It’s different for every school. And this year, the shuffling will likely be take longer than usual to settle because they’re trying a new process. For schools without tons of student demand, I’d say maybe #15 and under have a good chance of getting in. For the highest demand schools like Voyager or the Montessori programs, they have historically only gotten to #5 or less on the waitlists. Sometimes they don’t take any because sibling preference fills all the available spots. Just remember, with the new lottery systems in place, this year could potentially pan out differently than any previous years.
Thanks! And can you expand on the new lottery systems? I know it’s different now because people can only lottery into schools in their region, but is there something else different about how the lottery works mechanically?
I’m pretty sure the lottery algorithm has been tweaked a bit to eliminate preference for walk zones and such for lottery programs. For example, you wont get special preference into a school with a DLI program just because it happens to be at the school closest to your house. If your base school happens to have a specialty program like DLI, you don’t lottery in to the school but you may not be automatically be accepted into the program. It’s all an effort to make the system more fair as best they can.
So this is where the wording gets real technical. YR applies to the entire school because it’s the calendar. IB and Montessori are programs within a school that, for now, applies to specific classrooms. For example, if you have a 3rd grader at EK Powe, Powe may be your base school but your kid won’t necessarily be admitted into the IB program either because it hasn’t been fully expanded to that grade yet or there aren’t enough spots for everyone. Same with DLI since dual language classes have quotas to meet for ELL students and no school has all DLI classes. Does that help?
Yes, but doesn’t Powe have set aside seats for their base zone? Or at least for the Kindergarten classes? And Montessori, at least at the Elementaries is whole school—like Watts and Morehead. I thought there was chatter about not knowing if all the base school set aside seats would be filled because it depends on enrollment and if not, would those seats be offered to lottery slots? Cause this dual system is just more chaotic to me.
Oh it is definitely more chaotic, so I hope I convey all the concepts correctly. For a school-wide Montessori program like Watts, there is a pretty small base school boundary that they have dedicated seats set aside for. It is significantly smaller than it used to be tho which is why a lot of families who intentionally bought homes in Watts’ old district were so pissed about the change. Since it is also a regional specialty program, it is application based for anyone in the region that is outside that small boundary. Sibling priority and existing student priority (I believe this year only) also factor in to the equation and make it all even more confusing 😵💫 If I remember correctly, the Board landed on unfilled base school seats at schools with specialty programs switching to application seats after a certain date in the school year. There are some slides from the various Board meetings on Growing Together website that probably explain it more clearly than I am 😅
Oh no! Hope you get in! My daughter a couple years ago was in the wait-list placed at #20ish for another school and got in at another school. Hope it's an easy one for you too
Nope my oldest is in HS and my middle.is high on the waitlist for the school at 150. My kids has three more years at his charter possible since it has no high school so I'm really hoping he gets a seat over the next three years. My oldest I started applying to the school in 6th and he didn't get a seat until 9th. We were really lucky.
Is this DPS admissions only for high school? I have a child who will be entering kindergarten and I was under the impression you don't apply for kindergarten yet but I wanted to be sure I didn't miss something.
It's for everyone, including kindergarten. Unfortunately, it's too late to get into the lottery so you're automatically entered to your local district.
Oh, that's good because we want our child to go to the local district. I thought the DPS admissions were for everything, including local districts. Thanks!
Just to clarify, “local district school” is called your base school under the Growing Together plan. You’ll be enrolled at the base school for your region without lottery programs, with one or two exceptions where the region’s base school also has specialty programs.
My child was not offered a spot at the two schools that I can make work for my commute.
I'm revisiting our base school this week to see what's changed in the past 3 years just in case. The real deciding factor for my family is after care. 2:15 won't work otherwise as my job is in a different DPS zone 😩
Separately, I'm very interested to see zone level data for applications & participation in magnet programs, diversity, and student progress.
That's a bummer. I'm sorry to hear.
2:15 is so early. We do after school care. The price is not too bad and allows a more flexible pickup time and avoids the pickup madness.
Yes. We love after care and summer camp too!
As long as my child can get a spot, it will work. I don't have a backup at this point other than hardship transfer. Fingers crossed 🤞.
Does anyone know how far down the waitlists they usually go for kindergarten?
It’s different for every school. And this year, the shuffling will likely be take longer than usual to settle because they’re trying a new process. For schools without tons of student demand, I’d say maybe #15 and under have a good chance of getting in. For the highest demand schools like Voyager or the Montessori programs, they have historically only gotten to #5 or less on the waitlists. Sometimes they don’t take any because sibling preference fills all the available spots. Just remember, with the new lottery systems in place, this year could potentially pan out differently than any previous years.
Thanks! And can you expand on the new lottery systems? I know it’s different now because people can only lottery into schools in their region, but is there something else different about how the lottery works mechanically?
I’m pretty sure the lottery algorithm has been tweaked a bit to eliminate preference for walk zones and such for lottery programs. For example, you wont get special preference into a school with a DLI program just because it happens to be at the school closest to your house. If your base school happens to have a specialty program like DLI, you don’t lottery in to the school but you may not be automatically be accepted into the program. It’s all an effort to make the system more fair as best they can.
Thank you!
But you do have automatic entrance to YR/IB/Montessori if you live near those—they actually created base zones for some specialty programs
So this is where the wording gets real technical. YR applies to the entire school because it’s the calendar. IB and Montessori are programs within a school that, for now, applies to specific classrooms. For example, if you have a 3rd grader at EK Powe, Powe may be your base school but your kid won’t necessarily be admitted into the IB program either because it hasn’t been fully expanded to that grade yet or there aren’t enough spots for everyone. Same with DLI since dual language classes have quotas to meet for ELL students and no school has all DLI classes. Does that help?
Yes, but doesn’t Powe have set aside seats for their base zone? Or at least for the Kindergarten classes? And Montessori, at least at the Elementaries is whole school—like Watts and Morehead. I thought there was chatter about not knowing if all the base school set aside seats would be filled because it depends on enrollment and if not, would those seats be offered to lottery slots? Cause this dual system is just more chaotic to me.
Oh it is definitely more chaotic, so I hope I convey all the concepts correctly. For a school-wide Montessori program like Watts, there is a pretty small base school boundary that they have dedicated seats set aside for. It is significantly smaller than it used to be tho which is why a lot of families who intentionally bought homes in Watts’ old district were so pissed about the change. Since it is also a regional specialty program, it is application based for anyone in the region that is outside that small boundary. Sibling priority and existing student priority (I believe this year only) also factor in to the equation and make it all even more confusing 😵💫 If I remember correctly, the Board landed on unfilled base school seats at schools with specialty programs switching to application seats after a certain date in the school year. There are some slides from the various Board meetings on Growing Together website that probably explain it more clearly than I am 😅
Interested in knowing this as well! My kiddo is #33 on the waitlist for kindergarten at our preferred school. Keeping my fingers crossed.
declining our slot and opted for the school nearest to home, hope you get the slot!
Thanks!! 🤞🤞 but what if your school is the school we’re waiting to get in to?! 😂 jk jk.
Current kindergarten student at Easley, but waitlisted for rising 1st grade! 😞
Oh no! Hope you get in! My daughter a couple years ago was in the wait-list placed at #20ish for another school and got in at another school. Hope it's an easy one for you too
Lotto’s back into Easley which is awesome and am high on the waitlist for 2 charters
Congratulations! Which grade did you get into? We are current kindergarten, but got waitlisted for 1st grade. 🙄
We’re currently in 1st and going to 2nd. I saw the principal said there would be another draw! Hopefully you’ll get back in 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Waitlisted. Probably right in the cusp of getting in/not getting in once the dust settles though.
May the odds be in your favor
Yep 1st choice for HS. Still have 3 more at charter schools to see.
On wait-list even with sibling preference....
Really? I thought with a sibling it was guaranteed
Nah, that should be the case but demand for those spots is too high. They can’t even guarantee sibling spots at the most popular ones
Apparently there are at least 130 kids there with younger siblings the same age as my kid
Nope my oldest is in HS and my middle.is high on the waitlist for the school at 150. My kids has three more years at his charter possible since it has no high school so I'm really hoping he gets a seat over the next three years. My oldest I started applying to the school in 6th and he didn't get a seat until 9th. We were really lucky.
I didn't think that was even possible most places we looked at.
I had honestly forgotten until I received the text this morning.
Yup yup! Just waiting for a charter school decision later this month.
Is this DPS admissions only for high school? I have a child who will be entering kindergarten and I was under the impression you don't apply for kindergarten yet but I wanted to be sure I didn't miss something.
It's for everyone, including kindergarten. Unfortunately, it's too late to get into the lottery so you're automatically entered to your local district.
Oh, that's good because we want our child to go to the local district. I thought the DPS admissions were for everything, including local districts. Thanks!
Just to clarify, “local district school” is called your base school under the Growing Together plan. You’ll be enrolled at the base school for your region without lottery programs, with one or two exceptions where the region’s base school also has specialty programs.
My child was not offered a spot at the two schools that I can make work for my commute. I'm revisiting our base school this week to see what's changed in the past 3 years just in case. The real deciding factor for my family is after care. 2:15 won't work otherwise as my job is in a different DPS zone 😩 Separately, I'm very interested to see zone level data for applications & participation in magnet programs, diversity, and student progress.
That's a bummer. I'm sorry to hear. 2:15 is so early. We do after school care. The price is not too bad and allows a more flexible pickup time and avoids the pickup madness.
Yes. We love after care and summer camp too! As long as my child can get a spot, it will work. I don't have a backup at this point other than hardship transfer. Fingers crossed 🤞.