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

[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.

PP- Our exit strategy is private school. We wouldn’t move for Deal and JR.

[Anonymous]

If Deal is indeed "vastly better" than the DCPS middle school options in Ward 6 why is that we know longtime NW families who are running to the burbs or privates after 6th or 7th grades but don't know any longtime Hill families with kids at S-H, E-H, Jefferson, BASIS, the Latins, DCI or Walls following suit?

The Hill is essentially an island surrounded by the National Mall and the Anacostia River, making for a particularly tight-knit community in the country's largest historic district. After a point, if you're fighting to stay, you tend to ignore those on the fence, grumbling about middle schools, because you know they won't last. From our perspective, MS and HS are just a decade in the lives of our families. We don't want to be stuck in some blah suburb as empty nesters and in our dotage. We want to be home on the Hill with close friends and dear neighbors who value life in the neighborhood as much as we do.

If you moved to NW or the burbs mainly for schools, you never put down roots on the Hill that were worth fighting for. Stands to reason that you won't miss the Hill much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Deal is indeed "vastly better" than the DCPS middle school options in Ward 6 why is that we know longtime NW families who are running to the burbs or privates after 6th or 7th grades but don't know any longtime Hill families with kids at S-H, E-H, Jefferson, BASIS, the Latins, DCI or Walls following suit?

The Hill is essentially an island surrounded by the National Mall and the Anacostia River, making for a particularly tight-knit community in the country's largest historic district. After a point, if you're fighting to stay, you tend to ignore those on the fence, grumbling about middle schools, because you know they won't last. From our perspective, MS and HS are just a decade in the lives of our families. We don't want to be stuck in some blah suburb as empty nesters and in our dotage. We want to be home on the Hill with close friends and dear neighbors who value life in the neighborhood as much as we do.

If you moved to NW or the burbs mainly for schools, you never put down roots on the Hill that were worth fighting for. Stands to reason that you won't miss the Hill much.

It sounds like you have carved out a life on the Hill that you like. We also had a great life on the Hill and couldn’t imagine leaving but really wanted a third kid and needed a bigger house. We were worried that we wouldn’t like our life in the suburbs and would miss the est walkability to nice amenities.

The truth is we did miss those things, especially at first. But, we also found new amenities that we hadn’t known we would like, such as walking distance to our community pool with a fun summer swim team, lots more older kids so there is a wider variety of kid activities, etc.

We actually kept our house on the Hill as a rental because we assumed we would rush back as soon as our last kid left for college, but I don’t think we will now. The Hill is really great, but there are wonderful communities everywhere and I don’t miss it like I used to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Deal is indeed "vastly better" than the DCPS middle school options in Ward 6 why is that we know longtime NW families who are running to the burbs or privates after 6th or 7th grades but don't know any longtime Hill families with kids at S-H, E-H, Jefferson, BASIS, the Latins, DCI or Walls following suit?

The Hill is essentially an island surrounded by the National Mall and the Anacostia River, making for a particularly tight-knit community in the country's largest historic district. After a point, if you're fighting to stay, you tend to ignore those on the fence, grumbling about middle schools, because you know they won't last. From our perspective, MS and HS are just a decade in the lives of our families. We don't want to be stuck in some blah suburb as empty nesters and in our dotage. We want to be home on the Hill with close friends and dear neighbors who value life in the neighborhood as much as we do.

If you moved to NW or the burbs mainly for schools, you never put down roots on the Hill that were worth fighting for. Stands to reason that you won't miss the Hill much.

It sounds like you have carved out a life on the Hill that you like. We also had a great life on the Hill and couldn’t imagine leaving but really wanted a third kid and needed a bigger house. We were worried that we wouldn’t like our life in the suburbs and would miss the est walkability to nice amenities.

The truth is we did miss those things, especially at first. But, we also found new amenities that we hadn’t known we would like, such as walking distance to our community pool with a fun summer swim team, lots more older kids so there is a wider variety of kid activities, etc.

We actually kept our house on the Hill as a rental because we assumed we would rush back as soon as our last kid left for college, but I don’t think we will now. The Hill is really great, but there are wonderful communities everywhere and I don’t miss it like I used to.

This is such a great post, and I say that as a longtime Hill resident who is reluctant to leave.

There is much to love about the Hill and many things I'd miss -- the density, the neighbors and community, the ease of getting to playgrounds, schools, restaurants, museums, and other things without a car. It's great.

But (1) there are drawbacks, and (2) of course there are great things about other places. You mentioning your community pool and swim team reminds me that we were unable to get into any swim classes on the Hill or nearby, so we drive to Virginia twice a week in the summer for swim classes. The idea of walking to the community pool for classes sounds amazing! As kids get older, we also find ourselves hosting less and less because our home on the Hill is so small and friends who live elsewhere have more space, including more outdoor space, for kids to run around and for adults to relax. Mix in the school challenges, and I do feel we're going to make a move in the next couple years. We'll be sad to leave the Hill, but I also feel confident there will be things we like about the next place.

The PP's contention that this means we never "put down roots" on the Hill reflects a weird cult like attitude I encounter occasionally from people here. It's not enough for the Hill to be a great neighborhood, it has to be better than anywhere else. And that's ridiculous. Everywhere has pluses and minuses. If you can make staying on the Hill work through MS and HS, more power to you. But if you can't, it doesn't mean you never actually liked the Hill. It just means that at this stage in life, another area works better for your family. There is no need for weird moralizing and superiority here.

[Anonymous]

It may feel like this is the most significant parental decision but its not and you'll still be a good parent. All that money, energy and time that you'll spending on house search, buying, selling, moving, adjusting to new area and school, commuting etc. could be used to supplement their lives in other ways. Instead of mindlessly following the Jonses to the suburbs, think outside the box.

[Anonymous]

I have not read all the comments but wanted to include my story. We didn’t know DC well when we moved here for my job and settled on upper NW for schools and proximity to metro (public transportation is very important to me) on advice of a few friends. We ended up in AU Park. Of course there are a mix of people, but most are very competitive with very scheduled kids, and about half are private school lifers. My kid doesn’t like ball sports and isn’t competitive. I wish there was a group of neighborhood that hang out after school and on weekends for mine to make friends with, but with so many in private who have so many activities (so they get driven around a lot by parents and nannies) they’re not out playing or hanging out in the neighborhood often. My childhood was way more wolf pack with the kids l went to school with who also lived close by and I wish my kid had that, and l would have actually chosen somewhere cheaper where more kids are in public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate to post this, since I don't want to slam Capitol Hill. We love our community here. But, I'm tired of the school angst (we are past the lottery so there isn't hope for a good HS path (or one that fits us)). I'm also tired of the crime. Wondering for those who moved for schools, was it worth it? Did you find a new community in your NW or burbs neighborhood?

Psychology 101, most humans instinctively try to justify their decisions, to themselves and to others to sooth their minds. All you'll get here is why it was a great decision to move. People who decided to move, have already convinced themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have not read all the comments but wanted to include my story. We didn’t know DC well when we moved here for my job and settled on upper NW for schools and proximity to metro (public transportation is very important to me) on advice of a few friends. We ended up in AU Park. Of course there are a mix of people, but most are very competitive with very scheduled kids, and about half are private school lifers. My kid doesn’t like ball sports and isn’t competitive. I wish there was a group of neighborhood that hang out after school and on weekends for mine to make friends with, but with so many in private who have so many activities (so they get driven around a lot by parents and nannies) they’re not out playing or hanging out in the neighborhood often. My childhood was way more wolf pack with the kids l went to school with who also lived close by and I wish my kid had that, and l would have actually chosen somewhere cheaper where more kids are in public.

This is interesting as we have had a different experience in AU Park. Most kids around us attend Janney and Deal. Some kids peel off in HS either for Walls or private but not that many.
It has been nice being surrounded by families where kids pretty much all go to the same neighborhood schools. It makes it so easy for the kids to hang out. My oldest kid is now at Walls and he walks to the metro and commutes independently. He now has a neighborhood group of friends and another group of Walls friends. It is great having Hearst Pool nearby but we joined a swim club in Bethesda and the kids did summer swim there.

[Anonymous]

I think the diehard Hill families don’t realize there are great things about other neighborhoods as well. If you are flexible and adaptable, you can find a lot to like about other neighborhoods whether it is upper NW or Bethesda, Arlington or Silver Spring.
You give up some urban amenities when you leave CH but you gain other conveniences.

[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.

Also I don’t think “just north of Dupont” is zoned for JR?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Deal is indeed "vastly better" than the DCPS middle school options in Ward 6 why is that we know longtime NW families who are running to the burbs or privates after 6th or 7th grades but don't know any longtime Hill families with kids at S-H, E-H, Jefferson, BASIS, the Latins, DCI or Walls following suit?

The Hill is essentially an island surrounded by the National Mall and the Anacostia River, making for a particularly tight-knit community in the country's largest historic district. After a point, if you're fighting to stay, you tend to ignore those on the fence, grumbling about middle schools, because you know they won't last. From our perspective, MS and HS are just a decade in the lives of our families. We don't want to be stuck in some blah suburb as empty nesters and in our dotage. We want to be home on the Hill with close friends and dear neighbors who value life in the neighborhood as much as we do.

If you moved to NW or the burbs mainly for schools, you never put down roots on the Hill that were worth fighting for. Stands to reason that you won't miss the Hill much.

Where did your kids go to MS/HS?

Look, I love the Hill, but it’s just a neighborhood…

[Anonymous]

My kids went to our local DCPS school through 5th grade. They've won music/academic scholarships to a private school we can afford with the fi aid. We know that there are other great DC neighborhoods, but we're not moving 25 years into our life on the Hill just for schools. We can't stand the idea of taking care of a yard, having to walk more than 10 mins to a Metro station, or starting over socially. To each her own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Deal is indeed "vastly better" than the DCPS middle school options in Ward 6 why is that we know longtime NW families who are running to the burbs or privates after 6th or 7th grades but don't know any longtime Hill families with kids at S-H, E-H, Jefferson, BASIS, the Latins, DCI or Walls following suit?

The Hill is essentially an island surrounded by the National Mall and the Anacostia River, making for a particularly tight-knit community in the country's largest historic district. After a point, if you're fighting to stay, you tend to ignore those on the fence, grumbling about middle schools, because you know they won't last. From our perspective, MS and HS are just a decade in the lives of our families. We don't want to be stuck in some blah suburb as empty nesters and in our dotage. We want to be home on the Hill with close friends and dear neighbors who value life in the neighborhood as much as we do.

If you moved to NW or the burbs mainly for schools, you never put down roots on the Hill that were worth fighting for. Stands to reason that you won't miss the Hill much.

Where did your kids go to MS/HS?

Look, I love the Hill, but it’s just a neighborhood…

+1, there is some tribalism in this thread that I think is weird given that part of the appeal of the Hill is that it’s diverse and open-minded. But being super judgmental of people who make different choices because they value different things is neither.

We like the Hill but have had bad lottery luck and don’t live IB for a great elementary. We eventually nabbed a spot at a school we like, but the experience made us really value predictability in schools, which is making us lean towards the suburbs for MS and HS. It’s not even a question of suburban schools being vastly better. It’s about predictability. We also like the idea of our kids being able to roam the neighborhood more without worrying so much about traffic and crime, especially as they get older. We’re hoping to buy close in so still relatively dense and close enough to metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went to our local DCPS school through 5th grade. They've won music/academic scholarships to a private school we can afford with the fi aid. We know that there are other great DC neighborhoods, but we're not moving 25 years into our life on the Hill just for schools. We can't stand the idea of taking care of a yard, having to walk more than 10 mins to a Metro station, or starting over socially. To each her own.

Please say more about this music scholarship! Are they choirboys?

[Anonymous]

We lived in two different houses on the Hill and loved many things about it. Well before we had school-aged kids, I decided I was sick of the constant petty crime (and some not-so-petty crime that was rarer), the random drunk/drugged or mentally ill people knocking on our door, taking a nice walk only to keep smelling urine, finding condoms and needles at the park or in our alley, etc.

We moved to Chevy Chase. DH was opposed to the move but agreed reluctantly. Within the first week he asked what took so long. Life just became more peaceful in every way. If we forgot to bring in the stroller or a bike from the porch overnight, it would still be there in the morning. No more parking problems. I felt safer on walks. No urine smell, no encounters with mentally ill homeless people. No worrying about my kid finding a needle or used condom. And, the best and unexpected part was that we found an even stronger sense of community.