Maximum commute length
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| What is the longest commute length you would consider for a private school? 15 minutes' drive? |
Anonymous
| 30 minutes, but that would have to be the outlier, “why is traffic extra bad today?” timing. I’d aim for 20. |
Anonymous
| Hard upper limit on 20. 10 is much better. |
Anonymous
| This comes up a lot (understandably) and, for me, it depends on the age of the kid. In elementary school, walkable or 15 minutes in the car. In high school, if there's a bus system, the kid can take the metro, etc., I'm much less picky. |
Anonymous
Agree. While a shorter commute does contribute to an overall better quality of life and experience, for the right school, a commute is not that big of a deal, especially if it's easy to navigate logistics without parents needing to do all the shuttling. |
Anonymous
| Ours is 30 to 40 mins in traffic. Worth every minute, particularly when the kid feels like chatting. |
Anonymous
| The trick is not only how long it takes you to get there, but then how long it takes you to get back home or to work and what traffic is like. And then for the afternoon. We are in DC and for a time our children went to school in Va. Getting there was fine, maybe 24 mins, but then I was stuck in heavy traffic to get back home (major commuter thoroughfare). Then leaving DC in the afternoon, I needed to be ahead of federal workers leaving the office at 3, plus traffic just got worse in the afternoon, so I would not let them stay for any clubs or sports. |
Anonymous
This. But I also have a teen and we are really close. For younger aged kid, not sure if I would do this. |
Anonymous
| For elementary - ours is about 15-18 min in off hours and 23-28 min at morning rush hour. We didn't get into the one school that would have been significantly closer. I like the time in the car with my child and usually don't get stressed by traffic. It's just part of the day. I also went to a DC prep school that was at least that far away, with friends coming from all over the DMV, so it feels normal. Picking a good school with the right fit was more important than proximity to me. |
Anonymous
| Our elementary is about 15 minutes no traffic and about 20-25 in morning rush hour. There is only 1 option that is closer and we didn't get in. I think that's pretty normal in DC. I am glad we didn't choose the school we liked better that we did get into but its another 10 minutes away during rush hour. Anything under 30 minutes seems reasonable in DC especially if it doesn't make your commute to work significantly worse. |
Anonymous
As long as commute isn't adding additional stress to family schedule, not taking away sleep hours from kids, not making it difficult to have local friends and community feel, its okay. |
Anonymous
| Up to 20 minutes when no traffic. |
Anonymous
| We are 15 minutes away, but my DD takes a bus and there is an extensive bus system for the school that picks up all over the region. She has kids in her class from *all* over -- NE DC, NW DC, Vienna, Potomac, Alexandria, Bethesda. People really come from far away. |