Curious why some families did not think of school zones before purchasing home

[Anonymous]

Because as a first time mom I was really clueless about a lot of things. Children were not my priority in life--for a long time we could not get off the fence. When we moved my first kid was 3 and we moved for space, privacy and to a nicer area. I never really gave any specific thought to school districts.

[Anonymous]

So many reasons. As an example, we bought a house that was zoned to one of the best magnets in the county. A couple of years later (before our kids got to high school), it’s been rezoned. We are going private, but for people who can’t, that really sucks.

[Anonymous]

Public schools have very low expectations of students. I sent my child to one through ES and then switched him to private in MS. Best money I ever spent.

[Anonymous]

I had a kid first then really didn't like the snow policies of FCPS. Besides having more common sense snow days, I also liked that FCCPS had IB in all grades. I moved there as a renter before my child entered K and bought a few years later.

Only over the years did I understand the differences. Much smaller class sizes, when we had a major need for accommodations the school & leadership were extremely helpful and at no time did I ever feel like we were a burden (and I'm sure we were). Now my child is heading into high school but already well integrated with activities and sports.

Don't get me wrong, I have my beefs with the school board and some activist members but it's gotten much better post COVID.

All of this to say - I knew I was buying in a good district, but it took me years to fully understand the differences. I didn't know that as a parent of a child not in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you posted this topic already.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1168897.page

People are trying to be polite when they say they are choosing private because they don’t want to insult people (perhaps like yourself) who are choosing public. Since your kids are in preschool, this is the first time many of them are having the public/private conversation and they don’t want to tell you that any public isn’t good enough for their child. Stop being so nosy and putting them on the spot.

This. Or their kid was an accident.

[Anonymous]

A lot of were pretty clueless and bought based on what we'd read online - when I bought my house in 2010, the only school ratings out there was Great Schools. At the time, the school was rated an 8 in Great Schools and by the time my oldest started Kindergarten in 2018, it was rated a 4 andI learned more about things like the state school profiles, test scores, etc. It turned out fine, and the area is super expensive now so we can't really afford to move unless we increase our commutes significantly even thought we'd like to have a bigger house and better schools. Fortunately the middle and HS are good.

[Anonymous]

Ah, I knew I'd read almost this exact post already. OMG, OP, get a life.

[Anonymous]

Worst schools: go

[Anonymous]

Some people are going to do private regardless so they don't care about the schools they're zoned for

Some people thought they'd move before their kids got to K and then for whatever reason they didn't

Some people assumed that all schools in the area are good because that's what people say all the time and then they were not pleased when they discovered their actual options

Maybe the reasons many people send their kids to private (smaller class sizes, more offerings, etc.) was more appealing once they thought about it

There are tons of reasons people might send their kids to private school, and it doesn't like they're upset about sending their kids to private so why are you?

[Anonymous]

We moved from NYC and we chose a home that was close to work. 10 min commute. When my oldest was entering kindergarten, we decided to try to not highly ranked elementary and we had a wonderful experience. The school was not in a good high school pyramid so we ended up moving to McLean.

[Anonymous]

1. We bought in a good school district but didn’t research the specific school pyramid because we had planned on private. And the kids are indeed in private.
2. By the time my youngest is in HS, our house will be zoned to a new school. The plan for the construction of the new school wasn’t even on the radar when we bought over a decade ago.

[Anonymous]

We bought what we could afford. Our oldest is heading to college in the fall and her school experience was great, in an area that most of you would scoff at. No regrets here.

[Anonymous]

Schools can change so quickly. If the principal chances at an elementary, the entire tone/atmosphere and performance of the school can change within a school year, for better or worse. So people can buy a house for a school thinking the school is great, but if there's an administration change it can essentially become a different school.

[Anonymous]

A lot of people think they will move before then, which isn’t always realistic.

[Anonymous]

Yes it’s cheaper to buy a home in a better district plus you get appreciation on the house.