Any lucky stories to encourage those doing the lottery this year?

[Anonymous]

We applied to the lottery for PreK-3 for our oldest four years ago and got in no where, even our IB school on Capitol Hill. I felt terrible at the time as we watched friends accept spots at really nice schools. It ended up being the luckiest thing that ever happened to us. We decided to move to the suburbs, lucked into a house in an amazing neighborhood where houses rarely come on the market, got a bigger house than we thought we could afford for fluky reasons, got our kids into a great preschool, and they are now thriving at our wonderful neighborhood elementary school that is down the street. I feel like if we had gotten in anywhere that year we played the lottery we would have tried to make it work in DC and missed the opportunity to make this moved that has been great. Sometimes losing is actually winning from a different perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were one of the didn’t get into anywhere last year who had to scramble to add schools post-lottery. Got into a few of the schools we added post-lottery as well as our in-boundary by the summer. Ended up going to the first school that let us in and have had a great year there. So I’m here to say I’ve been through your nightmare scenario of really bombing in the lottery and it all turned out fine. Actually, way better than fine.

+1 but we prioritized commute and stayed at our daycare (with PK enhancement grant). I thought our kid would be bored to tears but he plays a lot, has a great group of friends, and is ready for K. I wish I had this perspective each time I opened our shitty results. (Maybe not the story of “luck” you are looking for, but perspective is key. It is preschool after all.)

[Anonymous]

We got into our #4 choice, which is walkable to our house. DD loves it there and we've been having a great experience. I'm so grateful we didn't get into choices 1 through 3 that would have required a longish drive every time I make the short pleasant walk. Sometimes, you just end up where you're meant to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were one of the didn’t get into anywhere last year who had to scramble to add schools post-lottery. Got into a few of the schools we added post-lottery as well as our in-boundary by the summer. Ended up going to the first school that let us in and have had a great year there. So I’m here to say I’ve been through your nightmare scenario of really bombing in the lottery and it all turned out fine. Actually, way better than fine.

Same! We got into our #10 school and I was really bummed and nervous, but it's been so great that I've cut our list down to just a few schools (hello middle school feeders) and are happy to stick with our current school indefinitely.

It's a lottery, OP. You don't have control. It's not fair and also the fairest possible. Buckle up and play, or move. Either way, good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were one of the didn’t get into anywhere last year who had to scramble to add schools post-lottery. Got into a few of the schools we added post-lottery as well as our in-boundary by the summer. Ended up going to the first school that let us in and have had a great year there. So I’m here to say I’ve been through your nightmare scenario of really bombing in the lottery and it all turned out fine. Actually, way better than fine.

Same! We got into our #10 school and I was really bummed and nervous, but it's been so great that I've cut our list down to just a few schools (hello middle school feeders) and are happy to stick with our current school indefinitely.

It's a lottery, OP. You don't have control. It's not fair and also the fairest possible. Buckle up and play, or move. Either way, good luck!

Well said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got into our #4 choice, which is walkable to our house. DD loves it there and we've been having a great experience. I'm so grateful we didn't get into choices 1 through 3 that would have required a longish drive every time I make the short pleasant walk. Sometimes, you just end up where you're meant to be.

Ditto. And our #4 was still an awesome long shot, so it worked out amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck OP! We applied for LAMB for PreK3 for my first kid, and had the highest number out of our daycare friends...something in the 560 range. For PreK4 we were number 6 and got in. Have 2 kids at LAMB now, and are very happy there.

This is our story as well.

[Anonymous]

For preK3 we played the lottery and got a bad number, but AppleTree Lincoln Park called over the summer with a slot, because they cleared A LOT of people off their waiting list that year (like, hundreds). And it worked out just fine. My DD is now in 4th and playing the lottery for Latin/Basis. (Wish us luck too!)

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure exactly why you'd feel comforted by this thread; there are only so many sought-after schools and many more applicants than seats. Someone always gets lucky.

I guess a good takeaway is that there are some lesser known hidden gems, but even those families who are pleased with their 11th choice will continue playing the lottery year after year trying to trade up.

[Anonymous]

We didn't get in anywhere we thought we wanted the first year out. But dealing with wanting something so very much and having no control over it made the next years of the lottery a lot easier.

We got in somewhere we really wanted in K, loved it for a few years, and are in the lottery again now that we know our kid and their needs better.

And through all of this, the first year was definitely the hardest.

I would also say that there are wonderful teachers across this city. (Not all schools are amazing and I'm not here to lecture anyone. But a lot of the teaching is good.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We didn't get in anywhere we thought we wanted the first year out. But dealing with wanting something so very much and having no control over it made the next years of the lottery a lot easier.

We got in somewhere we really wanted in K, loved it for a few years, and are in the lottery again now that we know our kid and their needs better.

And through all of this, the first year was definitely the hardest.

I would also say that there are wonderful teachers across this city. (Not all schools are amazing and I'm not here to lecture anyone. But a lot of the teaching is good.)

Yes. Not getting a top choice for preschool is disappointing. Uncertainty is frustrating. I do have sympathy for people who make a reasonable list and are still shut out entirely, but really, most people in this country have no free preschool at all. And even at a low-ranked school you can have a great teacher and a great year. Even at your favorite school there will be better and worse years. And you might realize your top choice isn't the great fit you thought it would be. Enrolling a low-ranked school does not automatically mean you will have a bad preschool experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We applied to the lottery for PreK-3 for our oldest four years ago and got in no where, even our IB school on Capitol Hill. I felt terrible at the time as we watched friends accept spots at really nice schools. It ended up being the luckiest thing that ever happened to us. We decided to move to the suburbs, lucked into a house in an amazing neighborhood where houses rarely come on the market, got a bigger house than we thought we could afford for fluky reasons, got our kids into a great preschool, and they are now thriving at our wonderful neighborhood elementary school that is down the street. I feel like if we had gotten in anywhere that year we played the lottery we would have tried to make it work in DC and missed the opportunity to make this moved that has been great. Sometimes losing is actually winning from a different perspective.

If you’re so happy and winning why are you still commenting in the dc schools forum?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck OP! We applied for LAMB for PreK3 for my first kid, and had the highest number out of our daycare friends...something in the 560 range. For PreK4 we were number 6 and got in. Have 2 kids at LAMB now, and are very happy there.

This is our story as well.

Does LAMB really let that many kids in for PK4? It’s the only school on our lottery list this year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck OP! We applied for LAMB for PreK3 for my first kid, and had the highest number out of our daycare friends...something in the 560 range. For PreK4 we were number 6 and got in. Have 2 kids at LAMB now, and are very happy there.

This is our story as well.

Does LAMB really let that many kids in for PK4? It’s the only school on our lottery list this year

No! I think it’s like under ten. But I don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Matched at our #1 choice on lottery. It happened for us, it could happen for you. Someone has to get good #s, why not you?

FWIW, we had lots of neighbors who had lousy #s in their PK3 year. Every single one manage to match by 1st grade at TR3, YRY, Mundo, YY, Stokes (Spanish) and ITS. Patience will serve you well.