HELP US DECIDE, home you love or school you would wnat your kids to attend

[Anonymous]

We picked the schools and have no regrets. Our place has other perks--woodsy neighborhood with great neighbors--but lacks curb appeal. We're doing what we can with it (including fixing up the yard) and feel that we've made it our home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I couldn't imagine myself in an ugly 900k home. And by ugly I mean the ones posted in the other thread without master bathrooms or closets or garages.

Which thread is that? I would love to see those pictures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:schools. we moved a bit farther out and spent a little more $ for the schools. yes, what matters is the home environment, but education is a package. generally, you need decent schools in conjunction with active parenting.

The problem with this statement is, that all schools are probably decent. The variable is the student population. If you magically switched the student population of the worst performing middle school with that of the best, do you think their test scores and other performance metrics would stay they same. No.
And it's not just deciding between a "pretty house" and good schools. There are lots of things that go into the perfect house. Square footage, yard space, commute, etc.
For all these people that move far away from your jobs to get your kid in the best school: What do you think really will improve their intellectual development, the school with high test scores or having their parents at home for the extra 2 hours per day that they would have otherwise been commuting?

I say go for the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:schools. we moved a bit farther out and spent a little more $ for the schools. yes, what matters is the home environment, but education is a package. generally, you need decent schools in conjunction with active parenting.

The problem with this statement is, that all schools are probably decent. The variable is the student population. If you magically switched the student population of the worst performing middle school with that of the best, do you think their test scores and other performance metrics would stay they same. No.
And it's not just deciding between a "pretty house" and good schools. There are lots of things that go into the perfect house. Square footage, yard space, commute, etc.
For all these people that move far away from your jobs to get your kid in the best school: What do you think really will improve their intellectual development, the school with high test scores or having their parents at home for the extra 2 hours per day that they would have otherwise been commuting?

I say go for the house.

Why not pick a good school close in?

[Anonymous]

Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:schools. we moved a bit farther out and spent a little more $ for the schools. yes, what matters is the home environment, but education is a package. generally, you need decent schools in conjunction with active parenting.

The problem with this statement is, that all schools are probably decent. The variable is the student population. If you magically switched the student population of the worst performing middle school with that of the best, do you think their test scores and other performance metrics would stay they same. No.
And it's not just deciding between a "pretty house" and good schools. There are lots of things that go into the perfect house. Square footage, yard space, commute, etc.
For all these people that move far away from your jobs to get your kid in the best school: What do you think really will improve their intellectual development, the school with high test scores or having their parents at home for the extra 2 hours per day that they would have otherwise been commuting?

I say go for the house.

Why not pick a good school close in?

I assume money is a limiting factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

Using the population that is attending the school is a terrible way to judge the quality of the education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

Using the population that is attending the school is a terrible way to judge the quality of the education.

Exactly why Great Schools isn't very useful.

[Anonymous]

School. Houses can be improved. We bought a dogshit house for $900K with no master bath. We are now in the process of adding one.

[Anonymous]

We preferred to live in a nice big house in DC. Our children attend private school. I hope one day DCPS gets its act together!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

Using the population that is attending the school is a terrible way to judge the quality of the education.

Exactly why Great Schools isn't very useful.

I find the test scores and breakdowns by demographic very useful. I also find the FARM rate very useful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

Using the population that is attending the school is a terrible way to judge the quality of the education.

Exactly why Great Schools isn't very useful.

I find the test scores and breakdowns by demographic very useful. I also find the FARM rate very useful.

I guess FARM rates are useful if you're trying to avoid poor kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

Using the population that is attending the school is a terrible way to judge the quality of the education.

Exactly why Great Schools isn't very useful.

I find the test scores and breakdowns by demographic very useful. I also find the FARM rate very useful.

I guess FARM rates are useful if you're trying to avoid poor kids.

But isn't that what the whole 'good school' thing is all about?

[Anonymous]

It depends what you mean by school. We bought our house with every intention of going to the local elementary school - before we had kid! However, life happens and we ended up in a different school for a special program. It's still FCPS, but not the school we thought we'd be going to. We did have it narrowed down to certain school districts & pyramids when we bought. But, again right now it looks like my kids won't even be going in my pyramid due to IB issues. (That whole IB vs AP is a whole other drama!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

Using the population that is attending the school is a terrible way to judge the quality of the education.

Exactly why Great Schools isn't very useful.

I find the test scores and breakdowns by demographic very useful. I also find the FARM rate very useful.

I guess FARM rates are useful if you're trying to avoid poor kids.

But isn't that what the whole 'good school' thing is all about?

Apparently it is for some people. I want a high-quality school. Why should I care if the FARMS rate is high?