Any schools Waitlist data shock you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on these waitlist numbers for middle high schools (Latin, Basis, Truth, Benneker McKinley), what is the trajectory looking like as far as a solid middle/high school option a few years into the future? It seems to be looking less and less likely of being able to get into some of these schools when the IB school doesn’t seem like a great option either at this point. I’m starting to feel slightly anxious about it all even though we’re still 3 years away, but we’ve never done great in the lottery and been generally satisfied with our DCPS IB elementary.

You should be making plans to consider potentially moving. 3 years is nothing and going to fly by. Your chance in 3 years is going to be significantly less than now.

Don’t be in the position that many current families are in now. Basically there are now only 2 acceptable middle schools if you take out DCI and if your kid doesn’t fit the right characteristics for Basis then it’s down to 1 middle school EOTP

I find this comment unhelpful and a little reactionary (also unclear, I can't tell which schools you've decided are acceptable -- are you including Deal and Hardy in this? SH? Viewing Latin and Latin Cooper separately?) but a few thoughts:

I think it's premature to decide what is happening with MS/HS until we watch the waitlists move. I want to see where things shake out, especially with SH, EH, and Inspired Teaching. I do agree that counting on Latin or BASIS as some kind of golden ticket if you hate your IB is a mistake, but that's been true for years. In fact, a major reason you see SH improving steadily is that many Hill families took that approach for years, and were even more encouraged when Latin Cooper opened, struck out, and decided to give SH a shot.

If you are a family at a school that feeds to Eliot-Hine, that news can mean a few things. One, it's a reminder that if Latin/BASIS is your Plan A, you need a really good, strong Plan B that is basically a sure bet. Two, you should not count on being able to get into SH OOB. But three, if you are someone willing to give this a shot, it also likely means that EH will continue to build it's IB percentage and may be on the same or very similar trajectory to SH. That #3 won't matter to many families, but might be enough for a family who loves their elementary school and neighborhood, and thinks they can make it work with a "developing" MS. Especially if they have a solid plan for HS (as Eastern is no one's "solid" high school plan).

Also, if you want SH to be your strong Plan B, JOW has low waitlists in pretty much every grade, is entering a swing space next year so may lose some families because of that (especially in upper grades), and feeds to SH. To me that's almost a no brainer. If your kid is entering 3rd grade or below, they will even get at least a year at the new JOW campus, which will probably be really nice. So if moving is an absolute no for you but you want a solid MS option, I'd be doing a post-lottery add for JOW just to see, and if you get a spot, go tour. Due to the new campus, I would anticipate that this year and next year might be the easiest years to do that and it will get progressively harder after that.

To me, HS is a bigger question than MS. There are still a lot of acceptable MS options IMO, even outside Deal/Hardy/Latin/Basis/DCI. I'd consider any of the 3 Hill middles acceptable, but especially SH which I might even categorize as strong, ITDS for the right kid, and McFarland as well, especially with John Lewis building it's IB buy in and becoming a really well-liked school in Petworth. I'd also not count out CHEC with how Marie Reed is doing lately, SWW@Francis Stevens should absolutely be an option, and I'd even give McKinley a look. One thing a lot of these schools have going for them? Strong feeder elementaries with a lot of families who value neighborhood schools, and small size overall (which makes it easier for a couple good cohorts to really change the look and feel of a school).

I think if you want to stay in DC through MS without moving IB for Deal/Hardy or going private, you actually have a lot of reasonable options and this is likely to expand in future years as some of these schools that have previously been seen as unacceptable continue to get 2nd and 3rd looks from IB and nearby families.

HS remains the issue. I have to imagine some of these feeder HS have to get better eventually if the elementary and MS continue to improve and get more IB buy-in. But if you already have a kid in elementary, I don't know that you can count on any of these HS options outside JR, McKinley, and the application schools, and I agree the results for McKinley and the application schools this year are alarming. Our Plan B for HS is moving, and we're actually making concrete choices to make moving an easier option if/when the time comes because we have no faith that we will have a viable HS option in DC.

My two cents. I'm sure a lot of people disagree with me, but the idea that there is 1 acceptable MS EOTP just struck me as silly so I wanted to weigh in.

There's a lot in here, so I'll just comment on a few things.

1) Inspired Teaching 6th grade list is unlikely to move. Seems like they offered a lot of seats and not a lot of current kids are leaving.
2) You didn't mention Wells middle school, but it's also worth a look if you don't mind the commute. If you can even get in-- I know they're offering less OOB and concerned about crowding. McKinley Middle (as distinct from McKinley Tech) has a long way to go. I'd sooner check out Brookland middle.
3) You also didn't mention the new Euclid St middle school that's going to replace Cardozo middle. With such strong feeders (Seaton, Garrison, others), I'm optimistic. It won't be online for a few years though.
4) McKinley Tech is an application school, the way you wrote it makes it seem like it's not.
5) Sojourner Truth seems to be getting more traction-- it's only right for someone who wants Montessori, but it's an option and a great way to fill out the bottom of your lottery list. It will never be super popular due to Montessori and the location being inconvenient for many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Banneker this year vs last

Last year was the anomaly. Most years, Banneker hasn't used a waitlist, or only a very short one.

Because of Banneker Summer Institute (BSI), they tend to over-admit.

And also lots of kids who apply to Banneker (and Walls and McKinley) are deemed ineligible, so don't even make it onto waitlists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some factors are: the crumbling of TR and CMI (or, people's willingness to acknowledge it), so more people there are lotterying. No longer having a guarantee at DCI means those families are lotterying. Stuart-Hobson is no longer as easy to get into. So people are making longer lottery lists because they're scared.

Longer lists is probably part of it, but the number of unique 5th grade applicants has been on an upward trend over the past three years, so I would expect that’s part of it as well.

I'm curious about this as well. Are there numbers available yet on the number of unique applicants per grade this year? If this year's rising fifth graders don't have a DCI guarantee and SH isn't taking as many OOB students as it used to, families may be hedging their bets and applying for Latin and Basis for fifth instead of putting all of their stakes on a good enough lottery number for sixth.

What's available is here:
https://www.myschooldc.org/resources/data

That is exactly what I was looking for. Looks like 9th grade has been stable over the last few years (give or take a hundred kids), sixth has increased by about fifty per year, and fifth by about a hundred kids per year. That's an increase for fifth, BUT 2024 is also almost exactly the same as pre-pandemic 2020 numbers for those grades. Will be interesting to see how waitlists move this year.

It's fascinating how it's so stable yet the waitlists look so different!

I do see a big increase in 9th grade on Unique Applicants on Waitlists. Went up from 1197 to 1424. But 6th didn't change much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on these waitlist numbers for middle high schools (Latin, Basis, Truth, Benneker McKinley), what is the trajectory looking like as far as a solid middle/high school option a few years into the future? It seems to be looking less and less likely of being able to get into some of these schools when the IB school doesn’t seem like a great option either at this point. I’m starting to feel slightly anxious about it all even though we’re still 3 years away, but we’ve never done great in the lottery and been generally satisfied with our DCPS IB elementary.

You should be making plans to consider potentially moving. 3 years is nothing and going to fly by. Your chance in 3 years is going to be significantly less than now.

Don’t be in the position that many current families are in now. Basically there are now only 2 acceptable middle schools if you take out DCI and if your kid doesn’t fit the right characteristics for Basis then it’s down to 1 middle school EOTP

I find this comment unhelpful and a little reactionary (also unclear, I can't tell which schools you've decided are acceptable -- are you including Deal and Hardy in this? SH? Viewing Latin and Latin Cooper separately?) but a few thoughts:

I think it's premature to decide what is happening with MS/HS until we watch the waitlists move. I want to see where things shake out, especially with SH, EH, and Inspired Teaching. I do agree that counting on Latin or BASIS as some kind of golden ticket if you hate your IB is a mistake, but that's been true for years. In fact, a major reason you see SH improving steadily is that many Hill families took that approach for years, and were even more encouraged when Latin Cooper opened, struck out, and decided to give SH a shot.

If you are a family at a school that feeds to Eliot-Hine, that news can mean a few things. One, it's a reminder that if Latin/BASIS is your Plan A, you need a really good, strong Plan B that is basically a sure bet. Two, you should not count on being able to get into SH OOB. But three, if you are someone willing to give this a shot, it also likely means that EH will continue to build it's IB percentage and may be on the same or very similar trajectory to SH. That #3 won't matter to many families, but might be enough for a family who loves their elementary school and neighborhood, and thinks they can make it work with a "developing" MS. Especially if they have a solid plan for HS (as Eastern is no one's "solid" high school plan).

Also, if you want SH to be your strong Plan B, JOW has low waitlists in pretty much every grade, is entering a swing space next year so may lose some families because of that (especially in upper grades), and feeds to SH. To me that's almost a no brainer. If your kid is entering 3rd grade or below, they will even get at least a year at the new JOW campus, which will probably be really nice. So if moving is an absolute no for you but you want a solid MS option, I'd be doing a post-lottery add for JOW just to see, and if you get a spot, go tour. Due to the new campus, I would anticipate that this year and next year might be the easiest years to do that and it will get progressively harder after that.

To me, HS is a bigger question than MS. There are still a lot of acceptable MS options IMO, even outside Deal/Hardy/Latin/Basis/DCI. I'd consider any of the 3 Hill middles acceptable, but especially SH which I might even categorize as strong, ITDS for the right kid, and McFarland as well, especially with John Lewis building it's IB buy in and becoming a really well-liked school in Petworth. I'd also not count out CHEC with how Marie Reed is doing lately, SWW@Francis Stevens should absolutely be an option, and I'd even give McKinley a look. One thing a lot of these schools have going for them? Strong feeder elementaries with a lot of families who value neighborhood schools, and small size overall (which makes it easier for a couple good cohorts to really change the look and feel of a school).

I think if you want to stay in DC through MS without moving IB for Deal/Hardy or going private, you actually have a lot of reasonable options and this is likely to expand in future years as some of these schools that have previously been seen as unacceptable continue to get 2nd and 3rd looks from IB and nearby families.

HS remains the issue. I have to imagine some of these feeder HS have to get better eventually if the elementary and MS continue to improve and get more IB buy-in. But if you already have a kid in elementary, I don't know that you can count on any of these HS options outside JR, McKinley, and the application schools, and I agree the results for McKinley and the application schools this year are alarming. Our Plan B for HS is moving, and we're actually making concrete choices to make moving an easier option if/when the time comes because we have no faith that we will have a viable HS option in DC.

My two cents. I'm sure a lot of people disagree with me, but the idea that there is 1 acceptable MS EOTP just struck me as silly so I wanted to weigh in.

There's a lot in here, so I'll just comment on a few things.

1) Inspired Teaching 6th grade list is unlikely to move. Seems like they offered a lot of seats and not a lot of current kids are leaving.
2) You didn't mention Wells middle school, but it's also worth a look if you don't mind the commute. If you can even get in-- I know they're offering less OOB and concerned about crowding. McKinley Middle (as distinct from McKinley Tech) has a long way to go. I'd sooner check out Brookland middle.
3) You also didn't mention the new Euclid St middle school that's going to replace Cardozo middle. With such strong feeders (Seaton, Garrison, others), I'm optimistic. It won't be online for a few years though.
4) McKinley Tech is an application school, the way you wrote it makes it seem like it's not.
5) Sojourner Truth seems to be getting more traction-- it's only right for someone who wants Montessori, but it's an option and a great way to fill out the bottom of your lottery list. It will never be super popular due to Montessori and the location being inconvenient for many.

PP here. All fair points. I mostly stuck with schools where I have friends who are at feeder elementaries and love the elementary and are considering the middle school. These are all well-educated people who value education, so if they say they love Marie Reed/Lewis/Garrison/Seaton/Langley/etc. and are considering the IB as their back up for Latin/BASIS, I view that as promising. Good to hear Wells is up there. And that SJ is an option for people willing to go the Montessori route.

When I wrote McKinley, I meant to write MacArthur -- I get the Mc and Mac schools mixed up in my head sometimes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on these waitlist numbers for middle high schools (Latin, Basis, Truth, Benneker McKinley), what is the trajectory looking like as far as a solid middle/high school option a few years into the future? It seems to be looking less and less likely of being able to get into some of these schools when the IB school doesn’t seem like a great option either at this point. I’m starting to feel slightly anxious about it all even though we’re still 3 years away, but we’ve never done great in the lottery and been generally satisfied with our DCPS IB elementary.

You should be making plans to consider potentially moving. 3 years is nothing and going to fly by. Your chance in 3 years is going to be significantly less than now.

Don’t be in the position that many current families are in now. Basically there are now only 2 acceptable middle schools if you take out DCI and if your kid doesn’t fit the right characteristics for Basis then it’s down to 1 middle school EOTP

I find this comment unhelpful and a little reactionary (also unclear, I can't tell which schools you've decided are acceptable -- are you including Deal and Hardy in this? SH? Viewing Latin and Latin Cooper separately?) but a few thoughts:

I think it's premature to decide what is happening with MS/HS until we watch the waitlists move. I want to see where things shake out, especially with SH, EH, and Inspired Teaching. I do agree that counting on Latin or BASIS as some kind of golden ticket if you hate your IB is a mistake, but that's been true for years. In fact, a major reason you see SH improving steadily is that many Hill families took that approach for years, and were even more encouraged when Latin Cooper opened, struck out, and decided to give SH a shot.

If you are a family at a school that feeds to Eliot-Hine, that news can mean a few things. One, it's a reminder that if Latin/BASIS is your Plan A, you need a really good, strong Plan B that is basically a sure bet. Two, you should not count on being able to get into SH OOB. But three, if you are someone willing to give this a shot, it also likely means that EH will continue to build it's IB percentage and may be on the same or very similar trajectory to SH. That #3 won't matter to many families, but might be enough for a family who loves their elementary school and neighborhood, and thinks they can make it work with a "developing" MS. Especially if they have a solid plan for HS (as Eastern is no one's "solid" high school plan).

Also, if you want SH to be your strong Plan B, JOW has low waitlists in pretty much every grade, is entering a swing space next year so may lose some families because of that (especially in upper grades), and feeds to SH. To me that's almost a no brainer. If your kid is entering 3rd grade or below, they will even get at least a year at the new JOW campus, which will probably be really nice. So if moving is an absolute no for you but you want a solid MS option, I'd be doing a post-lottery add for JOW just to see, and if you get a spot, go tour. Due to the new campus, I would anticipate that this year and next year might be the easiest years to do that and it will get progressively harder after that.

To me, HS is a bigger question than MS. There are still a lot of acceptable MS options IMO, even outside Deal/Hardy/Latin/Basis/DCI. I'd consider any of the 3 Hill middles acceptable, but especially SH which I might even categorize as strong, ITDS for the right kid, and McFarland as well, especially with John Lewis building it's IB buy in and becoming a really well-liked school in Petworth. I'd also not count out CHEC with how Marie Reed is doing lately, SWW@Francis Stevens should absolutely be an option, and I'd even give McKinley a look. One thing a lot of these schools have going for them? Strong feeder elementaries with a lot of families who value neighborhood schools, and small size overall (which makes it easier for a couple good cohorts to really change the look and feel of a school).

I think if you want to stay in DC through MS without moving IB for Deal/Hardy or going private, you actually have a lot of reasonable options and this is likely to expand in future years as some of these schools that have previously been seen as unacceptable continue to get 2nd and 3rd looks from IB and nearby families.

HS remains the issue. I have to imagine some of these feeder HS have to get better eventually if the elementary and MS continue to improve and get more IB buy-in. But if you already have a kid in elementary, I don't know that you can count on any of these HS options outside JR, McKinley, and the application schools, and I agree the results for McKinley and the application schools this year are alarming. Our Plan B for HS is moving, and we're actually making concrete choices to make moving an easier option if/when the time comes because we have no faith that we will have a viable HS option in DC.

My two cents. I'm sure a lot of people disagree with me, but the idea that there is 1 acceptable MS EOTP just struck me as silly so I wanted to weigh in.

There's a lot in here, so I'll just comment on a few things.

1) Inspired Teaching 6th grade list is unlikely to move. Seems like they offered a lot of seats and not a lot of current kids are leaving.
2) You didn't mention Wells middle school, but it's also worth a look if you don't mind the commute. If you can even get in-- I know they're offering less OOB and concerned about crowding. McKinley Middle (as distinct from McKinley Tech) has a long way to go. I'd sooner check out Brookland middle.
3) You also didn't mention the new Euclid St middle school that's going to replace Cardozo middle. With such strong feeders (Seaton, Garrison, others), I'm optimistic. It won't be online for a few years though.
4) McKinley Tech is an application school, the way you wrote it makes it seem like it's not.
5) Sojourner Truth seems to be getting more traction-- it's only right for someone who wants Montessori, but it's an option and a great way to fill out the bottom of your lottery list. It will never be super popular due to Montessori and the location being inconvenient for many.

McKinley Tech High School is an application school. McKinley Middle School is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on these waitlist numbers for middle high schools (Latin, Basis, Truth, Benneker McKinley), what is the trajectory looking like as far as a solid middle/high school option a few years into the future? It seems to be looking less and less likely of being able to get into some of these schools when the IB school doesn’t seem like a great option either at this point. I’m starting to feel slightly anxious about it all even though we’re still 3 years away, but we’ve never done great in the lottery and been generally satisfied with our DCPS IB elementary.

You should be making plans to consider potentially moving. 3 years is nothing and going to fly by. Your chance in 3 years is going to be significantly less than now.

Don’t be in the position that many current families are in now. Basically there are now only 2 acceptable middle schools if you take out DCI and if your kid doesn’t fit the right characteristics for Basis then it’s down to 1 middle school EOTP

I find this comment unhelpful and a little reactionary (also unclear, I can't tell which schools you've decided are acceptable -- are you including Deal and Hardy in this? SH? Viewing Latin and Latin Cooper separately?) but a few thoughts:

I think it's premature to decide what is happening with MS/HS until we watch the waitlists move. I want to see where things shake out, especially with SH, EH, and Inspired Teaching. I do agree that counting on Latin or BASIS as some kind of golden ticket if you hate your IB is a mistake, but that's been true for years. In fact, a major reason you see SH improving steadily is that many Hill families took that approach for years, and were even more encouraged when Latin Cooper opened, struck out, and decided to give SH a shot.

If you are a family at a school that feeds to Eliot-Hine, that news can mean a few things. One, it's a reminder that if Latin/BASIS is your Plan A, you need a really good, strong Plan B that is basically a sure bet. Two, you should not count on being able to get into SH OOB. But three, if you are someone willing to give this a shot, it also likely means that EH will continue to build it's IB percentage and may be on the same or very similar trajectory to SH. That #3 won't matter to many families, but might be enough for a family who loves their elementary school and neighborhood, and thinks they can make it work with a "developing" MS. Especially if they have a solid plan for HS (as Eastern is no one's "solid" high school plan).

Also, if you want SH to be your strong Plan B, JOW has low waitlists in pretty much every grade, is entering a swing space next year so may lose some families because of that (especially in upper grades), and feeds to SH. To me that's almost a no brainer. If your kid is entering 3rd grade or below, they will even get at least a year at the new JOW campus, which will probably be really nice. So if moving is an absolute no for you but you want a solid MS option, I'd be doing a post-lottery add for JOW just to see, and if you get a spot, go tour. Due to the new campus, I would anticipate that this year and next year might be the easiest years to do that and it will get progressively harder after that.

To me, HS is a bigger question than MS. There are still a lot of acceptable MS options IMO, even outside Deal/Hardy/Latin/Basis/DCI. I'd consider any of the 3 Hill middles acceptable, but especially SH which I might even categorize as strong, ITDS for the right kid, and McFarland as well, especially with John Lewis building it's IB buy in and becoming a really well-liked school in Petworth. I'd also not count out CHEC with how Marie Reed is doing lately, SWW@Francis Stevens should absolutely be an option, and I'd even give McKinley a look. One thing a lot of these schools have going for them? Strong feeder elementaries with a lot of families who value neighborhood schools, and small size overall (which makes it easier for a couple good cohorts to really change the look and feel of a school).

I think if you want to stay in DC through MS without moving IB for Deal/Hardy or going private, you actually have a lot of reasonable options and this is likely to expand in future years as some of these schools that have previously been seen as unacceptable continue to get 2nd and 3rd looks from IB and nearby families.

HS remains the issue. I have to imagine some of these feeder HS have to get better eventually if the elementary and MS continue to improve and get more IB buy-in. But if you already have a kid in elementary, I don't know that you can count on any of these HS options outside JR, McKinley, and the application schools, and I agree the results for McKinley and the application schools this year are alarming. Our Plan B for HS is moving, and we're actually making concrete choices to make moving an easier option if/when the time comes because we have no faith that we will have a viable HS option in DC.

My two cents. I'm sure a lot of people disagree with me, but the idea that there is 1 acceptable MS EOTP just struck me as silly so I wanted to weigh in.

There's a lot in here, so I'll just comment on a few things.

1) Inspired Teaching 6th grade list is unlikely to move. Seems like they offered a lot of seats and not a lot of current kids are leaving.
2) You didn't mention Wells middle school, but it's also worth a look if you don't mind the commute. If you can even get in-- I know they're offering less OOB and concerned about crowding. McKinley Middle (as distinct from McKinley Tech) has a long way to go. I'd sooner check out Brookland middle.
3) You also didn't mention the new Euclid St middle school that's going to replace Cardozo middle. With such strong feeders (Seaton, Garrison, others), I'm optimistic. It won't be online for a few years though.
4) McKinley Tech is an application school, the way you wrote it makes it seem like it's not.
5) Sojourner Truth seems to be getting more traction-- it's only right for someone who wants Montessori, but it's an option and a great way to fill out the bottom of your lottery list. It will never be super popular due to Montessori and the location being inconvenient for many.

PP here. All fair points. I mostly stuck with schools where I have friends who are at feeder elementaries and love the elementary and are considering the middle school. These are all well-educated people who value education, so if they say they love Marie Reed/Lewis/Garrison/Seaton/Langley/etc. and are considering the IB as their back up for Latin/BASIS, I view that as promising. Good to hear Wells is up there. And that SJ is an option for people willing to go the Montessori route.

When I wrote McKinley, I meant to write MacArthur -- I get the Mc and Mac schools mixed up in my head sometimes!

Oh yes, I didn't even think of MacArthur.

People do love Langley, but as Hill parents know, building up a middle school is the work of decades, and McKinley Middle right now does not attract that many of its feeder alums. Sadly. It could be so nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on these waitlist numbers for middle high schools (Latin, Basis, Truth, Benneker McKinley), what is the trajectory looking like as far as a solid middle/high school option a few years into the future? It seems to be looking less and less likely of being able to get into some of these schools when the IB school doesn’t seem like a great option either at this point. I’m starting to feel slightly anxious about it all even though we’re still 3 years away, but we’ve never done great in the lottery and been generally satisfied with our DCPS IB elementary.

You should be making plans to consider potentially moving. 3 years is nothing and going to fly by. Your chance in 3 years is going to be significantly less than now.

Don’t be in the position that many current families are in now. Basically there are now only 2 acceptable middle schools if you take out DCI and if your kid doesn’t fit the right characteristics for Basis then it’s down to 1 middle school EOTP

I find this comment unhelpful and a little reactionary (also unclear, I can't tell which schools you've decided are acceptable -- are you including Deal and Hardy in this? SH? Viewing Latin and Latin Cooper separately?) but a few thoughts:

I think it's premature to decide what is happening with MS/HS until we watch the waitlists move. I want to see where things shake out, especially with SH, EH, and Inspired Teaching. I do agree that counting on Latin or BASIS as some kind of golden ticket if you hate your IB is a mistake, but that's been true for years. In fact, a major reason you see SH improving steadily is that many Hill families took that approach for years, and were even more encouraged when Latin Cooper opened, struck out, and decided to give SH a shot.

If you are a family at a school that feeds to Eliot-Hine, that news can mean a few things. One, it's a reminder that if Latin/BASIS is your Plan A, you need a really good, strong Plan B that is basically a sure bet. Two, you should not count on being able to get into SH OOB. But three, if you are someone willing to give this a shot, it also likely means that EH will continue to build it's IB percentage and may be on the same or very similar trajectory to SH. That #3 won't matter to many families, but might be enough for a family who loves their elementary school and neighborhood, and thinks they can make it work with a "developing" MS. Especially if they have a solid plan for HS (as Eastern is no one's "solid" high school plan).

Also, if you want SH to be your strong Plan B, JOW has low waitlists in pretty much every grade, is entering a swing space next year so may lose some families because of that (especially in upper grades), and feeds to SH. To me that's almost a no brainer. If your kid is entering 3rd grade or below, they will even get at least a year at the new JOW campus, which will probably be really nice. So if moving is an absolute no for you but you want a solid MS option, I'd be doing a post-lottery add for JOW just to see, and if you get a spot, go tour. Due to the new campus, I would anticipate that this year and next year might be the easiest years to do that and it will get progressively harder after that.

To me, HS is a bigger question than MS. There are still a lot of acceptable MS options IMO, even outside Deal/Hardy/Latin/Basis/DCI. I'd consider any of the 3 Hill middles acceptable, but especially SH which I might even categorize as strong, ITDS for the right kid, and McFarland as well, especially with John Lewis building it's IB buy in and becoming a really well-liked school in Petworth. I'd also not count out CHEC with how Marie Reed is doing lately, SWW@Francis Stevens should absolutely be an option, and I'd even give McKinley a look. One thing a lot of these schools have going for them? Strong feeder elementaries with a lot of families who value neighborhood schools, and small size overall (which makes it easier for a couple good cohorts to really change the look and feel of a school).

I think if you want to stay in DC through MS without moving IB for Deal/Hardy or going private, you actually have a lot of reasonable options and this is likely to expand in future years as some of these schools that have previously been seen as unacceptable continue to get 2nd and 3rd looks from IB and nearby families.

HS remains the issue. I have to imagine some of these feeder HS have to get better eventually if the elementary and MS continue to improve and get more IB buy-in. But if you already have a kid in elementary, I don't know that you can count on any of these HS options outside JR, McKinley, and the application schools, and I agree the results for McKinley and the application schools this year are alarming. Our Plan B for HS is moving, and we're actually making concrete choices to make moving an easier option if/when the time comes because we have no faith that we will have a viable HS option in DC.

My two cents. I'm sure a lot of people disagree with me, but the idea that there is 1 acceptable MS EOTP just struck me as silly so I wanted to weigh in.

HS is more the ticket here-our IB is Dunbar. I do hope our middle (Brookland) could get more buy-in with the number of families in the elementary schools, but it still seems like families peel off and don’t use it. Commute to CH schools that feed to the middle schools is harder for us to accomplish with 2 younger siblings and opposite to our commutes, but I guess is a possibility we could look into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some factors are: the crumbling of TR and CMI (or, people's willingness to acknowledge it), so more people there are lotterying. No longer having a guarantee at DCI means those families are lotterying. Stuart-Hobson is no longer as easy to get into. So people are making longer lottery lists because they're scared.

Longer lists is probably part of it, but the number of unique 5th grade applicants has been on an upward trend over the past three years, so I would expect that’s part of it as well.

I'm curious about this as well. Are there numbers available yet on the number of unique applicants per grade this year? If this year's rising fifth graders don't have a DCI guarantee and SH isn't taking as many OOB students as it used to, families may be hedging their bets and applying for Latin and Basis for fifth instead of putting all of their stakes on a good enough lottery number for sixth.

I think most rising 5th graders have a DCI guarantee. I can't think of a feeder that has a bigger 4th class than spots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some factors are: the crumbling of TR and CMI (or, people's willingness to acknowledge it), so more people there are lotterying. No longer having a guarantee at DCI means those families are lotterying. Stuart-Hobson is no longer as easy to get into. So people are making longer lottery lists because they're scared.

Longer lists is probably part of it, but the number of unique 5th grade applicants has been on an upward trend over the past three years, so I would expect that’s part of it as well.

I'm curious about this as well. Are there numbers available yet on the number of unique applicants per grade this year? If this year's rising fifth graders don't have a DCI guarantee and SH isn't taking as many OOB students as it used to, families may be hedging their bets and applying for Latin and Basis for fifth instead of putting all of their stakes on a good enough lottery number for sixth.

I think most rising 5th graders have a DCI guarantee. I can't think of a feeder that has a bigger 4th class than spots.

That may be true now, but most of the DCI feeders are dramatically increasing the size of their primary classes and, when pushed, are acknowledging that this means that there will not be a guarantee for kids entering PK3, PK4, K, or even 1st (at some of the schools) right now. At YY, for example, they told us that kids have lots of middle school options and that because "many" kids will choose to go to MS like Latin or BASIS, there should be enough spaces at DCI available for those kids that want to go there, even when the grades start with 100 students (as they will soon at YY), but that is far from a guarantee and also not reflective of the current reality w/r/t the number of kids waitlisted at MS like Latin and BASIS this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some factors are: the crumbling of TR and CMI (or, people's willingness to acknowledge it), so more people there are lotterying. No longer having a guarantee at DCI means those families are lotterying. Stuart-Hobson is no longer as easy to get into. So people are making longer lottery lists because they're scared.

Longer lists is probably part of it, but the number of unique 5th grade applicants has been on an upward trend over the past three years, so I would expect that’s part of it as well.

I'm curious about this as well. Are there numbers available yet on the number of unique applicants per grade this year? If this year's rising fifth graders don't have a DCI guarantee and SH isn't taking as many OOB students as it used to, families may be hedging their bets and applying for Latin and Basis for fifth instead of putting all of their stakes on a good enough lottery number for sixth.

What's available is here:
https://www.myschooldc.org/resources/data

That is exactly what I was looking for. Looks like 9th grade has been stable over the last few years (give or take a hundred kids), sixth has increased by about fifty per year, and fifth by about a hundred kids per year. That's an increase for fifth, BUT 2024 is also almost exactly the same as pre-pandemic 2020 numbers for those grades. Will be interesting to see how waitlists move this year.

It's fascinating how it's so stable yet the waitlists look so different!

I do see a big increase in 9th grade on Unique Applicants on Waitlists. Went up from 1197 to 1424. But 6th didn't change much.

Is this for all schools for 9th graders or just DCI?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some factors are: the crumbling of TR and CMI (or, people's willingness to acknowledge it), so more people there are lotterying. No longer having a guarantee at DCI means those families are lotterying. Stuart-Hobson is no longer as easy to get into. So people are making longer lottery lists because they're scared.

Longer lists is probably part of it, but the number of unique 5th grade applicants has been on an upward trend over the past three years, so I would expect that’s part of it as well.

I'm curious about this as well. Are there numbers available yet on the number of unique applicants per grade this year? If this year's rising fifth graders don't have a DCI guarantee and SH isn't taking as many OOB students as it used to, families may be hedging their bets and applying for Latin and Basis for fifth instead of putting all of their stakes on a good enough lottery number for sixth.

What's available is here:
https://www.myschooldc.org/resources/data

That is exactly what I was looking for. Looks like 9th grade has been stable over the last few years (give or take a hundred kids), sixth has increased by about fifty per year, and fifth by about a hundred kids per year. That's an increase for fifth, BUT 2024 is also almost exactly the same as pre-pandemic 2020 numbers for those grades. Will be interesting to see how waitlists move this year.

It's fascinating how it's so stable yet the waitlists look so different!

I do see a big increase in 9th grade on Unique Applicants on Waitlists. Went up from 1197 to 1424. But 6th didn't change much.

Is this for all schools for 9th graders or just DCI?

Total of all schools citywide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Banneker this year vs last

Last year was the anomaly. Most years, Banneker hasn't used a waitlist, or only a very short one.

Because of Banneker Summer Institute (BSI), they tend to over-admit.

And also lots of kids who apply to Banneker (and Walls and McKinley) are deemed ineligible, so don't even make it onto waitlists.

How does the Banneker summer institute relate to “over-admission?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Banneker this year vs last

Last year was the anomaly. Most years, Banneker hasn't used a waitlist, or only a very short one.

Because of Banneker Summer Institute (BSI), they tend to over-admit.

And also lots of kids who apply to Banneker (and Walls and McKinley) are deemed ineligible, so don't even make it onto waitlists.

How does the Banneker summer institute relate to “over-admission?”

Some kids no-show and lose their spots, maybe?

[Anonymous]

On the middle schools that others may shift to with growing demand overall - our child going to Banneker next year and several other similar kids all just went through MacFarland. Not going to say it’s a huge number of students but it was enough for us and our child did well there. And the waitlists - none now I think. So if you aren’t successful elsewhere maybe consider it.

I’ve heard that the principal is viewed really positively. Our child has had teachers who’ve made them appreciate the experience. I could say more but this isn’t that thread and I don’t want to just be a promoter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Banneker this year vs last

Last year was the anomaly. Most years, Banneker hasn't used a waitlist, or only a very short one.

Because of Banneker Summer Institute (BSI), they tend to over-admit.

And also lots of kids who apply to Banneker (and Walls and McKinley) are deemed ineligible, so don't even make it onto waitlists.

How does the Banneker summer institute relate to “over-admission?”

I didn't write the over-admit comment, but I think it's explaining a reason they choose not to have a waitlist -- because they want everyone who will ultimately enroll to attend the summer program. So they admit 250+, knowing that they won't all enroll, but giving everyone who will enroll a chance to attend the summer program. If instead they admitted 150 with a 100-person waiting list, the same total number might ultimately enroll, but those who got in "off the list" in August or whatever wouldn't have been able to go to the summer program.