Single Dad with Pre K3 Daughter Moving to DC for 3 Years, Where to Live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you put Whittier on your lottery list?

I did and am waitlisted #44

Also dorothy heights, waitlisted #24

Raymond waitlisted #24

And about 20 other schools

I don't know what's going on with Bethune 16th street but there or Brookland seem like good options for a reasonable commute to WHC and a good neighborhood to live in (Brookland or 14th street /16th street heights area).

[Anonymous]

Not sure what you mean by ‘Nannie’s or babysitters.). You needs a nanny and that means hiring and managing an employee. It’s much harder to find a reliable part time nanny than a full time one, and given your hours it will be even harder. I would ask colleagues and call a few nanny agencies. Also you will need a payroll service like poppins as a nanny is a household employees and you need to pay their taxes. Also make sure you’ve checked with attorneys if your ex has any visitation rights taking your child out of state could be problematic (and not necessarily great ethically or for your daughter either.). Maybe you have a family member you can bring with you. You must be getting help in your current setup. Removing your child from that situation will be tough on her.

[Anonymous]

Agree that you will probably need outside support, but if you're looking to get to know families in the neighborhood, a good option is to go with a DCPS school (rather than a charter), which by and large have excellent pre-K teachers (they're well-paid), because you will likely meet families in the neighborhood. Barnard in Petworth comes to mind as an option - the problem with upper NW schools is many don't have preK (I live in Petworth near Barnard and while there is crime, it is a little further off from places with higher crime in the neighborhood, such as near metro).

For neighborhood safety I'd be more worried about your safety late at night than the kids during day hours.

[Anonymous]

I agree Cathedral Heights is the best area for your child.: besides are many groups your welcome to joint..Good luck and welcome to DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you put Whittier on your lottery list?

I did and am waitlisted #44

Also dorothy heights, waitlisted #24

Raymond waitlisted #24

And about 20 other schools

You will not get into Whittier or Raymond with those numbers, but stand an excellent chance (based on previous years' waitlist movement) of getting a spot at Dorothy Height.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you put Whittier on your lottery list?

I did and am waitlisted #44

Also dorothy heights, waitlisted #24

Raymond waitlisted #24

And about 20 other schools

I don't know what's going on with Bethune 16th street but there or Brookland seem like good options for a reasonable commute to WHC and a good neighborhood to live in (Brookland or 14th street /16th street heights area).

Bethune 16th St is a mess, unfortunately. We live really close to the current site and really wanted to continue Spanish immersion for my kid, but ultimately heard too many horror stories from the families we currently know there (several of whom are transferring out for the 24-25 school year) and decided that Spanish immersion alone was not a compelling reason to have our kid at a completely dysfunctional school. A little anecdote to illustrate: a few months ago, a group of prospective parents showed up to Bethune for an advertised open house and not a single person at the school knew that the open house was scheduled. One of the administrators told the parents that she was new to the position, but that she had already given her notice and would not be continuing as an administrator.

To be fair, most of the families we know who are unhappy with Bethune have not been unhappy with their kids' teachers, but have been so frustrated by the administration's/LEO's lack of communication and disorganization that they had a terrible experience notwithstanding that. Also, the school continues to have issues finding a suitable site and currently has several basement classrooms that are prone to flooding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anywhere around WHC is not at all safe or family friendly.

We live in Brookland about a five minute drive from WHC, and we love it here. It's a great community with many young kids. For what it's worth, we recently left Columbia Heights, mostly because we wanted more space but also because the crime had become intolerable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I won’t be able to do an au pair because my understanding is you need to be a US citizen or permanent resident to have one in DC, which I’m not. And didn’t mean to imply I’d depend on other families for care, I certainly would be looking for nannies/babysitters (have already started on care.com).

Any reason why doing preK and supplementing with nanny wouldn’t work?

I think you are going to have some difficulty finding a nanny who will work overnights.

You might have more luck if you look for someone live in. But if you do that you might find that you can get a 3 bedroom 2 bath place (the minimum you can do with a live in) plus daycare in Silver Spring or Hyattsville plus daycare, for less than a 3 bedroom 2 bath place in DC with free PreK, aftercare, and camp.

Daycare is going to give your kid much more stability. PreK would mean transitioning to aftercare, and then to a nanny, plus needing to make different arrangements for all the school breaks, or paying your nanny a ton of over time to make those work.

Public schools and charters have A LOT of random days off. If you don't have a flexible schedule it's going to be really difficult to do childcare for those random days (prof development, parent-teacher conference days, early release), which may or may not have aftercare available (take a look at AppleTrees calender for example: https://www.appletreeinstitute.org/our-calendar). Also, some schools have limited aftercare slots. If you don't have flexibility or a on-call/flexible child care provider then you are better off going the paid daycare route.

[Anonymous]

Brookland is great. Monroe St Market apartments is a good option. A couple good pre-k options with public and charter. So many neighborhood families (whether you're at a public or charter), and you'll see familiar families at the farmers market and playground.

[Anonymous]

Try North Arlington

[Anonymous]

OP here. Got some more info on my schedule. Schedule is released in 3 month blocks every quarter. I can put in requests for a guaranteed 5-7 days off each quarter in advance. I’ll have the schedule one month in advance so I’ll know when/what times she needs care outside of preschool. I’ll be doing one week on one week off 60% of the time, 8-4 with 9-7 one day a week.

Leaning towards Petworth (hopefully Dorothy Heights if she makes it off the waitlist), Brookland (but she doesn’t have any prospects of getting into preK 3 there it seems), or Cleveland Park/Van Ness (should be able to join St Albans Early Childhood Center.)

Thanks all for your input regarding nanny. I guess I underestimated my care needs. I’m wondering if having the schedule in advance and school calendar in advance I can use multiple part time nannies to cover my needs instead of paying full time? I might be able to group nights together and fly my mom in to help during those nights. The schedule is flexible - I can switch shifts pretty easily with colleagues if I can’t find someone to pick up/drop off.

[Anonymous]

If you like Brookland, try Noyes and Shining Stars Montessori. Both are pretty easy to get into (because they aren't great schools).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Got some more info on my schedule. Schedule is released in 3 month blocks every quarter. I can put in requests for a guaranteed 5-7 days off each quarter in advance. I’ll have the schedule one month in advance so I’ll know when/what times she needs care outside of preschool. I’ll be doing one week on one week off 60% of the time, 8-4 with 9-7 one day a week.

Leaning towards Petworth (hopefully Dorothy Heights if she makes it off the waitlist), Brookland (but she doesn’t have any prospects of getting into preK 3 there it seems), or Cleveland Park/Van Ness (should be able to join St Albans Early Childhood Center.)

Thanks all for your input regarding nanny. I guess I underestimated my care needs. I’m wondering if having the schedule in advance and school calendar in advance I can use multiple part time nannies to cover my needs instead of paying full time? I might be able to group nights together and fly my mom in to help during those nights. The schedule is flexible - I can switch shifts pretty easily with colleagues if I can’t find someone to pick up/drop off.

Dp. Just don't burn out your mom. Assuming she raised you I'm sure she loves her granddaughter but doesn't want to be the first person you go to. Let her have fun!

[Anonymous]

plenty of good location recs. and get an au pair. you make enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Got some more info on my schedule. Schedule is released in 3 month blocks every quarter. I can put in requests for a guaranteed 5-7 days off each quarter in advance. I’ll have the schedule one month in advance so I’ll know when/what times she needs care outside of preschool. I’ll be doing one week on one week off 60% of the time, 8-4 with 9-7 one day a week.

Leaning towards Petworth (hopefully Dorothy Heights if she makes it off the waitlist), Brookland (but she doesn’t have any prospects of getting into preK 3 there it seems), or Cleveland Park/Van Ness (should be able to join St Albans Early Childhood Center.)

Thanks all for your input regarding nanny. I guess I underestimated my care needs. I’m wondering if having the schedule in advance and school calendar in advance I can use multiple part time nannies to cover my needs instead of paying full time? I might be able to group nights together and fly my mom in to help during those nights. The schedule is flexible - I can switch shifts pretty easily with colleagues if I can’t find someone to pick up/drop off.

You posted your salary so I’m going to assume you have student loans or other debt or something, because you’re trying to save by paying for part time nannies. You may be able to work something out with a service but honestly, finding a nanny who can flex around your hours and pay her accordingly ($30 an hour most likely if you have late nights or overnights) is your most sustainable solution. A small child will do better with consistency and connection to a caregiver, especially if it’s someone who will be doing her bedtime a lot. Good nannies are hard to find here and most good ones don’t do random part time gigs.