Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is misleading because it's a mix of DCPS boundary schools (with IB preference for PK), charters (all lottery), and and DCPS all city (also all lottery).

Mixing schools like Bancroft, Hyde-Addison, Marie Reed, and Maury in with schools like School Within School, Stokes, or DC Bilingual based on applicant to spot ratio gives wrong impressions about all these schools.

If you are IB for any of those DCPS schools, your chances of getting a PK3 spot are way higher than the the applicant to spot ration would indicate. That's because if you are OOB for any of those schools, your chances of getting a spot are zero or close to zero. Many people will throw schools like that on their lottery list just in case, because you get 12 slots and if you live nearby, who knows, maybe it's a weird year and they have fewer than expect IB and sibling applicants. So the applicant to spot ratio is going to be too high for IB families and way too low for OOB families.

Whereas charters and all-city schools that don't have boundary preferences can be more accurately described by the applicant to spot ratio. Though it still ignores sibling preference. With sibling preference, many families would be all but guaranteed a spot at a school like SWS or Stokes, because the siblings don't even have to compete with IB kids -- they jump all the way to the front of the line. And the number of siblings on any given applicant list for these schools can greatly reduce the odds of a family with no sibling preference getting a spot -- there are charters where more than half of all available spots in a class went to siblings some years. So non-siblings are actually competing for a much smaller number of spots.

There are also schools where a lot of people throw them on a lottery list but are not actually hard to get into. They are like safeties. Two Rivers (both 4th and Young get used this way at this point). But their yield is low and they will go deep into their waitlists.

+1. Very true.

The hardest to get into list is useless because OP is including schools with IB preference. Those families will get in and it’s 100% and not hard at all.

I think most of those schools do end up leaving IB students on the waitlist for PK3. More likely to get a spot by PK4.

This isn’t true for schools that start at preK3 and don’t have additional classrooms for preK4.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is misleading because it's a mix of DCPS boundary schools (with IB preference for PK), charters (all lottery), and and DCPS all city (also all lottery).

Mixing schools like Bancroft, Hyde-Addison, Marie Reed, and Maury in with schools like School Within School, Stokes, or DC Bilingual based on applicant to spot ratio gives wrong impressions about all these schools.

If you are IB for any of those DCPS schools, your chances of getting a PK3 spot are way higher than the the applicant to spot ration would indicate. That's because if you are OOB for any of those schools, your chances of getting a spot are zero or close to zero. Many people will throw schools like that on their lottery list just in case, because you get 12 slots and if you live nearby, who knows, maybe it's a weird year and they have fewer than expect IB and sibling applicants. So the applicant to spot ratio is going to be too high for IB families and way too low for OOB families.

Whereas charters and all-city schools that don't have boundary preferences can be more accurately described by the applicant to spot ratio. Though it still ignores sibling preference. With sibling preference, many families would be all but guaranteed a spot at a school like SWS or Stokes, because the siblings don't even have to compete with IB kids -- they jump all the way to the front of the line. And the number of siblings on any given applicant list for these schools can greatly reduce the odds of a family with no sibling preference getting a spot -- there are charters where more than half of all available spots in a class went to siblings some years. So non-siblings are actually competing for a much smaller number of spots.

There are also schools where a lot of people throw them on a lottery list but are not actually hard to get into. They are like safeties. Two Rivers (both 4th and Young get used this way at this point). But their yield is low and they will go deep into their waitlists.

+1. Very true.

The hardest to get into list is useless because OP is including schools with IB preference. Those families will get in and it’s 100% and not hard at all.

I think most of those schools do end up leaving IB students on the waitlist for PK3. More likely to get a spot by PK4.

That is true but also neglects another factor: if you are IB for a school and don't get in for PK, you are still guaranteed a spot for K. Many families who miss out on their IB for PK3 or PK4 simply enroll at K and it's a non-issues. At Maury, for example, it can be hard to get a PK spot if you don't have a sibling already enrolled. But lots of families send kids to Miner, Appletree, JOW (maybe less so now because JOW is more competitive for PK than it used to be), and a variety of characters. Or just do private preschool. Missing out on PK at your IB is a bummer but more of a temporary annoyance.

Whereas families lotterying for OOB schools and charters (who are unhappy with their IB) have a lot more on the line with PK3 lottery. Many popular charters are all but impossible to get spots at after PK3. Some schools, including some DCPS, can be a bit easier to get a spot at in K because of roster expansion, but not always true. Some popular schools can be easier to lottery into in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, but the later it gets the more useless this is unless your main goal of going to the school is access to a middle school feed.

So IB and OOB families not only have very different odds of getting spots at these schools, they also have really different things riding on the PK lottery. Lots of families want PK spots at strong neighborhood DCPS schools or one of the better charters, but it's a much more critical situation for families with poor IB options (take it from someone who knows from experience).

Mmm, no. As someone who has been in this situation, not getting an IB seat also meant our lottery number was bad enough that we didn't get in anywhere else within reasonable commuting distance or where our kid wouldn't have been the only one of their race and SES. Paying for an extra year of daycare was not a minor inconvenience.

you are too poor to afford day care and afraid to send your kid to school with poor kids? That must be rough

Oh yeah but the kids whose entire childhoods are ruined because they didn't get into the immersion/Region/Montessori school in PK3 have it so so much rougher.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is misleading because it's a mix of DCPS boundary schools (with IB preference for PK), charters (all lottery), and and DCPS all city (also all lottery).

Mixing schools like Bancroft, Hyde-Addison, Marie Reed, and Maury in with schools like School Within School, Stokes, or DC Bilingual based on applicant to spot ratio gives wrong impressions about all these schools.

If you are IB for any of those DCPS schools, your chances of getting a PK3 spot are way higher than the the applicant to spot ration would indicate. That's because if you are OOB for any of those schools, your chances of getting a spot are zero or close to zero. Many people will throw schools like that on their lottery list just in case, because you get 12 slots and if you live nearby, who knows, maybe it's a weird year and they have fewer than expect IB and sibling applicants. So the applicant to spot ratio is going to be too high for IB families and way too low for OOB families.

Whereas charters and all-city schools that don't have boundary preferences can be more accurately described by the applicant to spot ratio. Though it still ignores sibling preference. With sibling preference, many families would be all but guaranteed a spot at a school like SWS or Stokes, because the siblings don't even have to compete with IB kids -- they jump all the way to the front of the line. And the number of siblings on any given applicant list for these schools can greatly reduce the odds of a family with no sibling preference getting a spot -- there are charters where more than half of all available spots in a class went to siblings some years. So non-siblings are actually competing for a much smaller number of spots.

There are also schools where a lot of people throw them on a lottery list but are not actually hard to get into. They are like safeties. Two Rivers (both 4th and Young get used this way at this point). But their yield is low and they will go deep into their waitlists.

+1. Very true.

The hardest to get into list is useless because OP is including schools with IB preference. Those families will get in and it’s 100% and not hard at all.

I think most of those schools do end up leaving IB students on the waitlist for PK3. More likely to get a spot by PK4.

That is true but also neglects another factor: if you are IB for a school and don't get in for PK, you are still guaranteed a spot for K. Many families who miss out on their IB for PK3 or PK4 simply enroll at K and it's a non-issues. At Maury, for example, it can be hard to get a PK spot if you don't have a sibling already enrolled. But lots of families send kids to Miner, Appletree, JOW (maybe less so now because JOW is more competitive for PK than it used to be), and a variety of characters. Or just do private preschool. Missing out on PK at your IB is a bummer but more of a temporary annoyance.

Whereas families lotterying for OOB schools and charters (who are unhappy with their IB) have a lot more on the line with PK3 lottery. Many popular charters are all but impossible to get spots at after PK3. Some schools, including some DCPS, can be a bit easier to get a spot at in K because of roster expansion, but not always true. Some popular schools can be easier to lottery into in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, but the later it gets the more useless this is unless your main goal of going to the school is access to a middle school feed.

So IB and OOB families not only have very different odds of getting spots at these schools, they also have really different things riding on the PK lottery. Lots of families want PK spots at strong neighborhood DCPS schools or one of the better charters, but it's a much more critical situation for families with poor IB options (take it from someone who knows from experience).

Mmm, no. As someone who has been in this situation, not getting an IB seat also meant our lottery number was bad enough that we didn't get in anywhere else within reasonable commuting distance or where our kid wouldn't have been the only one of their race and SES. Paying for an extra year of daycare was not a minor inconvenience.

you are too poor to afford day care and afraid to send your kid to school with poor kids? That must be rough

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is misleading because it's a mix of DCPS boundary schools (with IB preference for PK), charters (all lottery), and and DCPS all city (also all lottery).

Mixing schools like Bancroft, Hyde-Addison, Marie Reed, and Maury in with schools like School Within School, Stokes, or DC Bilingual based on applicant to spot ratio gives wrong impressions about all these schools.

If you are IB for any of those DCPS schools, your chances of getting a PK3 spot are way higher than the the applicant to spot ration would indicate. That's because if you are OOB for any of those schools, your chances of getting a spot are zero or close to zero. Many people will throw schools like that on their lottery list just in case, because you get 12 slots and if you live nearby, who knows, maybe it's a weird year and they have fewer than expect IB and sibling applicants. So the applicant to spot ratio is going to be too high for IB families and way too low for OOB families.

Whereas charters and all-city schools that don't have boundary preferences can be more accurately described by the applicant to spot ratio. Though it still ignores sibling preference. With sibling preference, many families would be all but guaranteed a spot at a school like SWS or Stokes, because the siblings don't even have to compete with IB kids -- they jump all the way to the front of the line. And the number of siblings on any given applicant list for these schools can greatly reduce the odds of a family with no sibling preference getting a spot -- there are charters where more than half of all available spots in a class went to siblings some years. So non-siblings are actually competing for a much smaller number of spots.

There are also schools where a lot of people throw them on a lottery list but are not actually hard to get into. They are like safeties. Two Rivers (both 4th and Young get used this way at this point). But their yield is low and they will go deep into their waitlists.

+1. Very true.

The hardest to get into list is useless because OP is including schools with IB preference. Those families will get in and it’s 100% and not hard at all.

I think most of those schools do end up leaving IB students on the waitlist for PK3. More likely to get a spot by PK4.

That is true but also neglects another factor: if you are IB for a school and don't get in for PK, you are still guaranteed a spot for K. Many families who miss out on their IB for PK3 or PK4 simply enroll at K and it's a non-issues. At Maury, for example, it can be hard to get a PK spot if you don't have a sibling already enrolled. But lots of families send kids to Miner, Appletree, JOW (maybe less so now because JOW is more competitive for PK than it used to be), and a variety of characters. Or just do private preschool. Missing out on PK at your IB is a bummer but more of a temporary annoyance.

Whereas families lotterying for OOB schools and charters (who are unhappy with their IB) have a lot more on the line with PK3 lottery. Many popular charters are all but impossible to get spots at after PK3. Some schools, including some DCPS, can be a bit easier to get a spot at in K because of roster expansion, but not always true. Some popular schools can be easier to lottery into in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, but the later it gets the more useless this is unless your main goal of going to the school is access to a middle school feed.

So IB and OOB families not only have very different odds of getting spots at these schools, they also have really different things riding on the PK lottery. Lots of families want PK spots at strong neighborhood DCPS schools or one of the better charters, but it's a much more critical situation for families with poor IB options (take it from someone who knows from experience).

Mmm, no. As someone who has been in this situation, not getting an IB seat also meant our lottery number was bad enough that we didn't get in anywhere else within reasonable commuting distance or where our kid wouldn't have been the only one of their race and SES. Paying for an extra year of daycare was not a minor inconvenience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is misleading because it's a mix of DCPS boundary schools (with IB preference for PK), charters (all lottery), and and DCPS all city (also all lottery).

Mixing schools like Bancroft, Hyde-Addison, Marie Reed, and Maury in with schools like School Within School, Stokes, or DC Bilingual based on applicant to spot ratio gives wrong impressions about all these schools.

If you are IB for any of those DCPS schools, your chances of getting a PK3 spot are way higher than the the applicant to spot ration would indicate. That's because if you are OOB for any of those schools, your chances of getting a spot are zero or close to zero. Many people will throw schools like that on their lottery list just in case, because you get 12 slots and if you live nearby, who knows, maybe it's a weird year and they have fewer than expect IB and sibling applicants. So the applicant to spot ratio is going to be too high for IB families and way too low for OOB families.

Whereas charters and all-city schools that don't have boundary preferences can be more accurately described by the applicant to spot ratio. Though it still ignores sibling preference. With sibling preference, many families would be all but guaranteed a spot at a school like SWS or Stokes, because the siblings don't even have to compete with IB kids -- they jump all the way to the front of the line. And the number of siblings on any given applicant list for these schools can greatly reduce the odds of a family with no sibling preference getting a spot -- there are charters where more than half of all available spots in a class went to siblings some years. So non-siblings are actually competing for a much smaller number of spots.

There are also schools where a lot of people throw them on a lottery list but are not actually hard to get into. They are like safeties. Two Rivers (both 4th and Young get used this way at this point). But their yield is low and they will go deep into their waitlists.

+1. Very true.

The hardest to get into list is useless because OP is including schools with IB preference. Those families will get in and it’s 100% and not hard at all.

I think most of those schools do end up leaving IB students on the waitlist for PK3. More likely to get a spot by PK4.

That is true but also neglects another factor: if you are IB for a school and don't get in for PK, you are still guaranteed a spot for K. Many families who miss out on their IB for PK3 or PK4 simply enroll at K and it's a non-issues. At Maury, for example, it can be hard to get a PK spot if you don't have a sibling already enrolled. But lots of families send kids to Miner, Appletree, JOW (maybe less so now because JOW is more competitive for PK than it used to be), and a variety of characters. Or just do private preschool. Missing out on PK at your IB is a bummer but more of a temporary annoyance.

Whereas families lotterying for OOB schools and charters (who are unhappy with their IB) have a lot more on the line with PK3 lottery. Many popular charters are all but impossible to get spots at after PK3. Some schools, including some DCPS, can be a bit easier to get a spot at in K because of roster expansion, but not always true. Some popular schools can be easier to lottery into in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, but the later it gets the more useless this is unless your main goal of going to the school is access to a middle school feed.

So IB and OOB families not only have very different odds of getting spots at these schools, they also have really different things riding on the PK lottery. Lots of families want PK spots at strong neighborhood DCPS schools or one of the better charters, but it's a much more critical situation for families with poor IB options (take it from someone who knows from experience).

I can’t believe Capitol Hill Montessori and SWS is so in demand. Those schools are terrible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, most of the best DCPS schools don't even have PK3.

I think the OP should readjust her anxiety and her numbers and look at Kindergarten. I would almost consider PK to be a completely different offering.

I think OP should readjust her anxiety and do literally anything other than analyse myschooldc lottery data. But alas, I am OP and I know myself well enough to know that I shan't.

LOL

I am not the OP, but I absolutely could have written this about myself. Number of times I've check my waitlist numbers today: 4.

OP, I wish we were friends, we could commiserate together (and I could stop driving my husband crazy with this).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is misleading because it's a mix of DCPS boundary schools (with IB preference for PK), charters (all lottery), and and DCPS all city (also all lottery).

Mixing schools like Bancroft, Hyde-Addison, Marie Reed, and Maury in with schools like School Within School, Stokes, or DC Bilingual based on applicant to spot ratio gives wrong impressions about all these schools.

If you are IB for any of those DCPS schools, your chances of getting a PK3 spot are way higher than the the applicant to spot ration would indicate. That's because if you are OOB for any of those schools, your chances of getting a spot are zero or close to zero. Many people will throw schools like that on their lottery list just in case, because you get 12 slots and if you live nearby, who knows, maybe it's a weird year and they have fewer than expect IB and sibling applicants. So the applicant to spot ratio is going to be too high for IB families and way too low for OOB families.

Whereas charters and all-city schools that don't have boundary preferences can be more accurately described by the applicant to spot ratio. Though it still ignores sibling preference. With sibling preference, many families would be all but guaranteed a spot at a school like SWS or Stokes, because the siblings don't even have to compete with IB kids -- they jump all the way to the front of the line. And the number of siblings on any given applicant list for these schools can greatly reduce the odds of a family with no sibling preference getting a spot -- there are charters where more than half of all available spots in a class went to siblings some years. So non-siblings are actually competing for a much smaller number of spots.

There are also schools where a lot of people throw them on a lottery list but are not actually hard to get into. They are like safeties. Two Rivers (both 4th and Young get used this way at this point). But their yield is low and they will go deep into their waitlists.

+1. Very true.

The hardest to get into list is useless because OP is including schools with IB preference. Those families will get in and it’s 100% and not hard at all.

I think most of those schools do end up leaving IB students on the waitlist for PK3. More likely to get a spot by PK4.

Anonymous wrote:Also, most of the best DCPS schools don't even have PK3.

I think the OP should readjust her anxiety and her numbers and look at Kindergarten. I would almost consider PK to be a completely different offering.

I think OP should readjust her anxiety and do literally anything other than analyse myschooldc lottery data. But alas, I am OP and I know myself well enough to know that I shan't.

Also, most of the best DCPS schools don't even have PK3.

I think the OP should readjust her anxiety and her numbers and look at Kindergarten. I would almost consider PK to be a completely different offering.

Anonymous wrote:This is misleading because it's a mix of DCPS boundary schools (with IB preference for PK), charters (all lottery), and and DCPS all city (also all lottery).

Mixing schools like Bancroft, Hyde-Addison, Marie Reed, and Maury in with schools like School Within School, Stokes, or DC Bilingual based on applicant to spot ratio gives wrong impressions about all these schools.

If you are IB for any of those DCPS schools, your chances of getting a PK3 spot are way higher than the the applicant to spot ration would indicate. That's because if you are OOB for any of those schools, your chances of getting a spot are zero or close to zero. Many people will throw schools like that on their lottery list just in case, because you get 12 slots and if you live nearby, who knows, maybe it's a weird year and they have fewer than expect IB and sibling applicants. So the applicant to spot ratio is going to be too high for IB families and way too low for OOB families.

Whereas charters and all-city schools that don't have boundary preferences can be more accurately described by the applicant to spot ratio. Though it still ignores sibling preference. With sibling preference, many families would be all but guaranteed a spot at a school like SWS or Stokes, because the siblings don't even have to compete with IB kids -- they jump all the way to the front of the line. And the number of siblings on any given applicant list for these schools can greatly reduce the odds of a family with no sibling preference getting a spot -- there are charters where more than half of all available spots in a class went to siblings some years. So non-siblings are actually competing for a much smaller number of spots.

There are also schools where a lot of people throw them on a lottery list but are not actually hard to get into. They are like safeties. Two Rivers (both 4th and Young get used this way at this point). But their yield is low and they will go deep into their waitlists.

+1. Very true.

The hardest to get into list is useless because OP is including schools with IB preference. Those families will get in and it’s 100% and not hard at all.

Yeah, I think you've got to separate this out between IB and not IB. At the very least, have a separate list for IB DCPS schools and see which are the hardest to get into as an IB student for PK3 (with no sibling). Presumably that's some of the Hill schools?

Then you do a separate list that is no preference seats across all schools (charter, DCPS, etc) and see which are the hardest to get into.

I think it would be more interesting to show the second one instead as (matches + waitlist length on results day) to lottery seat ratio.

This is misleading because it's a mix of DCPS boundary schools (with IB preference for PK), charters (all lottery), and and DCPS all city (also all lottery).

Mixing schools like Bancroft, Hyde-Addison, Marie Reed, and Maury in with schools like School Within School, Stokes, or DC Bilingual based on applicant to spot ratio gives wrong impressions about all these schools.

If you are IB for any of those DCPS schools, your chances of getting a PK3 spot are way higher than the the applicant to spot ration would indicate. That's because if you are OOB for any of those schools, your chances of getting a spot are zero or close to zero. Many people will throw schools like that on their lottery list just in case, because you get 12 slots and if you live nearby, who knows, maybe it's a weird year and they have fewer than expect IB and sibling applicants. So the applicant to spot ratio is going to be too high for IB families and way too low for OOB families.

Whereas charters and all-city schools that don't have boundary preferences can be more accurately described by the applicant to spot ratio. Though it still ignores sibling preference. With sibling preference, many families would be all but guaranteed a spot at a school like SWS or Stokes, because the siblings don't even have to compete with IB kids -- they jump all the way to the front of the line. And the number of siblings on any given applicant list for these schools can greatly reduce the odds of a family with no sibling preference getting a spot -- there are charters where more than half of all available spots in a class went to siblings some years. So non-siblings are actually competing for a much smaller number of spots.

There are also schools where a lot of people throw them on a lottery list but are not actually hard to get into. They are like safeties. Two Rivers (both 4th and Young get used this way at this point). But their yield is low and they will go deep into their waitlists.

While I anxiously wait for waitlist numbers to change, I decided to run the numbers on most popular vs hardest to get into (i.e. applicant to spot ratio) schools for PK3 in 2026. Enjoy.. or don't.

1. DC Bilingual PCS
2. Latin American Montessori Bilingual
3. Capitol Hill Montessori School
4. School-Within-School
5. Washington Yu Ying PCS
6. Maury Elementary School
7. Mundo Verde Bilingual PCS - Calle Ocho Campus
8. Peabody Elementary School
9. Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School
10. E.W. Stokes - Brookland (Spanish Language Program)
11. Mundo Verde Bilingual PCS - J.F. Cook Campus
12. Brent Elementary School
13. Payne Elementary School
14. Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS
15. Hyde-Addison Elementary School
16. AppleTree PCS - Lincoln Park
17. Bancroft Elementary School - English Dominant
18. John Lewis Elementary School
19. Two Rivers PCS at 4th Street
20. Shirley Chisholm Elementary School (Dual Language) - English Dominant

Hardest to get into:
1. Bancroft Elementary School - English Dominant (35 applicants for every lottery seat)
2. School-Within-School (28)
3. E.W. Stokes - Brookland (Spanish Language Program) (24)
4. Hyde-Addison Elementary School (24)
5. Marie Reed Elementary School (Dual Language) - English Dominant (20)
6. Marie Reed Elementary School (18)
7. Maury Elementary School (17)
8. DC Bilingual PCS (16)
9. Powell Elementary School (Dual Language) - English Dominant (16)
10. E.W. Stokes - Brookland (French Language Program) (14)
11. Brent Elementary School (13)
12. Capitol Hill Montessori School (12)
13. Cleveland Elementary School (Dual Language) - English Dominant (12)
14. Latin American Montessori Bilingual (11)
15. Bruce-Monroe Elementary School @ Park View - English Dominant (11)
16. Van Ness Elementary School (11)
17. Shepherd Elementary School (11)
18. Shirley Chisholm Elementary School (Dual Language) - English Dominant (10)
19. Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School (10)
20. Garrison Elementary School (9)