The DC Public Schools lottery to attend a school that is not your neighborhood school or to enroll your three or four-year-old in preschool or pre-kindergarten opens today. But the preschool and pre-K lottery system does not guarantee placement at your local school; an increasingly common dilemma for parents in Georgetown, Burleith and Glover Park.

DCPS offers preschool and pre-kindergarten at many schools throughout the District, including five preschool programs in Ward 2 and 14 pre-K programs in Wards 2 and 3 combined.

Last year, at both Hyde-Addison Elementary in Georgetown and Stoddert Elementary in Glover Park the pre-K classes were filled by in-boundary children. Stoddert filled two classes and Hyde-Addison only offered one class. Not only was there no room for children from out-of-boundary, but also several local children were wait-listed at their neighborhood schools.

In most if not all cases, the children on the wait list were those who did not already have older siblings in the neighborhood school.

Beyond getting in from the wait list, these families have the option of filling a space in a less competitive program elsewhere in the system.

In-boundary families are guaranteed a space in kindergarten through fifth grade. If K-5 classes have additional space once all in-boundary students are accounted for, the school may opt to make those spaces available through the lottery system.

Once the lottery is live, you will be able to tell how many classes will be offered and how many slots will be available in each class. The lottery closes Feb. 25 and results are announced at a later date.

Do you have a "plan B" if your child does not get in through the lottery to your local school? What do you think about the lottery program? Tell us in the comments.