What is the Out-of-Boundary Lottery?
Every student from kindergarten through 12th grade has a right to attend his or her assigned DCPS school(s). However, a student may enroll at a different DCPS school if space is available.
The Out-of-Boundary Lottery allows parents to apply for kindergarten through 12th grade at a different DCPS school than their child's assigned school(s). (If you seek to apply for a three- or four-year-old seat, please read about the Pre-School / Pre-K / Head Start Lottery.)
The lottery application period takes place annually between January 28 and February 28, for the following school year. However, if a school does not fill all of its available seats through the lottery, out-of-boundary students may still enroll at the school on a first-come first-served basis.
The Out-of-Boundary Lottery is not for children attending their current school as an out-of-boundary student (see below) or for those seeking admission to a selective citywide high school.
|
When do I apply?
The lottery application period for the 2010-2011 school year begins on January 28, 2010 and ends on February 28, 2010 at 11:59 PM.
|
Where do I apply?
Click here to apply online for the Out-of-Boundary Lottery. The lottery application must be completed online; no paper applications will be accepted.
Applicants without home internet access can call, walk in, or set up an appointment at any of the following locations to access the internet or receive assistance in submitting an application:
For assistance from Head Start/Early Childhood specialists:
- Northwest Head Start office (Spanish also spoken)
Seaton Elementary School
1503 10th St. NW
(202) 673-7303
- Southeast Head Start office
Johnson Middle School
1200 12th Pl. SE
(202) 698-1033
- Northeast Head Start office
Kenilworth Elementary School
1300 44th St. NE
(202) 724-4643
For assistance in a language other than English:
- Office of Bilingual Education
Garrison Elementary School Administrative Unit, East Wing
1200 S St. NW
(202) 671-0750
Other locations:
- Ward 1 Parent and Family Resource Center
Tubman Elementary School
3101 13th St. NW (enter through parking lot on Kenyon St.)
(202) 673-2028
- Ward 7 Parent and Family Resource Center
Transition Academy @ Shadd
5601 East Capitol St. SE
(202) 645-4374
- Ward 8 Parent and Family Resource Center
M.C. Terrell Elementary School
3301 Wheeler Rd. SE, 2nd fl.
(202) 645-6619
- DCPS Central Office
825 N. Capitol St. NE (visit 9th fl. security desk and ask for the CRT)
(202) 478-5738
- Your nearest DCPS school
|
How many schools can I apply to?
Each applicant may apply to up to six out-of-boundary schools.
|
When will I find out if I received a seat through the lottery?
The lottery will take place on March 2, 2010. Results will be posted online on March 3 and mailed home on March 8.
|
When will I have to decide whether I will accept a seat I received through the lottery?
Applicants who receive a seat in the lottery must accept the offer by April 1 and register by May 1 (including DC residency verification) in order to secure the seat. If you are admitted to Hardy Middle School, you will need to complete additional steps before enrolling at the school.
|
If I apply early in the lottery application period, will I have a better chance of being accepted?
No. As long as you apply between January 28 and February 28, there is no advantage to applying early.
|
If my child has a sibling at the school to which I'm applying, or lives close to the school, will I have a better chance of being accepted through the lottery?
Yes. The DC Municipal Regulations (DCMR) allow for a preference in the lottery for a particular school if your child has a sibling at the school, or if your child lives within a reasonable walking distance of the school as defined by DCMR § 5B 2106.3. If admitted with a "sibling preference," you must be prepared to prove that your children are siblings when registering at the school.
|
How does the lottery work?
- After the application period closes on February 28, each applicant will be assigned a random number for each school he/she applied to.
- The applicants for each grade at each school will then be sorted in order of random number.
- Applicants will be placed into available seats in their particular grade at each school based on their preference order and their random number order. The following is the order of preferences for the Out-of-Boundary K-12 lottery:
- Students with a sibling at the school will be placed first, in order of random number.
- Students who live within a reasonable walking distance of the school as defined by DCMR § 5B 2106.3 will be placed next, in order of random number.
- Any remaining seats will go to students who have neither sibling nor proximity preferences, in order of random number.
- Finally, applicants who are placed into more than one school will be given a seat at the school they ranked highest and moved to the waitlist for all other schools on their application.
- Waitlists will be created after all seats in a particular grade at a school are filled, so that students who are not admitted will appear on the waitlist in the preference order described above.
Note: The dual language program at Oyster-Adams has two separate lotteries for kindergarten and 1st grade students -- one for children whose dominant language is English, and another for those whose dominant language is Spanish. Admitted students will be assessed to confirm their dominant language. For grades 2 and up, all students admitted through the Out-of-Boundary Lottery must demonstrate grade-appropriate Spanish language skills.
|
Does the order in which I rank my choices affect my lottery results?
Yes. If, during the lottery, a student is placed into more than one school, he/she will be given a seat at the highest ranked school and moved to the waitlist for all other schools on his/her application.
|
Can my child be accepted to more than one school through the lottery? If we get into a school, what happens to our application for the other school(s)?
In order to maximize the number of applicants who receive a seat at a school to which they've applied, students will not be admitted into more than one school in the Out-of-Boundary Lottery. However, all applicants will be placed on the waitlist at each school to which they are not admitted during the lottery.
|
What is my likelihood of receiving a seat through the lottery?
The likelihood of receiving a seat through the lottery depends on which schools you apply to and whether you have a preference in the lottery for those schools. Download the results of last year's lottery to find out more.
|
Can I apply to a school that does not anticipate being able to accommodate any out-of-boundary students in the particular grade for which I am applying?
Yes; your child will be placed on a waitlist in case a seat becomes available at a later date.
|
How will I know if any out-of-boundary seats are available at a particular school? How is the number of available seats determined?
The number of seats available for out-of-boundary students in each grade at each school is determined based on the school's enrollment projections for the coming year and the school's building capacity, with input from the principal.
Download a tentative list of the number of seats available at each school. This list contains an estimate of the number of seats available at each school for 2010-2011, and is subject to change prior to the lottery on March 2. These numbers are reviewed regularly with principals and may change due to revised projections and capacity.
|
I'm submitting Out-of-Boundary Lottery and/or Pre-school and Pre-k Lottery applications for more than one child, and I'd like them to be admitted to the same school. Is this possible?
Each child's application is treated independently in the Out-of-Boundary and Pre-school/Pre-k Lotteries; therefore, if one sibling is admitted to a particular school, there is no guarantee that the other will be able to attend the same school. However, DCPS seeks to accommodate families by elevating children to the top of the waitlist for their particular grade at a particular school if their sibling was admitted to that school through the lottery.
|
My child attends his/her current school as an out-of-boundary student. Do I need to reapply to keep him/her at the school next year?
No. DCPS seeks to create consistent pathways for students throughout their school years. Thus, all out-of-boundary students who are admitted to a school receive the right to continue attending that school through all its available grades, as well as to attend the school's destination school in the feeder pattern.
|
My child attends his/her current school as an out-of-boundary student and will be moving to middle/high school next year. Do I need to apply through the lottery to secure a seat at my current school's "destination school" in the feeder pattern?
No. DCPS seeks to create consistent pathways for students throughout their school years. Thus, all out-of-boundary students who are admitted to a school receive the right to continue attending that school through all its available grades, as well as to attend the school's destination school in the feeder pattern.
|
I want to place my four-year-old in kindergarten. Is this allowed?
No. DC Municipal Regulations state that students applying for kindergarten must turn five by September 30, 2010. You may apply for a seat in pre-kindergarten.
|
|
|
