OP, the lottery gets much easier for lower elementary. Preschool years are the hardest. I'd suggest you try the charter lottery for less expensive areas, you're sure to get something in a year or two. Try for Two Rivers or Inspired Teaching, then you're set through 8th. Then you can decide about moving when the time comes.

I agree you wouldn't save much money moving to the Hill though. Why not Takoma Park?

so in your opinion, wilson is THAT great? Because basically it's terrible publics, slim chance charters, or spend the extra money saved on housing at a private school? Or put it all in a house WOTP and secure a spot at wilson?

OP, if I were you I wouldn't bother with EOTP. Go all out and leave DC and live somewhere where you can have a big house and yard for much cheaper, like further-out Takoma, Wheaton, West Springfield, Burke, Falls Church, Waldorf, Ft. Washington, Hyattsville, etc.

The schools are no worse than the non-Wilson high schools (often better) and you can save a lot more money, which you can use to move where you want for HS or pay for private.

Another option is to move to Shepherd Park or Mt. Pleasant. Not much cheaper than WOTP but give you an EOTP neighborhood but still the Wilson feed (for now, and you'd probably be grandfathered in).

Anonymous wrote:OP- I have done "homework" by looking at online scores, but that doesn't always tell the real story 10 years out! I am asking for first hand experience at the other public options, other than Wilson. And honestly for those that love Wilson- why? and is it worth paying $200k more on a mortgage just for that school? Honest questions.

DC does have good application/lottery schools but having played the lottery for pre-k 3 and 4, I know chances are pretty slim. I was thinking the same about Coolidge, but less so about Eastern- but really only because i'm less familiar with that area and the lower schools that feed into it. Why not Roosevelt? Also, can I still apply to the application schools above, even if we don't use the DCPS until 9th? Does that push us lower on the totem pole?

Ok go for it OP. Don't mind the 6% proficiency in reading at math...go ahead. Give it a whirl!

DCI is superb.

There are almost no students at the neighborhood high schools other than Wilson who are proficient in math and English. I think Eastern and Coolidge have the most potential, but even at Eastern only 2% of kids get a 4 or 5 on the math PARCC (86% score a 1 or 2, so they aren't close to grade level). Heather Schoell is an Eastern parent/booster who could probably give you a sense of what it's like to be the very rare white/middle class family there. But I'm not sure it's much cheaper to move to Capitol Hill than to stay in your current home WOTP. And your kid might not mind being the rare kid on grade level, or you might not care if your kid *is* on grade level, but it's hard to know that right now.

If your kid is young, you could move where you like and move back if your kid doesn't get into a high school you like ten years from now. It might be expensive but if you can afford it that's certainly an option.

To your question about if you can apply to DCPS application schools if you don't go to a DCPS middle--yes, you can apply from DCPS, charter, private, out of state, etc. You just have to establish residency in DC if you enroll. DC will likely go through a redistricting processing before your kid gets to HS and other policies could change too.

OP- I have done "homework" by looking at online scores, but that doesn't always tell the real story 10 years out! I am asking for first hand experience at the other public options, other than Wilson. And honestly for those that love Wilson- why? and is it worth paying $200k more on a mortgage just for that school? Honest questions.

DC does have good application/lottery schools but having played the lottery for pre-k 3 and 4, I know chances are pretty slim. I was thinking the same about Coolidge, but less so about Eastern- but really only because i'm less familiar with that area and the lower schools that feed into it. Why not Roosevelt? Also, can I still apply to the application schools above, even if we don't use the DCPS until 9th? Does that push us lower on the totem pole?

Anonymous wrote:The viable non-private high schools in dc:

Washington Latin - lottery
SWW - application
Basis - lottery
Wilson

Perhaps:

Banneker - application
McKinley Tech - application
DCI - must come from a feeder/lottery

So no, there are not feeder/neighborhood acceptable high schools outside of wilson. As PP said, do even a little homework.

How old is your child? You could move EOTP, see how things go, and then move back if you had to. I think getting into Banneker is not going to be terribly hard after expansion. In 10 years, Coolidge or Eastern could improve.

The viable non-private high schools in dc:

Washington Latin
SWW
Basis
Wilson

Perhaps:

Banneker
McKinley Tech
DCI

Numerous application high schools are also alternatives to Wilson.

mmkay. yeah. they're really that bad.

this must be a troll.

OP, do some homework.

Hahahahaha. Oh my.

We currently live in a Wilson feeder zone WOTP but we really love the neighborhoods EOTP, not to mention we can get a much nicer house with more space. Aside from Charters, are other DCPS high schools really that bad? I find it hard to believe my children would get a better education from a school with 2,000 students (Wilson) as opposed to one with less than 500. Are certain high schools expected to improve over the next 10 years (I have preschoolers)?

I really don't want to stay over here and pay a super high housing premium for a school that doesn't get that many raves on this site, but is ranked a 7 instead of a 3. What's so bad about non-Wilson DCPS?