Current experiences at Jackson-Reed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

[Anonymous]

My JR freshman having a good experience. He went to a feeder ES but not feeder MS. He mostly hangs with kids from ES he knows, but also has new friends too.
Plus: super diverse, tons of ECs that are easy to get involved in. School feels relaxed, low stress, not tons of yelling (was like this at his MS).
Cons: zero homework (they do it all in class). Not sure how rigorous it is. But DS is definitely learning and seems engaged in his classes (so that’s a pro).

There is NOT “tons of fighting.” I think DS has mentioned maybe only 1? He does not feels unsafe or anything like that. No doubt there’s drugs, vaping, etc but probably that’s everywhere.

He is very happy and has no desire to switch schools or go to private or a smaller school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

By numbers, most of the kids do not walk to JR since the boundary is so big. Almost all that do walk went to Deal and most of the walkers went to Janney (some kids from Hearst and Murch live within walking distance). My kids have gone the walking to Janney/Deal/JR path and almost all of their friends are friends from early elementary. I think the same is true for the Hearst and Murch kids. There is just not that much social development outside of the elementary school friendships. I doubt moving close to JR for high school would let your child break into these cliques.

My kids went to one of the feeders you mention and both had a whole new friend group by the end of middle school. My one kid had a whole new friend group within a month of getting to Deal. Also so many kids from Deal peal off for high school (privates, Walls, Banneker, moving to MD or VA) that friend groups are always shifting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

Agree with this poster that BCC is the closest comparator to JR. If you are looking for something smaller, you might also look at MacArthur, the new DCPS high school down on MacArthur Boulevard. It’s just starting up so I believe most or all activities are walk on.

Also, this poster is not wrong that there are kids at JR who could fit in seamlessly at Whitman. But in my opinion when those kids make up a smaller fraction of the class, it makes for a different school culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

Thanks. I think BCC has a bigger catchment area and a lot more busing. But yes, it’s the closest thing. But then I wonder if I actually want to move to Bethesda just to get $10,000 more a year for college?

Everything I’ve heard about the Ws sounds like a poor fit. I don’t like being in schools where every family believes they have an “advanced learner.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

Agree with this poster that BCC is the closest comparator to JR. If you are looking for something smaller, you might also look at MacArthur, the new DCPS high school down on MacArthur Boulevard. It’s just starting up so I believe most or all activities are walk on.

Also, this poster is not wrong that there are kids at JR who could fit in seamlessly at Whitman. But in my opinion when those kids make up a smaller fraction of the class, it makes for a different school culture.

MacArthur is logistically harder! Fewer rentals and no walkability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

Thanks. I think BCC has a bigger catchment area and a lot more busing. But yes, it’s the closest thing. But then I wonder if I actually want to move to Bethesda just to get $10,000 more a year for college?

Everything I’ve heard about the Ws sounds like a poor fit. I don’t like being in schools where every family believes they have an “advanced learner.”

FWIW the most tiger parents I know have or had kids at JR. The Whitman parents are comparatively chill. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

Thanks. I think BCC has a bigger catchment area and a lot more busing. But yes, it’s the closest thing. But then I wonder if I actually want to move to Bethesda just to get $10,000 more a year for college?

Everything I’ve heard about the Ws sounds like a poor fit. I don’t like being in schools where every family believes they have an “advanced learner.”

FWIW the most tiger parents I know have or had kids at JR. The Whitman parents are comparatively chill. YMMV.

But the question is the overall culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

Thanks. I think BCC has a bigger catchment area and a lot more busing. But yes, it’s the closest thing. But then I wonder if I actually want to move to Bethesda just to get $10,000 more a year for college?

Everything I’ve heard about the Ws sounds like a poor fit. I don’t like being in schools where every family believes they have an “advanced learner.”

FWIW the most tiger parents I know have or had kids at JR. The Whitman parents are comparatively chill. YMMV.

I’m not doubting your experience but it’s probably an outlier. JRHS almost by definition does not have tiger parents- they all went private / moved to MoCo for HS. Whitman OTOH….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

Thanks. I think BCC has a bigger catchment area and a lot more busing. But yes, it’s the closest thing. But then I wonder if I actually want to move to Bethesda just to get $10,000 more a year for college?

Everything I’ve heard about the Ws sounds like a poor fit. I don’t like being in schools where every family believes they have an “advanced learner.”

FWIW the most tiger parents I know have or had kids at JR. The Whitman parents are comparatively chill. YMMV.

I’m not doubting your experience but it’s probably an outlier. JRHS almost by definition does not have tiger parents- they all went private / moved to MoCo for HS. Whitman OTOH….

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

Thanks. I think BCC has a bigger catchment area and a lot more busing. But yes, it’s the closest thing. But then I wonder if I actually want to move to Bethesda just to get $10,000 more a year for college?

Everything I’ve heard about the Ws sounds like a poor fit. I don’t like being in schools where every family believes they have an “advanced learner.”

It's the difference between $50k OOS and $30k in state, so with TAG...correct it costs and additional $10k. However, I believe there are more merit scholarships reserved for in-state applicants, so the actual differential could be much more.

I don't quite get where you plan to live for JR. I don't think Tenley or Friendship Heights or Chevy Chase DC are really any different than Bethesda. It feels like BCC gives you a bit more of the traditional HS experience where kids attend football games as an example. JR basketball games are decently popular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

Thanks. I think BCC has a bigger catchment area and a lot more busing. But yes, it’s the closest thing. But then I wonder if I actually want to move to Bethesda just to get $10,000 more a year for college?

Everything I’ve heard about the Ws sounds like a poor fit. I don’t like being in schools where every family believes they have an “advanced learner.”

FWIW the most tiger parents I know have or had kids at JR. The Whitman parents are comparatively chill. YMMV.

I’m not doubting your experience but it’s probably an outlier. JRHS almost by definition does not have tiger parents- they all went private / moved to MoCo for HS. Whitman OTOH….

All JR parents are tiger parents.

https://jacksonreedhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/TigerHead300.png

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

Thanks. I think BCC has a bigger catchment area and a lot more busing. But yes, it’s the closest thing. But then I wonder if I actually want to move to Bethesda just to get $10,000 more a year for college?

Everything I’ve heard about the Ws sounds like a poor fit. I don’t like being in schools where every family believes they have an “advanced learner.”

It's the difference between $50k OOS and $30k in state, so with TAG...correct it costs and additional $10k. However, I believe there are more merit scholarships reserved for in-state applicants, so the actual differential could be much more.

I don't quite get where you plan to live for JR. I don't think Tenley or Friendship Heights or Chevy Chase DC are really any different than Bethesda. It feels like BCC gives you a bit more of the traditional HS experience where kids attend football games as an example. JR basketball games are decently popular.

probably south of JR on Wisconsin or on CT if I can find a safe building.

I’m scared of Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most of the kids walk to and from school? I’m deciding between MoCo, NOVA and JR to relocate to for HS and for my particular kid, I really value him developing a good friend group. Seems like a mostly walkable school facilitates that better than bussing/driving.

You should care more about in-state college options and costs vs. the things you mention above. DC TAG does not bridge the entire gap between in-state and OOS at all, so if you care about having UMD or UVA/W&M/Virginia Tech et al as in-state options, that should be a larger factor for you.

The areas you would consider "walkable" are fairly expensive for SFHs. I consider say anything within a 1 mile radius (and that could be a stretch) as walkable. There are reasonable apartments and condos, especially in some older buildings on CT Avenue.

My guess is that 50% of the kids that are in-bound for Jackson-Reed in these areas attend, while there is a large %age going to Walls or private schools.

of course you’re not wrong about college but my particular kid needs to get through high school happily in a place that values kids of all types with lower barrier to entry activities. If you can think of a good HS option in NOVA or MoCo I all all ears but they all seem massive (Blair, WL) or bad cultural fits (Ws) or basically indistinguishable/worse academically than JR (Einstein).

BCC in Bethesda is similar to JR in terms of cultural fit and you will find many walkable areas. Not sure what doesn’t work for you for Whitman as I would say the top 20% of JR is a lot like Whitman kids.

I don’t know VA as well other than Langley and McLean HSs are popular options.

Thanks. I think BCC has a bigger catchment area and a lot more busing. But yes, it’s the closest thing. But then I wonder if I actually want to move to Bethesda just to get $10,000 more a year for college?

Everything I’ve heard about the Ws sounds like a poor fit. I don’t like being in schools where every family believes they have an “advanced learner.”

It's the difference between $50k OOS and $30k in state, so with TAG...correct it costs and additional $10k. However, I believe there are more merit scholarships reserved for in-state applicants, so the actual differential could be much more.

I don't quite get where you plan to live for JR. I don't think Tenley or Friendship Heights or Chevy Chase DC are really any different than Bethesda. It feels like BCC gives you a bit more of the traditional HS experience where kids attend football games as an example. JR basketball games are decently popular.

probably south of JR on Wisconsin or on CT if I can find a safe building.

I’m scared of Bethesda.

I personally would move to MCPS.
DCPS is a real hassle to deal with. And you have the advantages of state colleges and universities in MD. It is not just a cost issue. State universities favor instate applicants. Sports are better managed in MCPS vs. DCPS.
Montgomery college is also better than UDC. Check out Wooton, Walter Johnson, BCC, Wheaton high schools and so many more