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Great Falls, VA. Looking for opinions and advise
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Anonymous
| PP, many in GF use the publics for elementary and then move for middle and or hs, but I also have many friends who have happily stayed in public school through hs. If your kid is GT, he/she will go to Kilmer, not Cooper (which I think is bigger, though I'm not sure). As for the MD private commutes: We can make it in 30 mins when traffic is good, and that is a shorter length of time than some of my friends' kids spend on public school buses (esp. if they go to GT centers). We live east of GF Village, though--if you are looking at a house out near Springvale or Seneca, that can add 15 to 20 minutes, b/c Georgetown Pike backs up in rush hour. The reality also is that the Beltway is unpredictable, and an accident can double your commute. Also, if your child is in after school sports at school and you are on the Beltway at 5 instead of 3 or 3:30, your commute can be 45 mins. or an hour. Many of us actually value that time with our kids --- bring or stop and get them a drink and a snack and allow them to decompress and talk about the day. For parents who don't want to make the commute, there are lots of carpools, and some schools have buses from GF. I wouldn't let the commute dissuade you from GF if you love it, especially if you think you may use public schools, anyway. On the other hand, we ruled out DC privates because of the commute. It is just that much farther, and we thought it took too big a chunk out of the kids' already busy days and would prevent our family from participating actively in the life of the school, which is important to us. |
Anonymous
|
Why not live in Potomac if you insist on a MD/NW DC private school for your kids?
Same cachet, less hassle. It might work ok if you have a SAHM that could handle the pickups/dropoffs into MD/NW DC, though ... Commuting it won't be so bad, especially if both folks work in Northern VA. |