What’s your HS “back up” option?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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)

As someone who has been looking at houses in Arlington to solve this exact school problem,‘I can confirm 1 million gets you very little, especially if you want metro access. The houses in that range are run down 50’s-60’s split levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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)

As someone who has been looking at houses in Arlington to solve this exact school problem,‘I can confirm 1 million gets you very little, especially if you want metro access. The houses in that range are run down 50’s-60’s split levels.

So buy a place a few mikes from metro and then park and drive.

The worst schools in Arlington are probably equivalent to JR which is really just a mediocre school. The best schools in Arlington are head and shoulders so much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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)

As someone who has been looking at houses in Arlington to solve this exact school problem,‘I can confirm 1 million gets you very little, especially if you want metro access. The houses in that range are run down 50’s-60’s split levels.

So buy a place a few mikes from metro and then park and drive.

The worst schools in Arlington are probably equivalent to JR which is really just a mediocre school. The best schools in Arlington are head and shoulders so much better.

Typo park and ride

[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 think people talk about it all the time and rarely do it because the current state of schools in DC is that there is no guarantee your kid will get a decent high school, but the odds are high. Being able to say, “if all else fails, we’ll rent an apartment inbounds for JR” makes people more comfortable waiting out the application/lottery process and/or taking a chance on a school like MacArthur. But most of the time things work out, so very few people wind up pulling that rip cord.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Not everyone has the time, knowledge or experience to navigate the system like you do. So, no, just go ahead and "cheat."

[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 think people talk about it all the time and rarely do it because the current state of schools in DC is that there is no guarantee your kid will get a decent high school, but the odds are high. Being able to say, “if all else fails, we’ll rent an apartment inbounds for JR” makes people more comfortable waiting out the application/lottery process and/or taking a chance on a school like MacArthur. But most of the time things work out, so very few people wind up pulling that rip cord.

Agree. And there are fairly low cost catholic schools. Of my large cohort of ward 5 families who I met in PK3, none moved to NWDC or arlington. They lotteried into JR feeders, chose one of the dc magnets, dci, latin, catholic schools, or ended up at a pricy private. The latin families seem happiest, FWIW.

[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 think people talk about it all the time and rarely do it because the current state of schools in DC is that there is no guarantee your kid will get a decent high school, but the odds are high. Being able to say, “if all else fails, we’ll rent an apartment inbounds for JR” makes people more comfortable waiting out the application/lottery process and/or taking a chance on a school like MacArthur. But most of the time things work out, so very few people wind up pulling that rip cord.

Things absolutely do not work out “most of the time.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 think people talk about it all the time and rarely do it because the current state of schools in DC is that there is no guarantee your kid will get a decent high school, but the odds are high. Being able to say, “if all else fails, we’ll rent an apartment inbounds for JR” makes people more comfortable waiting out the application/lottery process and/or taking a chance on a school like MacArthur. But most of the time things work out, so very few people wind up pulling that rip cord.

Agree. And there are fairly low cost catholic schools. Of my large cohort of ward 5 families who I met in PK3, none moved to NWDC or arlington. They lotteried into JR feeders, chose one of the dc magnets, dci, latin, catholic schools, or ended up at a pricy private. The latin families seem happiest, FWIW.

I strongly doubt that is true. And you are counting people who knew well before 8th grade that the had a plan so I don’t really count them. The question here is what do people do when their IB HS isn’t ok and the are in 8th grade …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 think people talk about it all the time and rarely do it because the current state of schools in DC is that there is no guarantee your kid will get a decent high school, but the odds are high. Being able to say, “if all else fails, we’ll rent an apartment inbounds for JR” makes people more comfortable waiting out the application/lottery process and/or taking a chance on a school like MacArthur. But most of the time things work out, so very few people wind up pulling that rip cord.

Things absolutely do not work out “most of the time.”

But they do. Most (ie, 62% of) rising 9th graders who only apply to one high school match with that high school, and the odds go up for students who list multiple high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 think people talk about it all the time and rarely do it because the current state of schools in DC is that there is no guarantee your kid will get a decent high school, but the odds are high. Being able to say, “if all else fails, we’ll rent an apartment inbounds for JR” makes people more comfortable waiting out the application/lottery process and/or taking a chance on a school like MacArthur. But most of the time things work out, so very few people wind up pulling that rip cord.

Things absolutely do not work out “most of the time.”

But they do. Most (ie, 62% of) rising 9th graders who only apply to one high school match with that high school, and the odds go up for students who list multiple high schools.

Oh come on. OP and the people worried about backups are not just applying to their IB HS and happy with it. The fact is, if you get to 8th grade and don’t consider the IB HS an option, then it is a pretty precarious situation. We always knew we would be staring this down, but still sucks to be living it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 think people talk about it all the time and rarely do it because the current state of schools in DC is that there is no guarantee your kid will get a decent high school, but the odds are high. Being able to say, “if all else fails, we’ll rent an apartment inbounds for JR” makes people more comfortable waiting out the application/lottery process and/or taking a chance on a school like MacArthur. But most of the time things work out, so very few people wind up pulling that rip cord.

Things absolutely do not work out “most of the time.”

But they do. Most (ie, 62% of) rising 9th graders who only apply to one high school match with that high school, and the odds go up for students who list multiple high schools.

Oh come on. OP and the people worried about backups are not just applying to their IB HS and happy with it. The fact is, if you get to 8th grade and don’t consider the IB HS an option, then it is a pretty precarious situation. We always knew we would be staring this down, but still sucks to be living it.

Do you even live in DC? No one applies to their IB high school. That’s not how it works here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 think people talk about it all the time and rarely do it because the current state of schools in DC is that there is no guarantee your kid will get a decent high school, but the odds are high. Being able to say, “if all else fails, we’ll rent an apartment inbounds for JR” makes people more comfortable waiting out the application/lottery process and/or taking a chance on a school like MacArthur. But most of the time things work out, so very few people wind up pulling that rip cord.

Agree. And there are fairly low cost catholic schools. Of my large cohort of ward 5 families who I met in PK3, none moved to NWDC or arlington. They lotteried into JR feeders, chose one of the dc magnets, dci, latin, catholic schools, or ended up at a pricy private. The latin families seem happiest, FWIW.

Interesting, I also live in Ward 5 and know tons of people who moved to upper NW for schools. Other paths I see -- Latin, DCI, BASIS, lotterying into a JR path and now their kids take transit there, moving to Bethesda, private. Lots of families in all these categories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 think people talk about it all the time and rarely do it because the current state of schools in DC is that there is no guarantee your kid will get a decent high school, but the odds are high. Being able to say, “if all else fails, we’ll rent an apartment inbounds for JR” makes people more comfortable waiting out the application/lottery process and/or taking a chance on a school like MacArthur. But most of the time things work out, so very few people wind up pulling that rip cord.

Things absolutely do not work out “most of the time.”

But they do. Most (ie, 62% of) rising 9th graders who only apply to one high school match with that high school, and the odds go up for students who list multiple high schools.

Oh come on. OP and the people worried about backups are not just applying to their IB HS and happy with it. The fact is, if you get to 8th grade and don’t consider the IB HS an option, then it is a pretty precarious situation. We always knew we would be staring this down, but still sucks to be living it.

Do you even live in DC? No one applies to their IB high school. That’s not how it works here.

Obviously I meant the zoned HS. I don’t know where you got that quote but it is not possibly true that 62% of applicants to application HSs get their first choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 think people talk about it all the time and rarely do it because the current state of schools in DC is that there is no guarantee your kid will get a decent high school, but the odds are high. Being able to say, “if all else fails, we’ll rent an apartment inbounds for JR” makes people more comfortable waiting out the application/lottery process and/or taking a chance on a school like MacArthur. But most of the time things work out, so very few people wind up pulling that rip cord.

Agree. And there are fairly low cost catholic schools. Of my large cohort of ward 5 families who I met in PK3, none moved to NWDC or arlington. They lotteried into JR feeders, chose one of the dc magnets, dci, latin, catholic schools, or ended up at a pricy private. The latin families seem happiest, FWIW.

Interesting, I also live in Ward 5 and know tons of people who moved to upper NW for schools. Other paths I see -- Latin, DCI, BASIS, lotterying into a JR path and now their kids take transit there, moving to Bethesda, private. Lots of families in all these categories.

Yes same in Ward 6. This question is about what happens when you don’t secure a HS pathway before 8th grade … so charter, lottery to a feeder, etc, are not relevant. Of my child’s cohort of around 60 kindergarteners I think only around 15 are still in the IB DCPS by 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 think people talk about it all the time and rarely do it because the current state of schools in DC is that there is no guarantee your kid will get a decent high school, but the odds are high. Being able to say, “if all else fails, we’ll rent an apartment inbounds for JR” makes people more comfortable waiting out the application/lottery process and/or taking a chance on a school like MacArthur. But most of the time things work out, so very few people wind up pulling that rip cord.

Agree. And there are fairly low cost catholic schools. Of my large cohort of ward 5 families who I met in PK3, none moved to NWDC or arlington. They lotteried into JR feeders, chose one of the dc magnets, dci, latin, catholic schools, or ended up at a pricy private. The latin families seem happiest, FWIW.

Interesting, I also live in Ward 5 and know tons of people who moved to upper NW for schools. Other paths I see -- Latin, DCI, BASIS, lotterying into a JR path and now their kids take transit there, moving to Bethesda, private. Lots of families in all these categories.

(Add to that Walls, Banneker and McKinley Tech)