how tight will OOB lottery spots be this year?

[Anonymous]

We're looking for preK.

[Anonymous]

I think it could be pretty tight. Unless I missed something the issues are still the same-

Many parents that might have moved in the past can't due to housing market

Economy still not great even if employed pay raises not great

Fairly large cohort of kids trying to get in, next two years after that should be easier given the drop in birth rate.

[Anonymous]

At the good schools west of the park, probably tighter than last year. You will need some safety schools on your list.

That said, there are some schools that won't fill up and will continue to enroll Pre-K all through the summer. Check them out VERY CAREFULLY, they tend to have low scores and/or are unpopular for good reasons.

Also, make sure you enter all the good charter lotteries, all the elementary charters have Pre-K. They each do their own lotteries on different dates though, so you have enter them all separately.

[Anonymous]

When does the lottery start for pre-K? We live in bounds for Janney and are hoping to snag one of those spots.

[Anonymous]

Tight for the high-performing schools. As for the others, list length was driven up last year by giving everyone 5 lottery choices instead of three.

Many schools who had long waitlists, ended up having open slots by September.

If you can wait it out, you're likely to get a spot somewhere.

[Anonymous]

I think across the city there are more DCPS/DCPCS spots for preK available this year b/c of new charters, but not enough to significantly change the dynamics of the PreK lottery.