Curious why some families did not think of school zones before purchasing home

[Anonymous]

This is the last few months of preschool before all little kids will go to kindergarten in the fall. Almost every families are local, so they go to their home elementary schools. I have talked to a few, and they are looking at private school because their home elementary school is not that great. Well, I don't know how much private school a year cost, but I know that we have been paying $28k a year for current preschool. It is going to cost a lot of money down the road if families decide to go private. Isn't cheaper to buy a home zoned to better school zone to begin with? Do you look at school zoning before having first kid?

[Anonymous]

We were going to be DINKs and then decided we wanted a kid. We HAD chose a house in a good area, and with it came good schools, thankfully. We wouldn’t have wanted to leave our house or neighborhood, so we would have shelled out cash for private. I get it, in that regard.

[Anonymous]

Many people think of it but don't necessarily assume they'll stay in the same area until they have kids old enough for school or they can't afford the higher premium commanded by homes in the "good" school districts.

[Anonymous]

For us we thought we would move before first kid hit K. We were childless and planning to start trying 2 years post purchase so we thought we had at least 8 years. We ended up having even longer but the market changed and we can justify borrowing at 8 percent when we refinanced during covid at 2.87. Also to get in a better zone we would have to house up quite a bit and i dont desire a bigger house. Also we still work in person so being close in is the main priority. I think we would accept the interest rates if we worked from home or even if one of us did. We have one in a charter and two in private. Hopeful to move on more to the same charter. It works for now.

[Anonymous]

We always planned on private school. We got redone from a decent public school to a very high farms school. Why do you think everyone thinks the same as you?

[Anonymous]

When we bought our house, we were not planning on having kids. Changed our minds and had a kid five years later.

[Anonymous]

Re-zoning happened to us too. Bought in a great school district, but by the time our kids were old enough to attend, were zoned to a worse district.

[Anonymous]

I think you posted this topic already.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1168897.page

People are trying to be polite when they say they are choosing private because they don’t want to insult people (perhaps like yourself) who are choosing public. Since your kids are in preschool, this is the first time many of them are having the public/private conversation and they don’t want to tell you that any public isn’t good enough for their child. Stop being so nosy and putting them on the spot.

[Anonymous]

Is this thread going the way you had planned, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the last few months of preschool before all little kids will go to kindergarten in the fall. Almost every families are local, so they go to their home elementary schools. I have talked to a few, and they are looking at private school because their home elementary school is not that great. Well, I don't know how much private school a year cost, but I know that we have been paying $28k a year for current preschool. It is going to cost a lot of money down the road if families decide to go private. Isn't cheaper to buy a home zoned to better school zone to begin with? Do you look at school zoning before having first kid?

Have you looked at home prices and interest rates recently or are you older than Methuselah?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re-zoning happened to us too. Bought in a great school district, but by the time our kids were old enough to attend, were zoned to a worse district.

Happened to us too. Went from a very highly ranked pyramid to one that people avoid. Our home value fell too. Such is life. We’re rolling the dice and sending our kids to the rougher schools and “trusting the process” our district told us too.

[Anonymous]

Why are you asking the same question again, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re-zoning happened to us too. Bought in a great school district, but by the time our kids were old enough to attend, were zoned to a worse district.

This, but for us it was high school.
Bought in zone for one high school, but many years later they built a new high school which caused all the boundary lines to be redrawn, and we found ourselves in a different high school boundary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the last few months of preschool before all little kids will go to kindergarten in the fall. Almost every families are local, so they go to their home elementary schools. I have talked to a few, and they are looking at private school because their home elementary school is not that great. Well, I don't know how much private school a year cost, but I know that we have been paying $28k a year for current preschool. It is going to cost a lot of money down the road if families decide to go private. Isn't cheaper to buy a home zoned to better school zone to begin with? Do you look at school zoning before having first kid?

Schools get rezoned.

We were zoned for one school when I got pregnant and two years later, address was zoned for a lower performing school.

[Anonymous]

I prioritized my commute. Time with my family is paramount.