Moving to DC or Arlington Area - Which Elementary Public School Do You Recommend?

[Anonymous]

Hey there, I am searching through past posts and doing some research, but thought someone may be able to help me here.

My son is currently at a private preschool, so I am new to how to enroll in the public school system/lottery. We are moving from a suburban area in a small city in the midwest to DC and I don't know anything about the schools or best neighborhoods or even where to begin. I'd love to get him into a great public school in either Arlington area or DC. Any you recommend?

We would also need to find a house that we could rent in the area and I think our budget would be about $3k-$5k/month. If anyone can point me towards some neighborhoods to look into, I would greatly appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

We are happy at Science Focus. Look around Clarendon metro.

[Anonymous]

5k it the entry point for a Glover Park/Foxhall rowhome. Gets into Key/Stoddert.

[Anonymous]

3k won’t get you much so I suspect you’ll be north of 4K and the next decision you need to make is how surrounded by poverty you and your fam feel comfortable being. The nice areas of DC or Arlington that are nice that won’t go very far, you can find mixed areas but they will be situationally very specific or luck with the lottery on how you experiencing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3k won’t get you much so I suspect you’ll be north of 4K and the next decision you need to make is how surrounded by poverty you and your fam feel comfortable being. The nice areas of DC or Arlington that are nice that won’t go very far, you can find mixed areas but they will be situationally very specific or luck with the lottery on how you experiencing it.

+1. OP will have sticker shock. Forget about 3 or 4k to rent a house in good school pyramid in the city. 5k is probably the floor and up.

[Anonymous]

Arlington has some rundown rentals in safe neighborhoods but you may not be in the right area for the school you want.

[Anonymous]

Not sure if you’re getting the best answers. I think you need to decide if you want to live in the city or not. There is a big difference in lifestyle between Arlington and DC. If you decide DC- there are huge differences between neighborhoods. I think it’s really important to figure out the culture of the neighborhood and who you will be raising your child with. If you’re not pushed for time, I would look at school test scores, visit the local parks/ playgrounds, and then visit the schools.

Personally we moved to Arlington when we had our first and found that we were driving everywhere and coming back to the city every chance we could. We then moved back within 4 years and are making the public schools and charter schools work for us. Really happy with our decision but I realize that’s not for everyone.

I think with your budget- there are a range of options and just depends if you want an apartment building with amenities, townhome, or SF home.

In general though:
In VA, North Arlington typically has the better schools.
NW DC and some of the Capitol Hill schools.

In DC you can lottery for any public or charter
school but I couldn’t bank on them. It’s safer to move to the neighborhood and be inbounds for an elementary school that you like. That way you’ll also have a sense of community with your kids friends.

Middle and high are another story with the lottery…

[Anonymous]

For DC, my advice would be to start by researching which rentals/property feed to either Deal Middle School or Hardy Middle School. Even if your kids are not MS aged, this will point you to the neighborhoods with a guaranteed right of attendance at a decent middle. There are differences for each of the elementary schools that feed to these schools (and you can search this site for threads on all of them), but this will give you a starting point to research rental prices in DC neighborhoods with schools posting reasonable test results. If those are in your range, you could come back and research more specific schools. Otherwise, you will be playing the school lotto game and you may be happier just settling for something a little further out in VA or MD. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Above poster is right. Unless this is a move with a definite endpoint (political appointment, graduate school, etc) it is wise to look at middle schools and work backwards. Life comes at you fast!

[Anonymous]

Let’s be honest. Even the lowest ranked elementary schools in Arlington are better than virtually all of the DC publics. The few DC publics that can compete are all located in extremely expensive neighborhoods. Then once you hit middle and high school the Arlington schools are better across the board.

The bottom line is you can buy or rent anywhere in Arlington without worrying too much about the quality of your neighborhood school. Obviously you cannot say that about DC.

[Anonymous]

I disagree with some of the posters saying you can't find anything in that price range. I live in north Arlington in a good school district and you can find a rental for $4K. It won't be a new build, but a 1940s 3 bed/2 bath cape cod or Colonial. Here's the first listing I found: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/5100-10th-St-N-22205/home/11235974

The schools are Cardinal, Swanson, and W&L, which is a good pyramid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Above poster is right. Unless this is a move with a definite endpoint (political appointment, graduate school, etc) it is wise to look at middle schools and work backwards. Life comes at you fast!

And even if you don't stay until MS, looking at real estate listings with these as the Middle School options will point you to the various neighborhoods/ES. It's not the end of your research, but a good start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with some of the posters saying you can't find anything in that price range. I live in north Arlington in a good school district and you can find a rental for $4K. It won't be a new build, but a 1940s 3 bed/2 bath cape cod or Colonial. Here's the first listing I found: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/5100-10th-St-N-22205/home/11235974

The schools are Cardinal, Swanson, and W&L, which is a good pyramid

it’s ok for the price point. But Arlington is good by DC standards but way behind Fairfax options. Most people who prioritize schools and neighborhoods pick McLean or Bethesda when moving to the DC area. Arlington is like the urban compromise. Yorktown is ok but you’re basically in McLean at that point but paying for all of south arlington’s struggles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest. Even the lowest ranked elementary schools in Arlington are better than virtually all of the DC publics. The few DC publics that can compete are all located in extremely expensive neighborhoods. Then once you hit middle and high school the Arlington schools are better across the board.

The bottom line is you can buy or rent anywhere in Arlington without worrying too much about the quality of your neighborhood school. Obviously you cannot say that about DC.

Is this a widely held view? Also thinking about moving and would much prefer DC to Arlington, but am concerned about the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest. Even the lowest ranked elementary schools in Arlington are better than virtually all of the DC publics. The few DC publics that can compete are all located in extremely expensive neighborhoods. Then once you hit middle and high school the Arlington schools are better across the board.

The bottom line is you can buy or rent anywhere in Arlington without worrying too much about the quality of your neighborhood school. Obviously you cannot say that about DC.

Is this a widely held view? Also thinking about moving and would much prefer DC to Arlington, but am concerned about the schools.

The options are pretty thin in DC when it comes to public middle and high schools. Most of the schools range from mediocre to abysmal.