DC Lottery Results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have a sense of the breakdown of lottery applicants by PK v. Start of Middle school v. Start of High school v. Other grades?

I’ve only done the lottery for PK grades and don’t have a sense of how prevalent it is to lottery for later grades. Seems like start of middle and start of high school are common?

There's a data section of myschooldc that has a lot of info. 5th and 6th are the big transition years, and 9th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have a sense of the breakdown of lottery applicants by PK v. Start of Middle school v. Start of High school v. Other grades?

I’ve only done the lottery for PK grades and don’t have a sense of how prevalent it is to lottery for later grades. Seems like start of middle and start of high school are common?

Here’s the link with data: https://www.myschooldc.org/resources/data

It suggests a lot of people don’t prefer their in-bound high school.

[Anonymous]

The inbound elementary school is right across my street for our first pre k kid. That is close and our first choice, can I assume that 99.99 percent we will get in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The inbound elementary school is right across my street for our first pre k kid. That is close and our first choice, can I assume that 99.99 percent we will get in?

No, you can't assume that at all. It depends which school it is, because some schools don't have room for all their inbound preschoolers.

[Anonymous]

Why dcps need to do lottery for all levels of school? Why is there no school assigned based on the home address? They don't offer school bus, and DC parking are limited. Isn't it make sense that people want their kids go to the closest school within walking distance?

I wonder what if kid is assigned to a school not within walking distance? Take public transportation or do families drive and drop off? It is our first child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why dcps need to do lottery for all levels of school? Why is there no school assigned based on the home address? They don't offer school bus, and DC parking are limited. Isn't it make sense that people want their kids go to the closest school within walking distance?

I wonder what if kid is assigned to a school not within walking distance? Take public transportation or do families drive and drop off? It is our first child.

For kindergarten and up, you do have a by-right school you can attend without doing the lottery. You can find those schools for your address here: https://enrolldcps.dc.gov/node/41

[Anonymous]

PP again. You do have to use the lottery for PK3/4 because those aren't mandatory years so the schools don't have to have a seat available for every kid. For most schools though, you're most likely to get a seat at your in-boundary elementary for PK if you enter the lottery for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why dcps need to do lottery for all levels of school? Why is there no school assigned based on the home address? They don't offer school bus, and DC parking are limited. Isn't it make sense that people want their kids go to the closest school within walking distance?

I wonder what if kid is assigned to a school not within walking distance? Take public transportation or do families drive and drop off? It is our first child.

They do the lottery because of a court order, and because some schools are not by-address.

There is a school assigned based on your address that you can go to at any time in the year. People drive or take public transportation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why dcps need to do lottery for all levels of school? Why is there no school assigned based on the home address? They don't offer school bus, and DC parking are limited. Isn't it make sense that people want their kids go to the closest school within walking distance?

I wonder what if kid is assigned to a school not within walking distance? Take public transportation or do families drive and drop off? It is our first child.

The lottery is entirely optional.

There is a school assigned to your kid based on address, this is the in-bound school. In elementary school, grades pre-kindergarten to 5th, it is usually walking distance. This feeds into a middle school and then a high school. Kids may need transportation for those and can then take the metro or a bus for free.

People put their kids in the lottery if they want a better school, or a school that is a better fit for their child, or if it is one of the selective high schools. Many people, who live in bounds for certain schools never enter the lottery.
You can learn more at myschooldc.org

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The inbound elementary school is right across my street for our first pre k kid. That is close and our first choice, can I assume that 99.99 percent we will get in?

No, you can't assume that at all. It depends which school it is, because some schools don't have room for all their inbound preschoolers.

Agreed, you can’t assume. Each school has a tier of different preference levels too. Inbound + sibling attending tends to be highest preference. If you are simply inbound, you may be in the third or fourth preference. It depends on how many seats they have, how many of the incoming students have siblings attending already, etc. There are helpful videos on myschooldc that explain the system.

[Anonymous]

I feel like I read it somewhere, but no longer can find it - do the application high schools (after educational/interview requirements are met) take into account factors such as if the student went to a DCPS middle school (vs charter or out of state) or if that middle school is located in, for example, wards 5-8?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like I read it somewhere, but no longer can find it - do the application high schools (after educational/interview requirements are met) take into account factors such as if the student went to a DCPS middle school (vs charter or out of state) or if that middle school is located in, for example, wards 5-8?

No. Even if they have an at risk preference, it's much narrower than ward

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like I read it somewhere, but no longer can find it - do the application high schools (after educational/interview requirements are met) take into account factors such as if the student went to a DCPS middle school (vs charter or out of state) or if that middle school is located in, for example, wards 5-8?

They would never admit to that. But somehow the process does consistently produce a class that is balanced enough to avoid scrutiny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like I read it somewhere, but no longer can find it - do the application high schools (after educational/interview requirements are met) take into account factors such as if the student went to a DCPS middle school (vs charter or out of state) or if that middle school is located in, for example, wards 5-8?

They would never admit to that. But somehow the process does consistently produce a class that is balanced enough to avoid scrutiny.

What school do you think is application and ‘balanced’ by ward?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like I read it somewhere, but no longer can find it - do the application high schools (after educational/interview requirements are met) take into account factors such as if the student went to a DCPS middle school (vs charter or out of state) or if that middle school is located in, for example, wards 5-8?

They would never admit to that. But somehow the process does consistently produce a class that is balanced enough to avoid scrutiny.

What school do you think is application and ‘balanced’ by ward?

I would say that all the application schools have avoided scrutiny so therefore the council, sboe, etc must consider them balanced "enough". I'm not sure what would be enough for me, personally, since I don't have the data anyway.