Yes, true. Don't wait until the first day of school and expect to get in. As soon as you know your school, both register (so the school can account for you in class size) and sign-up for aftercare.

We are at a very large ES - 900 kids. The after care at the school has a very long waiting list. But there are 3 off-site providers that kids get bussed to at dismissal. One of those is full. As far as I know, the other two have openings and are inclined to take all-comers and hire more staff. Just make sure you get all the info from the school. If you just hear that e in school provider haas a 100 person wait list, ask if there are off-site providers.

We are moving this summer to get into a better school zone (which, exactly, TBD very soon), and my aunt, who works for FCPS, mentioned that we should take into account availability of aftercare in making our decision, as the FCPS aftercare programs can have long waitlists. Is that true of MCPS aftercare programs (some or all)? We both work full time, so not having easy aftercare would be a huge problem.