Planning early… where would you settle?
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Anonymous
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I’m planning pretty early for a move into the district from MD.
I’m in a graduate in person program at GW 3 nights a week. I commute 2 days a week EOTR and 2 days a week to petworth for work. The other day I work from home. 4 kids total 1 in upper elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school and 1 at Howard U. Husband works close to Noma. In terms of neighborhood and not relying solely on lottery any suggestions that would be good in bounds but also not terrible for college age kid to metro. (Planning in advance for them to be with us since this years housing is so screwed) we would be likely looking for places that have a basement apartment type of set up. Kids currently walk and or take a short bus ride to school. |
Anonymous
| Silver spring or Takoma park MD. |
Anonymous
| Shepherd Park, which gets you access to Deal and JR. No easy metro access, but buses should work for Howard kid (or bus + metro). |
Anonymous
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Budget is the biggest factor. You haven't given us one. Are you buying or renting?
Not sure why you want to move into the district with three kids in school. If they all take a short bus ride to school, you won't find that here. School transportation here is a big mess. |
Anonymous
I would rent … $5500 a month give or take for budget. Re: transportation I was just noting that winthin proximity would be easier as opposed to us doing 3 drop offs all over the city. |
Anonymous
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I would choose Mt. Pleasant or Shepherd Park. Both feed to Jackson Reed, which should be your main priority with one already in high school, since they won't be able to attend application schools, most likely. Your middle schooler will have more options.
For transportation, Mt. Pleasant would be far superior for your college student, and also potentially for both your husband and for you. But for parking and yard size and home size, Shepherd Park would be better. Both would work in terms of your budget. You'd be heading for the Silver Spring Metro if you live in Shepherd Park, most likely, so, honestly, Silver Spring or Takoma Park might both be superior to or at least equal to Shepherd Park, in terms of both transportation and schools. In terms of renting a home, now is a very good time with so many people wanting to avoid selling in a down market. |
Anonymous
PP who suggested Shepherd Park, and I agree that Mount Pleasant is a great idea. Easy access to the green line at Columbia Heights for your Howard kid. Good DCPS options for the others. And such a great, vibrant neighborhood—maybe my favorite in DC. |
Anonymous
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But Mt Pleasant is zoned for Bancroft, and it will be hard for elementary kid to join a bilingual program in upper elementary. If you're ok with that or the monlingual alternative it's a good choice since you then have Deal and JR for middle and high school. I don't know if there are places in your budget.
I am setting aside EOTR since I don't know exactly where you'll need to be. Agree with Shepherd Park, especially if you can find something that's in-bounds for Shepherd but close to the Silver Spring metro for the commute to NoMa and Howard (change at Ft. Totten). It is a longer commute for the middle and high school though. So another option is Tenleytown. K-12 schools are all in close proximity; it's a little further from Howard but not terrible, and a direct red line commute to NoMa. If you are ok with Wells and Coolidge, then I'd suggest Takoma or Whittier for having schools near each other, metro, Petworth, and HU. Takoma metro to NoMa is a pretty good commute. And real estate is cheaper there than in Tenleytown, Shepherd Park, or MtP. If the HS student does get into Banneker, Walls, McKinley Tech, or Ellington via the lottery (much easier for a 9th grader than subsequent grades; it is possible to enter the lottery before moving to DC but you need to have proof of residency within a few weeks of the lottery coming out in order to enroll), then John Francis and the schools that feed into its middle school (Cleveland, Garrison, Seaton, Ross, Thomson) would be a good choice for K-8. Different ones would be better depending on which high school the commute is to, and some are closer to GW vs. HU vs. Petworth vs. NoMa. Another option (yes, lottery dependent but a good chance of getting 3 kids in with sibling preference) is a charter that goes K-12 and has all the schools in proximity to each other. Haynes and Capital City would both be relatively close to Petworth and HU, more affordable, and not a bad commute to NoMa. |
Anonymous
| With FOUR KIDS. I would do yourself a favor and stick to the suburbs. It is going to be a nightmare trying to coordinate DCPS schools with three. |
Anonymous
| Agree with PP. What are you thinking moving to DC and in school full-time. I am sorry but this sounds like a nightmare. You are going to burn out unless you have a full-time childcare or help. It seems like you need to in your situation. Hope you find a location! |
Anonymous
| It will be hard to find a rental in Shepherd Park but good school and transportation options. Solid WS, bus to Deal/JR, express bus to Petworth and Howard, many areas are walking distance to the Silver Spring or Takoma Metro stations. |
Anonymous
| Solid ES …. |
Anonymous
+1. Stay in the burbs. So you are working, going to school at night and have to get 3 or 4 kids to different schools everyday in the city and home. |
Anonymous
Kids are late elementary, middle, high school, and college. That's really different than if they were all in elementary school. There are parts of DC (Whittier/Wells/Coolidge; Janney/Deal/JR) where PK-12 are all very close to each other, and closer to Howard and the places OP and her husband need to be. While somewhere like Takoma Park or Silver Spring or close-in Arlington could also work, I don't think they're inherently better. |
Anonymous
Full-time childcare seems a bit excessive for what is likely a kid around 10 years old and two teens, especially with a college student living there too. |