Middle School

*Families do NOT receive lottery results on the day of the automated lottery. Families are notified of their acceptance or placement on the waitlist by email and/or text after 4 p.m. on the date in the application timeline.

Option Schools/Programs:

• Dual Language (English and Spanish) Immersion Program at Gunston
• Montessori Middle Years Program at Gunston
• H-B Woodlawn (Grades 6-8)

Learn more about each school/program.

Attend an Information Session:  Each middle school will offer an in-person and/or virtual information session for families. See the schedule.

Watch Virtual Middle School Information Night!

• Families of students entering middle school in the fall of 2023 will learn about the transition to middle school, core classes, electives, and extracurriculars.
• Families interested in option schools/programs or neighborhood transfers will learn about the application and lottery process.

Alert: Please see schedule for updated middle school in-person information session dates.

Option Schools – Lottery: If more applications are received than there are seats available, APS will conduct a random, double-blind lottery to determine admission.

• The 2023-24 school-year lotteries for middle and high school option schools were held on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, at 1 p.m.
  • Families DO NOT receive lottery results on the day of the automated lottery.
• Families will be notified of their acceptance or placement on the waitlist by email and/or text on Jan 30, 2023, after 4 p.m.
• Families must confirm or decline attendance to the school or program by February 13, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. 
• If families do not accept or decline their seat by the deadline, their seat will be given to the next student on the waitlist.
• If families apply to more than one school/program, their application will go into all lotteries simultaneously. 

Waitlists: Students who applied, but were not selected through the lottery process, will be placed in numerical order on a waitlist.

• Applications received after the deadline are placed at the bottom of the existing waitlist for the upcoming school year.
• When students on the waitlist are offered a seat, they have a one-week window to accept the slot. If the slot is not accepted within the one-week window, the offer will be rescinded and offered to the next student on the waitlist.
• Option seats are continuously filled throughout the school year as seats become available.

Sibling Preference: Sibling preference is not currently offered at the middle school level.

Transportation: Transportation is available for students attending option schools/programs who live outside their school’s walk zone (View school bus eligibility maps).

• All transportation for option school and programs is provided via hub stops. Hub stops are central locations—such as a community center or school—where students from several neighborhoods meet to catch the bus to their school and may be a longer distance from a student’s residence. Learn more.
• Transportation is not provided for neighborhood transfers or administrative placements.

For questions or assistance, call 703-228-8000 (option 3), email schooloptions@apsva.us or visit the APS Welcome Center at 2110 Washington Blvd for in-person support.