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PLEASE help me choose schools for the DCPS lottery -- new to DC and confused.
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Anonymous
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We're moving to DC soon and are entering the DCPS lottery now for pre-K next year. We will live in Chevy Chase DC, Cleveland Park, Spring Valley, Woodley Park or nearby.
What six schools should we list for the lottery? I've been told that Hyde, Hearst and Stoddert should be on our list. Which other schools? We will only be in DC for two or three years, so middle school not a concern. But we would like a school close or in one of the neighborhoods we're considering. Help a confused mother! thanks. |
Anonymous
| What grade will your children be in? |
Anonymous
| Have you looked at the lottery form yet? I believe you need to enter an address on it. You may need to contact DCPS to get an "override" since you do not have an address yet. The address is critical as it identifies you as either in bounds or out of bounds for priority for the lottery. |
Anonymous
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op: Yes, I was told that I don't need a DC address to enter the lottery, just to prove residency later. I'm a little confused about it, frankly. But I thought I'd enter the lottery and see what happens.
We are interested in pre-K. |
Anonymous
op: Sorry. We are interested in pre-k and kindergarten. Thx. And help! 
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Anonymous
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Without an address that is verifiable, you will not be eligible for an in boundary preference for any preK program. Many of the preK programs in the most desired schools (Janney, Murch, Lafayette, Mann, Key) fill completely on the initial lottery with in boundary kids. So, you are looking for a school near an unknown location where you'll live, which admits some number of OOB preK students. You get 6 picks.
Hearst, Stoddert, Hyde seem good to me. Skip the schools listed above. Eaton can go either way, some years there are OOB slots in preK. Ross is near Dupont and may be less popular. Oyster sometimes admits preK OOB, if you want language immersion. Crossing the park, you have Shepherd and West. Below that I'd put Takoma. I don't know how you set up an account without an address. You might need to contact DCPS to learn how to do that. Or possibly use a business address? You also need to contact Charter Schools directly to enter their lotteries. All have separate and unique deadlines. I don't think any of them are in Ward 3. . . |
Anonymous
op: Thx so much for all this good advice. You don't think it's worth it to put these initial schools (Janney, Murch, etc) on our lottery form so that we can at least be put on the wait list for those schools? So we'll be Ward 3, then? I suppose that's information I need to know. |
Anonymous
Don't sweat kindergarten -- you'll have a right to attend your local school wherever you end up (and the neighborhoods you're looking at all have strong local schools). For pre-K, you'll likely have to apply out-of-boundary everywhere (although once you get an address, you should contact your local school and try to get added to the waitlist as in-bounds) -- that counsels against burning slots where you won't get in out-of-boundary (e.g., Mann, Janney, Oyster [unless your DC is Spanish-dominant]). NW DC schools where OOB kids get into pre-K regularly include (in roughly the order of convenience for your likely neighborhoods): Murch, Hearst, Eaton, Stoddert, Cooke, West, Hyde, Francis-Stevens, Thomson. Good luck. |
Anonymous
| The kindergarten aged child will have a guaranteed slot in-boundary based on your address. As a result of that, you will most likely get the pre-k child in as well. If it's just a couple of years, pick a neighborhood that will be easiest work commute. I would recommend Woodley or Cleveland given proximity to the city and metro access. Spring Valley and Chevy Chase are lovely, but not exactly central to the city. Any of the schools in the areas you meantioned are probably fine through 3rd grade. welcome! |
Anonymous
It is RARE that OOB children get in for pre-K to Janney, Mann, Lafayette, Key. Each of these schools typically have inbounds waitlists for PreK that are over 40 kids. You can throw your name in the lottery as it does not cost you anything - but if you are looking for FREE preK next year, I would expand my chances and select a school where you might actually have a chance. On the other hand - you are looking at VERY desirable (expensive) neighborhoods. Why don't you just cut out the stress and find a private preK program for you child for next year. |
Anonymous
good advice here. are there 6 spots? if so, i would go murch eaton hyde ross hearst cooke |
Anonymous
op: We may decide to do private preK next year. But it's my understanding that we have missed all the deadlines for that already and will have a tough time getting our kid into one of those schools. My thought was to do the ps lottery as an insurance policy -- thinking hopefully we'd get in SOMEWHERE. Am I wrong that we have a chance to get into a private preK? Damn my dh and his new job!
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Anonymous
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You actually have a pretty decent chance to get into pre-K at a private preschool (as opposed to a private school that starts with pre-K), because lots of kids will skip the final year of preschool to start pre-k at an elementary school. Hope that makes sense.
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Anonymous
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OP Don't forget charter schools. Deadlines are later.
Cap City El Haynes LAMB DCBilingual Yu Ying is great, but it is Chinese immersion, so it might not be worth it for just a few years, but maybe it would be, especially if you'll be returning to a place that has chinese language offerings for your kids. |
Anonymous
Okay, this is absurd. Cooke is about 5 tiers down from any of the other schools on that list. Actually Ross isn't exactly a top tier or even 2nd tier school either. The OP is looking at moving into Chevy Chase. I know there are a couple of Cooke boosters on this board, but honestly that is completely ridiculous. It's downright mean to mislead to the OP like that. JKLM are all good (Janney, Key, Lafayette, Mann, Much). The area you're talking about would be inbounds for either Lafayette or Murch, a PP is right that without a verifiable address you may not get in. Wouldn't hurt to at least try Murch and Lafayette since they're large and close by. By the end of summer/beginning of school you might get in off a waitlist, especially if you're inbounds and persistent about calling the school. Otherwise, Eaton, Hearst, Hyde, and Stoddert are all pretty good 2nd tier schools. They tend to have more OOB students than JKLM, but that might make them easier to get into. One of the PPs mentioned Oyster, but unless you come from a Spanish-speaking household your odds OOB are dismal. Also if you're only going to be here for a couple of years there's not really any point to doing an immersion school. And then there are some charter pre-schools: Appletree and Bridges. They're pretty well-respected and they each have their own lotteries. You might as well do them instead of paying for pre-school. If I were you, I'd do: Lafayette and Murch, Eaton, Hearst, Hyde, Stoddert. It gives you a shot at the two top tier schools in your neighborhood but a few 2nd tiers to fall back on. And also do the Appletree and Bridges lotteries. Once you're inbounds and into K, you'll be in your neighborhood school as a matter of right so you won't have to deal with the lotteries any more. You can download a copy of the DC School Chooser here. It's not as helpful as it used to be, but it does list all the public, charter, and private schools in DC and give you a little bit of info. Good luck, and welcome to DC! |