Where do families in Petworth send their kids for Elementary School?

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP. WOTP you can live not far from metro and be downtown in less than 15 minutes, that is not a far commute. Even if you drive it is super fast. Many families have one car. It's actually not bad and then the bonus is, you get good schools.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just FYI for those saying "why not just buy in Glover Park" - you haven't bought recently. There are no 3 bedroom condos in Glover Park (or really, EOTP period that doesn't need extensive renovation costing 100k +) that are under 750K, except for a handful that have HOA fees of over $800/month. There are plenty of renovated condos, and a number of rowhomes that don't need more than 30-40K of renovation, in Petworth for under 750K.[/quote]


You can't buy a split/converted to condo bay-front rowhouse in Bloomingdale for less than $575K, and that's for the lower half. The top two floors will easily be $800K.

Nobody buys boutique housing at these prices and expects to also raise children in that space.

WotP might as well be the suburbs. It's boring. It's over. It's too far from downtown. It's Rockthesda. Why pay to live in DC if you can't actually get there without a car?

[/quote]

WotP has many houses that are short walks to metro and/or buses so you don't need a car. The distance to downtown from many parts WotP is also about equidistance from Petworth to downtown. Both are close to Rock Creek park. Both have some fun restaurants and tree lined streets. To me, WotP and Petworth are essentially equivalent with three major differences: 1) Petworth property values are less so it is easier to get more space with a reasonable amount of cash. 2) Petworth is more diverse. 3) you don't have to win a lottery to get into a good school if you live WotP. [/quote]

4) less violent crime WOtP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents love Powell but its really really hard to get into OOB and even IB for pk. Barnard used to be "hot" and its still getting better but parents seem more hype for powell. Bruce Monroe to the south is up and coming but no real critical mass of high SES families yet. I know petworth families at El Haynes, yu Ying, Hearst OOB and Insprired teaching. But all those are a long shot now. most got in several years ago. I sense that most of the parents are committed to their IBs for ps3/pk4 and K but play lottery every year assuming eventually something will work out.

I love how people gauge parent's opinions of what school is "hot" based on the number of corresponding DCUM posts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI for those saying "why not just buy in Glover Park" - you haven't bought recently. There are no 3 bedroom condos in Glover Park (or really, EOTP period that doesn't need extensive renovation costing 100k +) that are under 750K, except for a handful that have HOA fees of over $800/month. There are plenty of renovated condos, and a number of rowhomes that don't need more than 30-40K of renovation, in Petworth for under 750K.

You can't buy a split/converted to condo bay-front rowhouse in Bloomingdale for less than $575K, and that's for the lower half. The top two floors will easily be $800K.

Nobody buys boutique housing at these prices and expects to also raise children in that space.

WotP might as well be the suburbs. It's boring. It's over. It's too far from downtown. It's Rockthesda. Why pay to live in DC if you can't actually get there without a car?

WotP has many houses that are short walks to metro and/or buses so you don't need a car. The distance to downtown from many parts WotP is also about equidistance from Petworth to downtown. Both are close to Rock Creek park. Both have some fun restaurants and tree lined streets. To me, WotP and Petworth are essentially equivalent with three major differences: 1) Petworth property values are less so it is easier to get more space with a reasonable amount of cash. 2) Petworth is more diverse. 3) you don't have to win a lottery to get into a good school if you live WotP.

I live EOTP but would never call them "essentially equivalent." Compare the violent crime rate in the two neighborhoods, and you will have another key difference.

[Anonymous]

Omg people stop posting about WOTP. OP clearly only asked about Petworth why do you think it's ok to offer unsolicited posts?!! Worse than Basis posters!!

[Anonymous]

Hearst is a favorite with many Petworth parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg people stop posting about WOTP. OP clearly only asked about Petworth why do you think it's ok to offer unsolicited posts?!! Worse than Basis posters!!

You its always US vs Them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Recently fully renovated? By that I mean new electrical / plumbing / central AC, not just fresh paint and a crappy addition on the back.

In Petworth, that $$ would get you a top of the line renovation. If you got a fully renovated place, that's a steal, but not common.

Recent renovations and non-"crappy additions" are not always as high on the priority list as superior schools.

Ah, the perpetual DCUM comeback - "You don't love your kid as much as I do" directed at anyone who puts anything - a shorter commute, a larger or newer house, a more walkable neighborhood, a neighborhood with greater SES diversity, anything, over a school with better test scores and fewer disruptive kids.

Honestly I love my kids too much to send them to Janney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents love Powell but its really really hard to get into OOB and even IB for pk. Barnard used to be "hot" and its still getting better but parents seem more hype for powell. Bruce Monroe to the south is up and coming but no real critical mass of high SES families yet. I know petworth families at El Haynes, yu Ying, Hearst OOB and Insprired teaching. But all those are a long shot now. most got in several years ago. I sense that most of the parents are committed to their IBs for ps3/pk4 and K but play lottery every year assuming eventually something will work out.

I love how people gauge parent's opinions of what school is "hot" based on the number of corresponding DCUM posts.

Nope. Just a resident of Columbia Heights and now petworth for 15 years so I have seen a lot families, neighbors and friends go through school drama. El Hanynes was not, then Barnard for DCPS but now there are a lot more options and thats a good thing. All schools should be pushng for improvement if they want to attract students. As many PP have pointed out, Powell is the main DCPS talked about in the 'hood. People are also really excited about CM moving to soldiers home in the communtiy. Its not DCUM, some of us actually live here.

[Anonymous]

I'm a Petworth Mama, and my kids go to Shining Stars, which we chose over options to go to Powell and Bridges (good schools, but we wanted Montessori).

We moved here from Capitol Hill and found Petworth wonderful. We can walk to so much (including the metro), have met other great families, and find that the neighborhood diversity is good for our biracial kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI for those saying "why not just buy in Glover Park" - you haven't bought recently. There are no 3 bedroom condos in Glover Park (or really, EOTP period that doesn't need extensive renovation costing 100k +) that are under 750K, except for a handful that have HOA fees of over $800/month. There are plenty of renovated condos, and a number of rowhomes that don't need more than 30-40K of renovation, in Petworth for under 750K.

You can't buy a split/converted to condo bay-front rowhouse in Bloomingdale for less than $575K, and that's for the lower half. The top two floors will easily be $800K.

Nobody buys boutique housing at these prices and expects to also raise children in that space.

WotP might as well be the suburbs. It's boring. It's over. It's too far from downtown. It's Rockthesda. Why pay to live in DC if you can't actually get there without a car?

Yeah, whatever. I live WOTP and have a 7 minute walk to the red line and 4 stops to downtown. It takes my friends in Petworth/16th Street twice as long to get to work as I do. We can get anywhere without a car. We live within easy walking distance of 2 grocery stores, 2 farmers markets, my bank, a library, a movie theater, a toy store, my dentist, my kids' dentist, my kids' pediatrician, playgrounds, the zoo, Rock Creek Park, and of course, all three of my kids' current and future schools.

What are we missing? Cool restaurants and hipsters. We can live with that. It's a 15-minute Uber ride on the weekends to Coolsville.

You can choose not to live WOTP, but to say it's not convenient/walkable is ridiculous. And no, I don't live in a million dollar house. Many of my friends EOTP paid more for their house than we did.

You make a great point- only issue is- if you want to buy ANYTHING WOTP the park today you have very little choice. Places just don't come up for sale very often- maybe because people like it so much and don't want to leave.

EOTP is the ONLY option for less than $800K- SERIOUSLY!

True. We bought for under $700K a few years ago and will never leave. The area is very walkable just as PP described. I never need to drive except to get to suburban stores (and if I need to go there, it's more convenient than from closer to downtown. Upper NW is the best of both worlds, but places like ours rarely come up anymore.

[Anonymous]

Agent here. I live in Cap Hill so I have no dog in this fight. I do business city wide.

Petworth gets you double square footage and fully renovated condition with yard/parking compared to the cheaper parts of WoTP.

Best value in the city right now is upper and east part of Petworth that is walkable to Fort Totten metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agent here. I live in Cap Hill so I have no dog in this fight. I do business city wide.

Petworth gets you double square footage and fully renovated condition with yard/parking compared to the cheaper parts of WoTP.

Best value in the city right now is upper and east part of Petworth that is walkable to Fort Totten metro.

Thanks for that bit of objectivity. Now can we get back to judging each other for making different life choices?

Or maybe just answer the original question: a combination of neighborhood schools, charters, and private.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Agent here. I live in Cap Hill so I have no dog in this fight. I do business city wide.

Petworth gets you double square footage and fully renovated condition with yard/parking compared to the cheaper parts of WoTP.

Best value in the city right now is upper and east part of Petworth that is walkable to Fort Totten metro.[/quote]

How's the crime there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at buying in Petworth with our young family. This area has now become a highly sought after and fairly expensive area. Townhomes cost from $700K upwards or maybe a little less if they are renovated.

Given the high incomes needed to now live in Petworth, where are these families sending their kids to elementary school?

Looking at the demographics for Powell or Barnard there seems to be a very high number of poorer kids and few Caucasians.

I was just wondering what other families in Petworth have done.

Is private school the only option for a quality education?

OP, I would not buy a house "hoping" you win the lottery, even if some neighbors did just that. It's up to you, but unless you are sure you can pay for private school and do the commute there, I personally would not prioritize a yard and house over certainty to a good school. Your choice though!