Capitol Hill families - If you moved to NW or burbs for school, do you have any regrets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is Eastern HS currently improving and attracting more Capitol Hill families? I know DCPS has been heavily investing money and programming efforts there. The marching band has national recognition.

No. It's as if DCPS intentionally wants to prevent MS/HS on the Hill from attaining higher standards. For example, think of how they cracked the Hill into 3 different MS so there can be no critical mass, or how there is no meaningful tracking. If your kid might do a little better then everyone else loses and we can't have that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Eastern HS currently improving and attracting more Capitol Hill families? I know DCPS has been heavily investing money and programming efforts there. The marching band has national recognition.

No. It's as if DCPS intentionally wants to prevent MS/HS on the Hill from attaining higher standards. For example, think of how they cracked the Hill into 3 different MS so there can be no critical mass, or how there is no meaningful tracking. If your kid might do a little better then everyone else loses and we can't have that.

That’s too bad, because Eastern could be a strong, walkable neighborhood high school for a diverse population. The historic building itself inspires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We raised our kids in Arlington too, after moving to the DMV from elsewhere, not really being city people, and knowing nothing about DC. We’ve now lived in the area for decades, and moved to the city as young empty nesters several years ago.

There’s no doubt that our kids had a nice upbringing in a safe area with good schools. And they have fond memories of their childhood. And they like the DMV well enough that they have all settled here.

But none of them (four) is even considering living or raising their families in a place like Arlington (and, yes, they could afford it). It’s just that after being out of it for a while it’s now painfully obvious just how white, sterile and insular it was, and none of them want that either for themselves or their kids.

Did your kids go to Yorktown? My kids are at Gunston. It is definitely not rich, white and entitled.

Correct. Also note that W-L is 45% white and Wakefield is 25% white.

If your kid does ES at Innovation or ASFS, they'll likely have lots of international families. A friend had a kindergarten in a class where >50% of classmates were ESL, with kids speaking a wide variety of languages.

We're in N Arlington (not Immersion) and our PTA meetings are always translated into Spanish because we have a big Hispanic population and a significant portion of the parents are not fluent in English.

The diversity is different than the Hill, but there are plenty of good diverse schools in Arlington if you seek them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Eastern HS currently improving and attracting more Capitol Hill families? I know DCPS has been heavily investing money and programming efforts there. The marching band has national recognition.

No. It's as if DCPS intentionally wants to prevent MS/HS on the Hill from attaining higher standards. For example, think of how they cracked the Hill into 3 different MS so there can be no critical mass, or how there is no meaningful tracking. If your kid might do a little better then everyone else loses and we can't have that.

That’s too bad, because Eastern could be a strong, walkable neighborhood high school for a diverse population. The historic building itself inspires.

The pandemic and post-pandemic crime have set back any hope of that for decades.

[Anonymous]

A move from the Hill to Arlington also has the advantage that Arlington is a super short drive to the Hill on weekends and if you live on the orange line it is easy to metro without having to change lines. So it is easy for us to keep up with our friends who still live on the Hill (it is a shorter drive to visit than it would be if we moved to AU Park).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A move from the Hill to Arlington also has the advantage that Arlington is a super short drive to the Hill on weekends and if you live on the orange line it is easy to metro without having to change lines. So it is easy for us to keep up with our friends who still live on the Hill (it is a shorter drive to visit than it would be if we moved to AU Park).

AU Park to CH is not a fun drive

[Anonymous]

Agree on the AU Park to CH drive. That said, a lot of CH kids wind up spending significant parts of their lives (whether for school, sports, or other stuff) in ward 3 anyhow. So those of us who moved away often find that CH comes to us!!

[Anonymous]

We are currently near Lincoln Park and plan to move to just north of Dupont in a few years. We love the density and walkability of the Hill. A stand-alone house in Spring Valley isn't everyone's dream house. Would love to stay on the Hill but won't work for schools long-term. I'm sure we will regret leaving some of what we love but the school move is real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree on the AU Park to CH drive. That said, a lot of CH kids wind up spending significant parts of their lives (whether for school, sports, or other stuff) in ward 3 anyhow. So those of us who moved away often find that CH comes to us!!

I can't imagine living on the Hill and constantly driving to ward 3. At that point you would definitely be doing less driving if you left the Hill!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree on the AU Park to CH drive. That said, a lot of CH kids wind up spending significant parts of their lives (whether for school, sports, or other stuff) in ward 3 anyhow. So those of us who moved away often find that CH comes to us!!

I can't imagine living on the Hill and constantly driving to ward 3. At that point you would definitely be doing less driving if you left the Hill!!!

My oldest is only upper elementary, so things could change... but they don't do anything in Ward 3. Nor do any of their friends that I can think of. I think PP's experience is unusual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The folks we know who moved entirely out of the area are happy/happier. The people we know who moved to MCPS or Arlington/Alexandria are not happier, and some are very unhappy. Those school systems have their own issues, and the suburbs here are kind of terrible compared to making a high lifestyle change (eg moving to Colorado or New England).

I think what helped us in moving to Maryland was that it also actually improved one of our commutes significantly (within walking distance). It also put us closer to a group of work friends there who now live much closer to us too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Eastern HS currently improving and attracting more Capitol Hill families? I know DCPS has been heavily investing money and programming efforts there. The marching band has national recognition.

No. It's as if DCPS intentionally wants to prevent MS/HS on the Hill from attaining higher standards. For example, think of how they cracked the Hill into 3 different MS so there can be no critical mass, or how there is no meaningful tracking. If your kid might do a little better then everyone else loses and we can't have that.

That’s too bad, because Eastern could be a strong, walkable neighborhood high school for a diverse population. The historic building itself inspires.

The pandemic and post-pandemic crime have set back any hope of that for decades.

I don't agree with this statement. There was no bridge to Eastern from Hill elementary schools popular with gentrifiers long before the pandemic and post-pandemic crime in the neighborhood is mild compared to what we were dealing with just 10 or 15 years back. When you lose the great majority of high SES Hill families from DCPS after 4th or 5th grade, the story since Latin opened, hope for Eastern to flourish as an in-boundary high school isn't there. There hasn't been hope for Eastern as a popular neighborhood HS in the current century because DCPS leaders haven't been remotely serious about attracting high SES Ward 6 families to the campus. Michelle Rhee opened the IB Diploma program without our input and have run it without or input ever since, along with the three iffy DCPS Ward 6 middle schools.

[Anonymous]

Eastern is irrelevant because so few CH families stay in DCPS for MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are currently near Lincoln Park and plan to move to just north of Dupont in a few years. We love the density and walkability of the Hill. A stand-alone house in Spring Valley isn't everyone's dream house. Would love to stay on the Hill but won't work for schools long-term. I'm sure we will regret leaving some of what we love but the school move is real.

Why move just north of Dupont, with its crazy traffic and just one Metro line (Red)? For Deal and J-R? We have friends with kids at Deal who are bailing for MoCo because they can't take the chaos, crowding and dramatically uneven teaching at Deal. Why are you so sure that schools on the Hill won't work long-term? Not even if you got into the original Latin or BASIS? I don't get your exit strategy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are currently near Lincoln Park and plan to move to just north of Dupont in a few years. We love the density and walkability of the Hill. A stand-alone house in Spring Valley isn't everyone's dream house. Would love to stay on the Hill but won't work for schools long-term. I'm sure we will regret leaving some of what we love but the school move is real.

Why move just north of Dupont, with its crazy traffic and just one Metro line (Red)? For Deal and J-R? We have friends with kids at Deal who are bailing for MoCo because they can't take the chaos, crowding and dramatically uneven teaching at Deal. Why are you so sure that schools on the Hill won't work long-term? Not even if you got into the original Latin or BASIS? I don't get your exit strategy.

DP, but presumably because they want to stay in the city in a dense, walkable neighborhood. Deal/JR are not perfect, but vastly better than options on the Hill.

Even if you think S-H is a better option than Deal because of crowding and “uneven teaching” (an issue you’ll find at lots of schools, including S-H), Eastern is the sticking point. You cannot argue Eastern is a good, viable long-term option for most families. Even with the IB program. Pretending it’s fine while also complaining Deal is not is disingenuous.