“Fleeing” to the burbs

[Anonymous]

People on here are always talking about how dc people with high achieving kids need to flee to the burbs to get things like differentiation, magnet opportunities, etc. I’m in DC now and not anti fleeing if I need to, but like…where exactly do people go? And if magnets are partially lottery or crapshoot, does fleeing even guarantee you get opportunities you wouldn’t in dc? I’m genuinely asking because I have zero middle or high school plan and hate the idea of relying on a lottery, so please don’t snark me to death. Did anyone here come from dc? When and where did you go? How is it? Thoughts on best time to do it? I feel like maybe it’s best if kids are a little older so you know what they need, but I don’t want them to be socially miserable.

[Anonymous]

Most people who flee from DC to MCPS for the reasons you mentioned relocated in Bethesda/Potomac area so their kids can go to one of the W schools.

Outside of that, you don't want to look at MCPS, if that's your MO. You would be better off in NoVa, with Fairfax County or Loudoun County.

Some people are starting to flee MCPS for Frederick County Public Schools for the reasons you're stating, but that might be farther out than you'd like to go.

[Anonymous]

OP how old are your kids?

[Anonymous]

Don't flee. There is no need to flee. If you want to stay in DC, then stay in DC and figure it out like lots of other people do. Or, move to Montgomery County (or wherever) because you want to do that. And if you do move to Montgomery County, you do not have to move to Bethesda or Potomac.

[Anonymous]

Don’t flee. Live where you want and figure out what works for your kid. Fleeing is part of the problem. Everyone think the pasture is greener somewhere else, when in reality it’s just different problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people who flee from DC to MCPS for the reasons you mentioned relocated in Bethesda/Potomac area so their kids can go to one of the W schools.

Outside of that, you don't want to look at MCPS, if that's your MO. You would be better off in NoVa, with Fairfax County or Loudoun County.

Some people are starting to flee MCPS for Frederick County Public Schools for the reasons you're stating, but that might be farther out than you'd like to go.

Some people even prefer other areas over Bethesda/Potomac. OMG!! Magnets are a bit random but the pandemic lottery is supposed to end this year. Access to these programs has more to do with where you live. I think your odds are better some places than others.

[Anonymous]

We went from Adams Morgan to a very dense walkable part of Bethesda (near Bethesda metro) before our first was born.

We found it was just suburban enough to be “easier” (more separation from neighbors and less need to stress about parking, or trash pickup or schools) and greener (we had a park nearby but the greater availability was nicer both with a small kid and during the pandemic) without feeling like we were tied to our cars for commute or going out on the weekends.

[Anonymous]

I am OP! I have little kids but when we outgrow our teensy house, I don’t know where to begin figuring it out. I appreciate the don’t flee responses! I’d truly rather not. I just see so much saying that dc standards are horribly low and burbs are so much more rigorous, and I truly have zero clue how to assess those claims. The negativity about every option on here gets in my head! I just want my kids to have an outlet to be happy and passionate about learning and not incredibly bored. And the idea of denying them cool opportunity like robot space club or whatever because I prefer to live in a city makes me feel like a jerk.

Then again, right now, parents at our title I school are interesting, mission-focused people who work in non profits and in government, and I like the idea of being in a community with those sorts of values. Then this forum makes me think that the kinds of amazing opportunities my kids would love is all in the burbs and not in dc—but maybe it’s just a grass is always greener situation. Any thoughts on how people are working through this kind of decision?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am OP! I have little kids but when we outgrow our teensy house, I don’t know where to begin figuring it out. I appreciate the don’t flee responses! I’d truly rather not. I just see so much saying that dc standards are horribly low and burbs are so much more rigorous, and I truly have zero clue how to assess those claims. The negativity about every option on here gets in my head! I just want my kids to have an outlet to be happy and passionate about learning and not incredibly bored. And the idea of denying them cool opportunity like robot space club or whatever because I prefer to live in a city makes me feel like a jerk.

Then again, right now, parents at our title I school are interesting, mission-focused people who work in non profits and in government, and I like the idea of being in a community with those sorts of values. Then this forum makes me think that the kinds of amazing opportunities my kids would love is all in the burbs and not in dc—but maybe it’s just a grass is always greener situation. Any thoughts on how people are working through this kind of decision?

I am in a bit of a different situation - live and work in the 'burbs but recently went through the homebuying/school research process and I generally found that qualitative information from people with direct experience with the schools was more valuable than test scores or general perceptions from people without direct experience. Based on my research it seems that there are some very good Title I schools, but there are also ones where K-2 is fine and then 3-5 is a disaster, so maybe talk to some parents of older children in your community. For MCPS, it may be helpful to look at the MD school report cards, especially the teacher and student survey data, to compare schools within MCPS.

I am a product of a "W" school in MCPS (one of the sought after high schools) after attending a prestigious private for elementary and middle school and I just would not go into this with the expectation that a Bethesda/Potomac public school will provide some kind of cushy/elite experience. They are public schools with large class sizes. The classes are full of rich kids though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people who flee from DC to MCPS for the reasons you mentioned relocated in Bethesda/Potomac area so their kids can go to one of the W schools.

Outside of that, you don't want to look at MCPS, if that's your MO. You would be better off in NoVa, with Fairfax County or Loudoun County.

Some people are starting to flee MCPS for Frederick County Public Schools for the reasons you're stating, but that might be farther out than you'd like to go.

Some people even prefer other areas over Bethesda/Potomac. OMG!! Magnets are a bit random but the pandemic lottery is supposed to end this year. Access to these programs has more to do with where you live. I think your odds are better some places than others.

+1. Your best bet is to move to Takoma Park. There is a local center for enriched studies in 4th and 5th, a local set-aside for the middle school magnet, and Blair is the local high school.

[Anonymous]

When my kids were little I was very much against “fleeing” but by 4th grade knew we needed more options for our oldest. We moved to Takoma park with a view to the magnet programs for middle and high school. It worked out. If you have very high achieving kids it’s worthwhile and realistic to plan for the magnet, though the schools are good even without the magnet programs.

[Anonymous]

OP, I don't know about DC, but I'll give you my 2cents from someone who moved from the Bay Area to MCPS.

1. MCPS offers a lot of different programs at the HS level; each HS has some kind of program. That's one of the things MCPS does decently at
2. You don't have to be in a magnet program per se to be challenged. Most MCPS HS have a ton of AP classes, and some of them have IB classes that any student in that cluster can take. They can even join the IB diploma program in 11th grade if they want to. BCC, RM and a few other clusters have this option. RM has the county wide IB magnet, as well. There is no gatekeeping requirement to take AP/IB classes in MCPS. They really encourage everyone to take AP courses, which sometimes is not a good thing.
3. grade inflation in MCPS is an issue, but I think that's true for many other school districts.
4. schools with high poverty have too many issues, but schools with a lot of wealth also have their share of issues related to too much wealth
5. there are school clusters that are not extremes -- too much poverty, too much wealth, and where the racial diversity is also decent. Schools like Northwest HS, RM, QO, BCC to some degree.
6. having just gone through the college admissions process, I think being in a too high performing HS can work against you as you are competing with a lot of other high achievers from your school for the same T30 spots.
7. There are school clusters in MCPS that also have a lot of parents who work at nonprofits and such. They tend to live around the Silver Spring/Kensington area, which is also a really diverse area.
8. larger schools have the inertia and economies of scale to offer a lot of different programs and clubs. The Bay Area school district we moved from is wealthy, but tiny, so they didn't have a lot of different programs or clubs.

Having stated all that, obviously, kids in the DCPS can have excellent outcomes, too. What you get out of it is what you make of it. The only reason I'd move is for the space. We also moved out of the Bay Area because we needed more space, and we aren't uber wealthy, nor did we want a $1.5 ram shackle house.

GL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am OP! I have little kids but when we outgrow our teensy house, I don’t know where to begin figuring it out. I appreciate the don’t flee responses! I’d truly rather not. I just see so much saying that dc standards are horribly low and burbs are so much more rigorous, and I truly have zero clue how to assess those claims. The negativity about every option on here gets in my head! I just want my kids to have an outlet to be happy and passionate about learning and not incredibly bored. And the idea of denying them cool opportunity like robot space club or whatever because I prefer to live in a city makes me feel like a jerk.

Then again, right now, parents at our title I school are interesting, mission-focused people who work in non profits and in government, and I like the idea of being in a community with those sorts of values. Then this forum makes me think that the kinds of amazing opportunities my kids would love is all in the burbs and not in dc—but maybe it’s just a grass is always greener situation. Any thoughts on how people are working through this kind of decision?

There are plenty of feds etc in Bethesda. It will be less socioeconomically and racially diverse for sure. But there will be plenty of ppl in "mission-driven" type jobs.

We are a dual fed family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went from Adams Morgan to a very dense walkable part of Bethesda (near Bethesda metro) before our first was born.

We found it was just suburban enough to be “easier” (more separation from neighbors and less need to stress about parking, or trash pickup or schools) and greener (we had a park nearby but the greater availability was nicer both with a small kid and during the pandemic) without feeling like we were tied to our cars for commute or going out on the weekends.

Similarly, went from DuPont to Takoma Park over a decade ago and couldn't be happier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I don't know about DC, but I'll give you my 2cents from someone who moved from the Bay Area to MCPS.

1. MCPS offers a lot of different programs at the HS level; each HS has some kind of program. That's one of the things MCPS does decently at
2. You don't have to be in a magnet program per se to be challenged. Most MCPS HS have a ton of AP classes, and some of them have IB classes that any student in that cluster can take. They can even join the IB diploma program in 11th grade if they want to. BCC, RM and a few other clusters have this option. RM has the county wide IB magnet, as well. There is no gatekeeping requirement to take AP/IB classes in MCPS. They really encourage everyone to take AP courses, which sometimes is not a good thing.
3. grade inflation in MCPS is an issue, but I think that's true for many other school districts.
4. schools with high poverty have too many issues, but schools with a lot of wealth also have their share of issues related to too much wealth
5. there are school clusters that are not extremes -- too much poverty, too much wealth, and where the racial diversity is also decent. Schools like Northwest HS, RM, QO, BCC to some degree.
6. having just gone through the college admissions process, I think being in a too high performing HS can work against you as you are competing with a lot of other high achievers from your school for the same T30 spots.
7. There are school clusters in MCPS that also have a lot of parents who work at nonprofits and such. They tend to live around the Silver Spring/Kensington area, which is also a really diverse area.
8. larger schools have the inertia and economies of scale to offer a lot of different programs and clubs. The Bay Area school district we moved from is wealthy, but tiny, so they didn't have a lot of different programs or clubs.

Having stated all that, obviously, kids in the DCPS can have excellent outcomes, too. What you get out of it is what you make of it. The only reason I'd move is for the space. We also moved out of the Bay Area because we needed more space, and we aren't uber wealthy, nor did we want a $1.5 ram shackle house.

GL

This is such a helpful response and good perspective. Thank you!