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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You are making the mistake of assuming that popularity = quality.  The pool of kids looking to lottery and change schools starts to shrink after K.  There start to be spaces in many of the Hill area elementary schools (for example) in mid-elementary grades.  There are some reasonably good DCPS elementary schools that do not necessarily get much attention OOB.[/quote]

No, you don’t understand school differences.  There is a huge difference between Capitol Hill DCPS elementary schools and most other DCPS elementary schools EOTP.  That difference, which is the most important, is academic performance.  CH schools overwhelmingly at and above grade level, 60-89%.  Non CH around 30% so overwhelmingly below grade level.

School in CH start losing kids after 4th because of the middle school feed due to Latin and Basis. Retention of families in K-3rd is high.  Non CH schools EOTP, in contrast, start losing kids much earlier like K-1st.  By 2nd, it’s stark.  It’s not due to the middle school feed.  It’s because families are not happy like OP and they are looking for a better school and trying to trade up.

[b]There might be an exception in 1 or 2 grade where the CH schools may have space to take a few OOB kids but not common at all.  You never see CH schools on short waitlist. Where other many non CH schools you can pretty much get in any grade 1st and up and on the short waitlist almost every year.[/b]

And no I’m not in CH.  I’m in the other group.[/quote]

You are massively overstating this.  Just this year already, Brent offered 18 spots in the K lottery and has already made 22 offers for K on top of that. Last year Brent made 34 offers for 2nd grade. Ludlow-Taylor offered 4 seats for 1st and also made 4 offers, 7 seats for 2nd and also made 4 offers, 12 seats for 3rd and already made 2 offers, etc. Multiple offers in all grades last year as well. Maury is harder to get into, but last year they made 15 offers for K and 7 for 1st. Now, this isn't to say that any one particular kid will definitely get a spot at a particular school, but if you keep trying at multiple schools, chances are it'll work out.  You're being ridiculous when you say "a few OOB kids" and "not common at all". Try checking the data before you assert yourself. This site is supposed to be helpful, not mislead people.

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/MSDCSeatsandWaitlistOfferData_draft/MSDCPublicDisplay[/quote]

OP here. None of those schools— Brent, Maury, L-T— have short waitlists. I know because I’m on them. You still have to lick into spots there.

The schools on the Hill with short waitlists are fairly similar to our current school— fine for ECE but issues after that. I’m not interested in trading one such school for another, there is no point.[/quote]

If you're wanting a school system where you can get into any good school with no luck at all, I'm not sure where you could find that. Definitely not here. But having a short waitlist is not the same thing as it being really hard to get a spot. Sorry you didn't get a good lottery number, but there's a difference between "Can get in even with a terrible number or post-lottery add" and "really hard to get into".

People are trying to help you find a good school that you can get into, but you're defining "good school" as "school with a long waitlist" and if you keep up with that attitude, it might never work out. Last year, Ludlow-Taylor had a 2nd grade waitlist of 17, and made 17 offers. Does that cause you to think it's a bad school?

[/quote]

No, that does not make me think it's a bad school -- I would be over the moon happy if we got into L-T.

But my lottery luck runs such that if they had a waitlist of 17, I'd been spot #17, and then that would be the year they only made 16 offers.

Honestly, this thread is not me asking you to fix my lottery problem. It was really just me venting about the fact that the [b]system feels arbitrary [/b]and frustrating, where one family can get lucky in PK3 and other families get unlucky year after year, and that's what dictates whether you can stay in your home. And, oh yeah, all of this is coinciding with market conditions that are throwing up obstacles to us moving, like living in a place with skyrocketing housing prices (except on the kind of housing we currently own) at a time when rates are going up as well.

I'm just complaining. Some people actually have offered useful advice for which I'm grateful, but you're running in circles saying stuff like "Are you saying L-T isn't a good school because they cleared their 2nd grade waitlist last year?" and not listening when I explain that of course it's a good school, it's just that we're not on the waitlist for 2nd and the odds of them clearing their waitlist this year are extremely slim and we are literally in the last spot on their waitlist, so there is virtually no point in discussing whether I would accept a spot there (I would) since I almost certainly won't be offered a spot.[/quote]

It's a pure lottery. Money, status, education and political clout impute zero advantage. It feels "arbitrary" likely because for the first time in your life there is no way to gain an advantage to secure a scarce resource. Don't conflate "arbitrary" with "unfair".  [/quote]

I didn't say it was unfair, on purpose in fact. It is arbitrary. It's random. That's frustrating. Not because I've lived some privileged life but actually because I haven't. As for this being the first time in my life I can't gain an advantage to secure a scarce resource... my parents beat me as a kid, I've been unhoused before. If I were the sort of person who was used to using my privilege to gain an advantage, I'd simply live inbounds for a great school. You can condescend to me and make all the assumptions you want, but the truth is that your advice wasn't that helpful and your mad because I didn't fall all over myself thanking you for it.
[/quote]

I mean this genuinely. Sometimes luck doesn't fall on your side and it is absolutely arbitrary and frustrating. Channel your inner lawyer and work the system. Find a short term rental and move IB for a good school with a manageable commute, then move home. Cheaper than permanently moving and cheaper than private school. You don't have to move for the rest of your child's school years, and likely you'll just get auto-enrolled in the feeder middle school even if DCPS policy technically doesn't allow it. People with the money to buy in upper NW and people with good lottery luck will judge on DCUM, but ignore them. Make the system work for you and don't sacrifice your child's education or your financial security because of a lottery system that just can't work for everyone (particularly if you have one child). [/quote]

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