can someone "explain like I'm 5" the pk3/pk4 lottery system?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my kid has an early October birthday, does that mean in DC she is not eligible for PK3 until she is almost 4? I realize this is a stupid question.

Your child must turn 3 by September 30th in the overwhelming majority of DC schools in order to be eligible for PK3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is PK guaranteed to all residents?

No, PK is AVAILABLE to all residents at some school, but not necessarily the school you want or even your in bounds school. PK is a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK and others have very competitive lotteries.

Is there such thing as being "inbound" to a school for PK?

Yes. All addresses in DC are geographically zoned for one DCPS PK program. Whether your child gets into that program is based on a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK, but you still have to enter the lottery - it's not like kindergarten where you can basically show up whenever you want with your registration paperwork and enroll on the spot. Charter schools do not have geographic boundaries, so no one is "inbound" for them. There are also other types of preference, mostly related to having a sibling at the school.

Is it totally free? Full day?

The school day (8:45 to 3:15 or so) is free. Aftercare (3:15 to 6pm) is not free. How much it costs varies based on the school. Schools with high populations of low income students generally have cheaper aftercare rates, particularly if they're run by DCPS vs. a private program. At our school, aftercare was free for several years, and this past year it's been $82.50/month for families not receiving government assistance of some kind. For families on government assistance, it's still free. School lunch has a similar variation in cost. Charters set their own rates for both of those things. "Full day" in DCPS means 8:45 to 3:15 or 3:30. PK has the same hours as the rest of the school.

This is mostly accurate, but there are some addresses in DC that are not in bound for any PK3 program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is PK guaranteed to all residents?

No, PK is AVAILABLE to all residents at some school, but not necessarily the school you want or even your in bounds school. PK is a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK and others have very competitive lotteries.

Is there such thing as being "inbound" to a school for PK?

Yes. All addresses in DC are geographically zoned for one DCPS PK program. Whether your child gets into that program is based on a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK, but you still have to enter the lottery - it's not like kindergarten where you can basically show up whenever you want with your registration paperwork and enroll on the spot. Charter schools do not have geographic boundaries, so no one is "inbound" for them. There are also other types of preference, mostly related to having a sibling at the school.

Is it totally free? Full day?

The school day (8:45 to 3:15 or so) is free. Aftercare (3:15 to 6pm) is not free. How much it costs varies based on the school. Schools with high populations of low income students generally have cheaper aftercare rates, particularly if they're run by DCPS vs. a private program. At our school, aftercare was free for several years, and this past year it's been $82.50/month for families not receiving government assistance of some kind. For families on government assistance, it's still free. School lunch has a similar variation in cost. Charters set their own rates for both of those things. "Full day" in DCPS means 8:45 to 3:15 or 3:30. PK has the same hours as the rest of the school.

This is mostly accurate, but there are some addresses in DC that are not in bound for any PK3 program.

PP here.

Correcting myself to say that all addresses in DC are geographically assigned to one elementary school - most elementary schools in DC have PK3. The ones that don't are: Eaton, Hearst, Hyde-Addison, Janney, Key, Mann, Murch, Oyster-Adams, and Stoddert. Those schools start at PK4, and admission to PK4 is still a lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is PK guaranteed to all residents?

No, PK is AVAILABLE to all residents at some school, but not necessarily the school you want or even your in bounds school. PK is a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK and others have very competitive lotteries.

Is there such thing as being "inbound" to a school for PK?

Yes. All addresses in DC are geographically zoned for one DCPS PK program. Whether your child gets into that program is based on a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK, but you still have to enter the lottery - it's not like kindergarten where you can basically show up whenever you want with your registration paperwork and enroll on the spot. Charter schools do not have geographic boundaries, so no one is "inbound" for them. There are also other types of preference, mostly related to having a sibling at the school.

Is it totally free? Full day?

The school day (8:45 to 3:15 or so) is free. Aftercare (3:15 to 6pm) is not free. How much it costs varies based on the school. Schools with high populations of low income students generally have cheaper aftercare rates, particularly if they're run by DCPS vs. a private program. At our school, aftercare was free for several years, and this past year it's been $82.50/month for families not receiving government assistance of some kind. For families on government assistance, it's still free. School lunch has a similar variation in cost. Charters set their own rates for both of those things. "Full day" in DCPS means 8:45 to 3:15 or 3:30. PK has the same hours as the rest of the school.

This is mostly accurate, but there are some addresses in DC that are not in bound for any PK3 program.

PP here.

Correcting myself to say that all addresses in DC are geographically assigned to one elementary school - most elementary schools in DC have PK3. The ones that don't are: Eaton, Hearst, Hyde-Addison, Janney, Key, Mann, Murch, Oyster-Adams, and Stoddert. Those schools start at PK4, and admission to PK4 is still a lottery.

Lafayette also doesn't have PK3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Is there a page on the website, or a booklet, that gives information on the different schools and their curriculums? I'm particularly interested in the charter montessories. Our IB school is Eaton, which has PK4. So you're saying we don't get automatic enrollment in Eaton when my son turns 4?

You don't get automatic enrollment for Pk4 at Eaton. You will get automatic enrollment starting at K. You will enter the lottery for Pk4 at Eaton. Children whose families also live IB for Eaton whose older siblings attend Eaton already will have priority over you for admission. Most IB families get in, but not necessarily all of them.

The exceptions are if your in-bound DCPS is an 'early action' school (typically Title 1 schools - so not Eaton) which offer guaranteed enrollment for Pk3 or Pk4.

Most school information is online, not in a booklet. Use the DCPCSB website to begin your search for various charter school options and find more on each school's website. You should also go to the Ed Fest school fair event in December as well.

As for charter Montessori schools, your choices are LAMB PCS (also dual-language); Breakthrough Montessori, Shining Stars Montessori and Lee Montessori.

Not true this year. About half of inbound PK4 families are still on the waitlist at Eaton. Definitely no guarantees until K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my kid has an early October birthday, does that mean in DC she is not eligible for PK3 until she is almost 4? I realize this is a stupid question.

Yes. There is no getting around this even if your kid is born on Oct. 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my kid has an early October birthday, does that mean in DC she is not eligible for PK3 until she is almost 4? I realize this is a stupid question.

Yes. There is no getting around this even if your kid is born on Oct. 1.

The only school that doesn't follow this rule is Bethune PCS, which allows students born up to Dec 1 to enroll in PK3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is PK guaranteed to all residents?

No, PK is AVAILABLE to all residents at some school, but not necessarily the school you want or even your in bounds school. PK is a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK and others have very competitive lotteries.

Is there such thing as being "inbound" to a school for PK?

Yes. All addresses in DC are geographically zoned for one DCPS PK program. Whether your child gets into that program is based on a lottery. Some schools have guaranteed PK, but you still have to enter the lottery - it's not like kindergarten where you can basically show up whenever you want with your registration paperwork and enroll on the spot. Charter schools do not have geographic boundaries, so no one is "inbound" for them. There are also other types of preference, mostly related to having a sibling at the school.

Is it totally free? Full day?

The school day (8:45 to 3:15 or so) is free. Aftercare (3:15 to 6pm) is not free. How much it costs varies based on the school. Schools with high populations of low income students generally have cheaper aftercare rates, particularly if they're run by DCPS vs. a private program. At our school, aftercare was free for several years, and this past year it's been $82.50/month for families not receiving government assistance of some kind. For families on government assistance, it's still free. School lunch has a similar variation in cost. Charters set their own rates for both of those things. "Full day" in DCPS means 8:45 to 3:15 or 3:30. PK has the same hours as the rest of the school.

This is mostly accurate, but there are some addresses in DC that are not in bound for any PK3 program.

Actually there are schools which have free aftercare still. But they often don't have room for all families who want aftercare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my kid has an early October birthday, does that mean in DC she is not eligible for PK3 until she is almost 4? I realize this is a stupid question.

Yes. There is no getting around this even if your kid is born on Oct. 1.

The only school that doesn't follow this rule is Bethune PCS, which allows students born up to Dec 1 to enroll in PK3.

What happens the following year for kids born between Oct. 1 and Dec. 1 -- do they repeat PK3 or move on to PK4? Can they start K early too?

[Anonymous]

Lottery question here. I'm sorry but we are new

If we have 9 schools on our waiting list and add a #10 and get in, can we enroll there but stay on the waiting list for the other schools? Let's say we get into #9 after we enroll #10, do we go to #10 and unenroll or can we enroll in #9 and they tell #10 we have enrolled there? What if #10 is a charter and #9 is a dc public school?

if that's the case, does it look bad if you do that?

Like I said, I'm sorry this is a lottery question but we JUST moved here from across the country and I'm overwhelmed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lottery question here. I'm sorry but we are new

If we have 9 schools on our waiting list and add a #10 and get in, can we enroll there but stay on the waiting list for the other schools? Let's say we get into #9 after we enroll #10, do we go to #10 and unenroll or can we enroll in #9 and they tell #10 we have enrolled there? What if #10 is a charter and #9 is a dc public school?

if that's the case, does it look bad if you do that?

Like I said, I'm sorry this is a lottery question but we JUST moved here from across the country and I'm overwhelmed.

Yes - you stay on the wait lists of schools you rank higher if you enroll in your #10 choice.

If you are offered a slot at a school you rank higher, you go to the new school and enroll t here. The system will inform #10 school, but it's a good courtesy to call and tell them.

As for how it looks, this is the public school lottery, not private schools. They don't care, and are dealing with people enrolling in one place, then enrolling elsewhere every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lottery question here. I'm sorry but we are new

If we have 9 schools on our waiting list and add a #10 and get in, can we enroll there but stay on the waiting list for the other schools? Let's say we get into #9 after we enroll #10, do we go to #10 and unenroll or can we enroll in #9 and they tell #10 we have enrolled there? What if #10 is a charter and #9 is a dc public school?

if that's the case, does it look bad if you do that?

Like I said, I'm sorry this is a lottery question but we JUST moved here from across the country and I'm overwhelmed.

If you get in to #10 you stay on the waitlist for 1-9.

Not sure how the unenrollment works, but it doesn't matter if you look bad, you won't be there.

Doesn't matter if it is a charter unless it is LAMB.

[Anonymous]

A lot of good information here (other than the first post that was so simplistic that it was wrong). I just want to note that the aftercare prices can be even more than what has been cited above - some schools are over $400 a month. Just something to keep in mind.

[Anonymous]

Person with the lottery question here.

Thanks for the answers and advice. I appreciate it and know it's probably annoying to get these types of questions every summer. I have been in the education field for 10 years but have only experienced small towns. To say this is new is an understatement!

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

OP please call MY SCHOOL DC and ask these questions. Some of the responses on this thread are wrong. MY SCHOOL DC can answer your questions about the lottery process. The number is 202-888-6336.