(Washington, DC) – Mayor Muriel Bowser announced today the results of My School DC, the District’s common lottery system for DC Public Schools (DCPS) and nearly all public charter schools in its second year of operation. This process allows families to use a single online application. My School DC received 20,349 applications from families interested in attending one of over 200 DCPS or public charter schools for the 2015-16 school year, an increase of more than 3,000 applications over last year. The common lottery then maximized the number of students matched to a school they want to attend.
Families used the lottery to apply to charter schools and all DCPS early childhood, out-of-boundary and specialized high schools, eliminating barriers and streamlining the process. Of the 20,349 applications received, 14,592 students were matched at the time of the lottery – a 72 percent match rate. The overall match rate rose by one percent even with the rise in applications from last year. Of these matched students, 85 percent were offered a seat at one of their top three school choices. PK3 and 9th grades had the highest number of applications and match rates of 87% and 80%, respectively. Additional students will be offered spots from waitlists over the spring and summer.
“I am pleased that My School DC continues to be a useful resource for thousands of families throughout the District as they weigh DCPS and public school options,” said Mayor Bowser. “This improved process is the successful result of our focus on better collaboration across multiple sectors, agencies, and schools.”
My School DC is a joint effort between the Deputy Mayor for Education, DCPS, the Public Charter School Board, the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, and public charter school leaders. It is a successful example of how District agencies and schools – public and public charter – can work together in an innovative way for the benefit of District families.
With more than 200 public schools participating, parents could rank up to 12 schools for each child. Families are waitlisted at schools they ranked higher than where they were matched. For the first time this year, parents will be able to log in and see their waitlist positions in real time as schools make offers instead of having to contact each school individually to see if there has been movement. Schools will also be able to make waitlist offers to families directly through the system.
“Today is the culmination of a joint effort to make it easier for parents to navigate the school choices available across the city,” said Deputy Mayor Jennifer Niles. “I thank DCPS and charter school leaders for their shared willingness to work together on behalf of their families.”
My School DC coordinated an extensive outreach campaign in multiple languages to make sure that families across the city were aware of the lottery and application process. The distribution of applications by students’ ward of residence reflects the current distribution of public school students in the city, as it did last year – an indication that families in every part of the city were able to access the application and participate in the lottery.
“My application process was easy breezy! The website and content were very easy to navigate. I understood all terms and verbiage used by My School DC.” said Johntia Barnes, a Ward 8 parent participating for the first time in the lottery.
Families can log onto www.myschooldc.org and check their results or call the My School DC hotline at (202) 888-6336. Families who were matched in Round 1 must submit their enrollment forms in person by May 1 to the school where they were matched. Anyone who was not matched with a school or missed the deadline may submit an application for Round 2 of the lottery. Applications (PK3-12) for Round 2 are due by May 8.
For more information on the process and how to submit an application for Round 2, please visit My School DC.
View the My School DC – Overview of SY15-16 Round 1 Lottery Results