There’s probably a southie parents Facebook page that discusses this stuff obsessively. And if you spend any time at all with a toddler on a playground in Boston you WILL get into this discussion.

The city is divided into zones - each zone has a mix of schools and you rank the schools you want for the lottery. Southie probably has a few schools everyone wants their kids to get into and a few that people don’t rank. I live in Dot and I think we ranked 8 schools for my first kid. You can register at any age but there’s different times of the year for different ages. You can also go visit schools - they have open houses and in my experience the principals are very open to talking to prospective parents. BPS has a website where you can see your choices and there are also charter schools. We didn’t consider those for our kids but I think they have a website as well.

You’re unlikely to get a k0 (3 year old) seat unless your kid has an IEP or other needs. K1 seats (4 yo preschool) are more plentiful but you might not get your first choice. BPS preschool is pretty amazing - it’s not “free childcare” (for one thing it runs on a school year schedule and calendar so isn’t really comparable to daycare).

I’ll say that my kids got assigned to our last choice and honestly the teaching and education are great. BPS as a system can be hard to navigate and frustrating but our teachers are highly qualified, decently paid professionals who are incredibly committed. Also a lot of people who shit on BPS have never walked into a school or seen what actually goes on in the classrooms.