Washington, D.C. schools

The DC market crosses the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia, and it runs four admissions systems at once. Independent day schools such as Georgetown Day, Maret, Sidwell Friends, Potomac, National Cathedral and Washington International decide on files and visits. School Without Walls and Banneker are selective DCPS high schools with their own criteria. Charters such as DC International, Washington Latin and BASIS DC fill seats through the My School DC lottery, with no academic screen.

St. Albans and Georgetown Prep add boarding to the picture, and Georgetown Prep begins at Grade 9. Each system needs its own column on the family calendar, and a charter ranking or a private acceptance proves nothing about the others. Keep your guaranteed public option active until offers and aid are final.

Entry grades vary more than reputations suggest. Sidwell describes about 28 Kindergarten places, about 16 at Grade 6 and 30–35 at Grade 9; Potomac about 48, 8–10 and 35. Washington Latin and BASIS DC fill mainly at Grade 5, so a Grade 6 search there usually means waiting for a vacancy. The schools compared page has the whole grid.

Identity matters in daily life. Sidwell is Quaker, NCS and St. Albans are Episcopal, Georgetown Prep is Jesuit, and WIS runs a bilingual-to-IB pathway. The admissions guide explains how each process works, the admissions calendar tracks Fall 2027 dates, and the list and commute guide handles the cross-border trip.