The current rule is that once you're in the school you can stay through its final grade (so 5th grade for most elementary schools) even if you move elsewhere in DC, but you don't have feeder rights to the middle school.

This rule could change at any point. It is also poorly enforced (most schools don't really keep track of whether you got in OOB through the lottery or if you were IB and then moved out, even though the former has feeder rights and the latter does not). But you if you do what you plan, your kid wouldn't have to change schools during elementary unless you wanted them to.

OP here. Thank you all for this helpful advice! You have convinced me.

We do have friends IB who are looking to move. They said we could potentially rent their place for up to a year. To me it sounds like a huge headache to move twice with 2 kids, but inventory in the IB area is indeed low. I heard that if you move to an IB area and then move out, you can stay in that school. Is that correct? Is this written down anywhere? I am just worried we'd move into our friend's house, then would need to move out after a year (or less, we'd be at the whim of their real estate plans), and what if we still haven't found a place?? I'd hate to move kiddo around 3 schools in 3 years

Anonymous wrote:It (of course) depends on budget and what you are looking for, but inventory is currently so low that you may find it more challenging than expected to move in bounds, especially because some of the immersion DCPS schools have very small boundaries. Which is only to say, I would start looking soon.

+1

We wanted to move IB for our preferred school for K this year and it has a large boundary and we are still struggling. We thought we'd be under contract by now. We are currently #11 on their waitlist and I think it's entirely possible we'll get in via waitlist before we are able to buy IB! Such a tough market.

It (of course) depends on budget and what you are looking for, but inventory is currently so low that you may find it more challenging than expected to move in bounds, especially because some of the immersion DCPS schools have very small boundaries. Which is only to say, I would start looking soon.

Do it! If I could convince DH, that’s what we would have done. Better now than middle elementary when they’re older and more established.

If you're in-boundary you are guaranteed a spot at Kindergarten, yes. If you were trying for preschool then you'd just get a preference but not a guarantee.

One you are living in-boundary, you can enroll in your in-boundary school. It doesn't matter if that's next month, over the summer, or not until after the next school year begins.

We are a block away from the boundary of a DCPS bilingual kindergarten where we want our son to go. We didn't get in and are low (#27) on waitlist. Now we feel the extra push we needed to move a few blocks away. Been needing to move anyways. I am lost trying to figure out if this would work for us school-wise, though. Can we move this summer and still have him enroll in that (new) in-boundary school?