gah - need instruction on how school works in DC!

[Anonymous]

Ah, but they are going up every year in a way that demonstrates patient, consistent work on the part of its principal and staff without crazy shortcuts. I went to visit and was mightily impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just as an option for you to know about - when I moved to DC from MD, I was a single mom and I found a beautiful small but 2 br apt in Woodley Park. We then were in boundary for Oyster and he started there in 1st grade. He has been there ever since and is now in their middle school, Adams...He is completely bilingual now and we couldnt be happier. A few years ago, we actually moved and bought our first home as I became engaged and wanted to start over and have more room to expand our blended family. We live out of boundary now in Bloomingdale but my son is still going to Adams until he hits high school because he is grandfathered in since he was a student there before we moved. So we feel we have the best of both worlds for now. Having said that, we will be looking at charters for our daughter who just turned one. We can try using the fact that she has a sibling who DID go to Oyster but I am not sure that will work....will have to look into it. I am also not sure what the current rule is for how long you need to be a student before you can be grandfathered in but for us, since it goes Pre K to high school and was an excellent school free of cost, it was worth renting for the few years we did. If Oyster interested you as a schooling option, and you didnt mind renting for a year, I might consider checking into it to see what their rules are.
Also, if you are looking at Columbia Heights, you might want to compare it to Bloomingdale if you havent already? I love it here and the two are fairly similar in cost last time I checked - we bought 3 years ago. People dont talk about Bloomingdale quite as much for some reason but they are starting to. We originally looked at LeDroit Park and our house was listed as being in LeDroit but truly it is in Bloomingdale or maybe on the border of the two. There are lots of young families and babies here in renovated rowhouses and many great changes happening in small businesses as well as a fabulous set of new parks and farmers market within walking distance. Sorry to sound like a realtor but we looked where you are looking too and it was confusing for us so I wish you luck!!

LeDroit/Bloomingdale is much closer to downtown, but it's a LOT smaller than Columbia Heights.

[Anonymous]

Bloomingdale seems like a great neighborhood, but what is the in-boundary school option there? Isn't the lovely new park going in on the site of the local elementary school that got closed down & knocked down.

[Anonymous]

A school has been turned into a park, true. I was not here when it was a school honestly so I know little about it but it is smack in the middle of the Howard U so I would rather it be a park where you take your kids and it happens to be right around the corner from us so this is pleasing. It also has an adjacent park for dogs and we have too as well as space to plant and grow your own garden space.
The other park is across from Big Bear and is currently a wreck but it just got funding to be completely re - done. This is on the other side of Rhode Island in Eckington but still only a 5 minute walk for those in Bloomingdale.

The Bloomingdale neighborhood is served by four DCPS elementary schools: Garrison, Seaton, Emery and Shaed Elementary. Most students in the public school system will then go on to attend Shaw Middle School and Dunbar Senior High School. There are several nearby charter school options as well, including Hyde Leadership Academy and Howard University Public Charter Middle School of Math and Science.
The thing about Bloomindale which is nice for us to see is that there is a fast growing amount of babies being born here. We have at least 5 on our block alone under the age of one. I still see the schools in our area as an option for when we are ready because of the possible parental involvement I see around me and also our child is just over 1 so there is time.

It appears that Yu Ying has situated itself closer to Bloomingdale now too so that would be a charter option for those who are interested.

I am interested in any other options people are seeing for this area obviously. We bought here before we were lucky and got pregnant and were pleasantly surprised. We are just starting to think about these things now so most info I have is through websites and word of mouth. And FWIW, we would consider public, charter, private as well as home schooling if that seemed best. Eyes are and minds are pretty wide open for the moment.

[Anonymous]

Shaed is closing down this year. I have heard rumors from Garrison parents that they are considering consolidating Seaton and Garrison. Demographics not just racial have changed in the area so they may find that they have enough small children in the area to support those schools. A lot of Grandma homes are now owned by younger couples of all races. I think the real question is if the new parents in the area decide to commit to the neighborhood schools.

If you want to get a sense of this shift go to story hour on Saturday mornings at the new Waltha T. Daniels library. There are a ton of kids under 3. Plus they have a great set of librarians that work with kids. It is a hidden gem.

[Anonymous]

OP, don't pay anything for DCPS or charter info on deadlines and waitlists. It's all free, publicly available. If you're dying to get into a private school, hire a consultant.

[Anonymous]

FYI-Hyde moved to South Dakota Ave (old Taft school) in Woodridge.

[Anonymous]

Just be careful when you go near the library and ?Cleveland E bwtn 7th and 9. The is a war going on-4 shootings in the last few weeks.

[Anonymous]

PP - You mean Shaw library and Cleveland ES?

Hyde PCS did move to 18th and Otis NE but Emery EC is moving into the former Hyde building ("the Langley bldg") if I recall correctly. Emergy is taking former Shaed students.

[Anonymous]

Just be careful when you go near the library and ?Cleveland E bwtn 7th and 9. The is a war going on-4 shootings in the last few weeks.

What time of day? I am sorry but I think this is a gross exaggeration of the danger in that area. I have always felt safe walking around. Frankly in this city I feel more at danger from how taxi's drive than anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shaed is closing down this year. I have heard rumors from Garrison parents that they are considering consolidating Seaton and Garrison. Demographics not just racial have changed in the area so they may find that they have enough small children in the area to support those schools. A lot of Grandma homes are now owned by younger couples of all races. I think the real question is if the new parents in the area decide to commit to the neighborhood schools.

If you want to get a sense of this shift go to story hour on Saturday mornings at the new Waltha T. Daniels library. There are a ton of kids under 3. Plus they have a great set of librarians that work with kids. It is a hidden gem.

Yes, the library is great, but the neighborhood parents have not committed to Garrison or Seaton yet. Right now scores for Garrison are under 50% proficient in reading/math, and the local parents I know are going out of boundary or private. By the time your DD is 5, it might be different but certainly no guarantees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP - You mean Shaw library and Cleveland ES?

Hyde PCS did move to 18th and Otis NE but Emery EC is moving into the former Hyde building ("the Langley bldg") if I recall correctly. Emergy is taking former Shaed students.

Yes Shaw Library and Cleveland ES.

Yes, Emery is moving the the Langley Bldg next school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just be careful when you go near the library and ?Cleveland E bwtn 7th and 9. The is a war going on-4 shootings in the last few weeks.

What time of day? I am sorry but I think this is a gross exaggeration of the danger in that area. I have always felt safe walking around. Frankly in this city I feel more at danger from how taxi's drive than anything else.

Lets see..the last shooting was during the day, directly across from the Shaw Library. It was on the news and we discussed it on our listserve.

The lastest thing was the arrest that happend during this past Friday morning- ".....suspicious individual in the area of 1900 block of 9th St,
NW....stopped in the area of 7th and R Street, NW. The individual was found to be in possession of a loaded handgun and was placed under arrest." I didn't post the entire MPD report.

That not to mention the other things that has happened in the area in the past year. In my opinion this is not a gross exaggeration of the danger in the area...but we each have our own thoughts and opinions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bloomingdale seems like a great neighborhood, but what is the in-boundary school option there? Isn't the lovely new park going in on the site of the local elementary school that got closed down & knocked down.

The neighborhood is great if you get into a good charter. There are a lot of Bloomingdale families at Yu Ying and 2 Rivers. The local DCPS do not inspire any confidence.

[Anonymous]

I thought Garrision was in Shaw.

I thought Shade and Emery were the neiborhood DCPS for that area.