Brooklanders…where do you send DCs to school and how is your commute?
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Anonymous
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We're in Brookland, about 10 years now. Moved here without kids and have stayed on, happily, post kids. The local schools work for some, and the local principals have been open to conversations with families about the state of the schools. With every group of parents with school-aging-in kids there's a burst of discussion about committing to the local schools (join the Brookland parents listserv). The trouble is 1) the neighborhood is split oddly between the schools, so that you lose momentum for families committing together to work with a school 2) relatedly, we don't have the density, of, say, Capitol Hill that allows faster change, and 3) many of the charter schools are just too good, so that as people play the lottery and get accepted, they aren't going to choose the hopeful local school over the proven charter. And so the big push to make local schools full of neighborhood kids fizzles.
We're zoned, oddly, for example, for the school that's a further walk away, and which is the combined elementary/junior high that seems to not be working much of anywhere here in DC. (I'm fully open to hearing otherwise, as we haven't checked it out in the last few years, and there may have been notable improvement.) We're at Cap City and very happy. It's an opposite commute for us, but we've been very lucky to have such dedicated teachers. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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We started off at a DCPS...long story that one. We are now at a charter (ITS--yay that its moving back to Ward 5) but I still believe in the importance of neighborhood schools. We have a 3 year old and will be applying to Langdon Montessori. However, its is our fifth choice, behind Lee Montessori, ITS, Two Rivers and MM Bethune. I've also applied to LAMB, though I've no idea the difference between the two campuses. However, we have sibling preference at ITS so its either Lee Montessori (Ward 5/sharing space with ITS) or ITS for us.
FWIW, we can't do private without financial aid. We have three children and while nothing is totally off the table, there's no guarantee that if we pay for private, we won't have to pay for college. For us, college is a must, private school isn't. We'll be looking at the top charters and magnets when the time comes. In general, I think that starting a young child off at a less than good school can be OK. We did with our first two before moving to a charter. We've applied to a few for our baby. Its PreK 3. Our main goal is to get her used to school and playmates and learn the basics in a more structured way. My husband and I are both educated and don't feel like our child will suffer long term damage if she's in an early childhood program with low 3rd grade test scores. Just like any other situation, you have to be involved. We read to them routinely, have a home full of books, visit museums, participate in cultural activities, travel so that they are very well rounded. And it was easier for us to get into said charter because we had one child going to an upper grade. He had a fantastic early childhood education at previous somewhat crappy school and is in the top of his class for most subjects. The school just didn't have a lot of resources, which quite honestly, we provide at home. |
Anonymous
| PP, I'm curious why you don't want to stay at IT. Seems as if you'd be guaranteed a spot at IT, why take a chance on a school that's not open yet? Not being snarky, just curious. |
Anonymous
We like Montessori, at least for early childhood. They'll all likely complete elementary at IT. (And they will share a building initially) |