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[quote=Anonymous]The coming turmoil will probably alter past patterns of where you’ll get a lottery spot. People will be moving away if jobs are lost and they have to relocate to somewhere else to get a new one. It’s desperately sad for the world/city but I think the trickle down is that it will free up more seats at desirable schools for OOB over the summer.

For both kids: I would look at Hardy and Deal feeders but also at Stuart Hobson feeders (Ludlow Taylor, JO Wilson are popular, people seem to hate on Watkins but I know people who like it). SH feeds to Eastern which I guess is not an option for you but it at least buys you a year or two to lottery elsewhere or move before high school. I’d look at past years lottery data (cited on this site frequently but I usually just google DCPS waitlist tableau to find it). Get a sense of how many people who applied for a seat vs the number of matches and offers - then I’d Googlemaps the commute and rank based on likelihood vs complexity of commute.

The Deal/Hardy feeders will get you decent middle and high school options. There will be people who say you need to tour each, etc but I think that they are all only marginally different. Vibes might vary and some are better resourced by rich PTAs, but academics are all essentially the same (I said what I said).

And I disagree with PP about MacArthur - it will be as fine by the time your older is there and the Hardy feeders have much more likelihood of an OOB seat. Hardy/MacArthur are also smaller which may be a benefit depending on your kiddo. Once you get used to the commute it will just be part of your life or maybe you’ll have had time to breathe and figure out a move to a neighborhood with a IB school you feel good about.

The third grader has a better shot at a spot in the lottery and might pull your fifth grader in by sibling preference. Much smaller chance your fifth grader pulls an amazing number, and could pull the younger in. So they should have some overlap to maximize the chances of a match+low waitlist number scenario. There’s also a post lottery option to remove schools once you see your waitlist numbers and add different ones if you need to try to match the kids up offer-wise.

But at the schools with fewest OOB kids (ie lesser chance you’ll get in) I’d take those off your fifth grader’s list and put Latin, Basis, and DCI as your top choices. Research them first to make sure your older kiddo is Basis-compatible. Don’t do that research by only reading posts here, it’s a cesspool of people yelling back and forth about Basis. It’s a fine school for the kids that can keep up but it is a distinct educational model. I personally don’t think Latin is any better than Hardy or Deal but it’s a better commute if you’re SE/NE or uptown NW. If you can get your older in one of those, then the SH feeders are better options for the younger as they are geographically closer and there’s a good likelihood of your younger getting a spot with the older in two years with sibling preference.

Finally - two safeties - Amidon Bowen in SW would probably have seats or you’d make it off the waitlist fairly easily for both kids. It’s not an Eaton or Lafayette (demographics or test scores) but has many boosters and a welcoming community. But unless the community pulls off a miracle and gets DCPS to pay for trailers to stay in SW, it does plan to swing for renovations to Myer Elementary in Columbia Heights when your younger is in 5th grade. That might actually be a more convenient location for you depending on where you live but they will lose a ton of IB kids due to the hassle of having them located up there.

Similar with Brent, which is swinging next year. So both kids would really only attend for their last years of school (younger would be back in Capitol Hill for their 5th grade year). But you’d have a way better chance at seats for both of them, which would be convenient.

Good luck!

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