Tell me about your commute for charter education

[Anonymous]

Please help us decide.
We have 2 kids, but young - one about to enter PK3.
We both work but one works from home for the time being.

Do we go for HRCS with commute issues, or MRCS which is very nearby? It's hard to think into the future like this (multiple kids in school etc). Currently childcare is either at our house or very close by, so we've not had to do pickup/dropoff.

The HRCS isn't en route to work but isn't terribly far. ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please help us decide.
We have 2 kids, but young - one about to enter PK3.
We both work but one works from home for the time being.

Do we go for HRCS with commute issues, or MRCS which is very nearby? It's hard to think into the future like this (multiple kids in school etc). Currently childcare is either at our house or very close by, so we've not had to do pickup/dropoff.

The HRCS isn't en route to work but isn't terribly far. ?

Which middling regarded charter? Cmi? Bethune?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please help us decide.
We have 2 kids, but young - one about to enter PK3.
We both work but one works from home for the time being.

Do we go for HRCS with commute issues, or MRCS which is very nearby? It's hard to think into the future like this (multiple kids in school etc). Currently childcare is either at our house or very close by, so we've not had to do pickup/dropoff.

The HRCS isn't en route to work but isn't terribly far. ?

I don't know about HR and MR, since all that is bunk, but go with the school you're most comfortable with for the long runl. It sounds like the commute to one of them is only slightly inconvenient, not a deal-breaker. You can make it work if you think that's the school for you.

[Anonymous]

Commute from home-school-work is roughly 45 minutes most days, which includes parking & walking them in (adds 10-15 minutes). Kiss and go will be great once my kids are old both enough/willing to do it.

When we did daycare I did pickup via public transit/metro and it took an hour, so this commute seems ok.

IB school would probably be ok (though many on this forum wouldn't say so), but the charter school is worth the hassle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The really good schools draw from all over the city. This has been how we've been able to carpool: enough families nearby to share the load.

At the end of the day, quality of education was not something we could compromise.

I agree, but there was simply no way to make the logistics work for us. We both worked and our HRCS was 25 min out of the way, each way if everything went right. My husband and I were each having issues at work and, even with that, we felt our only family time was commuting. By the time we got home, we could barely manage to do dinner, bath/shower, and bed. Rinse and repeat daily. It was no way to live as a family and at some point we were going to have issues with being late at work even though we have somewhat flexible jobs that aren't generally going to freak if we are a few minutes late.

To get the quality education, we moved to Moco. I thought when we placed into a charter we were happy with that would be it, but the logistics were just too daunting. I am actually happier with the move than I expected, but of course there are things I miss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The really good schools draw from all over the city. This has been how we've been able to carpool: enough families nearby to share the load.

At the end of the day, quality of education was not something we could compromise.

I agree, but there was simply no way to make the logistics work for us. We both worked and our HRCS was 25 min out of the way, each way if everything went right. My husband and I were each having issues at work and, even with that, we felt our only family time was commuting. By the time we got home, we could barely manage to do dinner, bath/shower, and bed. Rinse and repeat daily. It was no way to live as a family and at some point we were going to have issues with being late at work even though we have somewhat flexible jobs that aren't generally going to freak if we are a few minutes late.

To get the quality education, we moved to Moco. I thought when we placed into a charter we were happy with that would be it, but the logistics were just too daunting. I am actually happier with the move than I expected, but of course there are things I miss.

That's too much commuting for me. OTOH, people in Sterling commute to DC for work and I'd never do that, either.

Curious: what's your commute now that you live in MC and presumably commute to DC for work but live nearer to school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The really good schools draw from all over the city. This has been how we've been able to carpool: enough families nearby to share the load.

At the end of the day, quality of education was not something we could compromise.

I agree, but there was simply no way to make the logistics work for us. We both worked and our HRCS was 25 min out of the way, each way if everything went right. My husband and I were each having issues at work and, even with that, we felt our only family time was commuting. By the time we got home, we could barely manage to do dinner, bath/shower, and bed. Rinse and repeat daily. It was no way to live as a family and at some point we were going to have issues with being late at work even though we have somewhat flexible jobs that aren't generally going to freak if we are a few minutes late.

To get the quality education, we moved to Moco. I thought when we placed into a charter we were happy with that would be it, but the logistics were just too daunting. I am actually happier with the move than I expected, but of course there are things I miss.

That's too much commuting for me. OTOH, people in Sterling commute to DC for work and I'd never do that, either.

Curious: what's your commute now that you live in MC and presumably commute to DC for work but live nearer to school?

About 40 minutes, but that includes taking care of the kids. They get a bus, or if I drop them it is on the way and only a few minute drive. The commute without factoring in kids is 10-15 minutes more, but I did have to factor in kids and would have to for many years.

[Anonymous]

We were at a HRCS that moved from NW to NE and followed it with the commute. No carpool, but was doable, although it was a triangle commute in both AM and PM.

We have since left (and moved inbounds) for a language immersion school. Our quality of life has multiplied in manifest ways. More time together, less tired kiddos in evening, and friends within walking distance- and who are open to covering on snow days etc. The random days off and snow day schedules were really brutal for us as a family of working parent.

[Anonymous]

It all depends on where you work and traffic.

I work downtown and was at a school up near Fort Totten. The commute was so stressful as I never knew if it would take 25 minutes or 45 minutes.

The commute to/from the school was not as big of an issue. It was the fact that the school location was not in the direction of my job that was the breaking point.

[Anonymous]

We just have one kid and I work from home (and my job is VERY flexible). The commute to our HRCS sucks, but it's honestly just the aggravation of traffic--it's not impacting our quality of life, etc., which I can see is a very real predicament with multiple kids and a work commutes. But it takes easily 30-40 minutes each way from home to school and back.

The commute gives me a chance to catch up on some of my fave podcasts, so there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were at a HRCS that moved from NW to NE and followed it with the commute. No carpool, but was doable, although it was a triangle commute in both AM and PM.

We have since left (and moved inbounds) for a language immersion school. Our quality of life has multiplied in manifest ways. More time together, less tired kiddos in evening, and friends within walking distance- and who are open to covering on snow days etc. The random days off and snow day schedules were really brutal for us as a family of working parent.

Same here. We were happily at our charter in NW but when it announced it was moving across town that was our motivation to move to a neighborhood with a good IB DCPS. I liked our charter but I love being in a neighborhood school community.