Do you have to be a DC resident to apply for the lottery?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I did not even think to enter until I met a mom who insisted that VA residents could apply. She would be willing to drive her child to DC if her son gained entrance.

CALL the SCHOOL and OSSE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly an answer to OP's question, since YY is not participating in the common lottery, but here is what the My School DC common lottery website says:

"What if I am not a DC resident now, but I am moving to DC?

"On the application, you have the option of applying without a DC address. If you use this option, you will not receive in-boundary or proximity preferences.

"If you are matched with a school through the lottery, you must accept your space by May 1. Accepting your space requires submitting required enrollment forms and proving DC residency."

So, under the common lottery, you could apply to a charter school or to an OOB DCPS from out of state, but you would have to prove DC residency prior to accepting the slot, which you have to do by May 1st.

OP, I would call YY and ask specifically what their policy is. Please report back once you do.

This couldn't be any clearer. If you are not a resident, but plan to move to DC by May 1, 2014 if you get into a suitable school, you can apply as a resident and defer proving residency until May 1. If you can't prove residency on May 1, 2014, you will lose the spot you won in the lottery.

Furthermore, it appears as if, should you happen to know now what your DC address will be on May 1, 2014, you can even apply using that address to establish IB or proximity preference. For example, if you are a non-resident DC landlord who plans to move back into your rental property. However, if you get a spot based on that address and later cannot prove residency using that address, you might lose the spot and end up effectively losing the resident preference. Thus, "guessing" your future DC address might be risky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I did not even think to enter until I met a mom who insisted that VA residents could apply. She would be willing to drive her child to DC if her son gained entrance.

CALL the SCHOOL and OSSE.

VA residents can apply. However, they cannot enroll in a school without proving DC residency on May 1, unless no DC resident is waiting to enroll in that school. Furthermore, they must pay non-resident tuition to do so. As a result, non-residents are effectively barred from enrolling in popular schools.

That said, DCPS is under-enrolled. So, a VA resident willing to go to any DCPS school will likely find a spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I did not even think to enter until I met a mom who insisted that VA residents could apply. She would be willing to drive her child to DC if her son gained entrance.

First off, no you cannot use your work address to apply because you don't live there and you'd be lying. Second, you'd have to prove residency within a very tight timeframe of getting in so be realistic: how quickly are you really going to be able to secure housing and have all the paperwork in if you get in?

Our kids go to Yu Ying and they don't fool around on the residency verification.

[Anonymous]

Yu Ying is not part of the common lottery application process this year so your information above, PP, is useless.

OP should just call the school.

[Anonymous]

My kids do not go to Yu Ying, but I would be willing to bet they are strict on verification. They seem to run a tight ship and have a long wait list of dc residents wanting to attend. OP if your sights were set lower you may have some wiggle room, but if you seriously ant YY, I would suggest moving to the city this winter and getting in line bright and early the day YY's lottery opens, which is probably any day now if not already. If you get in line early for PK you will probably get a spot.

[Anonymous]

Yes you can. My friend used my address to apply and once it was time to enroll she had her own residence.

[Anonymous]

Seems to me that they are tightening up the residency verification timeline? Notifications go out March 31, and proof of residency is required May 1. So possible to apply from out of state, but then you have a short turnaround to get residency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems to me that they are tightening up the residency verification timeline? Notifications go out March 31, and proof of residency is required May 1. So possible to apply from out of state, but then you have a short turnaround to get residency.

As already stated, this is only true for those who are participating in the common lottery. I know two families who moved from out of state to go to our charter school and they were only required to prove residency when school started (by that time they had moved).

That may still be true for non-charter applications to prek or PS3 but I do not know. If you move to an area with a sought after elementary school they are required to take you for K in the fall.

Lying is a really bad idea because they might be entitled to kick you out. I know two families who paid out of state tuition for their kids to go to elementary school in Md. The third family lied and had to move in order to avoid being expelled - once they moved in to the appropriate part of Md., the school had no choice but to take them back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I did not even think to enter until I met a mom who insisted that VA residents could apply. She would be willing to drive her child to DC if her son gained entrance.

So when your friend told you that, why didn't you pick up the phone to call the school that you really want your children to go to and ask? Why are you spending time going back and forth on this forum? Call the Charter School Board and OSSE, if you're that concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yu Ying is not part of the common lottery application process this year so your information above, PP, is useless.

OP should just call the school.

What does not being in the common lottery have to do with Yu Ying's tight turnaround time on residency verification?? My kids go there, they DO NOT mess around about this, and they are free at least one more year to do it their way (because of not being in the common lottery) so this is still quite relevant info.

[Anonymous]

What is the answer to this question: are applicants with out of state addresses placed in the same lottery pool as DC residents and then allowed a short period of time to produce residency status?

Or, are those applying from out of state in a seperate pool?

[Anonymous]

^^ PP Again, personally, as long as you can prove that you are a DC resident at enrollment time, living and paying taxes in the city, then your children are legitimately and appropriately placed within the school. Long before your children ever cross the school threshold you will be residents.