DC Public Elementary Schools

[Anonymous]

My husband and I are looking at neighborhoods to purchase a home and ideally would like to find a place we could stay through our children's elementary school eduction. Private school is not an option for us, so we would plan to move to the burbs, if necessary, after elementary school. We've heard that there are some good public elementary schools in DC (e.g. Palisades area) and were hoping to get some more suggestions of neighborhoods. Thank you very much in advance.

[Anonymous]

Capitol Hill. Great place to live and elementary schools are already solid in some cases and well on their way in other cases. Try googling " the hill is home" which will get you to a local news and info site.

[Anonymous]

yup, capitol hill. i think it's the most residential area of the city--tons of families and pets, affordable houses, lots of parks/green spaces, yet still has that walkable urban quality. off the top of my head, i could probably name 5 elem. schools that are worth your time (brent, maury, j.o. wilson, watkins/peabody, ludlow taylor). my DS starts PS3 this week at our in-bounds elementary school and we feel lucky!

[Anonymous]

What is your budget? And if private is not an option, why not just move to the burbs now? (just curious)

[Anonymous]

Capitol Hill? Is that the final answer to the often asked question of where is a young family to move in the city to guarantee good public school at least through elementary school? We are also looking to buy and cannot afford neighborhoods west of the park but would rather stay in NW to be closer to everything. Are areas like 16th St. Heights, Columbia Heights or Petworth off the list for young families? I mean, how impossible is it to get into an OOB school or a charter school? What about a reasonably priced private school? There are a few around NW. It would be great to get more feedback on this as me and many other often ask this question...

[Anonymous]

This question has been asked dozens of times. Do an archives search before kvetching about inadequate responses.

[Anonymous]

OP,
when you say you want to stay "closer to everything," what do you mean? NP here. We moved to Capitol Hill when it was time for us to move out of faculty housing in Georgetown. We chose it because it was on the busline but it is also a pretty workable drive over that way because of the SW/SE freeway and Rock Creek (although you have to know the workarounds to use during rush hour).

On the other hand, I think it's much harder to get across town from Petworth and Columbia Heights to Georgetown. (Park Rd, Columbia, and Harvard crawl some days!) Plus if you need to go south or north of the District on the freeway, SE Capitol Hill is a great location.

Anyway, I don't know where it is you need to go so perhaps Petworth and Columbia Heights will work better for you. But if you don't have a specific route worked out, you might want to try driving around the city a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP,
when you say you want to stay "closer to everything," what do you mean? NP here. We moved to Capitol Hill when it was time for us to move out of faculty housing in Georgetown. We chose it because it was on the busline but it is also a pretty workable drive over that way because of the SW/SE freeway and Rock Creek (although you have to know the workarounds to use during rush hour).

On the other hand, I think it's much harder to get across town from Petworth and Columbia Heights to Georgetown. (Park Rd, Columbia, and Harvard crawl some days!) Plus if you need to go south or north of the District on the freeway, SE Capitol Hill is a great location.

Anyway, I don't know where it is you need to go so perhaps Petworth and Columbia Heights will work better for you. But if you don't have a specific route worked out, you might want to try driving around the city a bit.

Seriously, why ask the question "Where to go for DCPS?" if what you really want to know is "How to get into a good public school in the Columbia Heights area?"

CH is "closer to everything" in the sense that it's close to CH, A-M, and Dupont. Capitol Hill is close to H Street, Penn Quarter, the Mall, etc... I can ride my bike from Lincoln Park to 14th and Mass in about 15-20 min.

[Anonymous]

and you can likely stay in-bounds for public school and get your kid a decent--even GOOD--education. i don't know about the OP, but i am anti-traipsing around town trying to get my kid to school. we work close-in and we walk our DS to school 2 blocks away. that's a lifestyle easy to attain on capitol hill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yup, capitol hill. i think it's the most residential area of the city--tons of families and pets, affordable houses, lots of parks/green spaces, yet still has that walkable urban quality. off the top of my head, i could probably name 5 elem. schools that are worth your time (brent, maury, j.o. wilson, watkins/peabody, ludlow taylor). my DS starts PS3 this week at our in-bounds elementary school and we feel lucky!

I love Capitol Hill (although I don't live there) but I'm curious about your definition of affordable. The homes I've looked at on the Hill - normal 3 & 4 story rowhouses - start WELL over $500K.

[Anonymous]

We like tenleytown/Cleveland park - it's so nice with family. There are good school choices ( though we've gone charter).

[Anonymous]

I often see 2 br/ 1.5 ba townhouses listed for ~$450k. Of course, they never last long...

[Anonymous]

1. If you can afford it, buy or rent west of Rock Creek Park near work or a Metro line. That cements your long term concern for public schools at least until middle school. Prices are $800K or more, or you can rent. Rare $690K fixer uppers sometimes become available. Lafayette has the highest test scores.
2. Capitol Hill also a good option but some elementaries are better than others. H Street is going bonkers with new hipster hangouts though. Also you may find the neighborhoods east of 15th to be hmmm, too stabby/sketchy/a pioneer's goldmine/dead man's folly?
3. DC public school website allows you to peruse the boundaries of neighborhoods for "assigned" schools. Cross check those with boundaries for schools you like with Redfin or another real estate site to find out price ranges for available homes.
4. Don't assume you can get in to a highly regarded school you are out of boundary for. Also, pre-schools and charters are lottery based admission with favor for walkable proximity but no guarantee of acceptance. Some pretty good public schools in more affordable areas are just being "discovered" i.e. scared rich & middle class people don't know about them/won't consider them yet. Which is good news for the rest of us.
5. Tour every school and DC's free public charter schools in advance of the spring application deadlines for the following autumn.
6. Columbia Heights is the booming hipster area right now, taking in all the refugees who can no longer afford Adams Morgan, Dupont and Mount Pleasant, with new bars, restaurants and coffee places opening all the time.
But the schools are some good, some horrible. Do a lot of research if you intend to settle here. Petworth and Brightwood are quieter but have sketchy places, convenient to downtown by bus or the Green/Yellow Line, elementary schools are hit and miss. A Catholic U. student just got shot riding his bike home from work at 12:30 am at Sherman Circle. Brookland is also growing popular, but still has crime as well.
7. Parental engagement is growing! Good luck!
8. Consider Arlington, Falls Church, or Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

5. Not every school, but the ones you are considering.

[Anonymous]

LOL. If OP's baseline is Key, she's not going to be happy with any DCPS that the Hill has to offer. I know lots of folks are excited about the "emerging" schools there, and that's great, but there's really just no comparison between any DCPS on the Hill and Key. None.