Moving to D.C. Looking for good Public Middle and High Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For academics, sports and arts, Whitman is the best public option in the immediate DC area.

No, it isn't.

The best public option is TJ. You MoCo types are such wannabes.

TJ is great, but only its funding is public -- admission is by application, and the school is selective. Also, its focus is sciences rather than arts.

[Anonymous]

OP, let me try to boil it down for you:

Georgetown isn't diverse, but it is walkable. It's also exceedingly expensive. Hardy MS, the local school, has just been renovated, and many people speak very highly of it.

There are a ton of great, diverse, walkable neighborhoods in DC, and many of them feed into good public schools (people have already mentioned Hardy and Deal MSs and Wilson, Banneker, Walls, and Ellington HSs). Consider Woodley Park (Oyster-Adams k-8, Wilson HS), Adams Morgan (same), Mt. Pleasant (not sure about school district), Chevy Chase (less diverse as a neighborhood but feeds Deal and Wilson, which are diverse), AU Park (same as CC).

MoCo and Fairfax offer a number of excellent public schools, although the walkable neighborhood options are fewer; between the two, there are more walkable neighborhoods in MoCo (parts of Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma Park) than in Fairfax (nothing springs to mind). Diversity depends on where you are, same as in the city.

I'd strongly recommend you do some searching on this board for discussions of the public schools in each jurisdiction. While DC does not have, with the possible exceptions of BAnneker and Walls, HSs where the majority of students are high-achieving (unlike Whitman and BCC in MoCo, for example), schools like Wilson do have significant minorities of very high-achieving students and offer strong athletics programs. Beyond that, the issues are really going to come down to your personal preferences and perceptions.

Good luck in your decision.

[Anonymous]

PP here, and just realized -- no one has mentioned Arlington County (VA). Similar to Bethesda in feel, good schools. Diverse in some spots, not at all in others. So if you're looking beyond the city but want to stay close in, Arlington is another good option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
[snip!]

OP thinks that Georgetown is diverse and that s/he can find good public high schools in DC -- OP hasn't a clue and is better served by a reality-check than by the shinola that's covering most of this particular board. For academics, sports and arts, Whitman is the best public option in the immediate DC area. Yeah, it's rich, white, and car-centric. Bummer; compromises are inevitable. If walkable is really key, BCC offers it at a small cost on academics and a larger one on arts. If OP is truly set on DC, fine, but at least that should be an informed decision: the downsides are significant and s/he's not well-served to have them obscured until s/he must endure them personally.

Why are the arts so much better at Whitman than BCC? I've never heard that before. Also, I don't see how the academics are better at Whitman, with BCC having the IB program. Please explain. TIA!

[Anonymous]

OP thinks that Georgetown is diverse and that s/he can find good public high schools in DC -- OP hasn't a clue and is better served by a reality-check than by the shinola that's covering most of this particular board.

I think you might be using "diverse" here to mean exclusively African American and "Spanish-speaking people from Central American and Mexico." Yes? Agreed that G'twn isnt lousy with either. OTOH, I've never met so many people from so many different countries as I did when I lived in G'twn. Of course, I never lived in Wheaton or Queens. But anyway, there IS a decent amt. of country-of-origin diversity in Georgetown. Economic, not so much.

[Anonymous]

15:36 -- they should take your description and post it as a link for everyone who wants a basic description of public school options. Nice summary!

[Anonymous]

OP, you might want to consider Old Town Alexandria-- very walkable, metro-able into DC (or an easy drive), and a very diverse high school (TC Williams) with great honors and music and sports programs. I know less about the Alexandria Middle schools, though.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to DC, OP! Sorry for any un-neighborly posts. Just take it with a (big) grain of salt.

hsembhi wrote:Are there others neighborhoods in Washington D.C. that are safe, diverse, family oriented, walkable, with good schools.

Most definitely! But it depends on your definition of these criteria. Bear in mind that DC is kind of a small town (third of Philly) with big city problems you'd find elsewhere. Crime, poverty, healthcare crisis, inept politicians and the whole lack of full voting rights thing. (I digress.) But we love it here and we're a "diverse" family in both public and private education.

One school that hasn't been mentioned is Capital City public charter which is expanding through high school. It's in possibly the most "diverse" part of DC, Columbia Heights. It's worth a look just to see options.

For a humorous, subjective and some would argue accurate guide to DC neighborhoods, check out this "interactive map" at Washington City Paper.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/neighborhoods/

DH and I have migrated northeast from Banana Republic Republic (Georgetown) to Liquoridoor over 15 years. At one point we considered Granolan Heights but thought it wasn't diverse enough politically.

Welcome again. Nice to have more families in the District.

[Anonymous]

PP, thank you for this article above. V. funny.