If you can't find the answer to your question below, My School DC Hotline is available Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at 202-888-6336

(1) Watch this video to gain a better understanding of how the matching algorithm accounts for lottery preferences, ranking, and random lottery number when matching students to schools. It’s also a great video to learn how waitlists work. Check out the Applying to PK3-PK4 page on our site. Additionally we have our Guide to My School DC e-zine that can be found at the bottom of our resources page.

(2) Use the School Finder to begin creating a list of schools that match your (and your child’s) needs. You can also identify your DCPS in-boundary school by entering your home address and filtering by “Display in-boundary schools only”. The individual school profiles and DC School Report Card are also helpful tools to learn more about a school.

(3) Plan school visits and bring along these helpful questions and any additional questions you have specific to your (or your child’s) needs.

(4) For specific DCPS policies around dual language schools, proximity preference, special education, and feeder rights, please review their Enrollment and Lottery Handbook.

(5) Finally, do not miss the Feb. 2 (Grades 9-12) and March 2 (PK3 – Grade 8) deadlines! Sign up for alerts here to stay on top of the application process.

Some of the other links we discussed include:

School Options Outside of My School DC (Community Based PK Options)

Data Page + Historic Waitlist and Lottery Preferences Data