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[quote=Anonymous]I hesitate even to chime into this but to the extent it helps anyone considering their lottery options....

There are many many varied reasons why a family might be at SWS.  I would say that the one thing that most (but not all) families have in common is that they live on the Hill, and that is either because they enjoy living on the Hill (because of or in spite of the school options) or because their financial ability to move is limited (many people with school-aged kids bought when some of the outer Hill areas were considered bargains).  It is usually some combination of both.

I think all these things are true:

- Some people are very committed to the Reggio program and truly do believe it is the best educational model for their kids.  These people might even choose SWS over Brent, Maury ,or private.
- Some would prefer a more traditional educational model and would have gone to Brent, Maury, etc, if they were in-bounds, but they are not in-bounds for those schools and consider SWS a better option than their IB, despite its flaws.
- Some got sucked into the "magical" early childhood propaganda and then found it hard to switch after their kids made friends.  They might have made a different choice if they had full information when entering the lottery, but figure staying at SWS is less harmful than a transition.
- Some have one child with special needs that SWS specializes in, and rather than break up the family they send all their kids there (even if they think their more neurotypical kids might be better off elsewhere).
- Some heard of its good reputation, got in through the lottery, have happy kids, and don't give the schools a second thought.
- Some are IB for SH and are very committed to public education and don't even play the MS lottery.
- Some are IB for SH, play the lottery for charters, and go to SH or private if they don't get in.
- No one (or very few) has ever gone to EH.

I hope this helps.  Different people have different reasons.  I don't doubt that race plays into different decision points to different degrees, especially to the extent that they correlate with test scores or behavior issues.  But the real landscape is much more complex than that.  And boiling it down to race doesn't help anyone.

If you are ranking your lottery options, think about what qualities are important to you in a school, and rank accordingly.  SWS is a wonderful place for some, but is not for everyone (we can have a separate thread about whether that is ok or not).

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