What’s the best DCPS or Charter ES for making family friends?

[Anonymous]

We are, of course, searching for a great school for our kids (toddlers).

But we’ve been so impressed by many schools that now we want to add a layer to the consideration: Which schools are best for building friendships with other families?

Tell me about your schools’ PTAs, community involvement, coordinating summer programs with other parents — and generally, about how easily you’ve made friends with other parents (or not) at your school.

[Anonymous]

If you live in Brookland, I say Burroughs, EW Stokes, YY, DC Bilingual, MV. All are full of neighborhood families that really communicate and connect outside of school. My son attended Stokes starting in PK3 and we are still very close friends with most of his graduating high school class. It’s been a wonderful journey.

[Anonymous]

Your IB if it has high IB participation. If you don't have that, one of the charters where people tend to stick around until the terminal grade. These would include LAMB, Yu Ying, DC Bilingual, a few others.

If you can't do one of those options, I'd look at DCPS walkable from your house with good IB buy in, which will get you many benefits of an IB if you are close enough.

[Anonymous]

Whatever school you are willing to do the work of making friends.

[Anonymous]

The Hill DCPSes tend to have very tight communities, but it’s very dependent on living IB or within easy proximity, so it very much depends on where you live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We are, of course, searching for a great school for our kids (toddlers).

But we’ve been so impressed by many schools that now we want to add a layer to the consideration: Which schools are best for building friendships with other families?

Tell me about your schools’ PTAs, community involvement, coordinating summer programs with other parents — and generally, about how easily you’ve made friends with other parents (or not) at your school.

We've been at two DCPS elementary schools and all of these things happened really easily at both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you live in Brookland, I say Burroughs, EW Stokes, YY, DC Bilingual, MV. All are full of neighborhood families that really communicate and connect outside of school. My son attended Stokes starting in PK3 and we are still very close friends with most of his graduating high school class. It’s been a wonderful journey.

+1. One of the immersion charters. Lots of involved families that stay all thru elementary to then track to DCI for middle. My kids tight group of friends have known each other since K and they are still very close and now all at DCI. We are friends and know these families well. Yet, I am also friends with other parents with kids in other grades thru mom’s book club from our school, etc..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Hill DCPSes tend to have very tight communities, but it’s very dependent on living IB or within easy proximity, so it very much depends on where you live.

This. It's the same for JKLM. You 100% have to live in boundary. The out-of-boundary families are always way out of the loop socially just because no parent or nanny (the later who often doesn't drive) will regularly schlep across town for a playdate when they can walk 2 blocks after school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Hill DCPSes tend to have very tight communities, but it’s very dependent on living IB or within easy proximity, so it very much depends on where you live.

This. It's the same for JKLM. You 100% have to live in boundary. The out-of-boundary families are always way out of the loop socially just because no parent or nanny (the later who often doesn't drive) will regularly schlep across town for a playdate when they can walk 2 blocks after school.

I’m sure this is the case for some families but many like myself do actually live nearby. For example I’m technically out of bounds but it’s still less than a 15 minute walk to the school.

DCPS’s boundaries are smaller for some schools. I wish the data would show how far out of boundary -sometimes it’s quite deceiving.

[Anonymous]

If you’re considering moving, look at DCPS elementary schools with small boundaries. This is our 6th year at Hearst and a main selling point is the small size, and the fact that many of my kids’ friends all live within a few blocks. We’ve made some great friends this way, plus you can make plans on the fly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Hill DCPSes tend to have very tight communities, but it’s very dependent on living IB or within easy proximity, so it very much depends on where you live.

This. It's the same for JKLM. You 100% have to live in boundary. The out-of-boundary families are always way out of the loop socially just because no parent or nanny (the later who often doesn't drive) will regularly schlep across town for a playdate when they can walk 2 blocks after school.

I’m sure this is the case for some families but many like myself do actually live nearby. For example I’m technically out of bounds but it’s still less than a 15 minute walk to the school.

DCPS’s boundaries are smaller for some schools. I wish the data would show how far out of boundary -sometimes it’s quite deceiving.

oh, then you're fine. it's about convenience and logistics and nothing against OOB families by definition.

[Anonymous]

If you speak a different language or have very different household income from other people at the school, expect those to be significant barriers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your IB if it has high IB participation. If you don't have that, one of the charters where people tend to stick around until the terminal grade. These would include LAMB, Yu Ying, DC Bilingual, a few others.

If you can't do one of those options, I'd look at DCPS walkable from your house with good IB buy in, which will get you many benefits of an IB if you are close enough.

This, but at every school we've attended (all DCPS so far), you end up making friends with the involved parents if you are one yourself. And if you care about PTOs you're about 3 years away from being President, so congrats in advance!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Hill DCPSes tend to have very tight communities, but it’s very dependent on living IB or within easy proximity, so it very much depends on where you live.

This. It's the same for JKLM. You 100% have to live in boundary. The out-of-boundary families are always way out of the loop socially just because no parent or nanny (the later who often doesn't drive) will regularly schlep across town for a playdate when they can walk 2 blocks after school.

I’m sure this is the case for some families but many like myself do actually live nearby. For example I’m technically out of bounds but it’s still less than a 15 minute walk to the school.

DCPS’s boundaries are smaller for some schools. I wish the data would show how far out of boundary -sometimes it’s quite deceiving.

I don’t think PP meant people who live right outside of a small boundary. But I know several families who send their kids to schools across thr park and they just don’t socialize that much with families at the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Hill DCPSes tend to have very tight communities, but it’s very dependent on living IB or within easy proximity, so it very much depends on where you live.

This. It's the same for JKLM. You 100% have to live in boundary. The out-of-boundary families are always way out of the loop socially just because no parent or nanny (the later who often doesn't drive) will regularly schlep across town for a playdate when they can walk 2 blocks after school.

I’m sure this is the case for some families but many like myself do actually live nearby. For example I’m technically out of bounds but it’s still less than a 15 minute walk to the school.

DCPS’s boundaries are smaller for some schools. I wish the data would show how far out of boundary -sometimes it’s quite deceiving.

I don’t think PP meant people who live right outside of a small boundary. But I know several families who send their kids to schools across thr park and they just don’t socialize that much with families at the school.

On the Hill there is a lot of intermixing of people from different boundaries. Lots of kids IB for Watkins or Miner or JO going to L-T or Brent. Maury is much harder to get into OOB, but Payne also has a decent number of OOB family from nearby zones, including Chisholm (where IB families who don't want immersion get preference for Payne). I also know some families zoned for Wheatley at most of these schools. Plus in addition to people who lottery, sometimes people move around within the Hill after their kids start at one school, so people wind up OOB that way.

There is still some very minimal snootiness about IB versus OOB at some schools, but it usually has to do with the difference between being a family whose kid has been there since PK or K versus coming in a later grade. So even people who move into the boundary can experience this a little, just because friendships are formed. But that varies by grade and cohort and is really not pronounced. As kids get older, the idea of a kid going 8 or 10 blocks to see a friend, as opposed to 2 or 3, is really no big deal. Plus these schools all feed into the same few middle schools, and on top of it you have SWS and CHML pulling kids from the same neighborhoods. In the end it doesn't matter. Half of my kid's friends are through an activity where most of the kids go to other schools (just one friend at our elementary, and she is technically in the grade behind).