Reply to Lottery lists: What's best now, or look ahead?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We're gearing up for our first big run at the lottery. We've been at our neighborhood school for three years, and have had a great experience, but for a variety of reasons I won't go into, we think it might be time for a change.

Looking at the experience my kids would have for the next 4-5 years, I think our preferences would actually be nearby schools with bad feeders. Shorter commute, neighborhood feel, smaller class sizes, diversity in race and economic status, nearby catchments mean close by friends. There are a few nearby that could really be great, and have cohorts of kids in the upper grades doing above grade level work.

Like many in DC, our inbound middle school is a non-starter. While I see the appeal of locking down a middle school path now, it doesn't feel like a requirement. Stuart-Hobson, Wells, and John Francis have feeders that clear their waitlists for 5th every year, so there are "safety" options if you get a bad number for 5th, or you could always try your luck again for 6th. But, of course this could change. Or maybe by the time my kids are older (oldest is in K now) these schools won't feel like a good-enough fit for my kids.

And then there's the possibility of putting Deal/Hardy feeders and/or something like ITS at the top of our list, which would be less ideal for elementary school for us, but would really take the stress off once we're staring down middle school. But then again - think of all the people who lotteried into Two Rivers for the middle school path a few years back when there was a lot of hype about it and then found themselves back to the lottery drawing board when that school floundered. There are no guarantees.

How do you balance now vs. later when making your lists?

(FWIW, likely neither moving nor private school will be an option for us, and we have three kids fairly close in age so the sibling preference will help us a lot)[/quote]

I prioritized a "good enough" elementary school within walking/biking distance for elementary and then switched to "best school I can find" for middle school. Middle school commute is also made much easier because the kid can get themselves there on transit.[/quote]

OP here - this is where I’m leaning. In hindsight, how do you feel about your choices? If you ended up at one of your top middle school choices, can you try and project to how you’d have felt if you ended up at your “safety?”[/quote]

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