DC Lottery Results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child is going into first grade. He's 8 on the waitlist for Shepherd, 10 for Lafayette, Bancroft and Murch, and 7 for Hearst. What is the likelihood of getting into any of these prior to the start of school?

Murch also is being affected by the number of voucher families the city is putting into the large apartment buildings that are inbounds for the school. If there are enough that they need to add classrooms, that could help you. If not, it won't help you.

[Anonymous]

For 5th grade, we got >270 for Basis. Didn’t know such a bad result was even possible! (Would love to hear horror stories so we can pretend we dodged a bullet there . Our kid likes elementary school math and science but is not advanced… yet.) The total waitlist length in recent years looks like it’s been between 200-260 students, so 270 is a head scratcher.

And then there’s the 2 Latins. >450 for both.

This kind of result is similar to other lottery results we’ve gotten in prior years. Is it a blind random lottery or do they sort of chunk slots by location, demographics, or maybe even things like EAPs or prior attendance issues? Seems weird how consistently we’ve drawn crappy numbers when it’s just a luck-based process. I guess I’m being a bit paranoid. Probability and randomness are what they are.

[Anonymous]

I can make you feel (somewhat) better. The Latin and Basis middle school waitlists have been growing every year post-pandemic. Mortgage rates might have something to do with it. Basis has a lot of homework. A lottery number in the middle for 5th/6th grade will get you Basis for 5th but not much else. You are not in a substantially worse position with a bad number than lots of others with a so-so number because you need a very good number for schools like Latin or Hardy etc.

[Anonymous]

Middle school seats are one of the most competitive seats in the city. There are not that many decent ones in the city.

If you are EOTP and don’t get Latin, Basis, and are not in a feeder for DCI, honestly, I would just move to burbs to good pyramid for 5/6 to 12th. The schools there are much better there then WOTP schools.

[Anonymous]

My twins are on the waitlist #4 and #8 for EW Stokes Brookland French immersion program 1st grade. Any view on the chances of having both of them in in particular before the school starts? By looking at the stats it seems that a lot of spots open in September for some reasons… Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same way. But her current school isn’t very academically rigorous and I feel she does need more structure. Unsure if Truth is the answer either. That’s IF we get in. And if don’t then moving might be only option left.

Why not try BASIS for 5th and lottery again for 6th if you're still not sure? Based on comments here seems like 5th is a more "gentle" year at BASIS - a lot of teaching the kids organization and study skills and no comps.

I feel like people underestimate how stressful switching schools is. I have an extroverted, generally pretty easy kid, and he still talks about how stressful it was switching in second grade.

The difference here is that, no matter what you decide, there will be multiple transitions. It's just the nature of 5th and 6th grade in DC.

If they stay at current elementary school for 5th, it's still a "transition" since many 4th grade classmates will move on to charters or better middle school feeders. And they will still have to transition to a new school in 6th. If they don't lottery into something they like for 6th, they're not just looking at moving schools but moving out of DC entirely, which is obviously a much bigger transition.

If instead they go to BASIS for 5th, yeah it's a transition. But if they end up liking it, they're set. If they don't, they're in the same position lotterying for 6th as they would be anyway. But maybe it buys them a little extra time to make a game plan if they're willing to stick with BASIS for 6th.

Coming from the suburbs (living in DC for 15+ years now tho..). this still blows my mind. as a Florida burbs kid, we went to the same cluster, all of our friends. Elementary Middle HS.

I assume it is like this around here in MD and VA of course. But DC.. I get it. Your kids have these elementary friends they grow up with and BAM. 5th grade they are in a brand new school (like a BASIS or a Latin). Start all over with faces they have never seen.

I am aware that there are thousands of kids in DC that go to the same Elem, middle, and HS as their cluster and they stay public the entire time. I get that, too. I am merely commenting on the this comment above.

I don't know, I went to MCPS schools growing up and almost opted for a magnet intermediate school (decided not to go because the bus ride was too long) and then went to a magnet high school with only about 10 kids from my 8th grade class. Plenty of kids even outside D.C. don't stay with their same cohort all the way through school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For 5th grade, we got >270 for Basis. Didn’t know such a bad result was even possible! (Would love to hear horror stories so we can pretend we dodged a bullet there . Our kid likes elementary school math and science but is not advanced… yet.) The total waitlist length in recent years looks like it’s been between 200-260 students, so 270 is a head scratcher.

And then there’s the 2 Latins. >450 for both.

This kind of result is similar to other lottery results we’ve gotten in prior years. Is it a blind random lottery or do they sort of chunk slots by location, demographics, or maybe even things like EAPs or prior attendance issues? Seems weird how consistently we’ve drawn crappy numbers when it’s just a luck-based process. I guess I’m being a bit paranoid. Probability and randomness are what they are.

Almost every year I get a kid mid year whose family has pulled them from Basis for their kid’s mental health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can make you feel (somewhat) better. The Latin and Basis middle school waitlists have been growing every year post-pandemic. Mortgage rates might have something to do with it. Basis has a lot of homework. A lottery number in the middle for 5th/6th grade will get you Basis for 5th but not much else. You are not in a substantially worse position with a bad number than lots of others with a so-so number because you need a very good number for schools like Latin or Hardy etc.

I will say that the large number of kids staying in DC for middle school also means that more school become acceptable options. On Capitol Hill more and more kids are attending Eliot Hine because they were shut out of Latins/BASIS, and schools like EH have much better facilities than BASIS for example. Getting a bad lottery number doesn’t mean moving is the only option.

Once you get through MS, the HS options are wider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle school seats are one of the most competitive seats in the city. There are not that many decent ones in the city.

If you are EOTP and don’t get Latin, Basis, and are not in a feeder for DCI, honestly, I would just move to burbs to good pyramid for 5/6 to 12th. The schools there are much better there then WOTP schools.

I'm not sure you should follow the advice who doesn't know the difference between "then" and "than".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle school seats are one of the most competitive seats in the city. There are not that many decent ones in the city.

If you are EOTP and don’t get Latin, Basis, and are not in a feeder for DCI, honestly, I would just move to burbs to good pyramid for 5/6 to 12th. The schools there are much better there then WOTP schools.

I'm not sure you should follow the advice who doesn't know the difference between "then" and "than".

Wait until you start getting emails from your DCPS teacher and check back with us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can make you feel (somewhat) better. The Latin and Basis middle school waitlists have been growing every year post-pandemic. Mortgage rates might have something to do with it. Basis has a lot of homework. A lottery number in the middle for 5th/6th grade will get you Basis for 5th but not much else. You are not in a substantially worse position with a bad number than lots of others with a so-so number because you need a very good number for schools like Latin or Hardy etc.

I will say that the large number of kids staying in DC for middle school also means that more school become acceptable options. On Capitol Hill more and more kids are attending Eliot Hine because they were shut out of Latins/BASIS, and schools like EH have much better facilities than BASIS for example. Getting a bad lottery number doesn’t mean moving is the only option.

Once you get through MS, the HS options are wider.

Agree with this. There are a whole handful of DCPS middle schools that seem fine, not sure what that PPs options are. And to feel better on BASIS, you really have to be a very particular kind of kid, otherwise it's kind of miserable. My kid does truly like it, so it's not miserable for everyone. But those who hate it, hate it in a very damaging and active way (they feel stupid, they are stressed and exhausted, they feel like they are failing)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can make you feel (somewhat) better. The Latin and Basis middle school waitlists have been growing every year post-pandemic. Mortgage rates might have something to do with it. Basis has a lot of homework. A lottery number in the middle for 5th/6th grade will get you Basis for 5th but not much else. You are not in a substantially worse position with a bad number than lots of others with a so-so number because you need a very good number for schools like Latin or Hardy etc.

I will say that the large number of kids staying in DC for middle school also means that more school become acceptable options. On Capitol Hill more and more kids are attending Eliot Hine because they were shut out of Latins/BASIS, and schools like EH have much better facilities than BASIS for example. Getting a bad lottery number doesn’t mean moving is the only option.

Once you get through MS, the HS options are wider.

Agree with this. There are a whole handful of DCPS middle schools that seem fine, not sure what that PPs options are. And to feel better on BASIS, you really have to be a very particular kind of kid, otherwise it's kind of miserable. My kid does truly like it, so it's not miserable for everyone. But those who hate it, hate it in a very damaging and active way (they feel stupid, they are stressed and exhausted, they feel like they are failing)

Maybe a handful more are attending EH but it is far from fine when 3/4th of the kids in ELA and 8 out of 10 kids in math are not even on grade level. Those numbers are abysmal.

Yes moving is the only option if you want a decent school. If yoir kid is below grade level I guess then they will be fine at EH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this true for PK at CHML too?

No, PK is great! It’s the only part of the school that’s actually Montessori accredited.

Yes, because it is MONTESSORI!!!! It is designed for ECE. The idea that children and preteens should get to pick what and how they learn is stupidity.

It is so poorly implemented at CHML too. The students have no idea how a "normal" classroom should look and function. They don't have the attention spans to sit through any kind of direct instruction, they think they can do whatever they want, and therefore, struggle when they get to high school and are expected to function in a regular classroom setting. The 4th-5th grade classrooms are full of behavior problems and this is known as many parents opt to pull their kids out after 3rd grade. Montessori can work but only highly motivated and independent students can succeed and CHML is full of kids who were kicked out of their DCPS school/charters/etc. It just does not work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For 5th grade, we got >270 for Basis. Didn’t know such a bad result was even possible! (Would love to hear horror stories so we can pretend we dodged a bullet there . Our kid likes elementary school math and science but is not advanced… yet.) The total waitlist length in recent years looks like it’s been between 200-260 students, so 270 is a head scratcher.

And then there’s the 2 Latins. >450 for both.

This kind of result is similar to other lottery results we’ve gotten in prior years. Is it a blind random lottery or do they sort of chunk slots by location, demographics, or maybe even things like EAPs or prior attendance issues? Seems weird how consistently we’ve drawn crappy numbers when it’s just a luck-based process. I guess I’m being a bit paranoid. Probability and randomness are what they are.

I'm sure it's just blind luck that *two* members of the city council (Trayon, Nadeau) have children at LAMB, which has probably the longest waitlist of any school in the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For 5th grade, we got >270 for Basis. Didn’t know such a bad result was even possible! (Would love to hear horror stories so we can pretend we dodged a bullet there . Our kid likes elementary school math and science but is not advanced… yet.) The total waitlist length in recent years looks like it’s been between 200-260 students, so 270 is a head scratcher.

And then there’s the 2 Latins. >450 for both.

This kind of result is similar to other lottery results we’ve gotten in prior years. Is it a blind random lottery or do they sort of chunk slots by location, demographics, or maybe even things like EAPs or prior attendance issues? Seems weird how consistently we’ve drawn crappy numbers when it’s just a luck-based process. I guess I’m being a bit paranoid. Probability and randomness are what they are.

It's blind. The equity lotteries are how they take into account demographics, and that's very transparent.