Any schools Waitlist data shock you?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
I looked at the data and it seems like they are just using a different model this year. They will very likely go deep into their waitlist for several grades, but for 9th, for example, they didn't admit anyone. Probably because they have higher existing and potential sibling enrollment and they want to keep their growth sustainable. |
Anonymous
If you don’t have a dog in this race, pipe down. We were at YY, so we know all too well that PP above isn’t wrong. DC public schools, do immersion right, like MoCo does. Parents don’t need to learn to avoid lame progeans like YY the hard way. |
Anonymous
They are outgrowing their current space and had to cut back on 6th grade acceptance until the high school moves into it's own space (knock on wood) for SY 2025-2026 (just saw another thread started on this incidentally). Ironically, in their initial application to the charter school board and pitch to Montessori elementary schools for support, they said they would be doing smaller 6th grade classes to catch non-Montessori kids up to Montessori methods and then expand out for 7th grade when all the Montessori elementary kids would matriculate (since Upper El is 4th-6th). They didn't do that the first few years, but were kind of forced into it this year. |
Anonymous
+1, the physical space was a major reason we ranked TR very low in the lottery. We actually ranked it below JOW even though JOW's current space is pretty bad and in desperate need of update (which thankfully they are getting). But at least JOW has a huge outdoor space and kids don't have to cross the street to go to the gym! I know physical space is not the most important aspect of a school but TR has other issues too -- I am not surprised to see their numbers declining. When comparing schools where you have similar feelings about measures like teacher quality and programming, the physical space can be a deal breaker. For us, the TR4th space was a deal breaker (and we are too far from the Young campus to have seriously considered it. |
Anonymous
With such short waitlists, both of these schools are going to fly through their waitlists by end of spring and get nowhere near full enrollment next year. What happens then? (Other than a big blow to funding.) There needs to be increased accountability for these poor performing charters. Hopefully a new building for CMI isn't on the horizon anymore with these horrible numbers. |
Anonymous
| Based on these waitlist numbers for middle high schools (Latin, Basis, Truth, Benneker McKinley), what is the trajectory looking like as far as a solid middle/high school option a few years into the future? It seems to be looking less and less likely of being able to get into some of these schools when the IB school doesn’t seem like a great option either at this point. I’m starting to feel slightly anxious about it all even though we’re still 3 years away, but we’ve never done great in the lottery and been generally satisfied with our DCPS IB elementary. |
Anonymous
Because of Banneker Summer Institute (BSI), they tend to over-admit. |
Anonymous
I'm curious about this as well. Are there numbers available yet on the number of unique applicants per grade this year? If this year's rising fifth graders don't have a DCI guarantee and SH isn't taking as many OOB students as it used to, families may be hedging their bets and applying for Latin and Basis for fifth instead of putting all of their stakes on a good enough lottery number for sixth. |
Anonymous
You should be making plans to consider potentially moving. 3 years is nothing and going to fly by. Your chance in 3 years is going to be significantly less than now. Don’t be in the position that many current families are in now. Basically there are now only 2 acceptable middle schools if you take out DCI and if your kid doesn’t fit the right characteristics for Basis then it’s down to 1 middle school EOTP |
Anonymous
What's available is here: https://www.myschooldc.org/resources/data |
Anonymous
As long as you focus on the lottery for 5th grade (waiting until 6th is super risky if your IB isn’t a good backup!) and you’re comfortable with SH or SWW@Francis Stevens, you are fine. Yes, JO Wilson has a bigger waitlist this year, but it’s about what it was pre-pandemic. They’re very likely to still clear it. And Thomson has open seats for 5th. Keep an eye on the lottery results each year, make sure this remains the case (or that, if those schools become more in demand, others take their place that are acceptable) and make sure you have some safeties on your 5th grade lotto list! |
Anonymous
+1. We're in the exact same situation as PP and know we'll likely end up having to move either IB for Hardy or Deal, or to MCPS. We lottery for Deal feeders every year (the commute to Hardy feeders is just too far for an elementary commute), and will lottery for Latin and maybe Basis for fifth. We are Spanish speakers and could lottery into Stokes or MV in fifth since both seem to clear their fifth grade waitlists consistently, but are not sold on DCI and REALLY don't want to risk a bad lottery draw in sixth and not getting into DCI after moving a fifth grader for the feed. If DCI were stronger and/or it was still a guarantee, maybe, but ehhhh, doesn't seem worth the risk at this point. But we're assuming the lottery won't work out and we'll need to rent and rent for middle and high school. Which would be an enormous pain, but not the end of the world. And ultimately would provide a better experience for DC to live in their school community instead of taking on a lengthy commute. |
Anonymous
I find this comment unhelpful and a little reactionary (also unclear, I can't tell which schools you've decided are acceptable -- are you including Deal and Hardy in this? SH? Viewing Latin and Latin Cooper separately?) but a few thoughts: I think it's premature to decide what is happening with MS/HS until we watch the waitlists move. I want to see where things shake out, especially with SH, EH, and Inspired Teaching. I do agree that counting on Latin or BASIS as some kind of golden ticket if you hate your IB is a mistake, but that's been true for years. In fact, a major reason you see SH improving steadily is that many Hill families took that approach for years, and were even more encouraged when Latin Cooper opened, struck out, and decided to give SH a shot. If you are a family at a school that feeds to Eliot-Hine, that news can mean a few things. One, it's a reminder that if Latin/BASIS is your Plan A, you need a really good, strong Plan B that is basically a sure bet. Two, you should not count on being able to get into SH OOB. But three, if you are someone willing to give this a shot, it also likely means that EH will continue to build it's IB percentage and may be on the same or very similar trajectory to SH. That #3 won't matter to many families, but might be enough for a family who loves their elementary school and neighborhood, and thinks they can make it work with a "developing" MS. Especially if they have a solid plan for HS (as Eastern is no one's "solid" high school plan). Also, if you want SH to be your strong Plan B, JOW has low waitlists in pretty much every grade, is entering a swing space next year so may lose some families because of that (especially in upper grades), and feeds to SH. To me that's almost a no brainer. If your kid is entering 3rd grade or below, they will even get at least a year at the new JOW campus, which will probably be really nice. So if moving is an absolute no for you but you want a solid MS option, I'd be doing a post-lottery add for JOW just to see, and if you get a spot, go tour. Due to the new campus, I would anticipate that this year and next year might be the easiest years to do that and it will get progressively harder after that. To me, HS is a bigger question than MS. There are still a lot of acceptable MS options IMO, even outside Deal/Hardy/Latin/Basis/DCI. I'd consider any of the 3 Hill middles acceptable, but especially SH which I might even categorize as strong, ITDS for the right kid, and McFarland as well, especially with John Lewis building it's IB buy in and becoming a really well-liked school in Petworth. I'd also not count out CHEC with how Marie Reed is doing lately, SWW@Francis Stevens should absolutely be an option, and I'd even give McKinley a look. One thing a lot of these schools have going for them? Strong feeder elementaries with a lot of families who value neighborhood schools, and small size overall (which makes it easier for a couple good cohorts to really change the look and feel of a school). I think if you want to stay in DC through MS without moving IB for Deal/Hardy or going private, you actually have a lot of reasonable options and this is likely to expand in future years as some of these schools that have previously been seen as unacceptable continue to get 2nd and 3rd looks from IB and nearby families. HS remains the issue. I have to imagine some of these feeder HS have to get better eventually if the elementary and MS continue to improve and get more IB buy-in. But if you already have a kid in elementary, I don't know that you can count on any of these HS options outside JR, McKinley, and the application schools, and I agree the results for McKinley and the application schools this year are alarming. Our Plan B for HS is moving, and we're actually making concrete choices to make moving an easier option if/when the time comes because we have no faith that we will have a viable HS option in DC. My two cents. I'm sure a lot of people disagree with me, but the idea that there is 1 acceptable MS EOTP just struck me as silly so I wanted to weigh in. |
Anonymous
| If you have the dough, apply to several parochial middle schools as a back-up option, e.g. Our Lady of Victory, St. Patricks and Blessed Sacrament in NW. They're less than 20K a year and decent if you're OK with parochial. A bunch of families carpool from the Hill to them. |
Anonymous
That is exactly what I was looking for. Looks like 9th grade has been stable over the last few years (give or take a hundred kids), sixth has increased by about fifty per year, and fifth by about a hundred kids per year. That's an increase for fifth, BUT 2024 is also almost exactly the same as pre-pandemic 2020 numbers for those grades. Will be interesting to see how waitlists move this year. |