DCPS
District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is the local public school system of Washington, DC. All DCPS schools are free to DC residents.
DCPS citywide school
A DCPS citywide school is a DCPS school that does not have a designated boundary and therefore cannot be claimed as an in-boundary school. Citywide schools can only be accessed through the lottery and do not provide guaranteed enrollment to any student/family. Students from across the District of Columbia must submit a My School DC lottery application to attend a citywide school. Students are not eligible to receive proximity preference at citywide schools. DCPS citywide schools are Capitol Hill Montessori, Dorothy Height ES, Excel Academy, Grades 6-8 of Leckie Education Campus, Military Road Early Learning Center, Ron Brown College Preparatory HS, School-Within-School ES, Stevens Early Learning Center and the eight DCPS selective high schools and programs.
Early Action PK
Early Action Pre-Kindergarten (PK) guarantees access to all in-boundary families in preschool (PK3) and prekindergarten (PK4) at select DCPS schools. To secure an Early Action PK seat, in-boundary families must submit a My School DC lottery application online to their DCPS in-boundary school by the PK3-grade 8 deadline. Eligible families who submit a My School DC application by the deadline are guaranteed an Early Action PK match if they are not matched to any other higher-ranked school. If a student is matched at their Early Action PK school, they will not be waitlisted at any school they ranked lower. Locate your in-boundary school here. Post lottery applicants are not eligible for the guaranteed seat.
Participating DCPS schools in the 2024-25 school year:
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Lorraine Whitlock Elementary School (formerly Aiton)
Feeder-pattern school
Feeder-pattern school
A feeder-pattern school is a school that a student has the right to attend based on completion of the terminal grade of a student’s current school. This assignment only happens during the years a student moves from elementary to middle school, or from middle school to high school, or from an education campus to high school. For additional information, please visit the DCPS Enrollment and Lottery Handbook. Review DCPS feeder patterns.
In DCPS, there are two types of feeder patterns:
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Geographic Feeder Pattern: Geographic Feeder Pattern schools are grouped by school boundaries and proximity. Geographic feeder pattern rights extend to students who enrolled in a school through a formal placement as well as to those who enrolled out-of-boundary through the My School DC lottery. Geographic feeder pattern rights do not extend to students who enroll as in-boundary students and then move out of the boundary, or to out-of-boundary students who withdraw before completing their school’s terminal grade. For more information about moving out-of-boundary after enrolling, visit the DCPS Enrollment and Lottery Handbook.
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Programmatic Feeder Pattern: Programmatic feeder pattern schools and programs are organized by a specialized program of study (such as dual language). A programmatic feeder pattern provides the right for a student enrolled in a specialized school or program to enroll in the next level school within the specialized course of study as they transition into middle school or high school.
In-boundary school
A DCPS in-boundary school (also called a neighborhood or zoned school) is a DCPS school that a student has a right to attend in K-12 based on a student’s home address. To locate your DCPS in-boundary schools, click here. Students applying for PK3 and PK4, may receive an “in-boundary preference” when applying to their in-boundary school, but do not have a right to attend.
Out-of-boundary school
A DCPS out-of-boundary school is a DCPS school other than a student’s in-boundary school.
Right-to-attend school
A DCPS school where students can enroll in grades K-12 and do not have to go through the lottery. There are two types of right-to-attend schools for DCPS K-12 students: in-boundary schools and feeder pattern schools. Students also have the right to re-enroll in their current school for the upcoming school year. Locate your right-to-attend schools here.
Selective high schools and programs
A DCPS high school or program that admits students based on specific eligibility criteria and requires application for entry into the school. All students eligible to enroll in grades 9-12 can apply, but only those who meet a selective high school’s or program’s requirements and are matched with the school will be eligible to attend. DCPS selective high schools and programs have no boundaries and admit students based on specific criteria. Anyone can apply to these schools and programs; however, only some students will be eligible to attend based on the schools' admissions rubrics. Students applying to one or more DCPS selective high schools and programs must complete an additional section of the My School DC application, which differs for each school or program because each school or program has its own requirements. Find out more about selective high school and program requirements here.
The selective high schools and programs, all grades 9–12, are:
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Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC)
CHEC serves grades 6–12. Only grades 9–12 are part of the selective high school. Students who complete eighth grade at CHEC have the right to enroll in CHEC for ninth grade without a My School DC lottery application.
Early Stages
Early Stages is an evaluation center that works with families to identify and address developmental delays and disabilities in children ages 2 years 8 months through 5 years 10 months. A program of DCPS, Early Stages provides evaluations for DC residents who have not yet entered the school system or are currently homeschooled. Early Stages also serves families residing outside of DC if their children attend a DC private school or DC childcare center. All services are completely free.
PK3/PK4 children who have been newly found eligible for special education or who have an existing individualized education program (IEP) and wish to receive services will be offered a seat in a school by Early Stages, if they are not already enrolled. This process occurs outside of the My School DC lottery. Whenever appropriate and possible, the seat offered will be at the child’s in-boundary school. If a seat is not available at the in-boundary school, the seat offered will be at the next closest school to the family’s home where a seat is available and the IEP can be implemented. A family accepts an Early Stages seat by enrolling at the school offered. If the family enrolls in a seat offered by Early Stages, they will be removed from the My School DC lottery waitlist for the school where they enroll. Acceptance of an Early Stages seat does not affect a child’s position on the waitlist at other schools.
In some cases, children offered a PK3 priority seat may not have turned age 3 by the Sept. 30 cutoff; however, they are entitled to enroll so that they can receive IEP services. Such children are re-enrolled in PK3 for the following year.
Note: Siblings of children who enroll based on a DCPS Early Stages location offer are eligible for a sibling preference.
How to Access Sibling Preference in the Lottery: If the student is placed at a school before the lottery deadline, you can ask for the preference in the sibling’s application. After the deadline, please ask that the school to contact My School DC to request the preference. To see if you are eligible for the preference in the post-lottery period, please contact the DCPS Enrollment Team at [email protected] or (202) 478-5738. Refer to the DCPS Enrollment and Lottery Handbook for more information.