Advice for a complete novice in the world of DCPS

[Anonymous]

There are probably too many options to try to list everything.

Just one clarification. Some people say "diverse" and mean they want solid representation by many racial groups. That's pretty much just West of Rock Creek Park, generally isn't economically diverse, and it may be hard to find a 2BR townhouse. That said, the schools are pretty easy to get used it.
You can probably find an occasional 2BR townhouse in many areas of the city that have decent elementary schools. Some even are zoned for Deal MS / Wilson HS(Shepherd Park, Mt. Pleasant). Others have more uncertainty, including Capitol Hill, Petworth area, Dupont / Logan circle, even Shaw.

It might be easier for you to find a 2BR place on the market first, then research the schools nearby. It might help to look at the density of 2BR townhouses that sold in the last 5-10 years to see target neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are probably too many options to try to list everything.

Just one clarification. Some people say "diverse" and mean they want solid representation by many racial groups. That's pretty much just West of Rock Creek Park, generally isn't economically diverse, and it may be hard to find a 2BR townhouse. That said, the schools are pretty easy to get used it.
You can probably find an occasional 2BR townhouse in many areas of the city that have decent elementary schools. Some even are zoned for Deal MS / Wilson HS(Shepherd Park, Mt. Pleasant). Others have more uncertainty, including Capitol Hill, Petworth area, Dupont / Logan circle, even Shaw.

It might be easier for you to find a 2BR place on the market first, then research the schools nearby. It might help to look at the density of 2BR townhouses that sold in the last 5-10 years to see target neighborhoods.

OP here. Yeah. I meant a solid representation by many racial groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are probably too many options to try to list everything.

Just one clarification. Some people say "diverse" and mean they want solid representation by many racial groups. That's pretty much just West of Rock Creek Park, generally isn't economically diverse, and it may be hard to find a 2BR townhouse. That said, the schools are pretty easy to get used it.
You can probably find an occasional 2BR townhouse in many areas of the city that have decent elementary schools. Some even are zoned for Deal MS / Wilson HS(Shepherd Park, Mt. Pleasant). Others have more uncertainty, including Capitol Hill, Petworth area, Dupont / Logan circle, even Shaw.

It might be easier for you to find a 2BR place on the market first, then research the schools nearby. It might help to look at the density of 2BR townhouses that sold in the last 5-10 years to see target neighborhoods.

OP here. Yeah. I meant a solid representation by many racial groups.

I think you'll have a really hard time finding anything that meets those criteria in DC.

[Anonymous]

I think you might have an easier time finding something like that in dc than in tp or ss.

Lottery is a crap shoot, yes. In the two years we've been here, (maybe it's just our personal experience), I actually feel like dcps schools are losing ground to the charters. I felt like two years ago I was reading a lot more optimisim about west, powell, bancroft, jo wilson, etc.

[Anonymous]

Even DCPS schools that appear diverse because they have a mix of kids overall often are less diverse grade by grade. They have a bunch of white kids in PK3-K and almost all black or Latino kids in grades 3-5. They may become more diverse over time but it's impossible to know if that time will coincide with when your kid is there.

I think that Mount Pleasant (Bancroft ES) would be a good place to look, as would the Brent, Cleveland, and Maury districts. But you will struggle to afford that on your budget, especially since some townhouses have HOAs.

There may be more places in Silver Spring (keep an eye out for the Rock Creek Forest boundary) that work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you might have an easier time finding something like that in dc than in tp or ss.

Lottery is a crap shoot, yes. In the two years we've been here, (maybe it's just our personal experience), I actually feel like dcps schools are losing ground to the charters. I felt like two years ago I was reading a lot more optimisim about west, powell, bancroft, jo wilson, etc.

I think you're seeing less of that on DCUM, probably because it's getting really hard to get in at PK3, which is what generates the most chatter here.

I've seen a lot more on neighborhood email lists about schools that I never saw chatter about before, like Barnard, Truesdell, and even Brightwood. Schools like Powell, West, and Bancroft (not sure about JO Wilson) are still growing in popularity. It's just more of a neighborhood thing than a DCUM thing.

[Anonymous]

Check out the area just north of 16th St Heights.

Triple check the Middle School you are zoned for - but there are homes up there that are in Deal. You can absolutely buy a small 3 bedroom row house in that area for less than your budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out the area just north of 16th St Heights.

Triple check the Middle School you are zoned for - but there are homes up there that are in Deal. You can absolutely buy a small 3 bedroom row house in that area for less than your budget.

Unless you're talking about Shepherd Park, that's not going to be there for a future PK3 student. Grandfathering is up in 2022.

And if you're talking about Shepherd, I think it's a great option, but not exactly racially diverse, which is something the OP said they're looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check out the area just north of 16th St Heights.

Triple check the Middle School you are zoned for - but there are homes up there that are in Deal. You can absolutely buy a small 3 bedroom row house in that area for less than your budget.

Unless you're talking about Shepherd Park, that's not going to be there for a future PK3 student. Grandfathering is up in 2022.

And if you're talking about Shepherd, I think it's a great option, but not exactly racially diverse, which is something the OP said they're looking for.

Nothing in Shepherd boundary at that prices though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Currently living in PG and want to move closer to the city (were thinking Silver Spring or Takoma). Is it worth considering DC at all? Our max budget would be around 650K and we'd need a 2 BR+ townhome or SFH (can't face moving to a condo). How likely is it that we'd wind up missing out on all the lotteries and stuck in a terrible neighborhood school? If you were making this gamble, what neighborhoods would you consider? DD is still a young toddler so we could move in for PK3. Thanks!

I think that for a 2BR townhouse, $650K should be plenty in many decent parts of the city. The hard part will be finding such a small townhouse - they're pretty rare, but they do exist. Especially in areas east of rock creek park, like Petworth.

I doubt you can get a townhouse for $650k in Petworth, unless it's very bad shape.

OP's real question IMO is, what are the chances of getting into ANY decent charter within the first 1-2 years of applying?

Let's assume OP does good research and is "realistic" with the Lottery. Can she assume an 80% probability of getting into at least ONE decent charter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check out the area just north of 16th St Heights.

Triple check the Middle School you are zoned for - but there are homes up there that are in Deal. You can absolutely buy a small 3 bedroom row house in that area for less than your budget.

Unless you're talking about Shepherd Park, that's not going to be there for a future PK3 student. Grandfathering is up in 2022.

And if you're talking about Shepherd, I think it's a great option, but not exactly racially diverse, which is something the OP said they're looking for.

Shepherd is actually very diverse in the earlier grades, especially PK3/4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Currently living in PG and want to move closer to the city (were thinking Silver Spring or Takoma). Is it worth considering DC at all? Our max budget would be around 650K and we'd need a 2 BR+ townhome or SFH (can't face moving to a condo). How likely is it that we'd wind up missing out on all the lotteries and stuck in a terrible neighborhood school? If you were making this gamble, what neighborhoods would you consider? DD is still a young toddler so we could move in for PK3. Thanks!

I think that for a 2BR townhouse, $650K should be plenty in many decent parts of the city. The hard part will be finding such a small townhouse - they're pretty rare, but they do exist. Especially in areas east of rock creek park, like Petworth.

I doubt you can get a townhouse for $650k in Petworth, unless it's very bad shape.

OP's real question IMO is, what are the chances of getting into ANY decent charter within the first 1-2 years of applying?

Let's assume OP does good research and is "realistic" with the Lottery. Can she assume an 80% probability of getting into at least ONE decent charter?

no - the data is really hard to get a true answer b/c there is sibling preference that distorts the numbers. I know many families that are at a school that they are not happy with. Yes - they landed somewhere - but they would prefer something else. They wind up going private, moving, significantly supplementing outside of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check out the area just north of 16th St Heights.

Triple check the Middle School you are zoned for - but there are homes up there that are in Deal. You can absolutely buy a small 3 bedroom row house in that area for less than your budget.

Unless you're talking about Shepherd Park, that's not going to be there for a future PK3 student. Grandfathering is up in 2022.

And if you're talking about Shepherd, I think it's a great option, but not exactly racially diverse, which is something the OP said they're looking for.

Shepherd is actually very diverse in the earlier grades, especially PK3/4.

So are many other schools, including my kids school. But the OP said she's not looking for that.

[Anonymous]

I think moving to DC is a good idea if you'd like to make your lives easier. You can certainly find a place with a decent elementary school in your price range and figure out MS and HS options as the time approaches (a lot could change by then).

[Anonymous]

PETWORTH, BABY, OH YEAH