Lottery lists: What's best now, or look ahead?

[Anonymous]

1) In bounds for Ross
2) Lottery for BASIS DC

Done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Euclid is SUCH a wild card. I'd LOVE if it worked out, and I know some Garrison families who are planning on it (but their kids are little, we'll see how it pans out).

I just ran this in Google Maps - Eaton (our closest Hardy feeder) is 34 mins by public transit (we don't have a car). And then Hardy would be 48 mins by public transit. Hearst or Shepherd are similar, and Deal would be a smidge closer (42 mins). But either way, that's a LOT of wasted time for years and years just to get a decent middle school.

We'd have better than even odds for BASIS in fifth grade, and with three kids in the lottery, a darn good chance at Inspired Teaching even if we wait until the oldest is going into 5th.

But then, as someone noted above, a year at Thomson and then to John Francis or a year at JOW and then to Stuart-Hobson leaves a lot to be desired. If that happened, would I regret not taking my shot at Hardy/Deal feeders, or locking down ITS early?

I would move all your kids to the best elementary school that's within 2 miles of you, with a middle school that you can live with (you can still lottery for basis and Latin but you'll have a backup).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1) In bounds for Ross
2) Lottery for BASIS DC

Done.

BASIS is not for everyone. The prevailing view on this board seems to be any family that wants challenging education should go to BASIS. WE know many families that were miserable. We also know some who are happy. The amount of homework is incredibly high, and there's a lot of pressure on kids. Some thrive on that; some don't. I think people should consider it but they should be very sure to understand if this is the right school for them, or if they just want a "good" school - because the latter group often have very unhappy kids a few years in and then are scrambling to move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For kids in 3rd grade and below, there will be a new middle school by the time they’re in 6th: Euclid in Shaw (feeders: Garrison, Seaton, and Cleveland). How many would consider it?

The feeders for the MS on Euclid St (it won't be called Euclid) are Garrison, Seaton, Cleveland, Marie Reed, HD Cooke, and Tubman.

Technically DCPS is calling the first 3 "geographic feeders" and the last 3 "programmatic feeders" because the last 3 already have a geographic feeder right to CHEC. But any student who graduates from any of those 6 elementary schools will be entitled to go to the MS on Euclid St. if they want to.

[Anonymous]

You have a 1st grader and no car???? Go nearby!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have a 1st grader and no car???? Go nearby!

OP here. Haha. Yeah, next year we’ll have a 1st grader, a kindergartener and a toddler, and no car. We really love the car free lifestyle and actually find it easy and lovely, plus that money saved lets us spend more elsewhere (we’re in a nanny share rather than day care and have a pretty big mortgage).

One of my fears is that if we have a kid at Hearst or something, we’ll last maybe a year and have to buy a car. Even if we can make the commute work (it is manageable on the bus) their social circle would all of a sudden be WOTP - randomly going to other kids houses become a Thing. I just don’t know if I’m willing to upend our whole lifestyle, which we’re REALLY happy with, for the promise of a good middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have a 1st grader and no car???? Go nearby!

OP here. Haha. Yeah, next year we’ll have a 1st grader, a kindergartener and a toddler, and no car. We really love the car free lifestyle and actually find it easy and lovely, plus that money saved lets us spend more elsewhere (we’re in a nanny share rather than day care and have a pretty big mortgage).

One of my fears is that if we have a kid at Hearst or something, we’ll last maybe a year and have to buy a car. Even if we can make the commute work (it is manageable on the bus) their social circle would all of a sudden be WOTP - randomly going to other kids houses become a Thing. I just don’t know if I’m willing to upend our whole lifestyle, which we’re REALLY happy with, for the promise of a good middle school.

Unless you're taking a hard stance on not letting your kids do sports or other activities, you're probably going to cave on the car in the next year or two anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have a 1st grader and no car???? Go nearby!

OP here. Haha. Yeah, next year we’ll have a 1st grader, a kindergartener and a toddler, and no car. We really love the car free lifestyle and actually find it easy and lovely, plus that money saved lets us spend more elsewhere (we’re in a nanny share rather than day care and have a pretty big mortgage).

One of my fears is that if we have a kid at Hearst or something, we’ll last maybe a year and have to buy a car. Even if we can make the commute work (it is manageable on the bus) their social circle would all of a sudden be WOTP - randomly going to other kids houses become a Thing. I just don’t know if I’m willing to upend our whole lifestyle, which we’re REALLY happy with, for the promise of a good middle school.

Unless you're taking a hard stance on not letting your kids do sports or other activities, you're probably going to cave on the car in the next year or two anyway.

The oldest already does sports (soccer and swimming) and is starting basketball in the spring. Middle child does swimming as well. There's LOTS walkable to us. I know that we'll prob cave due to extracurriculars at some point, but I'm hoping that's more than two years down the line - like if a kid makes travel or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have a 1st grader and no car???? Go nearby!

OP here. Haha. Yeah, next year we’ll have a 1st grader, a kindergartener and a toddler, and no car. We really love the car free lifestyle and actually find it easy and lovely, plus that money saved lets us spend more elsewhere (we’re in a nanny share rather than day care and have a pretty big mortgage).

One of my fears is that if we have a kid at Hearst or something, we’ll last maybe a year and have to buy a car. Even if we can make the commute work (it is manageable on the bus) their social circle would all of a sudden be WOTP - randomly going to other kids houses become a Thing. I just don’t know if I’m willing to upend our whole lifestyle, which we’re REALLY happy with, for the promise of a good middle school.

Unless you're taking a hard stance on not letting your kids do sports or other activities, you're probably going to cave on the car in the next year or two anyway.

I think this is very dependent on where you live in the city and on what level of competition you're looking for.

There are many rec-level sports and activities that are walkable or Metro-accessible.

[Anonymous]

With three kids you’re going to end up buying a car. So go ahead and factor that decision in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1) In bounds for Ross
2) Lottery for BASIS DC

Done.

Yup

[Anonymous]

you wont happily survive a single year with this type of school commute without a car. other posters are also right that your family will most likely as your kids get older eventually at some point in the future want to have a car. it also sounds like you live close enough to wotp to do the commute with a car. so when you are ready to get a car, thats when you should lottery for school commutes that realistically require one

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally would not drive far across town starting in first grade just for feeder rights to Hardy or Deal.

We’ve done this with all three kids, no biggie when it comes to education. Granted it was only a 20 minute drive which was doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally would not drive far across town starting in first grade just for feeder rights to Hardy or Deal.

We’ve done this with all three kids, no biggie when it comes to education. Granted it was only a 20 minute drive which was doable.

yeah, and MANY families do it for private school (proportionally few kids coming from walking distance). I taught at one and kids were commuting for an hour each way, and it was quite rare to be closer than 15 minutes. No doubt it was worth it to the families. This is just a choice families have to make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have a 1st grader and no car???? Go nearby!

OP here. Haha. Yeah, next year we’ll have a 1st grader, a kindergartener and a toddler, and no car. We really love the car free lifestyle and actually find it easy and lovely, plus that money saved lets us spend more elsewhere (we’re in a nanny share rather than day care and have a pretty big mortgage).

One of my fears is that if we have a kid at Hearst or something, we’ll last maybe a year and have to buy a car. Even if we can make the commute work (it is manageable on the bus) their social circle would all of a sudden be WOTP - randomly going to other kids houses become a Thing. I just don’t know if I’m willing to upend our whole lifestyle, which we’re REALLY happy with, for the promise of a good middle school.

It's not just a fear, but an inevitability. Parent teacher conferences, class open houses, school social events, birthday parties, EC activities with friends- it will absolutely shift to center around the school. We have been doing it since K and yeah, some days it's really tough to make the effort and we skip a lot more things than the families who live in the neighborhood, but with my oldest headed to middle school next year, we are even happier with our decision than we were at the time. Zero regrets. That may not be the calculus for your family, though. (And we absolutely could not have made it work without a car, even though we have decent bus options.)