Why stay in DC when none (yes, including upper NW schools) seem to compare to Arlington?????????????
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Anonymous
Aha. I have always wondered this, too. |
Anonymous
Wait-- WHAT? Seriously? How is a coherent DCUM voting for Marion Barry? As a District resident, even though I live in Ward 1, I implore you to rethink this! |
Anonymous
No thanks. |
Anonymous
| Let Barry die in office. So we came rename Eastern to Marion Barry Senior High School. |
Anonymous
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After reading this thread, it's obvious that any DC resident who cares about their kids' education will pick up stakes and move to Arlington.
But why stop there? Everyone who truly cares about education knows that Finland has the best system. So quick, pack you bags. It's a small country, not everyone will get in. |
Anonymous
Can OP or one of the "you're selfish if you don't move to Arlington" posters answer this, please? |
Anonymous
I agree with. Twenty years is another generation. Many people talk about redemption and forgiveness on Sunday only, but their works and acts from Monday thru Saturday indicates their hypocrisy. If the only thing you can threo at somebody is a crack addiction from the 80s you have a weak argument and you are an unforgiving person. |
Anonymous
If you think Barry's only negative is a 20 year old crack addiction, you need to wake up, Rip Van Winkle. |
Anonymous
I'm the poster who originally posted about more quality time, and this was exactly my point - door to desk, for me, including dropping DD off at daycare, is 20 minutes, if we take the bus, and 45 if we walk, which we do, when the weather is nice. It's not a particularly short walk, but it's a nice way to start the morning and is something that would not be possible before we moved to the District. I work in Dupont and I live in Columbia Heights. We used to live in a good school district in MD and moved when DD was 18 months because it was important to us to have our life less spread out than it had previously been. I'm well aware that there are a lot of vocal people on this board who are absolutely convinced that if you do not live in bounds for the JKLMM schools and do not strike it rich in the charter lottery, you'd better start paying for private school immediately or your kids are destined for a life of mediocrity, but I think that does a disservice to everyone for whom that's not an option. Are you suggesting that people who cannot afford to pick up and move to a better school district do not love their children? School ratings are not the only measure for quality of life and not the only measure for quality of education. A child's education is a comprehensive thing and does not stop at the doors of the schools. The more time I have with my kid, the more I can participate in her education. I sure as hell wouldn't have been able to work full time and volunteer at her preschool living where we lived before. It just wouldn't have been an option at all. Now it is. As for the Arlington-is-so-close evangelists, I'm glad you guys love where you live. I'm glad you want to spread the love, really. But not everyone wants what you want. Stop assuming that those of us who do not want to live in Arlington do not love our children. It's insulting and does you no favors. |
Anonymous
THe reason why your state is such a great state to live in is because of the lack of liberals. You don't think so? Look at DC and MD. |
Anonymous
You really think the last time he smoked crack was 20 years ago? Whatever, I don't hate Barry. I actually think has done some good things for DC and his Ward in particular since he's been back on the council. But he's pretty much an incomprehensible crazy old man at this point. |
Anonymous
This discussion presupposes that people have the option of moving, of course - if you can't, you can't, and you make the best of it. No one is suggesting those who can't move don't love their kids - well, other than a few idiot reactionaries, and I'd venture to say that concern for the working poor isn't high on their list of daily concerns. I agree with your general points about living in the city - those are many of the reasons I live there as well, and in Columbia Heights, too. But with respect to school options, specifically in Columbia Heights - I think it IS a matter of striking gold in the charter or OOB lotteries, because the IB schools are completely unacceptable, at least to me. If we didn't hit one of the charter lotteries, we'd definitely have moved, and possibly to Arlington. So, PP, let me ask you - where does your daughter go to school? |
Anonymous
... and, my kids came into my world not the other way around. I do my best to prepare them to be productive members of society but that does not mean that the decision that DH and I make revolve entirely around their needs - we balance. BTW, we also take them (ages 18 months and 6) to restuarants after 6pm - some of these places do not even have high chairs much less a kids menu. We never prepare special meals for them - they have been eating from the "family pot" since they could eat solids. The 18 month regularly takes naps in her car seat. Guess what, they are healthy, happy and well adjusted. Sleep in their own rooms (all night) and with very few exceptions will eat whatever I put in front of them. |
Anonymous
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In case we ate still responding to OP's original questions in this forum --
I find nothing appealing about Arlington (and abhor Northern Virginia --I lived there many years ago). When searching for a home I found that the homes, schools, and neighborhoods in Chevy Chase, MD/Bethesda >>> Arlington. We are now moving from Chevy Chase to D.C. and I am looking forward to residing in a more diverse neighborhood than my current one. My brother's children attend public middle and high schools in Arlington. They pay too much for a tiny home, are surrounded by college kids, and their schools are hardly the gold standard. |
Anonymous
She's 2. She goes to daycare in Dupont by my office. Our plan is to play the charter lotteries until she gets in somewhere. If she doesn't get into any of the places we like (the usual immersion things), I'm perfectly okay with her going to Tubman for kindergarten until she gets in somewhere better. If it turns out to not to be a good fit for her personally for whatever reason, we will reevaluate, but one of the reasons we picked where we picked was that the local option was acceptable for the younger years. My personal feeling is that middle school is terrible for everyone, no matter where you live (I went to two different highly ranked middle schools in the Midwest and they were both miserable experiences and I was so relieved when they were over), and that when we get to that point, we will figure things out. I guess my point is that I think it's possible for kids to get good educations in less than the best schools - I did (did not go to the best high school in town because my parents could not afford to move to that district) and so did my husband, and we both did pretty well academically. It has also been my experience that schools that have low test scores tend to excel at other things. You just have to figure out what those things are. Maybe that is overly optimistic, but I would rather be confident that we are all making the best decisions for our specific situations than castigate myself for failing before I've even begun. |