Public/Charter School Lottery Experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child got in nowhere for preK3 as well, and while I put 4-6 HRCS on the list, the rest of the schools on the list were not highly regarded at all- four DCPS schools that did not have a waitlist at all last year. This is a very real possibility, so we will be at private pre-K for next year.

I did the PK3 lottery two years in a row and neither kid got in anywhere initially, including some places considered safeties (Appletrees and local DCPS that aren’t highly regarded), so it is a real possibility. And yes our IB was our top choice. Yes, we could have included more safeties, but I agree that OP should assume not getting in anywhere is a real possibility, at least if you are constrained by geography.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child got in nowhere for preK3 as well, and while I put 4-6 HRCS on the list, the rest of the schools on the list were not highly regarded at all- four DCPS schools that did not have a waitlist at all last year. This is a very real possibility, so we will be at private pre-K for next year.

We’re you like OP and refused to consider your IB? Or are you in a zone without PK3?

I’m this PP. I seriously considered our IB but when visiting the school I was completely upset at what I saw in the classrooms. Just kids being treated so disrespectfully. Like I said- I included other DCPS schools that had no waitlists last SY so I don’t have the highest bar.

[Anonymous]

I think it is best to keep i n mind that in most places in the US, parents have to pay for preschool, and every one goes to their neighborhood school. If people don't like their local school, they move. This option also exists in DC.

Also, there are almost always more pre-k spots than pre-k children. If someone wants a pre-k spot, they can usually get one.

School choice does not always seem to make people in DC better off. Like internet dating, it gives people the impression that there is always something better out there. (See the work of psychologist Barry Schwartz). If the OP only wants one of five very popular schools, odds are , her child will not get in, because everyone else wants those spots too. Those schools are not an entitlement any more than it's an entitlement to date a Hemsworth brother.

However, the OP has options. The OP can pay for private preschool, move, or cast a wider net of lottery choices more likely to yield a spot. Any public preschool in DC will be taught by a credentialed teacher with at least a bachelor's degree, often a master's, making them far more qualified than the average private preschool teacher, who might not even have a degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We refused to consider our IB. I think it’s a legitimate and justifiable choice. We did have other nearby safety schools.

Please tell me your reasoning for refusing to consider your IB school and what that school was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We refused to consider our IB. I think it’s a legitimate and justifiable choice. We did have other nearby safety schools.

Please tell me your reasoning for refusing to consider your IB school and what that school was.

For me, it was because they were so many better options available. If our child had drawn a bad number, I would have taken the step of considering vs. another year of preschool, but it never came to that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We refused to consider our IB. I think it’s a legitimate and justifiable choice. We did have other nearby safety schools.

Please tell me your reasoning for refusing to consider your IB school and what that school was.

For me, it was because they were so many better options available. If our child had drawn a bad number, I would have taken the step of considering vs. another year of preschool, but it never came to that.

What do you mean when you say drawn a bad number? I've been on this forum for the last two days and I keep seeing people refer to the numbers that they are given as good or bad. I am so confused. I'm starting to feel like I am way in over my head, but I just want whats best for my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We refused to consider our IB. I think it’s a legitimate and justifiable choice. We did have other nearby safety schools.

Please tell me your reasoning for refusing to consider your IB school and what that school was.

For me, it was because they were so many better options available. If our child had drawn a bad number, I would have taken the step of considering vs. another year of preschool, but it never came to that.

What do you mean when you say drawn a bad number? I've been on this forum for the last two days and I keep seeing people refer to the numbers that they are given as good or bad. I am so confused. I'm starting to feel like I am way in over my head, but I just want whats best for my kid.

You really need to go to the My School website and read about how the lottery works.

Simple version: You enter the lottery by submitting a list of up to 12 schools, ranked in order of preference. After the deadline, everyone is randomly assigned a "master number." If your master number is 1, then you are the first person that the system considers. It will run down your list, and you will be offered a spot at the first school that has a spot. If your master number is 7,242, then you are the 7,242nd person that the system considers, so it's much less likely that there will be spots left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We refused to consider our IB. I think it’s a legitimate and justifiable choice. We did have other nearby safety schools.

Please tell me your reasoning for refusing to consider your IB school and what that school was.

For me, it was because they were so many better options available. If our child had drawn a bad number, I would have taken the step of considering vs. another year of preschool, but it never came to that.

What do you mean when you say drawn a bad number? I've been on this forum for the last two days and I keep seeing people refer to the numbers that they are given as good or bad. I am so confused. I'm starting to feel like I am way in over my head, but I just want whats best for my kid.

1. Breathe

2. https://enrolldcps.dc.gov/sites/dcpsenrollment/files/page_content/attachments/SY18-19%20DCPS%20Enrollment%20and%20Lottery%20Handbook%20FINAL.pdf

3. People are talking about the results of the lottery. A lower number is better a higher number is worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We refused to consider our IB. I think it’s a legitimate and justifiable choice. We did have other nearby safety schools.

Please tell me your reasoning for refusing to consider your IB school and what that school was.

For me, it was because they were so many better options available. If our child had drawn a bad number, I would have taken the step of considering vs. another year of preschool, but it never came to that.

What do you mean when you say drawn a bad number? I've been on this forum for the last two days and I keep seeing people refer to the numbers that they are given as good or bad. I am so confused. I'm starting to feel like I am way in over my head, but I just want whats best for my kid.

Go to the MySchool DC website and watch the video on how the lottery works (the direct link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx7-o-ff9y4&feature=youtu.be)

In less than 5 minutes you will be less confused.

But it is really simple. They put all the kids applying for seats in a certain grade (let's say PK3) in an electronic "bucket." They pull one kid at a time out of the bucket: the first kid out has #1, the next has #2, etc. Then they go to kid #1 and look at her ranked list of schools. If there's a spot in her first-choice school, she gets it. If there isn't, she goes on the wait list for that school and they look at her second-choice school. Let's say she gets in to her second choice school. Then they move on to kid #2 and look at his list and put him in the school he ranked highest that has space for him.

It's a bit more complex than that given in-bound and sibling and other preferences and how some dual-language DCPS schools order their preferences differently than most schools, but that is really the gist of it. There is no way to game it. List up to 12 schools you like, in your order of preference, and hope that your kid is one of the first drawn out of the "bucket." Include some schools that tend to have more spaces available and/or where you have preferences (in-bound DCPS for example) if you want the best chance of matching somewhere, but rank it below any schools you'd prefer.

[Anonymous]

If you want to really learn about the matching algorithm, this video goes into lots of detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPFEGpx2Wng

But just find 12 schools you'd be happy with, including a couple that you would have very good odds of getting into based on this year's data (that basically means your IB DCPS or a DCPS/charter that has no waitlist at this point) and rank them in the order you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We refused to consider our IB. I think it’s a legitimate and justifiable choice. We did have other nearby safety schools.

Please tell me your reasoning for refusing to consider your IB school and what that school was.

For me, it was because they were so many better options available. If our child had drawn a bad number, I would have taken the step of considering vs. another year of preschool, but it never came to that.

What do you mean when you say drawn a bad number? I've been on this forum for the last two days and I keep seeing people refer to the numbers that they are given as good or bad. I am so confused. I'm starting to feel like I am way in over my head, but I just want whats best for my kid.

Go to the MySchool DC website and watch the video on how the lottery works (the direct link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx7-o-ff9y4&feature=youtu.be)

In less than 5 minutes you will be less confused.

But it is really simple. They put all the kids applying for seats in a certain grade (let's say PK3) in an electronic "bucket." They pull one kid at a time out of the bucket: the first kid out has #1, the next has #2, etc. Then they go to kid #1 and look at her ranked list of schools. If there's a spot in her first-choice school, she gets it. If there isn't, she goes on the wait list for that school and they look at her second-choice school. Let's say she gets in to her second choice school. Then they move on to kid #2 and look at his list and put him in the school he ranked highest that has space for him.

It's a bit more complex than that given in-bound and sibling and other preferences and how some dual-language DCPS schools order their preferences differently than most schools, but that is really the gist of it. There is no way to game it. List up to 12 schools you like, in your order of preference, and hope that your kid is one of the first drawn out of the "bucket." Include some schools that tend to have more spaces available and/or where you have preferences (in-bound DCPS for example) if you want the best chance of matching somewhere, but rank it below any schools you'd prefer.

Close - but not quite. They don't allocate numbers by grade. Every student in the lottery gets a number - be they applying for Pk3 or 11th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We refused to consider our IB. I think it’s a legitimate and justifiable choice. We did have other nearby safety schools.

Please tell me your reasoning for refusing to consider your IB school and what that school was.

For me, it was because they were so many better options available. If our child had drawn a bad number, I would have taken the step of considering vs. another year of preschool, but it never came to that.

What do you mean when you say drawn a bad number? I've been on this forum for the last two days and I keep seeing people refer to the numbers that they are given as good or bad. I am so confused. I'm starting to feel like I am way in over my head, but I just want whats best for my kid.

1. Breathe

2. https://enrolldcps.dc.gov/sites/dcpsenrollment/files/page_content/attachments/SY18-19%20DCPS%20Enrollment%20and%20Lottery%20Handbook%20FINAL.pdf

3. People are talking about the results of the lottery. A lower number is better a higher number is worse.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We refused to consider our IB. I think it’s a legitimate and justifiable choice. We did have other nearby safety schools.

Please tell me your reasoning for refusing to consider your IB school and what that school was.

For me, it was because they were so many better options available. If our child had drawn a bad number, I would have taken the step of considering vs. another year of preschool, but it never came to that.

What do you mean when you say drawn a bad number? I've been on this forum for the last two days and I keep seeing people refer to the numbers that they are given as good or bad. I am so confused. I'm starting to feel like I am way in over my head, but I just want whats best for my kid.

You really need to go to the My School website and read about how the lottery works.

Simple version: You enter the lottery by submitting a list of up to 12 schools, ranked in order of preference. After the deadline, everyone is randomly assigned a "master number." If your master number is 1, then you are the first person that the system considers. It will run down your list, and you will be offered a spot at the first school that has a spot. If your master number is 7,242, then you are the 7,242nd person that the system considers, so it's much less likely that there will be spots left.

I did but it was a while ago. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

And to the original poster: the consequence of the lottery mechanism assigning one "master number" to each child means that you could do REALLY well or REALLY badly. You may get into your #3 pick, but also have bitchin' waitlist #s at the 2 uber popular schools you put above it. Alternatively, you may sneak into your safety pick, say #12 on your list, and have numbers in the 300-500 range at everything above that safety, even the schools you considered not that popular. People locked out of schools either had lists with no unpopular choices on it, or, they just truly got a shitty ass number on lottery night.

I consider our experience middling. We got into our #6 choice and are happy with it. We had numbers in the 20's in a few of the not super hot picks above our number 6. We were in the 50s for the really popular schools though and those waitlists don't move more than a few spots as far as I can tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We refused to consider our IB. I think it’s a legitimate and justifiable choice. We did have other nearby safety schools.

Please tell me your reasoning for refusing to consider your IB school and what that school was.

For me, it was because they were so many better options available. If our child had drawn a bad number, I would have taken the step of considering vs. another year of preschool, but it never came to that.

What do you mean when you say drawn a bad number? I've been on this forum for the last two days and I keep seeing people refer to the numbers that they are given as good or bad. I am so confused. I'm starting to feel like I am way in over my head, but I just want whats best for my kid.

Go to the MySchool DC website and watch the video on how the lottery works (the direct link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx7-o-ff9y4&feature=youtu.be)

In less than 5 minutes you will be less confused.

But it is really simple. They put all the kids applying for seats in a certain grade (let's say PK3) in an electronic "bucket." They pull one kid at a time out of the bucket: the first kid out has #1, the next has #2, etc. Then they go to kid #1 and look at her ranked list of schools. If there's a spot in her first-choice school, she gets it. If there isn't, she goes on the wait list for that school and they look at her second-choice school. Let's say she gets in to her second choice school. Then they move on to kid #2 and look at his list and put him in the school he ranked highest that has space for him.

It's a bit more complex than that given in-bound and sibling and other preferences and how some dual-language DCPS schools order their preferences differently than most schools, but that is really the gist of it. There is no way to game it. List up to 12 schools you like, in your order of preference, and hope that your kid is one of the first drawn out of the "bucket." Include some schools that tend to have more spaces available and/or where you have preferences (in-bound DCPS for example) if you want the best chance of matching somewhere, but rank it below any schools you'd prefer.

Close - but not quite. They don't allocate numbers by grade. Every student in the lottery gets a number - be they applying for Pk3 or 11th.

But you're only "competing" against other students in the same grade, so it's functionally the same as if they held separate lotteries.