Lottery Today!

[Anonymous]

Just a quick note to say GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

[yes, this is a blatant attempt to get good karma... ]

[Anonymous]

Good luck to everyone as well! Is it the OOB lottery being held by DCPS, or do all schools need to have their lotteries done by today (doing it school by school)?

[Anonymous]

Yes, good luck!! As for the IB lotteries, Lafayette has definitely done theirs already, Murch says they have done theirs but haven't sent out the results yet, and I don't know about Janney, Key or Mann...

[Anonymous]

Janney did there's a few weeks back -- about 40 applicants for 10 slots.

We did not get in, but have decided against sending our kids there anyway.

[Anonymous]

Wow, those are grim odds. What made you decide against the school?

[Anonymous]

I'm the 11:35 poster:

Like many people, we applied to a few private schools and also a couple of the public school pre-k lotteries so we would have options.

I then did a little more research and thought about the best place for my DD.

Janney is by all accounts a wonderful school. But, it is getting increasingly crowded. The reason they only had 10 pre-k slots is because they had so many Kinder slots they had to fill so they turned their pre-k class into a combined pre-k/kinder class. I wasn't comfortable with that. While I think their active PTA means that Janney will always be an above-average school I was concerned about the questions surrounding their future expansion and their current overcrowding issues. I'm sure it will all be fine, but I decided to go with a private school with guaranteed small class size that's already gone through a recent modernization.

Also, I have no intention on sending my kids to Deal or Wilson so may as well start private from day one.

[Anonymous]

Sounds eminently reasonable. wish we had that option!

[Anonymous]

if the lottery is done how do you know if you got in?

[Anonymous]

I just checked in - you go to the out of boundary banner at the top of the web page and click as if to enter the out of boundary process - this will take you to to the results. You'll need your receipt numbers to check against the list.

My daughter got in to Thomson (Pre-K) and is #4 on the waitlist for Ross.

[Anonymous]

Wow, you're psyched--congrats! We are dead last on the Thomson preK list. and nowhere near getting for Hyde and Eaton. Argh.

[Anonymous]

but dead last is #7 on the waitlist - there is still hope!

[Anonymous]

I hope you're right! I work right near Thomson and have heard great things about it.

[Anonymous]

Can someone shed some light, We were number 13 so does that mean that if 12 kids do not go we will get the opportunity?

[Anonymous]

what school? each has a different number ofspots. thomson has 10 spots for prek so if 3 kids turn it down then you're in.

[Anonymous]

This is our first year at Thomson and it's been terrific. The building is lovely, but the real sell is the wonderful principal and the terrific teaching staff.

This is my 5th year as a DCPS parent and it is such a relief to be at a school like Thomson. The Chinese Language instruction is great, as are the guitar lessons the principal teaches. Thomson is a warm, nurturing and truly diverse DC public school. It's true that 3/4 of the children are below the poverty line and over 1/2 are English Language Learners. That can create some challenges and it definitely makes testing more high stakes for us, but it's a great place for advanced learners to attend school. They have a gifted program and work carefully with each student to make sure they are met at their level and that they can achieve the next level of excellence.

If your child got a spot at Thomson, consider your family very lucky. Outside of Ward 3, I think it may be one of the best DC Public Schools in the city.