Would you move for Deal and J-R?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, we had friends who were local IB EOTP all the way with all their neighborhood friends. Then they got into the charter they wanted and forgot about that IB school. All about the charter and feeding into the charter MS. Then they switched to private. WOTP. For $50k/yr.

But they still talk about how living EOTP is so cool and they love their diverse neighborhood and their neighbors.

Just not enough to send their kids to school with the neighbor kids.

This little quip-- rotely repeated hundreds of times on DCUM while thinking it's clever--shows how little you know about neighborhoods EOTP.

The first thing our new black and brown neighbors mentioned as we were unpacking our boxes was they could help us with all the info to not have to attend the neighborhood school.

So who are all those black and brown kids in the schools if no black and brown kids are going there? Your neighbors are not only awful, by the way, but your post is also bullshit because that never happened.

Why are you being obtuse? It’s the poor, low SES black and brown kids.

No one said there is no black kids.

And apparently, none of the people who live there want that sort of diversity in the schools where they send their kids.

No one would have an issue with economic diversity if DCPS could meet the needs of all the kids but they only focus on the bottom.

Don’t blame the messenger. Blame the system and the race to the bottom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are moving anyway, I would seriously consider Arlington and close-in Moco. We moved from DC to Arlington and love it. Our kids' school is super diverse, with lots of great programs (robotics studio funded by Amazon, great arts program) and our neighborhood is super walkable and our commutes are shorter than they were in DC (but YMMV). Once you are moving to upper Ward 3 (or even Mt Pleasant) I feel like you end up with a lot of the downsides of city living without all the upsides. Plus you get in-state tuition to the VA schools, which is worth a lot more than DC TAG (if that survives Trump).

And what’s the downside of Mt Pleasant compared to the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington? I know both well. The schools in the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington certainly aren’t any better and the neighborhoods aren’t nearly as pretty or walkable.

I moved from Mt P to Arlington. I think W&L is better than J-R and is pretty diverse (40% white, 35% hispanic and 8% black). I don't worry at all about my kids walking home from the metro alone in Arlington, which I could not say when I lived in Mt P. Arlington also has school buses, which I think is an advantage over DC and vastly improved our quality of life. I did not leave DC because of the crime (I left to get a shorter commute) but have really appreciated the lack of petty crime - my kids don't think twice about leaving their bikes unlocked a couple hours in front of our house, while in DC we had to lock them even when they were in our garage. The retail strips in Arlington tend to be pretty ugly, but some of the residential areas are nice and pretty and everyone is friendly and pretty down to earth - similar to Mt P. And there are a million parks and rec centers, which are generally much nicer than those in DC. Not to mention that Trump is interfering less in Arlington than in DC.

I know your neighborhood well, and the only thing I’d agree with is that W-L is probably a better school. You moved to the suburbs. That’s what you did. There’s just no comparison.

How do you know what neighborhood I live in? Approx 1/3 of Arlington is zoned for w&L. And I never said I didn’t live in the suburbs. Of course I do. But I can also walk to a farmers market. Two supermarkets plus Trader Joe’s, the metro, and more coffee shops than I can count. Plus my DH and I spend less time commuting and less time driving the kids around because the kid stuff is closer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, we had friends who were local IB EOTP all the way with all their neighborhood friends. Then they got into the charter they wanted and forgot about that IB school. All about the charter and feeding into the charter MS. Then they switched to private. WOTP. For $50k/yr.

But they still talk about how living EOTP is so cool and they love their diverse neighborhood and their neighbors.

Just not enough to send their kids to school with the neighbor kids.

This little quip-- rotely repeated hundreds of times on DCUM while thinking it's clever--shows how little you know about neighborhoods EOTP.

The first thing our new black and brown neighbors mentioned as we were unpacking our boxes was they could help us with all the info to not have to attend the neighborhood school.

So who are all those black and brown kids in the schools if no black and brown kids are going there? Your neighbors are not only awful, by the way, but your post is also bullshit because that never happened.

Why are you being obtuse? It’s the poor, low SES black and brown kids.

No one said there is no black kids.

And apparently, none of the people who live there want that sort of diversity in the schools where they send their kids.

No one would have an issue with economic diversity if DCPS could meet the needs of all the kids but they only focus on the bottom.

Don’t blame the messenger. Blame the system and the race to the bottom

So don’t blame the people who seek better schools for their kids by moving to neighborhoods with better schools for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, we had friends who were local IB EOTP all the way with all their neighborhood friends. Then they got into the charter they wanted and forgot about that IB school. All about the charter and feeding into the charter MS. Then they switched to private. WOTP. For $50k/yr.

But they still talk about how living EOTP is so cool and they love their diverse neighborhood and their neighbors.

Just not enough to send their kids to school with the neighbor kids.

This little quip-- rotely repeated hundreds of times on DCUM while thinking it's clever--shows how little you know about neighborhoods EOTP.

The first thing our new black and brown neighbors mentioned as we were unpacking our boxes was they could help us with all the info to not have to attend the neighborhood school.

So who are all those black and brown kids in the schools if no black and brown kids are going there? Your neighbors are not only awful, by the way, but your post is also bullshit because that never happened.

Keep your head up your a$$ if you don't want to believe me, but it was definitely the case on my block among my neightbors and we've had others chime in as well. Sorry it doesn't fit your comfortable little imagination of how the world works.

It never happened. You did not move into your neighborhood as a white person and have your black and brown neighborhoods immediately say "welcome to the neighborhood! here's how you avoid the schools!"

That absolutely 100 percent did not happen and you are full of shit. That's never happened to anyone who has moved into any DC neighborhood ever.

My wife was pregnant and it was literally in our very first conversation with our next door neighbor (row house; also pregnant wife with a kindergarten son) and first conversation with the couple three houses down (kids HS age down to third grade).

Just because you’re so unlikable no one has real conversations with you doesn’t mean others don’t get along with their neighbors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are moving anyway, I would seriously consider Arlington and close-in Moco. We moved from DC to Arlington and love it. Our kids' school is super diverse, with lots of great programs (robotics studio funded by Amazon, great arts program) and our neighborhood is super walkable and our commutes are shorter than they were in DC (but YMMV). Once you are moving to upper Ward 3 (or even Mt Pleasant) I feel like you end up with a lot of the downsides of city living without all the upsides. Plus you get in-state tuition to the VA schools, which is worth a lot more than DC TAG (if that survives Trump).

And what’s the downside of Mt Pleasant compared to the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington? I know both well. The schools in the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington certainly aren’t any better and the neighborhoods aren’t nearly as pretty or walkable.

I moved from Mt P to Arlington. I think W&L is better than J-R and is pretty diverse (40% white, 35% hispanic and 8% black). I don't worry at all about my kids walking home from the metro alone in Arlington, which I could not say when I lived in Mt P. Arlington also has school buses, which I think is an advantage over DC and vastly improved our quality of life. I did not leave DC because of the crime (I left to get a shorter commute) but have really appreciated the lack of petty crime - my kids don't think twice about leaving their bikes unlocked a couple hours in front of our house, while in DC we had to lock them even when they were in our garage. The retail strips in Arlington tend to be pretty ugly, but some of the residential areas are nice and pretty and everyone is friendly and pretty down to earth - similar to Mt P. And there are a million parks and rec centers, which are generally much nicer than those in DC. Not to mention that Trump is interfering less in Arlington than in DC.

I know your neighborhood well, and the only thing I’d agree with is that W-L is probably a better school. You moved to the suburbs. That’s what you did. There’s just no comparison.

How do you know what neighborhood I live in? Approx 1/3 of Arlington is zoned for w&L. And I never said I didn’t live in the suburbs. Of course I do. But I can also walk to a farmers market. Two supermarkets plus Trader Joe’s, the metro, and more coffee shops than I can count. Plus my DH and I spend less time commuting and less time driving the kids around because the kid stuff is closer.

I know because I lived in North Arlington for decades and know it like the back of my hand. I know every neighborhood in the W-L zone and every stop along the Metro. There is no neighborhood in the W-L zone that comes close to living in the city. It has a distinctly suburban feeling to it.

Yes, Arlington has pleasant coffee shops and supermarkets. Maybe a couple of decent restaurants. But that's about it.

As happy as you are to be there, I'm just as happy to have left. It's boring. Nice and safe and with good schools? Absolutely. The price you pay for that is boredom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, we had friends who were local IB EOTP all the way with all their neighborhood friends. Then they got into the charter they wanted and forgot about that IB school. All about the charter and feeding into the charter MS. Then they switched to private. WOTP. For $50k/yr.

But they still talk about how living EOTP is so cool and they love their diverse neighborhood and their neighbors.

Just not enough to send their kids to school with the neighbor kids.

This little quip-- rotely repeated hundreds of times on DCUM while thinking it's clever--shows how little you know about neighborhoods EOTP.

The first thing our new black and brown neighbors mentioned as we were unpacking our boxes was they could help us with all the info to not have to attend the neighborhood school.

So who are all those black and brown kids in the schools if no black and brown kids are going there? Your neighbors are not only awful, by the way, but your post is also bullshit because that never happened.

Keep your head up your a$$ if you don't want to believe me, but it was definitely the case on my block among my neightbors and we've had others chime in as well. Sorry it doesn't fit your comfortable little imagination of how the world works.

It never happened. You did not move into your neighborhood as a white person and have your black and brown neighborhoods immediately say "welcome to the neighborhood! here's how you avoid the schools!"

That absolutely 100 percent did not happen and you are full of shit. That's never happened to anyone who has moved into any DC neighborhood ever.

My wife was pregnant and it was literally in our very first conversation with our next door neighbor (row house; also pregnant wife with a kindergarten son) and first conversation with the couple three houses down (kids HS age down to third grade).

Just because you’re so unlikable no one has real conversations with you doesn’t mean others don’t get along with their neighbors

Was the pregnant woman helping you unpack at the time? Or are we backtracking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are moving anyway, I would seriously consider Arlington and close-in Moco. We moved from DC to Arlington and love it. Our kids' school is super diverse, with lots of great programs (robotics studio funded by Amazon, great arts program) and our neighborhood is super walkable and our commutes are shorter than they were in DC (but YMMV). Once you are moving to upper Ward 3 (or even Mt Pleasant) I feel like you end up with a lot of the downsides of city living without all the upsides. Plus you get in-state tuition to the VA schools, which is worth a lot more than DC TAG (if that survives Trump).

And what’s the downside of Mt Pleasant compared to the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington? I know both well. The schools in the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington certainly aren’t any better and the neighborhoods aren’t nearly as pretty or walkable.

I moved from Mt P to Arlington. I think W&L is better than J-R and is pretty diverse (40% white, 35% hispanic and 8% black). I don't worry at all about my kids walking home from the metro alone in Arlington, which I could not say when I lived in Mt P. Arlington also has school buses, which I think is an advantage over DC and vastly improved our quality of life. I did not leave DC because of the crime (I left to get a shorter commute) but have really appreciated the lack of petty crime - my kids don't think twice about leaving their bikes unlocked a couple hours in front of our house, while in DC we had to lock them even when they were in our garage. The retail strips in Arlington tend to be pretty ugly, but some of the residential areas are nice and pretty and everyone is friendly and pretty down to earth - similar to Mt P. And there are a million parks and rec centers, which are generally much nicer than those in DC. Not to mention that Trump is interfering less in Arlington than in DC.

I know your neighborhood well, and the only thing I’d agree with is that W-L is probably a better school. You moved to the suburbs. That’s what you did. There’s just no comparison.

How do you know what neighborhood I live in? Approx 1/3 of Arlington is zoned for w&L. And I never said I didn’t live in the suburbs. Of course I do. But I can also walk to a farmers market. Two supermarkets plus Trader Joe’s, the metro, and more coffee shops than I can count. Plus my DH and I spend less time commuting and less time driving the kids around because the kid stuff is closer.

I know because I lived in North Arlington for decades and know it like the back of my hand. I know every neighborhood in the W-L zone and every stop along the Metro. There is no neighborhood in the W-L zone that comes close to living in the city. It has a distinctly suburban feeling to it.

Yes, Arlington has pleasant coffee shops and supermarkets. Maybe a couple of decent restaurants. But that's about it.

As happy as you are to be there, I'm just as happy to have left. It's boring. Nice and safe and with good schools? Absolutely. The price you pay for that is boredom.

DP. Yes, good schools and a safe neighborhood are worth it for this season of our lives. Once that’s no longer our priority, we’ll move again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are moving anyway, I would seriously consider Arlington and close-in Moco. We moved from DC to Arlington and love it. Our kids' school is super diverse, with lots of great programs (robotics studio funded by Amazon, great arts program) and our neighborhood is super walkable and our commutes are shorter than they were in DC (but YMMV). Once you are moving to upper Ward 3 (or even Mt Pleasant) I feel like you end up with a lot of the downsides of city living without all the upsides. Plus you get in-state tuition to the VA schools, which is worth a lot more than DC TAG (if that survives Trump).

And what’s the downside of Mt Pleasant compared to the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington? I know both well. The schools in the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington certainly aren’t any better and the neighborhoods aren’t nearly as pretty or walkable.

I moved from Mt P to Arlington. I think W&L is better than J-R and is pretty diverse (40% white, 35% hispanic and 8% black). I don't worry at all about my kids walking home from the metro alone in Arlington, which I could not say when I lived in Mt P. Arlington also has school buses, which I think is an advantage over DC and vastly improved our quality of life. I did not leave DC because of the crime (I left to get a shorter commute) but have really appreciated the lack of petty crime - my kids don't think twice about leaving their bikes unlocked a couple hours in front of our house, while in DC we had to lock them even when they were in our garage. The retail strips in Arlington tend to be pretty ugly, but some of the residential areas are nice and pretty and everyone is friendly and pretty down to earth - similar to Mt P. And there are a million parks and rec centers, which are generally much nicer than those in DC. Not to mention that Trump is interfering less in Arlington than in DC.

I know your neighborhood well, and the only thing I’d agree with is that W-L is probably a better school. You moved to the suburbs. That’s what you did. There’s just no comparison.

How do you know what neighborhood I live in? Approx 1/3 of Arlington is zoned for w&L. And I never said I didn’t live in the suburbs. Of course I do. But I can also walk to a farmers market. Two supermarkets plus Trader Joe’s, the metro, and more coffee shops than I can count. Plus my DH and I spend less time commuting and less time driving the kids around because the kid stuff is closer.

I know because I lived in North Arlington for decades and know it like the back of my hand. I know every neighborhood in the W-L zone and every stop along the Metro. There is no neighborhood in the W-L zone that comes close to living in the city. It has a distinctly suburban feeling to it.

Yes, Arlington has pleasant coffee shops and supermarkets. Maybe a couple of decent restaurants. But that's about it.

As happy as you are to be there, I'm just as happy to have left. It's boring. Nice and safe and with good schools? Absolutely. The price you pay for that is boredom.

DP. Yes, good schools and a safe neighborhood are worth it for this season of our lives. Once that’s no longer our priority, we’ll move again.

I can understand that. We don’t regret having lived in Arlington. It was good for the kids. It’s just boring, as I said. Interestingly, none of our kids has any interest in returning there to raise their own kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are moving anyway, I would seriously consider Arlington and close-in Moco. We moved from DC to Arlington and love it. Our kids' school is super diverse, with lots of great programs (robotics studio funded by Amazon, great arts program) and our neighborhood is super walkable and our commutes are shorter than they were in DC (but YMMV). Once you are moving to upper Ward 3 (or even Mt Pleasant) I feel like you end up with a lot of the downsides of city living without all the upsides. Plus you get in-state tuition to the VA schools, which is worth a lot more than DC TAG (if that survives Trump).

And what’s the downside of Mt Pleasant compared to the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington? I know both well. The schools in the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington certainly aren’t any better and the neighborhoods aren’t nearly as pretty or walkable.

I moved from Mt P to Arlington. I think W&L is better than J-R and is pretty diverse (40% white, 35% hispanic and 8% black). I don't worry at all about my kids walking home from the metro alone in Arlington, which I could not say when I lived in Mt P. Arlington also has school buses, which I think is an advantage over DC and vastly improved our quality of life. I did not leave DC because of the crime (I left to get a shorter commute) but have really appreciated the lack of petty crime - my kids don't think twice about leaving their bikes unlocked a couple hours in front of our house, while in DC we had to lock them even when they were in our garage. The retail strips in Arlington tend to be pretty ugly, but some of the residential areas are nice and pretty and everyone is friendly and pretty down to earth - similar to Mt P. And there are a million parks and rec centers, which are generally much nicer than those in DC. Not to mention that Trump is interfering less in Arlington than in DC.

I know your neighborhood well, and the only thing I’d agree with is that W-L is probably a better school. You moved to the suburbs. That’s what you did. There’s just no comparison.

How do you know what neighborhood I live in? Approx 1/3 of Arlington is zoned for w&L. And I never said I didn’t live in the suburbs. Of course I do. But I can also walk to a farmers market. Two supermarkets plus Trader Joe’s, the metro, and more coffee shops than I can count. Plus my DH and I spend less time commuting and less time driving the kids around because the kid stuff is closer.

I know because I lived in North Arlington for decades and know it like the back of my hand. I know every neighborhood in the W-L zone and every stop along the Metro. There is no neighborhood in the W-L zone that comes close to living in the city. It has a distinctly suburban feeling to it.

Yes, Arlington has pleasant coffee shops and supermarkets. Maybe a couple of decent restaurants. But that's about it.

As happy as you are to be there, I'm just as happy to have left. It's boring. Nice and safe and with good schools? Absolutely. The price you pay for that is boredom.

DP. Yes, good schools and a safe neighborhood are worth it for this season of our lives. Once that’s no longer our priority, we’ll move again.

I can understand that. We don’t regret having lived in Arlington. It was good for the kids. It’s just boring, as I said. Interestingly, none of our kids has any interest in returning there to raise their own kids.

Boring people are bored. I am the PP you were responding to and I don't find that I am bored in Arlington at all. Do I wish it were more charming? Of course. I used to live in Brooklyn Heights - Wilson Blvd is no Montague St that is for sure!!! But I don't find that I am bored - I regularly go to the theater in both DC and Arlington (I have seen shows at Signature that rival anything in NYC), go to concerts (the Anthem is just as easy to get to from Arlington as DC and Wolf Trap is closer). I don't follow up and coming bands as much as I used to, so no matter where I lived I likely would not be seeing bands at DC9. We also eat at a lot of NoVA locations of DC restaurants - for example my kids love to walk to Ballston and get Timber pizza. I am totally fine with them walking home alone at 10pm, which would not be the case with the Petworth location. But will my kids decide to live in Arlington as adults? I doubt it - the world is big, I don't live near where I grew up either but that does not mean it wasn't a good place to grow up. My original point was that if the OP is moving for the schools anyway, she should check out both DC neighborhoods and neighborhoods in the inner suburbs. And then make the best choice for her family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are moving anyway, I would seriously consider Arlington and close-in Moco. We moved from DC to Arlington and love it. Our kids' school is super diverse, with lots of great programs (robotics studio funded by Amazon, great arts program) and our neighborhood is super walkable and our commutes are shorter than they were in DC (but YMMV). Once you are moving to upper Ward 3 (or even Mt Pleasant) I feel like you end up with a lot of the downsides of city living without all the upsides. Plus you get in-state tuition to the VA schools, which is worth a lot more than DC TAG (if that survives Trump).

And what’s the downside of Mt Pleasant compared to the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington? I know both well. The schools in the more diverse neighborhoods of Arlington certainly aren’t any better and the neighborhoods aren’t nearly as pretty or walkable.

I moved from Mt P to Arlington. I think W&L is better than J-R and is pretty diverse (40% white, 35% hispanic and 8% black). I don't worry at all about my kids walking home from the metro alone in Arlington, which I could not say when I lived in Mt P. Arlington also has school buses, which I think is an advantage over DC and vastly improved our quality of life. I did not leave DC because of the crime (I left to get a shorter commute) but have really appreciated the lack of petty crime - my kids don't think twice about leaving their bikes unlocked a couple hours in front of our house, while in DC we had to lock them even when they were in our garage. The retail strips in Arlington tend to be pretty ugly, but some of the residential areas are nice and pretty and everyone is friendly and pretty down to earth - similar to Mt P. And there are a million parks and rec centers, which are generally much nicer than those in DC. Not to mention that Trump is interfering less in Arlington than in DC.

I know your neighborhood well, and the only thing I’d agree with is that W-L is probably a better school. You moved to the suburbs. That’s what you did. There’s just no comparison.

How do you know what neighborhood I live in? Approx 1/3 of Arlington is zoned for w&L. And I never said I didn’t live in the suburbs. Of course I do. But I can also walk to a farmers market. Two supermarkets plus Trader Joe’s, the metro, and more coffee shops than I can count. Plus my DH and I spend less time commuting and less time driving the kids around because the kid stuff is closer.

I know because I lived in North Arlington for decades and know it like the back of my hand. I know every neighborhood in the W-L zone and every stop along the Metro. There is no neighborhood in the W-L zone that comes close to living in the city. It has a distinctly suburban feeling to it.

Yes, Arlington has pleasant coffee shops and supermarkets. Maybe a couple of decent restaurants. But that's about it.

As happy as you are to be there, I'm just as happy to have left. It's boring. Nice and safe and with good schools? Absolutely. The price you pay for that is boredom.

DP. Yes, good schools and a safe neighborhood are worth it for this season of our lives. Once that’s no longer our priority, we’ll move again.

I can understand that. We don’t regret having lived in Arlington. It was good for the kids. It’s just boring, as I said. Interestingly, none of our kids has any interest in returning there to raise their own kids.

Boring people are bored. I am the PP you were responding to and I don't find that I am bored in Arlington at all. Do I wish it were more charming? Of course. I used to live in Brooklyn Heights - Wilson Blvd is no Montague St that is for sure!!! But I don't find that I am bored - I regularly go to the theater in both DC and Arlington (I have seen shows at Signature that rival anything in NYC), go to concerts (the Anthem is just as easy to get to from Arlington as DC and Wolf Trap is closer). I don't follow up and coming bands as much as I used to, so no matter where I lived I likely would not be seeing bands at DC9. We also eat at a lot of NoVA locations of DC restaurants - for example my kids love to walk to Ballston and get Timber pizza. I am totally fine with them walking home alone at 10pm, which would not be the case with the Petworth location. But will my kids decide to live in Arlington as adults? I doubt it - the world is big, I don't live near where I grew up either but that does not mean it wasn't a good place to grow up. My original point was that if the OP is moving for the schools anyway, she should check out both DC neighborhoods and neighborhoods in the inner suburbs. And then make the best choice for her family.

Most of the activities that you describe require leaving Arlington. So you’re not exactly disproving the point.

[Anonymous]

ok: not to pour too much fuel on the fire, but since I haven't consumed every one of the 10 (!) pages of comments, please do forgive me if this ground was covered...I had a slightly different, very familiar/existential version of this question: the elementary school question.

If your kid is in a charter elementary school that's fine for PK - as I know most charters are - but then gets progressively less impressive once you have to start actually learning...and you've come up just short in the lottery for your target schools both PK years...and your zoned school is 100% not an option - what's the play? Is there any realistic (emphasis on that word) hope for OOB lottery placement into a decent DCPS school for K or 1st? Or should we plan to rent our current place out and somehow find a somewhat equivalent rental in upper NW? Is there any ELEMENTARY school in this city that's worth moving for? Or should we just rent our place out and move to MoCo - is a gifted program worth moving for, if you think that might be a factor? If so, when?

Thanks for not flaming me despite my relative ignorance of prior conversation. We're feeling a bit crushed right now - got very close this year, fell just short, agonizingly so - and a bit lost as to our next move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ok: not to pour too much fuel on the fire, but since I haven't consumed every one of the 10 (!) pages of comments, please do forgive me if this ground was covered...I had a slightly different, very familiar/existential version of this question: the elementary school question.

If your kid is in a charter elementary school that's fine for PK - as I know most charters are - but then gets progressively less impressive once you have to start actually learning...and you've come up just short in the lottery for your target schools both PK years...and your zoned school is 100% not an option - what's the play? Is there any realistic (emphasis on that word) hope for OOB lottery placement into a decent DCPS school for K or 1st? Or should we plan to rent our current place out and somehow find a somewhat equivalent rental in upper NW? Is there any ELEMENTARY school in this city that's worth moving for? Or should we just rent our place out and move to MoCo - is a gifted program worth moving for, if you think that might be a factor? If so, when?

Thanks for not flaming me despite my relative ignorance of prior conversation. We're feeling a bit crushed right now - got very close this year, fell just short, agonizingly so - and a bit lost as to our next move.

I think this deserves a different thread. Much different considerations though I would recommend you never lose sight of the MS/HS question. You won’t yet have a good sense of what kind of learner you have (even if you think they are super smart and gifted, you just don’t know how it’s going to play out yet). But ES still is a different question.

[Anonymous]

NP. My kid did a few years at a NWDC elementary, then private for a few years because of COVID, and has now been at Deal for a few years. They are smart, shy and a little nerdy. They like Deal. I like that it (and JR) are walking distance and they walk to school with friends - all the driving was one of my least favorite things about private. I also walk to metro to get to work. Neighbor kids seem to like JR and Walls.

I can’t think of a MD or VA neighborhood where l could have afforded a nice but small SFH walking distance to metro and all levels of well regarded public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have been very pleased with Deal and do not understand why in-bound families pay $50-60k per year for middle school. Our kids have received a great education at Deal. For the most part teachers are great and engaged. Good athletics and plentiful clubs (Model UN, debate, student government, screenwriters club, Anime club, robotics team, etc...). We will save our money by not sending to privates and invest it for our kids. Plan is to send oldest to JR next year. Sure it is a big urban public high school which comes with its own set of problems but the families we know who have sent their kids there liked it. They got a solid education and got into solid colleges. I suppose if your child is not a good student or has a tendency to get in with a bad crowd, JR might not be a good option. But then again private will not magically fix those things for your child either.

Deal refused to engage with us regarding our child's IEP.
The 6th grader AP would not respond to emails unless I cc'd the Principal.
I had meetings set up with the 6th grade AP when I had coordinated with outside service providers to attend the meeting. Confirmed the meeting before and the 6th grade AP would no longer be available when we got to school.
I game playing was exhaustive.

Okay that’s not great but for the majority of kids who don’t have IEPs or 504s, it doesn’t make financial sense to send your child to private school when you live in bounds for Deal/JR. Ironically, these families are likely dems/liberal and are advocates for public school education, only not for their own child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have been very pleased with Deal and do not understand why in-bound families pay $50-60k per year for middle school. Our kids have received a great education at Deal. For the most part teachers are great and engaged. Good athletics and plentiful clubs (Model UN, debate, student government, screenwriters club, Anime club, robotics team, etc...). We will save our money by not sending to privates and invest it for our kids. Plan is to send oldest to JR next year. Sure it is a big urban public high school which comes with its own set of problems but the families we know who have sent their kids there liked it. They got a solid education and got into solid colleges. I suppose if your child is not a good student or has a tendency to get in with a bad crowd, JR might not be a good option. But then again private will not magically fix those things for your child either.

Deal refused to engage with us regarding our child's IEP.
The 6th grader AP would not respond to emails unless I cc'd the Principal.
I had meetings set up with the 6th grade AP when I had coordinated with outside service providers to attend the meeting. Confirmed the meeting before and the 6th grade AP would no longer be available when we got to school.
I game playing was exhaustive.

Okay that’s not great but for the majority of kids who don’t have IEPs or 504s, it doesn’t make financial sense to send your child to private school when you live in bounds for Deal/JR. Ironically, these families are likely dems/liberal and are advocates for public school education, only not for their own child.

If your kid is at the median- good but not incredible grades, nice kid, going to end up at VT but not do engineering or BC, not really a self starter- private school is optimal. Kids like that just disappear in DCPS because teachers don’t have to worry about them.