Agree with posters who say to move to the suburbs if you want a sure path through 12th grade. We are on the Hill and there is a lot of movement around 4th and 5th grade to charters or private school. You are either "lucky" and win the lottery for a charter you are happy with through 12th, or you move, go private, of go to your IB middle and hold your breath your kid gets into Walls for high school. It's not for the faint of heart. And for those that say just move in middle or high, it's harder to move kids at that age, much harder than I thought it would be socially.

Anonymous wrote:New to dc lottery and applying for president 2 and 3rd. Are there any choices that I can make now that will put kids on path for 12th grade? I am trying to understand feeders etc. I was just curious if any elementary schools look in spots at decent feeders if you are not in boundaries or do you have to play lottery throughout time on DCPS if you do like your in boundary options? Also, are there any decent charters for elementary that have paths through 12th?

Some people like DCI for middle/high school. It has a number of ES feeders that aren’t LAMB that you could lottery for (DC Bilingual, Stokes, Mundo Verde, maybe Yu Ying? Idk their lottery deal)

There are a number of DCPS application high schools, so if you can get through MS that can be an option, too.

I agree with posters that say live in Arlington. Better schools than Deal/JR and feed all the way to 12th.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With kids that age you shouldn't wait to figure out middle school when you get 5th. Too much disruption to try to move schols after a year or two. I hate to say it but the only way you would have a certain path that is a reasonable school is if you move in bounds for Hardy or Deal. In your case suburbs would be better.

Hogwash. Latin and BASIS fill up with brand new 5th graders and those kids seem to end up ok.

Those 5th graders may not have just started a new school two years ago. And OP, percentage wise very few kids get into Latin. BASIS is easier but not guaranteed and has a very strong math focus, which may or may not be a good fit for your kids. If your goal is stability, you want a feeder path with a middle school and high school that you are guaranteed to get in to, and a school that has a variety of classes. Honestly any school in Arlington would be fine as would anything in the southern part of moco or JR. What's your budget? VA would be an easier commute to K st.

Hyde will feed Hardy and the new HS, correct?