Commuting from MoCo to NVA (for private school)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HG?

What are the hours of the school? Will she be staying late regularly to do after school sports or activities?

I do the reverse for a hobby--I have to go from the mixing bowl to 270 at 3:30 pm. It sometimes takes 45 minutes to go from 267 to 270, and other times it takes 90 minutes. You have to be willing to accept that you can leave school at 3:30 and maybe not be home for dinner. I have a class that starts in 5:30 in Frederick and about 1/3 of the time I miss it because of traffic, even paying for the express lanes.

Dan, I almost took on a Nova to Moco commute. Glad I didn’t.

[Anonymous]

Did your kid already get in or are you talking about for 11th grade? Or applying via prayer that a decent school will have a slot open?

[Anonymous]

Carpool. We've done for years. Works fine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did your kid already get in or are you talking about for 11th grade? Or applying via prayer that a decent school will have a slot open?

We are talking about next year and they’re rolling admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did your kid already get in or are you talking about for 11th grade? Or applying via prayer that a decent school will have a slot open?

We are talking about next year and they’re rolling admissions

And I probably should have said “independent school” in my title. This is a very alternative progressive school that could really be great for our kid.

[Anonymous]

Is this The New School? If so, keep in mind that it is a very small student body, which will make it harder to arrange a carpool. You should ask how many students live in your area to get a sense of whether a car pool would even be possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this The New School? If so, keep in mind that it is a very small student body, which will make it harder to arrange a carpool. You should ask how many students live in your area to get a sense of whether a car pool would even be possible.

It’s not the new school but yes a TINY school so we are not going to find a large group to carpool with. Possibly one or two families.

[Anonymous]

I drive into Nova (Sterling) from Moco 4-5 days a week around 3:30-4:30pm and I have to tell you, the commute going the other way looks brutal with all of the construction going on right now. It's pretty jammed up until about 7pm. Plus if it's 35 min one way and then you have to drive home to work, that is a lot. Are you talking about Newton School?

[Anonymous]

Could you find a way to work closer to the school? Library, coffee shop, rent a room somewhere, co-shared workspace? Even 2-3 days a week would help, so you’re not doing the back-and-forth twice each day. Also call the school and ask if there are any MD/MoCo families attending, and whether you could speak with one of them if so. If the school can connect you with a current parent on your side of the river, ask them how they’ve managed the commute and if they would make the same choice again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this The New School? If so, keep in mind that it is a very small student body, which will make it harder to arrange a carpool. You should ask how many students live in your area to get a sense of whether a car pool would even be possible.

It’s not the new school but yes a TINY school so we are not going to find a large group to carpool with. Possibly one or two families.

Even though hearing people's experience would be helpful, the most helpful thing to do would be to accurately assess feasibility of a carpool. You should query the school's admissions and enrollment team about either a) current and incoming families within your zip code or nearby zip codes and b) families residing within a zip code that could be a convenient meeting/dropoff location for carpooling. This info could give you a sense of whether constructing a new carpool cohort is feasible, if in fact no existing carpool is an option. Good luck! Hopefully there will be a way to get your daughter the learning experience she needs without driving you nuts.

[Anonymous]

FWIW we did the reverse commute (from NOVA to privates in Maryland) for two years. It was too much. The traffic has gotten horrible

[Anonymous]

If it were me, and I had to do this, I would get a cheap local apartment.

[Anonymous]

We're at a school about 20-30 minutes away and all the people who said "don't worry about the commute! It's a total non issue!" were stay at home moms. And they had kids able and willing to drive it themselves the last 2 years of high school. The distance and time is taxing. That said....a special needs school is probably the only time I think I'd tough it out and do it anyway.

[Anonymous]

crossing the bridge is brutal. imagine all the time you will save for something else more meaningful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this The New School? If so, keep in mind that it is a very small student body, which will make it harder to arrange a carpool. You should ask how many students live in your area to get a sense of whether a car pool would even be possible.

It’s not the new school but yes a TINY school so we are not going to find a large group to carpool with. Possibly one or two families.

You only need 1-2 families to make this work.