Unified Lottery is official

[Anonymous]

I only want my child to go to my inbound school for PS3, but have only about a 50% chance to the lottery. If I list that as my only choice, would I then be added to the waitlist if I don't get in? Or, are there no longer any waitlists at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No YY, interesting. Actually as a YY parent I hope they choose not to participate and keep the time stamp wait list. One if YY string points is the involved parents and the amazing job the PA does raising funds for the school. You definitely get some involved, dedicated parents if the top of your wait list is comprised of parents who took the extra effort to stand in line extra early. And before you say how unfair it is, with enough notice and planning you can work it out. It is ONE day out of the year.

If that's true, why so little participation from parents in the younger classes, especially the big class of 100?

That's not what I see. At all. The PA meetings have great attendance and they gave the school at check for 90K this year. Pretty amazing if you ask me. It's a very strong community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, sooooo....

If I am applying for PK4 and have a good IB option want am interested in going to a Charter, do I put that charter #1 and the IB school 2?

You have preference for your IB for preK4 but not a guarantee. The only guarantee in any of this is InBounds starting at K.
If you want the charter more than your IB, rank it first. If you want your IB more than a charter, rank it first.

[Anonymous]

I feel for all the parents who are going to have to go through this next year. The more I read the worse it sounds. Can't believe that I managed to miss this by 1 year. Thank goodness for sibling preference. Good luck to everyone this year!

[Anonymous]

So say I am a parent who puts a much-hyped school #1 for PK3 or PK4 -- and my kid gets in, but upon visiting and actually commuting there since many parents at each end of the SES spectrum - hourly-wage parents and super-high-power parents - don't visit each and every school they apply to, the family realizes the school is not for them and their child for whatever reason (commute, vibe, diversity numbers, curriculum, etc) - they would be LOCKED out of every other wait list? No school for that kid except the leftovers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only want my child to go to my inbound school for PS3, but have only about a 50% chance to the lottery. If I list that as my only choice, would I then be added to the waitlist if I don't get in? Or, are there no longer any waitlists at all?

How did you come up with a 50% chance of getting in your IB PS3 school? Isn't it universal without boundary preference? If it isn't, how'd you get that number?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So say I am a parent who puts a much-hyped school #1 for PK3 or PK4 -- and my kid gets in, but upon visiting and actually commuting there since many parents at each end of the SES spectrum - hourly-wage parents and super-high-power parents - don't visit each and every school they apply to, the family realizes the school is not for them and their child for whatever reason (commute, vibe, diversity numbers, curriculum, etc) - they would be LOCKED out of every other wait list? No school for that kid except the leftovers?

That does seem to be the case, it's the price to pay to eliminate the worst of the September shuffle and keep people from holding multiple spots. And it does put more pressure on parents to really rank schools properly. But it also reduces pressure on parents who will have a much higher likelihood of getting into a school they want much earlier in the process, because it will have weeded out people who weren't really serious. And it reduces pressure on the schools by allowing them to concentrate more on actual education than having to deal with people not showing up, dropping out in the first few weeks, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel for all the parents who are going to have to go through this next year. The more I read the worse it sounds. Can't believe that I managed to miss this by 1 year. Thank goodness for sibling preference. Good luck to everyone this year!

I agree. I have been against this from the first it was mentioned. I think the people pushing for it have to be the ones who either got shut out of school lotteries, simply because their luck was against them, and somehow think this will solve it.

The people who do the research and have luck on their side will continue to get into good schools they prefer. It may just cut it down to one acceptance, not 6.

The people who randomly throw OOB and charter applications in the ring may still have luck on their side, they just might or might not get into a school that's a good fit for the family or their kid.

The people who don't do applications and send their kids to their neighborhood school simply because they don't care or can't get their child to another side of town or they don't know any difference between DCPS and DCPCS will still continue to send their kids to their neighborhood school by default.

This doesn't even the playing field in terms of opportunity for the neediest in our city.

This merges a system of neighborhood schools with a system of specialized and by-choice schools.

I think it takes away from parents' choices and ultimately undermines the entire concept of school choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No YY, interesting. Actually as a YY parent I hope they choose not to participate and keep the time stamp wait list. One if YY string points is the involved parents and the amazing job the PA does raising funds for the school. You definitely get some involved, dedicated parents if the top of your wait list is comprised of parents who took the extra effort to stand in line extra early. And before you say how unfair it is, with enough notice and planning you can work it out. It is ONE day out of the year.

If that's true, why so little participation from parents in the younger classes, especially the big class of 100?

That's not what I see. At all. The PA meetings have great attendance and they gave the school at check for 90K this year. Pretty amazing if you ask me. It's a very strong community.

Parents with kids in the higher grades run the PA. I think YY should get on board, or maybe the charter board should simply make it mandatory. I envision it will as the idea catches on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I only want my child to go to my inbound school for PS3, but have only about a 50% chance to the lottery. If I list that as my only choice, would I then be added to the waitlist if I don't get in? Or, are there no longer any waitlists at all?

How did you come up with a 50% chance of getting in your IB PS3 school? Isn't it universal without boundary preference? If it isn't, how'd you get that number?

My inbound school has room for about 15 kids in the P3 class, and this year about 30 or so inbound students applied. About 4 spots went to siblings with preference, so that leaves room for 11 new inbound students. This is why I think my chances are 50% or slightly less to get into my inbound school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That does seem to be the case, it's the price to pay to eliminate the worst of the September shuffle and keep people from holding multiple spots. And it does put more pressure on parents to really rank schools properly. But it also reduces pressure on parents who will have a much higher likelihood of getting into a school they want much earlier in the process, because it will have weeded out people who weren't really serious. And it reduces pressure on the schools by allowing them to concentrate more on actual education than having to deal with people not showing up, dropping out in the first few weeks, etc.

I largely agree, and I'll throw in the benefit that it allows DCPS and the PCSB to get hard data about actual parental preference.

However, I'll also counter that the whole system is based upon a dubious premise, which is that parents are able to conduct meaningful research. Most schools don't allow prospective families to tour the school when it's in session because they couldn't possibly, it would be too disruptive to bring that many people through. So most parents are limited to word of mouth and what they can learn on the Internet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I only want my child to go to my inbound school for PS3, but have only about a 50% chance to the lottery. If I list that as my only choice, would I then be added to the waitlist if I don't get in? Or, are there no longer any waitlists at all?

How did you come up with a 50% chance of getting in your IB PS3 school? Isn't it universal without boundary preference? If it isn't, how'd you get that number?

My inbound school has room for about 15 kids in the P3 class, and this year about 30 or so inbound students applied. About 4 spots went to siblings with preference, so that leaves room for 11 new inbound students. This is why I think my chances are 50% or slightly less to get into my inbound school.

Thanks. So does that mean PS3 isn't a universal lottery?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

That does seem to be the case, it's the price to pay to eliminate the worst of the September shuffle and keep people from holding multiple spots. And it does put more pressure on parents to really rank schools properly. But it also reduces pressure on parents who will have a much higher likelihood of getting into a school they want much earlier in the process, because it will have weeded out people who weren't really serious. And it reduces pressure on the schools by allowing them to concentrate more on actual education than having to deal with people not showing up, dropping out in the first few weeks, etc.

I largely agree, and I'll throw in the benefit that it allows DCPS and the PCSB to get hard data about actual parental preference.

However, I'll also counter that the whole system is based upon a dubious premise, which is that parents are able to conduct meaningful research. Most schools don't allow prospective families to tour the school when it's in session because they couldn't possibly, it would be too disruptive to bring that many people through. So most parents are limited to word of mouth and what they can learn on the Internet.

Therefore leading to many kids not staying at a school after their first year and trying to lottery again based on more data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I only want my child to go to my inbound school for PS3, but have only about a 50% chance to the lottery. If I list that as my only choice, would I then be added to the waitlist if I don't get in? Or, are there no longer any waitlists at all?

How did you come up with a 50% chance of getting in your IB PS3 school? Isn't it universal without boundary preference? If it isn't, how'd you get that number?

My inbound school has room for about 15 kids in the P3 class, and this year about 30 or so inbound students applied. About 4 spots went to siblings with preference, so that leaves room for 11 new inbound students. This is why I think my chances are 50% or slightly less to get into my inbound school.

Thanks. So does that mean PS3 isn't a universal lottery?

It's universal - anyone can apply for anywhere - but inbounds students have preference for neighborhood DCPS schools. Not a guarantee, but a preference, over students who are not inbounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel for all the parents who are going to have to go through this next year. The more I read the worse it sounds. Can't believe that I managed to miss this by 1 year. Thank goodness for sibling preference. Good luck to everyone this year!

I agree. I have been against this from the first it was mentioned. I think the people pushing for it have to be the ones who either got shut out of school lotteries, simply because their luck was against them, and somehow think this will solve it.

The people who do the research and have luck on their side will continue to get into good schools they prefer. It may just cut it down to one acceptance, not 6.

The people who randomly throw OOB and charter applications in the ring may still have luck on their side, they just might or might not get into a school that's a good fit for the family or their kid.

The people who don't do applications and send their kids to their neighborhood school simply because they don't care or can't get their child to another side of town or they don't know any difference between DCPS and DCPCS will still continue to send their kids to their neighborhood school by default.

This doesn't even the playing field in terms of opportunity for the neediest in our city.

This merges a system of neighborhood schools with a system of specialized and by-choice schools.

I think it takes away from parents' choices and ultimately undermines the entire concept of school choice.

I think it forces parents to seriously consider their school choices rather than just throwing their hats into the ring just because they can. We have the same choices, but now we have to actually prioritize them.