So, what if my kid is in 5th grade starting this August/September? Lives in Crestwood? Is this kid Deal-eligible assuming that nothing changes before lottery starts?

If your kid graduates from Deal they can continue on to Jackson Reed (feeder rights are unlikely to change IMO).

I think the grandfathering for 16th St Heights and Crestwood is still barely in there. It's likely to go away soon, but looks like Bowser didn't pull the trigger yet.

Anonymous wrote:I was today years old when I realized most addresses in 16th St Heights and environs are zoned for Deal, according to the DCPS “Find Your In-Boundary School” tool.

We know tons of people who live in that area who I believe are not aware of this, because they talk as though they have no middle school option.

Wow.

Those same addresses are in-boundary for Roosevelt and not for Jackson-Reed. But does anyone know if a kid at Deal from 16th St Heights can go to JR simply because of the feeder pattern? Or are you out of luck after Deal if you’re not also in-boundary for JR?

The Find Your IB School tool lists both Deal and McFarland for MS (and then only Roosevelt for HS) for 2023-24 specifically, so it looks like they haven't updated for 2024-25. The grandfathering, while messy due to siblings, feeders, etc., won't last forever – so I would work from assumption that Deal won't be an option if I have younger kids.

I thought this weird zoning bump for Deal and then JR was explicitly a Bowser handout to her constituents and, by extension, herself. I’m not passing judgment on it- you can see what it’s done for real estate values over there- but I think it will last as long as she’s on the scene in DC.

I live in 16th Street Heights and was able to enroll my rising 7th grader in Deal beginning this fall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid had to be in 6th grade in SY 22-23, so last year for current 8th graders. Was put in place in 2015.

I know a rising 6th grader (i.e. for SY24-25) who was able to lottery to Deal as an in-boundary school from a 16th St Heights address.

This sentence makes no sense. You don't lottery into an in-boundary school outside of PK; you just enroll. If they had to lottery, they weren't considered to be in-bound.

This is so confusing. Maybe you will be allowed to enroll at Deal. Maybe not. Maybe JR will let you enroll. Maybe not. What a mess!

The Mayor’s response to the report on boundaries and student assignment explicitly stated that the “grandfathering” that remains from the 2014 boundary study will continue. There are a handful of families who have dual geographic rights to MacFarland-Deal or Wells-Deal. You can see the map in the DME’s boundary study resources. My understanding is that about 25 students per year enroll at Deal via this legacy boundary issue. The Ward 4 Education Alliance is pushing for this to be resolved.

https://sites.google.com/view/ward4educationalliance/testimony-and-letters?authuser=0

In the last boundary change which took place in 2014, Crestwood and 16th Street Heights were assigned to MacFarland and Roosevelt. However, MacFarland was closed at the time and was going to open as a bilingual school. Therefore, the two neighborhoods were grandfathered to Deal (but not to Wilson/JR) until 2022. Last school year, residents of the neighborhood should not have been allowed to enroll in Deal. However, DCPS apparently continued the grandfathering. The most recent boundary change which will be in effect for the 24-25 school year does not have the grandfathering. Therefore, the official middle school for Crestwood and 16th Street Heights is MacFarland and the high school is Roosevelt.

Any student who goes to Deal is allowed to go to JR due to the feeder pattern. Therefore, students who attended Deal during the grandfathering were able to go to JR even though that was not their assigned high school.

After saying all of this, who knows what Deal's registrar will do. It is probably equal money that students from Crestwood and 16th Street Heights will still be able to enroll.

The current handbook showing school boundaries for the 24-25 school year is available here:

https://enrolldcps.dc.gov/sites/dcpsenrollment/files/page_content/attachments/SY24-25%20DCPS%20Enrollment%20and%20Lottery%20Handbook.pdf

Anonymous wrote:Your kid had to be in 6th grade in SY 22-23, so last year for current 8th graders. Was put in place in 2015.

I know a rising 6th grader (i.e. for SY24-25) who was able to lottery to Deal as an in-boundary school from a 16th St Heights address.

Your kid had to be in 6th grade in SY 22-23, so last year for current 8th graders. Was put in place in 2015.

Anonymous wrote:The grandfathering is over if not almost over

What do you mean? Any given of these addresses is currently listed as zoned for Deal. So if you buy the place right now, don’t you still get to go to Deal?

The grandfathering is over if not almost over

It’s not for long

I was today years old when I realized most addresses in 16th St Heights and environs are zoned for Deal, according to the DCPS “Find Your In-Boundary School” tool.

We know tons of people who live in that area who I believe are not aware of this, because they talk as though they have no middle school option.

Wow.

Those same addresses are in-boundary for Roosevelt and not for Jackson-Reed. But does anyone know if a kid at Deal from 16th St Heights can go to JR simply because of the feeder pattern? Or are you out of luck after Deal if you’re not also in-boundary for JR?