought after spots. Think happy thoughts come March.

Day 260 | School Lottery Saga: It Begins

Chase listening carefully during the presentation.

Today we officially started the search for the perfect school for Chase. Seems a bit early? We agree...if we lived anywhere else. In the District, though, most of the public and charter schools offer 3 year old pre-kindergarten programs. Which means next year (!!!) for our little guy. Crazy, I know.

You have to get into one of the schools via a lottery so we'll rank the top 12 (at the max) schools we would want him to end up in and then we'll be randomly assigned come March. Seems easy enough, right? Well, as you might imagine, spots in the good schools are really hard to come by. We're trying to stay optimistic, though, because there are a handful of schools in our direct area that we're really excited about and might not be quite as sought after. 

Today, Chase and I went to an open house for a Montessori school down the street. We decided (Chase and I, that is) that we could find a better fit. On to the next open house!

Tune in for more open houses, application woes, and lottery results as the months tick by. And think happy thoughts for us, would you?