What’s your HS “back up” option?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t have JR as a backup (and I wish I did), but I do think it is fair to acknowledge that it is also an imperfect school that is not everyone’s top choice.

Your backup plan is renting an apartment in bounds for JB for semester or year. You are then allowed to stay through the terminal grade.

That said, I have two kids IB for JR, and for one kid it was plan A - a good fit. And for one kid it is back-up plan. The plan A kid had a great experience at Deal and JR seemed more of the same. The back up plan kid is having a not great experience at deal and JR seems more of the same.

Not in bound for JR, high school is far off and I love our ES and am satisfied with its feeder middle, so I'm not asking for me...just curious...

Is this something people really do? Do they actually move to the rental property or just pretend to? Does DCPS care? Do they rent for the whole year? Just a few months?

The high and mighty part of me sees this as cheating and opportunity hoarding. Plus, I'd personally be worried about getting caught. On the other hand, I get it, especially for JR, given the dearth of good high school options here.

Does this really happen? For JR? For middle and elementary schools?

I've heard of families using the address of an investment property (or in a different situation, a relative in MoCo) to attend a particular school or get out of DCPS. But not the renting thing. Real or DCUM urban legend?

What are you trying to ask? JR and many of its feeders are naturally half-full of kids who really genuinely live in apartments near the schools. Why would that be cheating?

I think shes asking about renting fior a few months and moving back to your house in se dc. I dont know if people ever actually do that or just talk about on dbum about doing it. Most people who live oob get access by lottering into a feeder (do it enough and you'll get in) or by using a relative's address.

Thank you, yes. This is what I meant - and not just with JR, renting say, a studio for a few months in another boundary in order to qualify for a particular school - ES, MS or HS - but really living elsewhere. I’ve heard people talk about this off and on DCUM but can’t tell how serious they are.

Agree that living in an apt or house bound for JR or a feeder or any school you like isn’t even remotely cheating!

Using an address where you don’t actually live at the time of enrollment is fraud.

But the rules do permit you to move out of the zone and stay in the zoned school (but not the feeders). So yes you could move to an apartment in the JR zone for a few months and then move again. There’s some gray area there but if it is legitimately your home for a period of time (like sleep there all the time, get mail there, etc) then the current rules allow it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t have JR as a backup (and I wish I did), but I do think it is fair to acknowledge that it is also an imperfect school that is not everyone’s top choice.

Your backup plan is renting an apartment in bounds for JB for semester or year. You are then allowed to stay through the terminal grade.

That said, I have two kids IB for JR, and for one kid it was plan A - a good fit. And for one kid it is back-up plan. The plan A kid had a great experience at Deal and JR seemed more of the same. The back up plan kid is having a not great experience at deal and JR seems more of the same.

Can you say more about the characteristics of kids who thrive at these schools and those who don’t? Weighing a move.

Kid for whom deal worked is a solid student, social, hard working not bothered by distractions. Student applying out is "twice eceptional" so really smart but has adhd and other challenges. Deal is too big, too distracting, too boring.

Thanks, this is helpful!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a 7th grader and are starting to think ahead for next year. We don’t live in J-R school district and our in boundary isn’t an option. If you don’t get into one of the more highly regarded schools (walls, Banneker…), whats next on your list? Do you have another selective high school you’d be happy with, and if so, which one and why? Are you applying to private? Would consider moving?

We chose BASIS for 5th grade.

We’re good.

😀

Isn’t Basis that school that has the atmosphere of a depressing prison with a lot of stressed out kids?

This is fake news for smart kids. My BASIS student is not stressed out.

Agree. Also have a 5th grader at Basis and it’s been a decidedly low key experience. All A’s and not stressed, so far.

My one big regret is buying into the anti-basis hype and not lotterying for in in 5th!

PP above is delusional in believing that intent equates to the requisite lottery luck. We never got off the BASIS WL for either our oldest in 2021 or youngest in 2023. Both of my children are very good at math, diligent and low key, probably great fits for the curriculum. Apparently, the odds of admission are even worse now.

I think, sing it with me if you know the words, Basis works for some kids and families and so it's good that it exists for them. But it doesn't work for many (most?) people.

I personally don't plan to lottery for Basis if by fourth grade I think my kid wouldn't thrive there. (They're in first grade now. I suspect they would do okay enough academically but be unhappy at Basis. To be fair, we are also zoned for what I consider to be a solid DCPS middle, so I have the luxury of forgoing Basis and probably even Latin.)

As far as I can tell from reading this forum - which is a limited perspective, to be sure - people do enter Basis without thinking carefully about whether their kid is right for it - or they think their kid would be into and the kid turns out not to be, which is more understandable.

That's bad for their kids and also bad for the kids who would have benefitted from Basis but didn't get the right lottery number.

[Anonymous]

I have no problem with any DC resident who lives anywhere in the city and paying DC taxes renting a studio anywhere for the local schools. There’s a big difference between residency fraud—claiming to be a DC resident when you’re not—and boundary “fraud.” All DC residents should have the right to as good a DC education as any other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t have JR as a backup (and I wish I did), but I do think it is fair to acknowledge that it is also an imperfect school that is not everyone’s top choice.

Your backup plan is renting an apartment in bounds for JB for semester or year. You are then allowed to stay through the terminal grade.

That said, I have two kids IB for JR, and for one kid it was plan A - a good fit. And for one kid it is back-up plan. The plan A kid had a great experience at Deal and JR seemed more of the same. The back up plan kid is having a not great experience at deal and JR seems more of the same.

Not in bound for JR, high school is far off and I love our ES and am satisfied with its feeder middle, so I'm not asking for me...just curious...

Is this something people really do? Do they actually move to the rental property or just pretend to? Does DCPS care? Do they rent for the whole year? Just a few months?

The high and mighty part of me sees this as cheating and opportunity hoarding. Plus, I'd personally be worried about getting caught. On the other hand, I get it, especially for JR, given the dearth of good high school options here.

Does this really happen? For JR? For middle and elementary schools?

I've heard of families using the address of an investment property (or in a different situation, a relative in MoCo) to attend a particular school or get out of DCPS. But not the renting thing. Real or DCUM urban legend?

What are you trying to ask? JR and many of its feeders are naturally half-full of kids who really genuinely live in apartments near the schools. Why would that be cheating?

I think shes asking about renting fior a few months and moving back to your house in se dc. I dont know if people ever actually do that or just talk about on dbum about doing it. Most people who live oob get access by lottering into a feeder (do it enough and you'll get in) or by using a relative's address.

Thank you, yes. This is what I meant - and not just with JR, renting say, a studio for a few months in another boundary in order to qualify for a particular school - ES, MS or HS - but really living elsewhere. I’ve heard people talk about this off and on DCUM but can’t tell how serious they are.

Agree that living in an apt or house bound for JR or a feeder or any school you like isn’t even remotely cheating!

Using an address where you don’t actually live at the time of enrollment is fraud.

But the rules do permit you to move out of the zone and stay in the zoned school (but not the feeders). So yes you could move to an apartment in the JR zone for a few months and then move again. There’s some gray area there but if it is legitimately your home for a period of time (like sleep there all the time, get mail there, etc) then the current rules allow it.

We have a family at our school in this category and I do find it awkward. It feels a bit shady. But i can't say that to them, so it's like a barrier between us getting closer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t have JR as a backup (and I wish I did), but I do think it is fair to acknowledge that it is also an imperfect school that is not everyone’s top choice.

Your backup plan is renting an apartment in bounds for JB for semester or year. You are then allowed to stay through the terminal grade.

That said, I have two kids IB for JR, and for one kid it was plan A - a good fit. And for one kid it is back-up plan. The plan A kid had a great experience at Deal and JR seemed more of the same. The back up plan kid is having a not great experience at deal and JR seems more of the same.

Not in bound for JR, high school is far off and I love our ES and am satisfied with its feeder middle, so I'm not asking for me...just curious...

Is this something people really do? Do they actually move to the rental property or just pretend to? Does DCPS care? Do they rent for the whole year? Just a few months?

The high and mighty part of me sees this as cheating and opportunity hoarding. Plus, I'd personally be worried about getting caught. On the other hand, I get it, especially for JR, given the dearth of good high school options here.

Does this really happen? For JR? For middle and elementary schools?

I've heard of families using the address of an investment property (or in a different situation, a relative in MoCo) to attend a particular school or get out of DCPS. But not the renting thing. Real or DCUM urban legend?

What are you trying to ask? JR and many of its feeders are naturally half-full of kids who really genuinely live in apartments near the schools. Why would that be cheating?

I think shes asking about renting fior a few months and moving back to your house in se dc. I dont know if people ever actually do that or just talk about on dbum about doing it. Most people who live oob get access by lottering into a feeder (do it enough and you'll get in) or by using a relative's address.

Thank you, yes. This is what I meant - and not just with JR, renting say, a studio for a few months in another boundary in order to qualify for a particular school - ES, MS or HS - but really living elsewhere. I’ve heard people talk about this off and on DCUM but can’t tell how serious they are.

Agree that living in an apt or house bound for JR or a feeder or any school you like isn’t even remotely cheating!

Using an address where you don’t actually live at the time of enrollment is fraud.

But the rules do permit you to move out of the zone and stay in the zoned school (but not the feeders). So yes you could move to an apartment in the JR zone for a few months and then move again. There’s some gray area there but if it is legitimately your home for a period of time (like sleep there all the time, get mail there, etc) then the current rules allow it.

We have a family at our school in this category and I do find it awkward. It feels a bit shady. But i can't say that to them, so it's like a barrier between us getting closer.

I think it depends on the circumstances. I feel like it's more shady if you're an upper middle class family who has access to a just fine DCPS school or could afford private or afford to move to into the boundary of the school you actually want or out of the city and you just rent a studio for a few months and don't actually live there so that you can get into a top DCPS school.

It's less shady, to me, if you're a low-income family zoned for a truly awful school and you use a relative's address to attend a better one.

I get that these are the same exact actions and it's fair if you disagree and think they're both shady, neither is shady, or that the families shouldn't be held to different standards.

To be sure, if I found out about either of these circumstances I would keep my mouth shut and not tell the school. I'd just quietly judge the wealthier family (a little).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no problem with any DC resident who lives anywhere in the city and paying DC taxes renting a studio anywhere for the local schools. There’s a big difference between residency fraud—claiming to be a DC resident when you’re not—and boundary “fraud.” All DC residents should have the right to as good a DC education as any other.

I do have a problem with it, as it ultimately actually makes quality education LESS acceptable to all kids. It means people who are willing to cheat and lie (yes, claiming an address you do not live at on your enrollment forms is lying) can access better schools than people who follow the rules. It also means some schools become overcrowded and are less likely to offer lottery spots that would allow someone to access the school without cheating, because their inbound numbers are artificially inflated. It also offers an out to people who live in bounds for schools that could be a lot better with more investment from the neighborhood. I'm not someone who thinks parents have any obligation to send their kids to their boundary school, but if you strike out in the lottery and don't want to move, that's a built-in incentive to give your neighborhood school a try, which can lead to long term improvement at the school (something I've personally witnessed).

There is no point in even having a lottery or boundary system if the attitude us that people should all just be allowed to lie to circumvent it.

[Anonymous]

The question was not about whether families should do it (rent an apartment and live there July through December before moving back to the house they own in Shaw or Logan Circle or Michigan Park), but if people know of any families who have done it. We talk about it all the time on DCUM as something you can or shouldn't do. But does anyone ever do it?

I know a lot of lottery families and a lot of families that move from one JKML boundary to another and stay at their previous school. And I know someone using a grandparent's address. But no one I know falls into this category. Maybe brief renters tell parents they lotteried? Or maybe there's always an easier, better plan b?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The question was not about whether families should do it (rent an apartment and live there July through December before moving back to the house they own in Shaw or Logan Circle or Michigan Park), but if people know of any families who have done it. We talk about it all the time on DCUM as something you can or shouldn't do. But does anyone ever do it?

I know a lot of lottery families and a lot of families that move from one JKML boundary to another and stay at their previous school. And I know someone using a grandparent's address. But no one I know falls into this category. Maybe brief renters tell parents they lotteried? Or maybe there's always an easier, better plan b?

I've heard people talk about it. And I know of a couple families that own more than one property and enrolled using the one zoned for the more desirable school even though in both cases, they actually lived at the property zoned for the less desirable school. But I think even that is arguably different from taking on a brief rental you don't actually live in purely to enroll at a particular school, and I have no idea if that actually happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The question was not about whether families should do it (rent an apartment and live there July through December before moving back to the house they own in Shaw or Logan Circle or Michigan Park), but if people know of any families who have done it. We talk about it all the time on DCUM as something you can or shouldn't do. But does anyone ever do it?

I know a lot of lottery families and a lot of families that move from one JKML boundary to another and stay at their previous school. And I know someone using a grandparent's address. But no one I know falls into this category. Maybe brief renters tell parents they lotteried? Or maybe there's always an easier, better plan b?

Honestly, I don’t get why would you rent an apt to go to JR. Then move back to your house only to have your kid do the horrible commute WOTP RT.

Just move to Arlington for bigger house, much better school, kid can take bus to close by school, and easier commute to downtown. Plus greatin state VA college options.

Are families that desperate to stay in the city??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The question was not about whether families should do it (rent an apartment and live there July through December before moving back to the house they own in Shaw or Logan Circle or Michigan Park), but if people know of any families who have done it. We talk about it all the time on DCUM as something you can or shouldn't do. But does anyone ever do it?

I know a lot of lottery families and a lot of families that move from one JKML boundary to another and stay at their previous school. And I know someone using a grandparent's address. But no one I know falls into this category. Maybe brief renters tell parents they lotteried? Or maybe there's always an easier, better plan b?

I've heard people talk about it. And I know of a couple families that own more than one property and enrolled using the one zoned for the more desirable school even though in both cases, they actually lived at the property zoned for the less desirable school. But I think even that is arguably different from taking on a brief rental you don't actually live in purely to enroll at a particular school, and I have no idea if that actually happens.

Yes i know someone in this category, too. I would never "snitch" but I do find it a little bit shady.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a 7th grader and are starting to think ahead for next year. We don’t live in J-R school district and our in boundary isn’t an option. If you don’t get into one of the more highly regarded schools (walls, Banneker…), whats next on your list? Do you have another selective high school you’d be happy with, and if so, which one and why? Are you applying to private? Would consider moving?

We chose BASIS for 5th grade.

We’re good.

😀

Isn’t Basis that school that has the atmosphere of a depressing prison with a lot of stressed out kids?

This is fake news for smart kids. My BASIS student is not stressed out.

Agree. Also have a 5th grader at Basis and it’s been a decidedly low key experience. All A’s and not stressed, so far.

My one big regret is buying into the anti-basis hype and not lotterying for in in 5th!

PP above is delusional in believing that intent equates to the requisite lottery luck. We never got off the BASIS WL for either our oldest in 2021 or youngest in 2023. Both of my children are very good at math, diligent and low key, probably great fits for the curriculum. Apparently, the odds of admission are even worse now.

I think, sing it with me if you know the words, Basis works for some kids and families and so it's good that it exists for them. But it doesn't work for many (most?) people.

I personally don't plan to lottery for Basis if by fourth grade I think my kid wouldn't thrive there. (They're in first grade now. I suspect they would do okay enough academically but be unhappy at Basis. To be fair, we are also zoned for what I consider to be a solid DCPS middle, so I have the luxury of forgoing Basis and probably even Latin.)

As far as I can tell from reading this forum - which is a limited perspective, to be sure - people do enter Basis without thinking carefully about whether their kid is right for it - or they think their kid would be into and the kid turns out not to be, which is more understandable.

That's bad for their kids and also bad for the kids who would have benefitted from Basis but didn't get the right lottery number.

Your kid is in 1st grade. You literally have no idea of what Basis would be like for them. 5th graders are not preschoolers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The question was not about whether families should do it (rent an apartment and live there July through December before moving back to the house they own in Shaw or Logan Circle or Michigan Park), but if people know of any families who have done it. We talk about it all the time on DCUM as something you can or shouldn't do. But does anyone ever do it?

I know a lot of lottery families and a lot of families that move from one JKML boundary to another and stay at their previous school. And I know someone using a grandparent's address. But no one I know falls into this category. Maybe brief renters tell parents they lotteried? Or maybe there's always an easier, better plan b?

Honestly, I don’t get why would you rent an apt to go to JR. Then move back to your house only to have your kid do the horrible commute WOTP RT.

Just move to Arlington for bigger house, much better school, kid can take bus to close by school, and easier commute to downtown. Plus greatin state VA college options.

Are families that desperate to stay in the city??

Agreed. It might make more sense if you don’t own a house and just prefer a different neighborhood. Like start out on Conn Ave then move to DuPont. But most people don’t want to move their kid around that much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The question was not about whether families should do it (rent an apartment and live there July through December before moving back to the house they own in Shaw or Logan Circle or Michigan Park), but if people know of any families who have done it. We talk about it all the time on DCUM as something you can or shouldn't do. But does anyone ever do it?

I know a lot of lottery families and a lot of families that move from one JKML boundary to another and stay at their previous school. And I know someone using a grandparent's address. But no one I know falls into this category. Maybe brief renters tell parents they lotteried? Or maybe there's always an easier, better plan b?

I know someone whose family moved to a pretty small apartment on Connecticut for a year so both kids could do JR, then they moved back to Brookland. But they all moved for the year, so that’s a commitment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The question was not about whether families should do it (rent an apartment and live there July through December before moving back to the house they own in Shaw or Logan Circle or Michigan Park), but if people know of any families who have done it. We talk about it all the time on DCUM as something you can or shouldn't do. But does anyone ever do it?

I know a lot of lottery families and a lot of families that move from one JKML boundary to another and stay at their previous school. And I know someone using a grandparent's address. But no one I know falls into this category. Maybe brief renters tell parents they lotteried? Or maybe there's always an easier, better plan b?

Honestly, I don’t get why would you rent an apt to go to JR. Then move back to your house only to have your kid do the horrible commute WOTP RT.

Just move to Arlington for bigger house, much better school, kid can take bus to close by school, and easier commute to downtown. Plus greatin state VA college options.

Are families that desperate to stay in the city??

1 million gets a hell of a lot more in DC than in Arlington (if you can get anything for that in Arlington)