Rodriguez, who graduated from Bulkeley, would gauge the prospects for her students who were placed on waiting lists. "You can cut the tension with a knife when the kids start getting these numbers. 'I have spot No. 8 to the arts academy,' and I can be like: 'Yes! ... You're going to the arts academy! No. 8 is a great number, give it the summer, kids move,'" she said. "And then you get another student whose dream school is Sport and [Medical] Sciences and they have No. 67, and having that conversation of: 'No, you can't go to that school' — because whoever decided this lottery set it up so that you can't attend the school you think is best for you.