Lottery lists: What's best now, or look ahead?

[Anonymous]

We're gearing up for our first big run at the lottery. We've been at our neighborhood school for three years, and have had a great experience, but for a variety of reasons I won't go into, we think it might be time for a change.

Looking at the experience my kids would have for the next 4-5 years, I think our preferences would actually be nearby schools with bad feeders. Shorter commute, neighborhood feel, smaller class sizes, diversity in race and economic status, nearby catchments mean close by friends. There are a few nearby that could really be great, and have cohorts of kids in the upper grades doing above grade level work.

Like many in DC, our inbound middle school is a non-starter. While I see the appeal of locking down a middle school path now, it doesn't feel like a requirement. Stuart-Hobson, Wells, and John Francis have feeders that clear their waitlists for 5th every year, so there are "safety" options if you get a bad number for 5th, or you could always try your luck again for 6th. But, of course this could change. Or maybe by the time my kids are older (oldest is in K now) these schools won't feel like a good-enough fit for my kids.

And then there's the possibility of putting Deal/Hardy feeders and/or something like ITS at the top of our list, which would be less ideal for elementary school for us, but would really take the stress off once we're staring down middle school. But then again - think of all the people who lotteried into Two Rivers for the middle school path a few years back when there was a lot of hype about it and then found themselves back to the lottery drawing board when that school floundered. There are no guarantees.

How do you balance now vs. later when making your lists?

(FWIW, likely neither moving nor private school will be an option for us, and we have three kids fairly close in age so the sibling preference will help us a lot)

[Anonymous]

I would go for ITDS. It's doing really well now so if it for worse it would still be okay. A big part of TR's struggle is that it expanded ambitiously, and ITDS has no plans to expand. Having three kids in one place will be a tremendous quality of life boost for your whole family. Also, your younger kids would get in for pk3-- I believe that isn't a guarantee at some Hill schools.

I'm not sure the elementary schools with bad feeders will be as neighborhoody as you think they will. The out of boundary percentage tends to creep up as people leave. Of course, out of boundary isn't necessary very far geographically.

You need to ask yourself what's your comfort level with striking out in the 5th and 6th grade lotteries, and the 9th grade process. What would you do? Low performing school, private, Catholic, move? That will determine how much you need to think long term.

[Anonymous]

Lock down the middle school path now. It'll be less stress overall and your kids won't have to start over socially multiple times.

[Anonymous]

I personally would not drive far across town starting in first grade just for feeder rights to Hardy or Deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're gearing up for our first big run at the lottery. We've been at our neighborhood school for three years, and have had a great experience, but for a variety of reasons I won't go into, we think it might be time for a change.

Looking at the experience my kids would have for the next 4-5 years, I think our preferences would actually be nearby schools with bad feeders. Shorter commute, neighborhood feel, smaller class sizes, diversity in race and economic status, nearby catchments mean close by friends. There are a few nearby that could really be great, and have cohorts of kids in the upper grades doing above grade level work.

Like many in DC, our inbound middle school is a non-starter. While I see the appeal of locking down a middle school path now, it doesn't feel like a requirement. Stuart-Hobson, Wells, and John Francis have feeders that clear their waitlists for 5th every year, so there are "safety" options if you get a bad number for 5th, or you could always try your luck again for 6th. But, of course this could change. Or maybe by the time my kids are older (oldest is in K now) these schools won't feel like a good-enough fit for my kids.

And then there's the possibility of putting Deal/Hardy feeders and/or something like ITS at the top of our list, which would be less ideal for elementary school for us, but would really take the stress off once we're staring down middle school. But then again - think of all the people who lotteried into Two Rivers for the middle school path a few years back when there was a lot of hype about it and then found themselves back to the lottery drawing board when that school floundered. There are no guarantees.

How do you balance now vs. later when making your lists?

(FWIW, likely neither moving nor private school will be an option for us, and we have three kids fairly close in age so the sibling preference will help us a lot)

I prioritized a "good enough" elementary school within walking/biking distance for elementary and then switched to "best school I can find" for middle school. Middle school commute is also made much easier because the kid can get themselves there on transit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're gearing up for our first big run at the lottery. We've been at our neighborhood school for three years, and have had a great experience, but for a variety of reasons I won't go into, we think it might be time for a change.

Looking at the experience my kids would have for the next 4-5 years, I think our preferences would actually be nearby schools with bad feeders. Shorter commute, neighborhood feel, smaller class sizes, diversity in race and economic status, nearby catchments mean close by friends. There are a few nearby that could really be great, and have cohorts of kids in the upper grades doing above grade level work.

Like many in DC, our inbound middle school is a non-starter. While I see the appeal of locking down a middle school path now, it doesn't feel like a requirement. Stuart-Hobson, Wells, and John Francis have feeders that clear their waitlists for 5th every year, so there are "safety" options if you get a bad number for 5th, or you could always try your luck again for 6th. But, of course this could change. Or maybe by the time my kids are older (oldest is in K now) these schools won't feel like a good-enough fit for my kids.

And then there's the possibility of putting Deal/Hardy feeders and/or something like ITS at the top of our list, which would be less ideal for elementary school for us, but would really take the stress off once we're staring down middle school. But then again - think of all the people who lotteried into Two Rivers for the middle school path a few years back when there was a lot of hype about it and then found themselves back to the lottery drawing board when that school floundered. There are no guarantees.

How do you balance now vs. later when making your lists?

(FWIW, likely neither moving nor private school will be an option for us, and we have three kids fairly close in age so the sibling preference will help us a lot)

I prioritized a "good enough" elementary school within walking/biking distance for elementary and then switched to "best school I can find" for middle school. Middle school commute is also made much easier because the kid can get themselves there on transit.

OP here - this is where I’m leaning. In hindsight, how do you feel about your choices? If you ended up at one of your top middle school choices, can you try and project to how you’d have felt if you ended up at your “safety?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lock down the middle school path now. It'll be less stress overall and your kids won't have to start over socially multiple times.

+1. Yep. Speaking from the other side of the lottery process here. My kid had to start over twice in elementary and it isn’t great. The older they get, the harder it is to break in socially.

That said, a 30+ minute commute to a distant feeder is miserable. You minimize it when it’s your best option, but in hindsight it’s not great for anyone.

I would lottery every year for middle/high school pathways you are certain you wouldn’t want to trade up from. Then if you get in nowhere by third, consider your best options for middle school and expand your lottery list for fourth. But many families wait until fifth or sixth and then strike out. They settle and again minimize the downsides, but they would jump at a better opportunity if one appeared.

[Anonymous]

I'm considering the same strategy of applying to charters and feeders to decent DCPS MS for 5th, but would play the latter option pretty cautiously as I think an upheaval from one school to another just for one year is kind of a big deal for a 5th grader.

I would only do it if I felt pretty good about the MS option and confident that a reasonable subset of my child's new 5th grade peers would also move on to the MS. And that makes it much less of a sure thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're gearing up for our first big run at the lottery. We've been at our neighborhood school for three years, and have had a great experience, but for a variety of reasons I won't go into, we think it might be time for a change.

Looking at the experience my kids would have for the next 4-5 years, I think our preferences would actually be nearby schools with bad feeders. Shorter commute, neighborhood feel, smaller class sizes, diversity in race and economic status, nearby catchments mean close by friends. There are a few nearby that could really be great, and have cohorts of kids in the upper grades doing above grade level work.

Like many in DC, our inbound middle school is a non-starter. While I see the appeal of locking down a middle school path now, it doesn't feel like a requirement. Stuart-Hobson, Wells, and John Francis have feeders that clear their waitlists for 5th every year, so there are "safety" options if you get a bad number for 5th, or you could always try your luck again for 6th. But, of course this could change. Or maybe by the time my kids are older (oldest is in K now) these schools won't feel like a good-enough fit for my kids.

And then there's the possibility of putting Deal/Hardy feeders and/or something like ITS at the top of our list, which would be less ideal for elementary school for us, but would really take the stress off once we're staring down middle school. But then again - think of all the people who lotteried into Two Rivers for the middle school path a few years back when there was a lot of hype about it and then found themselves back to the lottery drawing board when that school floundered. There are no guarantees.

How do you balance now vs. later when making your lists?

(FWIW, likely neither moving nor private school will be an option for us, and we have three kids fairly close in age so the sibling preference will help us a lot)

I prioritized a "good enough" elementary school within walking/biking distance for elementary and then switched to "best school I can find" for middle school. Middle school commute is also made much easier because the kid can get themselves there on transit.

OP here - this is where I’m leaning. In hindsight, how do you feel about your choices? If you ended up at one of your top middle school choices, can you try and project to how you’d have felt if you ended up at your “safety?”

Tough question. We did end up at a middle school that is a very good fit. And we all loved walking to elementary school, our lifestyle at that age was lovely.

Our feeder middle school is middle-of-the-road, we would have either gone there or to ITDS, and if either of these, I would have supplemented heavily during the summer with CTY, and then got very serious about high school (like apply to privates and the application schools).

(I have friends who have gone through both TR and ITDS, and ITDS is much more solid of a school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm considering the same strategy of applying to charters and feeders to decent DCPS MS for 5th, but would play the latter option pretty cautiously as I think an upheaval from one school to another just for one year is kind of a big deal for a 5th grader.

I would only do it if I felt pretty good about the MS option and confident that a reasonable subset of my child's new 5th grade peers would also move on to the MS. And that makes it much less of a sure thing.

We are in the same boat. We are in Adams Morgan but not Oyster. Unless we get into Basis, we may stay put for another year.

[Anonymous]

For kids in 3rd grade and below, there will be a new middle school by the time they’re in 6th: Euclid in Shaw (feeders: Garrison, Seaton, and Cleveland). How many would consider it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For kids in 3rd grade and below, there will be a new middle school by the time they’re in 6th: Euclid in Shaw (feeders: Garrison, Seaton, and Cleveland). How many would consider it?

I would if we didn't already go to SH.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Euclid is SUCH a wild card. I'd LOVE if it worked out, and I know some Garrison families who are planning on it (but their kids are little, we'll see how it pans out).

I just ran this in Google Maps - Eaton (our closest Hardy feeder) is 34 mins by public transit (we don't have a car). And then Hardy would be 48 mins by public transit. Hearst or Shepherd are similar, and Deal would be a smidge closer (42 mins). But either way, that's a LOT of wasted time for years and years just to get a decent middle school.

We'd have better than even odds for BASIS in fifth grade, and with three kids in the lottery, a darn good chance at Inspired Teaching even if we wait until the oldest is going into 5th.

But then, as someone noted above, a year at Thomson and then to John Francis or a year at JOW and then to Stuart-Hobson leaves a lot to be desired. If that happened, would I regret not taking my shot at Hardy/Deal feeders, or locking down ITS early?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Euclid is SUCH a wild card. I'd LOVE if it worked out, and I know some Garrison families who are planning on it (but their kids are little, we'll see how it pans out).

I just ran this in Google Maps - Eaton (our closest Hardy feeder) is 34 mins by public transit (we don't have a car). And then Hardy would be 48 mins by public transit. Hearst or Shepherd are similar, and Deal would be a smidge closer (42 mins). But either way, that's a LOT of wasted time for years and years just to get a decent middle school.

We'd have better than even odds for BASIS in fifth grade, and with three kids in the lottery, a darn good chance at Inspired Teaching even if we wait until the oldest is going into 5th.

But then, as someone noted above, a year at Thomson and then to John Francis or a year at JOW and then to Stuart-Hobson leaves a lot to be desired. If that happened, would I regret not taking my shot at Hardy/Deal feeders, or locking down ITS early?

FYI, it is going to be longer than that to WOTP schools because it is roundtrip for you each way to get back home or downtown and those times don’t reflect hitting rush hour during one way there. You are looking at easily 1 hour and more likely 1.5 hours RT 2 times a day. IMO not worth it for mediocre middle schools WOTP.

As to ITS just know lots of limitations with such a small school in friends groups, curriculum offerrings, EC, sports, facilities, etc…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Euclid is SUCH a wild card. I'd LOVE if it worked out, and I know some Garrison families who are planning on it (but their kids are little, we'll see how it pans out).

I just ran this in Google Maps - Eaton (our closest Hardy feeder) is 34 mins by public transit (we don't have a car). And then Hardy would be 48 mins by public transit. Hearst or Shepherd are similar, and Deal would be a smidge closer (42 mins). But either way, that's a LOT of wasted time for years and years just to get a decent middle school.

We'd have better than even odds for BASIS in fifth grade, and with three kids in the lottery, a darn good chance at Inspired Teaching even if we wait until the oldest is going into 5th.

But then, as someone noted above, a year at Thomson and then to John Francis or a year at JOW and then to Stuart-Hobson leaves a lot to be desired. If that happened, would I regret not taking my shot at Hardy/Deal feeders, or locking down ITS early?

FYI, it is going to be longer than that to WOTP schools because it is roundtrip for you each way to get back home or downtown and those times don’t reflect hitting rush hour during one way there. You are looking at easily 1 hour and more likely 1.5 hours RT 2 times a day. IMO not worth it for mediocre middle schools WOTP.

As to ITS just know lots of limitations with such a small school in friends groups, curriculum offerrings, EC, sports, facilities, etc…

Yes. For some folks ITS is great, but choose carefully. They try to make the most of what they have, but the bottom line is that it's a small school.