How do you enroll our child in a DC school if moving to the District after the lottery deadline?

[Anonymous]

We are expecting to move to the District next summer with our daughter ready to start kindergarten, and we will not have a DC residence before the March 1 lottery deadline. How can we enroll our child in school?

[Anonymous]

Oops--I meant to say "how do WE enroll our child"! Thanks for any advice on this.

[Anonymous]

If your daughter will be in K you will just walk into your neighborhood school's office and register her for school. Make sure you have vaccinations up to date.

[Anonymous]

The lottery is for people who want to put their child in prek, people who want to attend a school other than their assigned neighborhood school, and people who want charter or magnet schools. A kindergartener who is going to attend her neighborhood school can just register at any time and walk in on the first day. No lottery needed. You will need proof of residence to register her.

[Anonymous]

...so make sure you know what your inboundary school is when you decide where to move.

[Anonymous]

Ten years ago the deadline was Dec 1 for all schools. It changed. The media is out of date. PP is right.

[Anonymous]

This is honestly a bit tricky, and why we ended up in the close-in suburbs when we moved to DC with school-aged kids. If you can't afford (or don't want to live in) Upper NW or the Hill, you have to do some research to figure out which neighborhood schools in an affordable area are good choices.

[Anonymous]

Pick your boundary and you are done!

[Anonymous]

There are some nice up and coming schools in affordable neighborhoods, check out West and maybe Powell.

[Anonymous]

The other thing you can do is enter the lottery and hope that you don't match but get on waitlists that move over the summer. The initial lottery happens in April. You need to be able to prove residency by May 1, I think, if you match.

If you are on waitlists over the summer and are ultimately offered a spot, you prove residency when you enroll.

In your shoes, I'd go with a two-pronged plan and figure out 1) where you have the ability to move in boundary where you'd be happy with the school (perhaps with a plan to rent for the first year) and 2) lottery to give you more housing flexibility, in case the timing of an offer works out.

[Anonymous]

The other thing you can do is enter the lottery and hope that you don't match but get on waitlists that move over the summer. The initial lottery happens in April. You need to be able to prove residency by May 1, I think, if you match

Trying to remember... but I'm not sure you need to prove residency by May 1. We found out we were moving to DC in time to enter the second round of the lottery as a non-resident. (So we had no neighborhood preference on any schools.) We then signed our lease as of May 15 and enrolled in our zoned DC school at the end of May.

[Anonymous]

So, in other words, what you should do now is enter the lottery for next year and see where you in... and also move to an area where you'd like the neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

I did this last year. You have to move to an in-bound school. You need to do your research, scour rentals and homes for sale, and get a lease in area that puts you in-bound for a school that you want. Set up your lease or close on your house, set up your utilities and when you get to DC immediately get your DC license.
It is awful and stressful, but I am here to tell you it can be done.

[Anonymous]

OP, you will be fine if you move into the boundary for a good school. Can you afford/do you want to do that? The lottery is where it will get tricky for you.

[Anonymous]

You move to N Arlington and you don't worry about such things or people ever again.