Upper Elementary DCPS— John Lewis and School within a School SWS

[Anonymous]

Hello! We’ve been matched at John Lewis for our incoming 3rd grade child.
We are ready to move anyway, since we have a new child and a new job and are trying to line it up with school choice, so we can theoretically still move anywhere (though we do have a budget of 1M to buy or 5K to rent) We are a progressive interracial family and our second grader has been at a Montessori school thus far. He is ready for a bigger environment but also is advanced academically and used to a rigorous, high attention school environment.

We put John Lewis on our list because we love the neighborhood and have many friends around there. We were matched. We are #14 for School within a School which was our first choice pick.

1- can anyone speak to the academic and social environment of upper elementary at John Lewis?
2- can anyone speak to the environment at SWS and maybe our lottery chances?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

What are your plans for middle school? Both of those seem to be great elementary options but I would look at it differently if you want to stay long term.

[Anonymous]

Basically zero chance at SWS at 14.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basically zero chance at SWS at 14.

Agree. I don’t foresee you’ll need to make a choice.

[Anonymous]

You are very unlikely to get the SWS spot. SWS feeds to Elliot Hine, which is not a good middle school. If you have friends in the Lewis neighborhood, sounds like a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are very unlikely to get the SWS spot. SWS feeds to Elliot Hine, which is not a good middle school. If you have friends in the Lewis neighborhood, sounds like a good fit.

Lewis also does not have a good middle school feed.

I would not love a kid to Lewis for 3rd. You say you have options and looking to move anyway. I would love to a good school pyramid K-12.

It’s disruptive to move your kid again after 2 years. Move and put him in a much better school to start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are very unlikely to get the SWS spot. SWS feeds to Elliot Hine, which is not a good middle school. If you have friends in the Lewis neighborhood, sounds like a good fit.

Lewis also does not have a good middle school feed.

I would not love a kid to Lewis for 3rd. You say you have options and looking to move anyway. I would love to a good school pyramid K-12.

It’s disruptive to move your kid again after 2 years. Move and put him in a much better school to start.

+1. We live in the neighborhood and would recommend JL for a younger kid or someone who doesn’t need to worry about middle and high school. But I’d put a third grader where he’ll continue for middle school. Both to make friends before middle school starts, and because upper grades at MacFarland feeders get smaller as kids start to leave to secure middle school pathways. I’d say Shepherd Park (Deal/JR) or Glover Park (Hardy/Mac) has close-ish vibes to Brightwood.

[Anonymous]

/\ though I disagree those schools are “much better” than JL. They are much more alike than different, they just have better feeder patterns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are very unlikely to get the SWS spot. SWS feeds to Elliot Hine, which is not a good middle school. If you have friends in the Lewis neighborhood, sounds like a good fit.

Lewis also does not have a good middle school feed.

I would not love a kid to Lewis for 3rd. You say you have options and looking to move anyway. I would love to a good school pyramid K-12.

It’s disruptive to move your kid again after 2 years. Move and put him in a much better school to start.

+1. We live in the neighborhood and would recommend JL for a younger kid or someone who doesn’t need to worry about middle and high school. But I’d put a third grader where he’ll continue for middle school. Both to make friends before middle school starts, and because upper grades at MacFarland feeders get smaller as kids start to leave to secure middle school pathways. I’d say Shepherd Park (Deal/JR) or Glover Park (Hardy/Mac) has close-ish vibes to Brightwood.

I don't necessarily disagree with this, but wanted to mention that these neighborhoods are not the same (at all!!) as each other or as the John Lewis/Brightwood area in terms of cost to buy/rent and demographics. My family is in a similar situation (progressive interracial family looking to move soon with a daughter in ES) and we will not move to Glover Park because it is not racially diverse or progressive enough for us, but depending on what races make up your family (and how you, your spouse, and your kids would be treated in a strongly majority white area... yes, I know this will offend all the "colorblind" folks reading this, but that hasn't been my lived experience in 2024 DC), this may or may not be a concern for you.

In Glover Park, a $1M buy/$5K rent budget will have you permanently renting, and possibly not as large or nice a place as you would like. In Shepherd Park, where I find the demographics and politics much more favorable (but YMMV, of course), you could not afford to buy and rentals are extremely hard to come by, though there seem to be a few 2 bedroom condos available close to the new Whole Food or on GA Ave right near the MD border, if you would be okay having 2 kids in a 2 bdrm condo. The John Lewis/Brightwood area is much more affordable and diverse than GP or SP, but also feeds into a much more racially and economically diverse MS and HS, and we all know what the general sentiment is on DCUM about that.

If you do decide to enroll your son in John Lewis this year, you might want to consider moving to the other side of Brightwood/Manor Park (about a half mile away, just across GA Ave), which would put you in the Whittier ES or Takoma ES inbound areas. Both areas, but especially the Whittier area, have tons of young families and a good community feel, like the John Lewis area. Then for MS, you could choose between McFarland (which John Lewis feeds into and your son would have a right to attend) and Wells, which would be IB for your address... both McFarland and Wells are on the upswing, according to strong neighborhood sentiment, and we know a bunch of UMC families in the area with early elementary kids who are planning to send their kids to both of those schools.

[Anonymous]

Elliot-Hine used to be a not good very middle school. It has improved somewhat.

[Anonymous]

Where are people getting that OP lives in Brightwood? Lewis is in Petworth/16th St Heights and SWS is in NE.

OP if you're going to move your kid again in 2 years, do the big move now and let them build a friend group. Anything that feeds Hardy or Deal is a good bet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are people getting that OP lives in Brightwood? Lewis is in Petworth/16th St Heights and SWS is in NE.

OP if you're going to move your kid again in 2 years, do the big move now and let them build a friend group. Anything that feeds Hardy or Deal is a good bet.

I think you're misreading. John Lewis ES is in 16th Street Heights, but immediately south of Brightwood (Brightwood is just north of Mil Rd) and Brightwood is where many JLES families live.

Anything that feeds in Hardy or Deal is good for some families, but not all families would be comfortable living in (or could afford to live in, even if they are comfortable doing so) some of the neighborhoods that feed into those MS.

[Anonymous]

We’ve been incredibly happy with the teachers and quality of education at JLES 3rd-5th. But MS is a problem. Since you have flexibility I’d rent near JLES, see what kind of student your kid becomes in upper elem, and then decide to move or not based on what kind of MS experience seems like the best fit. You learn a lot about your kid in 3rd and 4th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are people getting that OP lives in Brightwood? Lewis is in Petworth/16th St Heights and SWS is in NE.

OP if you're going to move your kid again in 2 years, do the big move now and let them build a friend group. Anything that feeds Hardy or Deal is a good bet.

I think you're misreading. John Lewis ES is in 16th Street Heights, but immediately south of Brightwood (Brightwood is just north of Mil Rd) and Brightwood is where many JLES families live.

Anything that feeds in Hardy or Deal is good for some families, but not all families would be comfortable living in (or could afford to live in, even if they are comfortable doing so) some of the neighborhoods that feed into those MS.

I know where Brightwood is; I live here. But the fact that "that's where many JLES families live" doesn't mean it's where OP lives. If OP lived here they'd likely be trying to get into Shepherd/Takoma/Whittier, not JLES or SWS. People are telling OP how to recreate the "Brightwood feel" (and I don't really think Glover Park does that, but people can have different opinions) when OP never said they live in Brightwood or want to live somewhere like Brightwood. They could live in Northeast for all we know, and be planning a move to MoCo.

Just a weird tangent to take the thread on when Brightwood isn't relevant to either school mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are people getting that OP lives in Brightwood? Lewis is in Petworth/16th St Heights and SWS is in NE.

OP if you're going to move your kid again in 2 years, do the big move now and let them build a friend group. Anything that feeds Hardy or Deal is a good bet.

I think you're misreading. John Lewis ES is in 16th Street Heights, but immediately south of Brightwood (Brightwood is just north of Mil Rd) and Brightwood is where many JLES families live.

Anything that feeds in Hardy or Deal is good for some families, but not all families would be comfortable living in (or could afford to live in, even if they are comfortable doing so) some of the neighborhoods that feed into those MS.

I know where Brightwood is; I live here. But the fact that "that's where many JLES families live" doesn't mean it's where OP lives. If OP lived here they'd likely be trying to get into Shepherd/Takoma/Whittier, not JLES or SWS. People are telling OP how to recreate the "Brightwood feel" (and I don't really think Glover Park does that, but people can have different opinions) when OP never said they live in Brightwood or want to live somewhere like Brightwood. They could live in Northeast for all we know, and be planning a move to MoCo.

Just a weird tangent to take the thread on when Brightwood isn't relevant to either school mentioned.

OP said “We put John Lewis on our list because we love the neighborhood and have many friends around there.” They said they love the John Lewis neighborhood. It is not crazy for folks to interpret that as “I want to live someplace that feels like Brightwood.”
Your umbrage here really doesn’t make any sense. No one said OP lives in Brightwood, they’re just trying to suggest neighborhoods that might feel like the JLES neighborhood they say they love. (I do agree with you though that Glover Park does not feel anything like Brightwood!)