OP here. Our IB is Cardozo. Basis was our first choice and we still hope she'll get in. In retrospect, I should have done some upper NW elementary schools, but the thought did not occur to me. I am looking for a decent middle which will help with HS admissions. Banneker, McKinley, Walls, all on the table for 9th. She's very bright and a top student, so although we may be doing a disservice by staying in the city and going to mediocre schools, we love all the other aspects of our life overall: short commutes, biking, great community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the most likely scenario that we wouldn't get our top preferences of Latin I, Latin Cooper, or BASIS, I added a few other middle schools to our lottery list: Inspired Teaching, Creative Minds, Two Rivers, etc. DD does not want to leave her ES, which is fine but not great. We don't want her at our in-boundary middle and we can't afford private. Has someone moved a kid for 5th to one of these Pk3-8 schools mostly to not have to go through the lottery again and risk not getting in? Statistically, the chances of getting in there are better now than next year.

It's too late for you to add these now, but we just did the 5th grade lottery and in addition to Latins and Basis, we added a whole bunch of DCPS schools that feed to better middle schools than ours (like SWWFS and Hardy). Going for just 5th is a little weird but I figured since we were playing the lottery anyways, why not? And then we would have a path to stay in DC.

Do people actually do this? Is it worth it? I've definitely considered it as a way to guarantee an OOB spot at Stuart Hobson. But we're still a few years out from this, so I don't have a great sense of how disruptive it would actually be for my kid.

Yes, people do it. It's not really that disruptive because you're helping your child to get to know the kids they will be attending middle school with. And at many elementary schools, half the class doesn't stay for 5th anyway, so if you stay for 5th it's still kind of a disruptive time.

True. I have a 5th grader at a Hardy feeder. A bunch of kids left after 4th grade for charters/privates so there was space in the school for new kids to lottery in. My kid lost some friends to charters, but has been happy to meet new ones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the most likely scenario that we wouldn't get our top preferences of Latin I, Latin Cooper, or BASIS, I added a few other middle schools to our lottery list: Inspired Teaching, Creative Minds, Two Rivers, etc. DD does not want to leave her ES, which is fine but not great. We don't want her at our in-boundary middle and we can't afford private. Has someone moved a kid for 5th to one of these Pk3-8 schools mostly to not have to go through the lottery again and risk not getting in? Statistically, the chances of getting in there are better now than next year.

It's too late for you to add these now, but we just did the 5th grade lottery and in addition to Latins and Basis, we added a whole bunch of DCPS schools that feed to better middle schools than ours (like SWWFS and Hardy). Going for just 5th is a little weird but I figured since we were playing the lottery anyways, why not? And then we would have a path to stay in DC.

Do people actually do this? Is it worth it? I've definitely considered it as a way to guarantee an OOB spot at Stuart Hobson. But we're still a few years out from this, so I don't have a great sense of how disruptive it would actually be for my kid.

Yes, people do it. It's not really that disruptive because you're helping your child to get to know the kids they will be attending middle school with. And at many elementary schools, half the class doesn't stay for 5th anyway, so if you stay for 5th it's still kind of a disruptive time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the most likely scenario that we wouldn't get our top preferences of Latin I, Latin Cooper, or BASIS, I added a few other middle schools to our lottery list: Inspired Teaching, Creative Minds, Two Rivers, etc. DD does not want to leave her ES, which is fine but not great. We don't want her at our in-boundary middle and we can't afford private. Has someone moved a kid for 5th to one of these Pk3-8 schools mostly to not have to go through the lottery again and risk not getting in? Statistically, the chances of getting in there are better now than next year.

It's too late for you to add these now, but we just did the 5th grade lottery and in addition to Latins and Basis, we added a whole bunch of DCPS schools that feed to better middle schools than ours (like SWWFS and Hardy). Going for just 5th is a little weird but I figured since we were playing the lottery anyways, why not? And then we would have a path to stay in DC.

Do people actually do this? Is it worth it? I've definitely considered it as a way to guarantee an OOB spot at Stuart Hobson. But we're still a few years out from this, so I don't have a great sense of how disruptive it would actually be for my kid.

Just move to the burbs for better schools and a guaranteed pyramid.

You send your child to a subpar school or your poorly performing IB school and then have to do the lottery all over again in high school. Then if you strike out, then what? Regrets that you did not make the move in middle to give your child a much better experience all around in middle school. And if you find the IB poorly performing middle school is terrible after 1 year, you will be in the same position the following year.

Is it really worth it to compromise your kids education just to stay in the city?

Having kids at ITDS, I've seen a fair number of new kids join in 5th from various DCPS schools where parents didn't like the feeder middle and from charters like TR where parents were unhappy with the school. A group of ITDS kids who live in boundary for high schools their parents wouldn't send them to leave for Latin and Basis in 5th to get guaranteed spots in high schools their parents would be happy with, so 5th is a good ITDS entry year and the new students seem to integrate well with the rest of the class. There's a special MS orientation for new students and an emphasis on building community.

I would seriously think about Inspired Teaching if you match and its close to you. You can realistically in the 6th grade get Eliot-Hine or Jefferson. How do you feel about those schools. Also look at moving to a feeder. It is a little awkward for 5th and means changing schools twice but there are schools where most of the kids still there in the 5th grade will go to the assigned middle school so its in some respects a social head start to meet those classmates in 5th.

Apply to privates with 6th grade entry years.

Anonymous wrote:Also, you can play again for 6th and try all the good DCPS middles. Deal doesn't have any spots, but Hardy has about 30.

Probably not Hardy. It was over enrolled this year. Doubt there will be many lottery spots for 6th going forward.

Also, you can play again for 6th and try all the good DCPS middles. Deal doesn't have any spots, but Hardy has about 30.

Anonymous wrote:Given the most likely scenario that we wouldn't get our top preferences of Latin I, Latin Cooper, or BASIS, I added a few other middle schools to our lottery list: Inspired Teaching, Creative Minds, Two Rivers, etc. DD does not want to leave her ES, which is fine but not great. We don't want her at our in-boundary middle and we can't afford private. Has someone moved a kid for 5th to one of these Pk3-8 schools mostly to not have to go through the lottery again and risk not getting in? Statistically, the chances of getting in there are better now than next year.

It's too late for you to add these now, but we just did the 5th grade lottery and in addition to Latins and Basis, we added a whole bunch of DCPS schools that feed to better middle schools than ours (like SWWFS and Hardy). Going for just 5th is a little weird but I figured since we were playing the lottery anyways, why not? And then we would have a path to stay in DC.

Curious what the IB middle is, because I have only heard bad things about CMI and TR middle. I think moving to the burbs is probably a better choice than a bad charter MS. Depending on your particular kid you can also do the IB MS and plan for private HS if you are confident they would get admitted (do your due diligence there).

Anonymous wrote:I think your chances at Latin for 6th are quite low, at either campus.

CMI and TR middle schools are having serious problems and I wouldn't consider them.

How do you feel about other DCPS middle schools?

Agree with this poster - some of the charters on that list have been very rocky recently. Do you have neighbors or peers in either your inbound DCPS middle, or a nearby? Not sure where you live, but some DCPS middle schools have space for out of boundary students. I know people like the anonymity here, but if you share which schools you are IB or nearby for, people can give you more specific advice.

I think your chances at Latin for 6th are quite low, at either campus.

CMI and TR middle schools are having serious problems and I wouldn't consider them.

How do you feel about other DCPS middle schools?

Given the most likely scenario that we wouldn't get our top preferences of Latin I, Latin Cooper, or BASIS, I added a few other middle schools to our lottery list: Inspired Teaching, Creative Minds, Two Rivers, etc. DD does not want to leave her ES, which is fine but not great. We don't want her at our in-boundary middle and we can't afford private. Has someone moved a kid for 5th to one of these Pk3-8 schools mostly to not have to go through the lottery again and risk not getting in? Statistically, the chances of getting in there are better now than next year.