Fort Washington charter schools? (Columbia, Potomac: daycare, house, transfer)

[MeridianPlace]

My husband and I currently live in Columbia Heights in DC and are looking to buy a house in Fort Washington, mainly because of the cost and proximity to National Harbor/DC/Old Town. We are both 30, no kids, but hopefully in the next few years. We are seriously considering Tantallon Preserve which is a new development. In researching the PG county school system, I discovered the public charter schools. Does anybody have experience with the PG county charter schools? What are the odds of getting in? I'm especially thinking about John Hanson Montessori. I've always wanted my kids to have a Montessori education and if it's free that's fantastic. Thoughts?

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by MeridianPlace

Does anybody have experience with the PG county charter schools? What are the odds of getting in? I'm especially thinking about John Hanson Montessori. I've always wanted my kids to have a Montessori education and if it's free that's fantastic. Thoughts?

I agree it sounds very good. There is a lottery for getting into John Hanson Montessori, so it's hard to guess the future odds of your future child getting in. I think it's worth moving to the area on the chance of getting a better school. In any case, Fort Washington seems to be an improving area.

There was another poster whose children were in a Prince George Gifted & Talented school. It might be worth searching for those posts.

[TCR25]

John Hanson Montessori isn't a charter; it's a specialty program. The school shares its campus/facility with John Hanson French-Immersion program. PGCPS has three public Montessori programs and two public French-immersion programs and attendance area is set based upon address. Admission to each is via lottery, as goldenage1 noted: Here's the basic information about that: Enrichment & Specialty Programs Lottery. I know a few years back, even though the French-immersion program at Robert Goddard in north county was oversubscribed, there were some openings at John Hansen FI. I'm not sure if that's still the case or if it was equally true for the Montessori program.

There are also talented and gifted (TAG) centers and creative and performing arts centers that also use the lottery (combined with a TAG identification or audition, respectively) to determine placement.

There are some charter schools in the county, but not too many. This is true of Maryland in general because the state rules governing charters require charter schools to operate with the public school governance structure more than some other jurisdictions.

[MeridianPlace]

Thanks! So I'm assuming that parents can apply to ALL of the Specialty Programs and charter schools with the hopes of gaining acceptance with at least one? How many people apply to these each year? It would seem that they would be in extremely high demand, considering the nature of the core public school system.

[TechlawyerinPG]

Originally Posted by TCR25

John Hanson Montessori isn't a charter; it's a specialty program. The school shares its campus/facility with John Hanson French-Immersion program. PGCPS has three public Montessori programs and two public French-immersion programs and attendance area is set based upon address. Admission to each is via lottery, as goldenage1 noted: Here's the basic information about that: Enrichment & Specialty Programs Lottery. I know a few years back, even though the French-immersion program at Robert Goddard in north county was oversubscribed, there were some openings at John Hansen FI. I'm not sure if that's still the case or if it was equally true for the Montessori program.

There are also talented and gifted (TAG) centers and creative and performing arts centers that also use the lottery (combined with a TAG identification or audition, respectively) to determine placement.

There are some charter schools in the county, but not too many. This is true of Maryland in general because the state rules governing charters require charter schools to operate with the public school governance structure more than some other jurisdictions.

The French Immersion and Montessori are in different buildings and locations now.
John Hanson French Immersion @ Shugart - Prince George's County Public Schools

[TCR25]

Originally Posted by MeridianPlace

Thanks! So I'm assuming that parents can apply to ALL of the Specialty Programs and charter schools with the hopes of gaining acceptance with at least one? How many people apply to these each year? It would seem that they would be in extremely high demand, considering the nature of the core public school system.

Yeah, the specialty school lottery system is heavily used. For Montessori you're looking at getting in at age 3 or 4 (IIRC); for French immersion, you're looking at getting in at 5 (for kindergarten). TAG lottery starts with 2nd grade and CPA/VPA starts at middle school (6th or 7th, depending upon the program). Generally, there are more applications than slots, and the system uses waitlists for those who don't get in right away. Since the programs do have boundary areas, you might have cases where John Hansen French is underenrolled but Robert Goddard French is overenrolled, so it might be easier to get into the program if you live south of Central Ave.

For Montessori and French, in general, it's hard to get into the program if you don't get a lottery slot during kindergarten. If you're transferring into the system from another Montessori school and there's an opening, it might be possible. Similarly for French immersion, there is a process to test into the program at higher grades, but it's highly discouraged.

In general, a lot of people view (and use) the specialty programs as a way to avoid their neighborhood school. I'd suggest strongly looking at the neighborhood school and trying to find out what the staff and the classrooms are really like. I've found that, in general, the reputation of PGCPS is much worse than the reality and there are a lot of very good teachers.

[TCR25]

Originally Posted by TechlawyerinPG

The French Immersion and Montessori are in different buildings and locations now.
John Hanson French Immersion @ Shugart - Prince George's County Public Schools

Thanks. I hadn't realized the move had gone into effect yet. The move of Goddard FI and Montessori into separate campuses is still stalled ...

[bowian]

Originally Posted by TCR25

Yeah, the specialty school lottery system is heavily used. For Montessori you're looking at getting in at age 3 or 4 (IIRC); for French immersion, you're looking at getting in at 5 (for kindergarten). TAG lottery starts with 2nd grade and CPA/VPA starts at middle school (6th or 7th, depending upon the program). Generally, there are more applications than slots, and the system uses waitlists for those who don't get in right away. Since the programs do have boundary areas, you might have cases where John Hansen French is underenrolled but Robert Goddard French is overenrolled, so it might be easier to get into the program if you live south of Central Ave.

For Montessori and French, in general, it's hard to get into the program if you don't get a lottery slot during kindergarten. If you're transferring into the system from another Montessori school and there's an opening, it might be possible. Similarly for French immersion, there is a process to test into the program at higher grades, but it's highly discouraged.

In general, a lot of people view (and use) the specialty programs as a way to avoid their neighborhood school. I'd suggest strongly looking at the neighborhood school and trying to find out what the staff and the classrooms are really like. I've found that, in general, the reputation of PGCPS is much worse than the reality and there are a lot of very good teachers.

Good info. There is an elementary component to CPA (at Foulois and Pullen), which is lottery based. If your child is chosen in the lottery for the elementary school, then he or she can stay on through middle school without auditioning.

[MeridianPlace]

Originally Posted by TCR25

I'd suggest strongly looking at the neighborhood school and trying to find out what the staff and the classrooms are really like. I've found that, in general, the reputation of PGCPS is much worse than the reality and there are a lot of very good teachers.

Yes, I'm getting that impression. Our local elementary school would be Potomac Landing. Does anyone have recent experience with that school?

[cool rob]

While many parents seem to love John Hanson Montesorri, I had a really bad experience with them- I blame myself because after I won the lottery, I just my kids in without doing deep montesorri school research, mainly because I no longer had to be fullday daycare @ age 3 and 4-

Big mistake! Montesorri learning is not for everybody, as the transistion into a structured class is a rough one! Do your research first, not too mention it doesnt prepare your kids for the "test"

Imagine Lincoln has Charter schools in Temple Hills, Upper Marlboro and AAFB- Check them out, same lottery process, but pure learing