Moving to DC for 4th Grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several Kingman park/eotr families who are happy at JO Wilson and Stuart Hobson. Agree that you should lottery for basis and latin for 5th. If the commute is manageable, inspired teaching could be worth adding to the list since you could go through 8th grade. School within school is also a reasonable commute and has no boundaries. And if you get the Dupont job, you could drive to janney, murch, or Eaton and bus or metro to work. The odds of getting in are low and you would need to figure out parking.

If carpooling is something you'd consider, I know there are families who live in-boundary for Miner who go to Inspired.

This answer is different for every family, but commute time to/from school really does add up. Even if you can find a carpool, that is 5+ hours per week your kid will spend in a car, instead of after school activities, time with the family, friends, homework, relaxing, etc. When they get older into high school they can take transit on their own - and are awake more hours/day so I think commute matters a little less. But even then, high schoolers traveling an hour each way to school are missing out on a lot.

If you are actually considering a school, drive it during drop-off/pick-up to get a sense of what it will be like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real question here is what middle school do you want and how will you get it.

What about Ross and Garrison?

I second this. I'd consider John Francis, Ross and Thomson in part for the middle school feed of John Francis (and cause they are good schools on their own merits). Garrison will also feed John Francis for current 4th grade. Both Ross and Thomson are very close to the redline metro, Francis is a bit further but still doable walk.

I will say, having been at Thomson, that some of the highest achieving kids leave after 4th for Basis because it's right in the neighborhood and because the feeder high school option is awful (Cardozo). But the fourth and fifth grade teams are great, so you'd still have good teachers even if not exactly the cohort you were hoping for.

Have you thought about Hardy feeders or a school like Ludlow-Taylor that feeds Stuart Hobson Middle? (good for the Navy Yard job).

Ah! Sorry! L-T is on your list. Read right over it!

Since Stuart Hobson seems like a good MS solution for OP, I'd include all its feeders -- L-T, JO Wilson, and Watkins. Maximize your chances of getting into a feeder. Yes, L-T has the highest test scores of these three schools, but that doesn't mean a high achieving kid won't do well at the other two. We know several families with really high achieving kids in the upper grades at JOW, for instance. Plus they are getting a brand new campus next year, which will be an exciting time to join the school. And easy commute form Kingman Park regardless of where OP winds up working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm interviewing for two jobs in DC, located in Dupont Circle and Navy Yard, after living elsewhere for 8 years. My DC will be in 4th grade next year, and while getting either job is not assured, I want to be thinking ahead with the lottery coming up. I own a house on the eastern edge of Kingman Park, zoned for Miner. And I'm a single parent, so there's no one else to help get DC to and from school each day.

I know DCPS does not offer gifted programming, which DC currently receives, so I'm looking for input on schools to consider that there is a realistic shot of getting a lottery seat with at least some academic peers. I'm not interested in Montessori or immersion. I know Brent is in a swing space that isn't ideal from the Hill, and that they also lose a ton of kids at the upper grades. Maury is basically impossible to get into in any grade. Two Rivers fell off a cliff in the years I've been gone. Are there other schools I should be considering beyond the list below, with an eye towards reducing commute yet still having a sizable enough cohort of high achieving kids?

Ludlow-Taylor
Payne
John Francis (less than ideal if I get the Navy Yard job, but really convenient for Dupont)
Watkins
JO Wilson
Chisholm
Thomson (also less than ideal for a Navy Yard job, okay for Dupont)

The only charter that seemed to fit my criteria was Friendship Chamberlain. The other higher achieving charters are mostly language immersion and/or an inconvenient commute. Am I missing any?

And before anyone asks, no, moving to another part of the Hill, let alone Ward 3, isn't really an option. I'm loathe to give up the sub-3% interest rate, and while I would make a decent amount of money selling, it's not enough to offset how much prices have gone up and the much higher interest rates.

The lack of gifted programming does kind of stink. Do whatever works for 4th and then try for Latin or BASIS or DCI.

Our path was solved by going to BASIS (which has flaws, but at least they are challenged and learn a lot and have lots of gifted peers) and doing CTY in the summers (also popular with BASIS students).

You all go all the way to Baltimore for CTY or is there a local option?

Sleepaway camp starts in 5th, and the Bethesda campus is open as of this summer.

[Anonymous]

I would also seriously consider Payne to Eliot-Hine. It is a realistic lottery option which does not require moving that would for you be an easy commute. Your child could even walk home when needed from middle school.

[Anonymous]

Chisholm is in the process of transitioning to being fully Spanish immersion so I would probably remove that one. You could add School Within School @ Goding. I would also think about adding Van Ness in the Navy Yard somewhere further down below the other schools on your lottery list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real question here is what middle school do you want and how will you get it.

What about Ross and Garrison?

I second this. I'd consider John Francis, Ross and Thomson in part for the middle school feed of John Francis (and cause they are good schools on their own merits). Garrison will also feed John Francis for current 4th grade. Both Ross and Thomson are very close to the redline metro, Francis is a bit further but still doable walk.

I will say, having been at Thomson, that some of the highest achieving kids leave after 4th for Basis because it's right in the neighborhood and because the feeder high school option is awful (Cardozo). But the fourth and fifth grade teams are great, so you'd still have good teachers even if not exactly the cohort you were hoping for.

Have you thought about Hardy feeders or a school like Ludlow-Taylor that feeds Stuart Hobson Middle? (good for the Navy Yard job).

Ah! Sorry! L-T is on your list. Read right over it!

Since Stuart Hobson seems like a good MS solution for OP, I'd include all its feeders -- L-T, JO Wilson, and Watkins. Maximize your chances of getting into a feeder. Yes, L-T has the highest test scores of these three schools, but that doesn't mean a high achieving kid won't do well at the other two. We know several families with really high achieving kids in the upper grades at JOW, for instance. Plus they are getting a brand new campus next year, which will be an exciting time to join the school. And easy commute form Kingman Park regardless of where OP winds up working.

I would also prioritize the Stuart Hobson feeders for a solid, convenient MS plan (then you can try for BASIS/Latin). L-T has lots of kids of the Miner zone, so your daughter can probably find a friend to commute with (to L-T and later SH, if that's where you end up) by 5th grade. L-T is the best of the 3 academically (and it's current 3rd grade is particularly solid), but I'd visit the other two and see for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Stuart Hobson feeders are your answer geographically. Better to have more options for neighborhood friends. Otherwise new friends will lottery into other schools for 5th, they will move at 6th, or you will lottery for yet another school in 5th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would also seriously consider Payne to Eliot-Hine. It is a realistic lottery option which does not require moving that would for you be an easy commute. Your child could even walk home when needed from middle school.

I would definitely include Payne on OP's lottery list, but since OP is currently IB for Eliot-Hine, no need to worry about at having access -- her kid can attend E-H no matter where they attend 4th/5th, even if OP doesn't get a spot at Payne. But Payne is a great school! I hear it's increasingly hard to lottery into, but not sure if that applies to 4th grade. I know other folks IB for Miner who have been shut out for K-2nd, which would not have been the case a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the suggestions and confirming I'm basically on the right path. L-T feels like the top choice, followed by the other S-H feeders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would consider Arlington and solid elementary/middle/ and high school path. It is easy commute to where you will be.

You have to think about middle school and chances are slim to none for the charters.

I'm not moving to Arlington, full stop. We're returning to DC if either of these jobs come through and sticking with the Kingman Park house. I'm aware of the challenges with many DC middle and high schools.

Wow. I’m a Hill mom, in bounds for Stuart Hobson and my kid goes to Basis and I would suggest that you move to the burbs. Which is what you don’t want to do so I got nothing else for you. I walk past Stuart Hobson all the time walking my dog and I’m glad my kids don’t go there, though there are some great kids there and the principal seems really really engaged and hardworking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm interviewing for two jobs in DC, located in Dupont Circle and Navy Yard, after living elsewhere for 8 years. My DC will be in 4th grade next year, and while getting either job is not assured, I want to be thinking ahead with the lottery coming up. I own a house on the eastern edge of Kingman Park, zoned for Miner. And I'm a single parent, so there's no one else to help get DC to and from school each day.

I know DCPS does not offer gifted programming, which DC currently receives, so I'm looking for input on schools to consider that there is a realistic shot of getting a lottery seat with at least some academic peers. I'm not interested in Montessori or immersion. I know Brent is in a swing space that isn't ideal from the Hill, and that they also lose a ton of kids at the upper grades. Maury is basically impossible to get into in any grade. Two Rivers fell off a cliff in the years I've been gone. Are there other schools I should be considering beyond the list below, with an eye towards reducing commute yet still having a sizable enough cohort of high achieving kids?

Ludlow-Taylor
Payne
John Francis (less than ideal if I get the Navy Yard job, but really convenient for Dupont)
Watkins
JO Wilson
Chisholm
Thomson (also less than ideal for a Navy Yard job, okay for Dupont)

The only charter that seemed to fit my criteria was Friendship Chamberlain. The other higher achieving charters are mostly language immersion and/or an inconvenient commute. Am I missing any?

And before anyone asks, no, moving to another part of the Hill, let alone Ward 3, isn't really an option. I'm loathe to give up the sub-3% interest rate, and while I would make a decent amount of money selling, it's not enough to offset how much prices have gone up and the much higher interest rates.

The lack of gifted programming does kind of stink. Do whatever works for 4th and then try for Latin or BASIS or DCI.

Our path was solved by going to BASIS (which has flaws, but at least they are challenged and learn a lot and have lots of gifted peers) and doing CTY in the summers (also popular with BASIS students).

You all go all the way to Baltimore for CTY or is there a local option?

Sleepaway camp starts in 5th, and the Bethesda campus is open as of this summer.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

BASIS DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would consider Arlington and solid elementary/middle/ and high school path. It is easy commute to where you will be.

You have to think about middle school and chances are slim to none for the charters.

I'm not moving to Arlington, full stop. We're returning to DC if either of these jobs come through and sticking with the Kingman Park house. I'm aware of the challenges with many DC middle and high schools.

Wow. I’m a Hill mom, in bounds for Stuart Hobson and my kid goes to Basis and I would suggest that you move to the burbs. Which is what you don’t want to do so I got nothing else for you. I walk past Stuart Hobson all the time walking my dog and I’m glad my kids don’t go there, though there are some great kids there and the principal seems really really engaged and hardworking.

Your reaction to someone saying moving isn’t feasible for the family financially is “wow,” because you view the outside of a school their kids might possibly attend and are glad yours doesn’t go there? You sound like real gem.

Why do these posters always have kids at BASIS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would consider Arlington and solid elementary/middle/ and high school path. It is easy commute to where you will be.

You have to think about middle school and chances are slim to none for the charters.

I'm not moving to Arlington, full stop. We're returning to DC if either of these jobs come through and sticking with the Kingman Park house. I'm aware of the challenges with many DC middle and high schools.

Wow. I’m a Hill mom, in bounds for Stuart Hobson and my kid goes to Basis and I would suggest that you move to the burbs. Which is what you don’t want to do so I got nothing else for you. I walk past Stuart Hobson all the time walking my dog and I’m glad my kids don’t go there, though there are some great kids there and the principal seems really really engaged and hardworking.

Your reaction to someone saying moving isn’t feasible for the family financially is “wow,” because you view the outside of a school their kids might possibly attend and are glad yours doesn’t go there? You sound like real gem.

Why do these posters always have kids at BASIS?

+1
At this point I am not surprised people in our neighborhood think like this. I just have to hope that people who come on here to actually get input about school decisions aren't so shallow to drive by a school and make such thinly veiled assumptions about a student body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would also seriously consider Payne to Eliot-Hine. It is a realistic lottery option which does not require moving that would for you be an easy commute. Your child could even walk home when needed from middle school.

I wouldn't. Eliot-Hine promises families of high-performing students plenty of appropriate challenge but doesn't deliver. The reality is that you wind up half homeschooling your kid for MS if your kid is advanced, particularly for humanities subjects. Realistic lottery options and easy commutes are great, but EH isn't, particularly if your kid isn't a self-starter. We have close friends who are considering leaving EH afer 6th grade and 7th grade. Their high achieving students haven't been challenged at EH, other than for math. Same story with SH.