Magnet school admission (Dallas, West: cheap apartment, rent, live in)

[MorkingbirdMom]

Does anyone has successful experience of getting into Dealey Montessori for preK?

One requirement is parent questionnaire. What's this for?

Any suggestion is appreciated.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by MorkingbirdMom

Does anyone has successful experience of getting into Dealey Montessori for preK?

One requirement is parent questionnaire. What's this for?

Any suggestion is appreciated.

We have plenty of friends with kids there, though we didn't apply for our kids to go. The parent questionnaire is a tool to weed out parents who do not have extra time to dedicate to school. It's basically asking how committed you are to Montessori and the time commitments of the school.

Just know that preK admission at Dealey is incredibly difficult because of the set asides for siblings. Each year about 25-50% of the spots go to the undeserving siblings of kids who already attend over kids who score much better on the entrance test.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

We have plenty of friends with kids there, though we didn't apply for our kids to go. The parent questionnaire is a tool to weed out parents who do not have extra time to dedicate to school. It's basically asking how committed you are to Montessori and the time commitments of the school.

Just know that preK admission at Dealey is incredibly difficult because of the set asides for siblings. Each year about 25-50% of the spots go to the undeserving siblings of kids who already attend over kids who score much better on the entrance test.

Siblings + the attendance zone quotas are both killer. OP, if you live in North Dallas and don't have an enrolled sibling, the chances of admission to Dealey are probably lower than the chance of admission to the most elite private school. If you live in a less competitive quadrant (guessing West would be the least?), then chances go up.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Siblings + the attendance zone quotas are both killer. OP, if you live in North Dallas and don't have an enrolled sibling, the chances of admission to Dealey are probably lower than the chance of admission to the most elite private school. If you live in a less competitive quadrant (guessing West would be the least?), then chances go up.

I have heard South Dallas is the easiest. More people there use Harry Stone since it’s so much closer, along with the fact that many parents don’t really think of magnets as options for their children.
Incidentally, we’ve heard people will rent a cheap apartment there to gain access to the easier feeder pattern and then stay in the school. Heard the parents in N Dallas and E Dallas will do that (not necessarily people out of district).

[jbla34]

I have a kid currently at Stone and when we applied we lived out of district. We now live in district. He did end up scoring above 96 and was in the top 10 on the waitlist. I thought it was a long shot until we got a call on the first day of school letting us know there was a spot open. So Stone may seem a little easier get into but your kid still needs to have a pretty high score to be considered (Just like at Dealey). And I also think alot of the North Dallas parents aren't going to make the drive to South Dallas which may be why it would seem like an "easier" school.