Interesting extracts from round 1 data

[Anonymous]

Not OP, but the data are also interesting to understand in an easily digestable way that schools people sometimes reference on DCUM as safeties (ex: HD Cooke, Garrison, Seaton) have waitlists after Round 1. So if you truly want to be matched in Round 1, you need to look for safer safeties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but the data are also interesting to understand in an easily digestable way that schools people sometimes reference on DCUM as safeties (ex: HD Cooke, Garrison, Seaton) have waitlists after Round 1. So if you truly want to be matched in Round 1, you need to look for safer safeties.

We were only dealing with Cooke for 2014-2015, so I can't speak to the other schools, but Cooke is not a "Safety" if you are out of bounds for PK3. Last I checked, there were still 75 people on the PK3 waitlist for this year. For PK4, they have larger class sizes and a third class, so it is easier to get in from OOB then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is perhaps most interesting are the number of OOB families who presumably thought they had any chance of getting a space at schools like Ross, Brent, Maury and Peabody. The fact that there are only 35 OOB families waitlisted for Van Ness is also somewhat interesting given that Brent, which is only a few blocks away, reportedly had a greater number of IB three year olds who were waitlisted.

I think the secret is out that Van Ness will be a good option for many families now. I suspect that next year, Van Ness will have as many waitlisted kids as Brent and Maury had this year.

This is clearly a poster who is toying with everyone... They're not even trying to sound like a real Van Ness booster anymore. Up your game, troll!

[Anonymous]

I'm predicting that VN will have as many waitlisted kids as Brent and Maury combined! BTW, I wasn't aware that VN was a secret. Is this a bot that has been posting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Not OP, but the data are also interesting to understand in an easily digestable way that schools people sometimes reference on DCUM as safeties (ex: HD Cooke, Garrison, Seaton) have waitlists after Round 1. So if you truly want to be matched in Round 1, you need to look for safer safeties.

We were only dealing with Cooke for 2014-2015, so I can't speak to the other schools, but Cooke is not a "Safety" if you are out of bounds for PK3. Last I checked, there were still 75 people on the PK3 waitlist for this year. For PK4, they have larger class sizes and a third class, so it is easier to get in from OOB then.

Yes, agreed. But if you look at the Round 2 thread, a few days ago posters were suggesting all 3 of these schools as good candidates for Round 2 (before these data were made available).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found it interesting that so many OOB people would list Brent when there was so much noise about PK3 being all IB with Sibs. Same for Ross (1 PK3 class that was all IB this year and last year). But I guess hope springs eternal.

Maybe the Hill is a different beast, but I find that most of my fellow parents in Petworth have zero clue about waitlist expectations, etc. DCUM is an odd echo chamber that's not representative of the broader parent populace. Many of the parents I spoke to for PK3 just picked the nearby elementary schools without much regard to how many PK3 spots may be filled or not filled by siblings or others. You could call it naive, but it's probably a lot more sane than many people here are

[Anonymous]

Wait -- why did my post about the list being Hill heavy and wondering about the affect on Miner get deleted?

[Anonymous]

It didn't. You accidentally posted it on the thread about auctions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It didn't. You accidentally posted it on the thread about auctions.

Thanks, I'm an idiot... Although a very confused idiot, because I haven't even read that thread? Oh well. Meant to post:

I think it's interesting how many of the schools at the very top are Capitol Hill schools. Suggests there is a lot more local need for PK3 spots not being met. I'm also curious how many of these parents will lottery for Miner, which didn't fill for PK3 but has a WL for PK4, in R2. I think Miner may finally start improving if Hill families start to fill it simply b/c they have no other local options (it's how Maury drastically improved quickly 5-10 years ago).

[Anonymous]

Rosedale isn't exactly synonymous with the Hill in the minds of many. The school needs IB high-SES families to commit beyond PK, and to back this up with time and resources, which is what happened at Maury and Brent. Indeed, LT hasn't been able to take the final step to where a majority of the school is from the Hill, even with virtually be entire community surrounding the school having been gentrified, albeit the proximity of SWS complicates the situation somewhat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It didn't. You accidentally posted it on the thread about auctions.

Thanks, I'm an idiot... Although a very confused idiot, because I haven't even read that thread? Oh well. Meant to post:

I think it's interesting how many of the schools at the very top are Capitol Hill schools. Suggests there is a lot more local need for PK3 spots not being met. I'm also curious how many of these parents will lottery for Miner, which didn't fill for PK3 but has a WL for PK4, in R2. I think Miner may finally start improving if Hill families start to fill it simply b/c they have no other local options (it's how Maury drastically improved quickly 5-10 years ago).

Miner has a cohort of at least 21 "Hill" families (people IB and waitlisted at Peabody, Brent and Maury) who were matched and are considering attending. Should be a good group. If I was shut out of Round 1 I would definitely put it as a Round 2 choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It didn't. You accidentally posted it on the thread about auctions.

Thanks, I'm an idiot... Although a very confused idiot, because I haven't even read that thread? Oh well. Meant to post:

I think it's interesting how many of the schools at the very top are Capitol Hill schools. Suggests there is a lot more local need for PK3 spots not being met. I'm also curious how many of these parents will lottery for Miner, which didn't fill for PK3 but has a WL for PK4, in R2. I think Miner may finally start improving if Hill families start to fill it simply b/c they have no other local options (it's how Maury drastically improved quickly 5-10 years ago).

I suspect many Hill families are having a hard time finding 12 picks that work for them based on academic or logistical criteria. If you are IB for Peabody, once you rank schools where you think you might have a reasonable chance of getting a seat, like SWS, Appletree, Two Rivers, Van Ness, Tyler SI, etc., you may just decide to select Brent, Maury, LT or Ross just for the hell of it, thereby articially inflating waitlist numbers. Some of these are SAHM or will ultimately keep their nanny or daycare arrangments. A parent who works on the Hill, but lives elsewhere in the City, might also be putting in for a Hail-Mary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found it interesting that so many OOB people would list Brent when there was so much noise about PK3 being all IB with Sibs. Same for Ross (1 PK3 class that was all IB this year and last year). But I guess hope springs eternal.

Maybe the Hill is a different beast, but I find that most of my fellow parents in Petworth have zero clue about waitlist expectations, etc. DCUM is an odd echo chamber that's not representative of the broader parent populace. Many of the parents I spoke to for PK3 just picked the nearby elementary schools without much regard to how many PK3 spots may be filled or not filled by siblings or others. You could call it naive, but it's probably a lot more sane than many people here are

Good point, OP. I was thinking about the ridiculous amount of time I spend reading DCUM and my vast (and largely useless) knowledge of the lottery system now. But it's all so fascinating from demographic, sociological, rubbernecking, and voyeuristic perspectives. And no worse than an obsession with basketball. It's sort of like our own little March Madness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It didn't. You accidentally posted it on the thread about auctions.

Thanks, I'm an idiot... Although a very confused idiot, because I haven't even read that thread? Oh well. Meant to post:

I think it's interesting how many of the schools at the very top are Capitol Hill schools. Suggests there is a lot more local need for PK3 spots not being met. I'm also curious how many of these parents will lottery for Miner, which didn't fill for PK3 but has a WL for PK4, in R2. I think Miner may finally start improving if Hill families start to fill it simply b/c they have no other local options (it's how Maury drastically improved quickly 5-10 years ago).

Miner has a cohort of at least 21 "Hill" families (people IB and waitlisted at Peabody, Brent and Maury) who were matched and are considering attending. Should be a good group. If I was shut out of Round 1 I would definitely put it as a Round 2 choice.

This is the problem in a nutshell. While Miner is perfectly fine for ECE, this cohort will be headed back to Peabody, Brent and Maury after two years. When and how does the pattern get changed? Will guaranteed IB admission for PK at Title I schools accomplish this?

[Anonymous]

I think what's interesting is the clear drop from HA 175 to Shepherd 108 (though apparently a few were left off).

As a Ward 1 resident, I'm also interested in the relative rankings of Ward 1 schools that are relatively close to each other - Bancroft, Tubman, Marie Reed, and Cooke. Bancroft has far and away jumped a tier, but the other three remain a step below - though a few years ago the wait lists were even smaller. I'm also interested in Tubman as a case study - when their test scores went sky high it was surprising they didn't jump too much in perception (as measured by waitlist), and now Tubman falls behind Marie Reed and Cooke.

Lots of interesting stuff here.