Public School Enrollment In Seattle & The Burbs (Bellevue, Shoreline: houses, neighborhoods)

[socalmommie]

Hello Fellow Forum Folks!! You have all been so helpful, answering all my questions about Seattle... now I have more.

In lieu of a full-time job, the hubster has taken the consulting path, so that gives us a little more flexibility & time to figure out where we actually want to put down roots. As many of you know, we're looking at North Seattle neighborhoods & perhaps leaning toward northern Seattle suburbs... (Ira500 - I've been checking out LFP & really like it so far!!).

My dilemma is this - in a few school districts, I'm not worried about enrolling once we actually move as a family (Shoreline, Northshore, etc.). All schools seem to be very highly rated & I've researched them ad nauseum on sites like schooldigger.com & greatschools.org.

The areas I'm worried about are the ones with either charter schools, special K-8s, etc. that require entry in a lottery system. How competitive are these schools, really? And am I sweating over nothing? Are all of these schools (specifically I'm looking at the Edmonds school district and Seattle Public schools as the "wild cards" at this point) pretty comparable or do the lottery schools really have a reputation above and beyond the standard schools in the district?

Also our research has shown that all districts offer school of choice - is this true?

I'm flying up in a couple weeks for a look-about to explore the areas we've liked online thus far, but with kindergarten enrollment coming up in late-Jan/early-Feb, I want to be proactive.

Help, please!! I have more questions unrelated to schools (teardown vs. fixer vs. new construction), but I'll post that in a different thread after I come up, I think.

[staelisei]

Socalmommie, I'm curious to hear responses from those in the know! I did phone the district a few weeks ago to inquire about open houses, lottery schools and deadlines. The representative said that applying on time is the best advice for your local assigned school. Lottery schools are very popular and first priority goes to siblings, then children living in the boundary, then... lottery. She also said that many schools are not keen on tours because they are disruptive for students.

[Hemlock140]

Lottery schools are hard to get into because they are popular, mostly because they are better than the regular schools in the area. Districts like Lake Washington, Bellevue, and Mercer Island are great so the home prices reflect that. Seattle has a mix of good and not-so-good schools but the district itself has a history of mismanagement so that has made districts north of the city more desirable. Most districts do allow you to choose but only if there is room. Here in Sammamish, there are kids going to schools farther from their homes because the local ones are full. The one closest to us used to be around 400 students when my kids went there, now over 600.