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Moving from Australia to DC ... Guidance please
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Anonymous
We live near the beach. Although we don't rent, average rent is around $450 per week. That would get you a 4 x 2 about one klm from the beach. So 3000 per month does seem high. we don't intend to rent our house here out. Not sure what we are going to do about furniture 
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Anonymous
| Remember that there are school buses for the kids, so try not to stress too much on the school commute. As for standing out with Aussie accents, Americans like them. They won't be a negative! Good luck with your search and your travels! |
Anonymous
| There are several Australian families in Falls Church City schools. It may be out of your price range, but the commute is good and the schools are great. |
Anonymous
Hmm....you forgot one choice. #3 Stay in DC and do public school. OP, you really have to check out the schools yourself. There's too much bias on these forums, and at worst, unsubstantiated rumors fueled by nervous, holier-than-thou parents. |
Anonymous
Because DC being consistently ranked as the worst or among the worst urban school districts really doesn't mean anything, especially when many of the suburban counties (especially Montgomery County) are consistently ranked among the nation's best school districts. Of course, some of the DC schools /are/ decent, but if schools are a major factor, I would much rather live outside DC. |
Anonymous
Come on, you surely can name a general enrollment MS/HS combo DCUMers send their kids to other than Deal/Wilson, right? If you live in DC and go public, there's about 50% of the general enrollment elementaries that are fine, but of the middle and high schools, only Deal and Wilson seem to pass muster. Otherwise you end up having to find a charter to send your kid to, or go private school shopping (and add a good $1000-$2000 a month for that). Much easier to move to some of the other places mentioned and send your child to the neighborhood general enrollment school. |
Anonymous
| I have to second the idea that DC is private option only. If you can get in Ward 3 Deal is a good option. You may also be able to do Latin Charter for the 8th grade. One thing to consider is where you are commuting to - for example if you end up working on Capitol Hill it might be easier to be in Takoma Park in Montgomery or Arlington in Virginia. If you are going to be in Georgetown you might do better to look at Falls Church, Arlington or Bethesda. Traffic choke points of a few blocks can add a lot of time to your commute. |
Anonymous
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I second the suggestion to look at Falls Church City. (For clarification, there is a large part of Northern Virginia with Falls Church mailing addresses, but only a very small part, generally postal code 22046, that's part of the little incorporated town of Falls Church.)
Small school system, follows the IB diploma curriculum, used to having children with international experience/background. It seems to be a favorite of U.S. State Dept. folks doing a home rotation (or evacuating after disaster/unrest abroad). The town is walkable and convenient to two Metro stops. |
Anonymous
| Will you have a car? That will be a major factor in determining practicalities of where you can live and a major budget item if one is not provided through work. In terms of furniture, ikea is here as it is everywhere. You can obviously get stuff on craigslist but it is not so easy when you have just arrived and need to set up your home as quickly as possible. |
Anonymous
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Hi
I'm assuming we will have at least one car. I don't mind public transport to commute to work, but prefer to drive elsewhere. I'm still tring to get used to all the different states, counties etc. I live in Perth, Western Australia, to leave the state would take at least 13 hours of driving, and you would be in the middle of nowhere! I guess that comes with being in the most isolated city in the world. The middle schools in Falls Church seem to have good reviews, I'm guessing public tranport into DC is a bit more difficult. However, my husband would be happy to travel if it means the kids are more settled. I don't mind Ikea furnitre, it just the assembly part, arghh. |
Anonymous
Long & Foster realtors has good website including a map for the listings. The search was for Mclean VA but by checking search using map other properties are included. Other areas nearby are Falls Church [city] and North Arlington. There are no distinct boundaries. http://homes.longandfoster.com/Real-Estate-Search.aspx#minPrice=0&maxPrice=999999999999&OriginalSearchString=MCLEAN%2C%20VA&bedRooms=3&bathrooms=2&propertyMasterTypeID=35&status=0&includeRental=2&yearBuiltMin=0&yearBuiltMax=2011&searchType=single¢erLat=38.895441857911656¢erLong=-77.13844299316408&latLeft=38.927232221027836&lonTop=-77.21792221069335&latRight=38.863102605327235&lonBottom=-77.05827713012695&zoomLevel=13&useMapSearch=1&state=&termID= |
Anonymous
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I third (?) the suggestion of Falls Church City and Arlington schools. Your 8th grader will probably need the most support since that can be a rough age for kids. Swanson Middle School in Arlington is a great school. Falls Church City starts their 8th graders in their small high school (150 per grade) George Mason where they get a lot of attention.
Both of these locations are on the metro line for your husband's commute. |
Anonymous
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We're in North Arlington, and the Aussies seem to find their way to us, too.
There are some neighborhoods on the Orange Line that would put you in Williamsburg and some that would put you in Swanson. And some parts of Clarendon go to Thomas Jefferson MS, which has an IB program, although I don't know if you can start in 8th grade or if you even care. If you can be patient on the furniture issue, sign up for Freecycle and keep an eye out on Craigslist, too. Lots of freebies out there, assuming your aesthetic sensibilities can stand someone else's discards. |
Anonymous
| Our PG county neighborhood school is very diverse and international so I would imagine that schools in more desirable areas would be as well. I wouldn't worry too much about your children standing out. Thy will, but the other kids will think it's cool. |
Anonymous
OP, the DC area is confusing because there are so many different school districts. You have the city of DC, which has its own school district. DC is surrounded by two states, Maryland and Virginia. In both states, there is a State Board of Education which basically sets the curriculum and runs its own yearly tests, usually starting in 3rd grade. The VA yearly tests are called the SOLs (Standards of Learning) and the MD yearly tests are called the MSA (Maryland State Assessments.) There is no standardization between the two states; we don't have a national curriculum. In VA, the tests are in all or most subject areas (language arts, math, science, social studies, technology) whil in MD the tests are just in math and reading. As a result a lot of people have noticed that in MD, very little time is spent teaching children science and social studies. In each state, the actual school districts are run at the county level, as you have learned. The closest counties in MD to DC would be Montgomery County (which has aeras with wealthy people in the west, and areas with some very poor people in the east) and Prince George's County (which is poorer than Montgomery County for the most part). I happen to live in Prince George's County and send my children to public school, and they have been getting a fine education although I do lament the lack of social studies and science instruction! They do try, but it just isn't a focus. However, middle school and high school are a lot more iffy in PG County or downright unacceptable to many people at this time. The huge advantage of PG COunty is that the houses aer affordable, often within walking distance of a metro, and the communities are down to earth and full of unpretentious people (or so we like to think!) In VA there's also Howard County to the north, closer to Baltimore, and Anne arundel county if you want to live that close to Annapolis but both would involve a substantial commute. In VA, the closest school districts would be Alexandria County, Arlington County, Fairfax County, and Falls Church City. Falls Church is probably the wealthiest, followed by Arlington (north is wealthier than south) anf Farifax. I think Alexandria would be the least wealthy. If you can afford to rent in Falls Church, or North Arlington, I think those school districts would be great choices. Many of my friends live in South Arlington, and I think their kids are also getting a great education. You say that you will be given a large living allowance -- will it support renting in those areas? |