As in S Arlington/Alexandria? I am looking in those areas too. I don't want to get off track, but we're not sure where in the area my spouse will work and would like, at the very least, somewhere with sidewalks and neighborly streets without huge lots. |
Or I guess really anywhere in DC if its easily accessible to crystal/pentagon city area. I guess I was assuming the yellow line was quickest because of no transfers, but I defer to the board on commute times/ease! |
Do you know what a troll is? I don't think you do - I may have been rude, or even bitchy - but I my question was not trolling or being a troll. Try and learn more about how our interwebz work before you fling insults about. |
Are you new to this city? You don't know where you are going to live, you don't know where you are going to work - you just know you want a school somewhere near a metro. Possible to be yellow, green or blue. Do I have that correct? Have you factored in.....bus lines???? |
Why not just create a new post in the PG forum? You won't find many PG school experts here. |
Because I'm posting in the DC forum about DC schools, and just mentioned the PG thing. I'm open as to where I'll end up at this point. |
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OP - go to myschooldc.org and use the school finder tool.
Plug in some addresses (use the metro stops along the lines you prefer) and it will tell you schools that are nearby. Once you have a potential list come back and ask about those that seem most promising from your initial search. |
Man, this forum is a gem. Yes. I assumed that being in DC would be centrally located in the area, urban, and walkable. Caveats to this were affordability and school quality. Yes I'm new to the area. I guess I shouldn't post on forums to search for information in a certain metro unless I already fully understand that metro... geez |
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There are lots of great charter schools near the Fort Totten metro (DC Bilingual, Bridges, Capital City), but only a small portion of that neighborhood is zoned for a decent DCPS (Barnard) and it is still pretty affordable. Petworth also has some decent schools (Powell, Bruce Monroe for DCPS and CMI, E.L. Haynes for charters), but is not as affordable anymore. The farther south you go along the yellow line, the more expensive it gets.
Taking the yellow line from Tort Totten to Crystal City is a hike though. Would take around 30 minutes by train, I'd estimate. I commuted from Fort Totten to Braddock Road for about a year, but found that combining that commute with school drop-off and pick-up made driving a better choice than metro for me. |
In most places, finding a school for your child that is along a public transportation line would be considered sane. And normal. But here, no. Here, where there is no bus system, terrible public bus options, and where the metro barely runs... here, people will find issue. Because they have issues. So many issues. I never take the metro, because it tends to catch fire, but I would look at Van Ness, as the poster suggested. Or... what is the school in Chinatown? Also Capitol Hill Montessori, it's right by Union Station, so not far off. Although, of course any transfer will suck. |
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OP - what's your budget?
Some of these neighborhoods, like Petworth, are fairly expensive $800K+ for a 3-4BR that's really not downtown. |
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In DC:
Raymond would likely have room for your PK4 student this fall, and it's an easy walk to Georgia Ave metro station. Likewise, Walker-Jones has spots, is close to the Convention Center, and you might be able to find somewhere to live to the east of there. Both schools, however, are not popular on DCUM. Bridges is right at the Ft. Totten metro station. I have friends there who love it, and there was speculation on DCUM that it might be easier to get in this year because the school has just moved to this location. There are new apartments there too (although I'm not sure of the price, but you can probably find something on the "more affordable" side of the DC rental market in that area). Van Ness Elementary is a new school near Navy Yard metro, and it has some boosters on this board for sure! If you move into it's boundary, you will jump to the front of the waitlist for PK4 and could get a spot. The problem is that housing around Navy Yard is generally on the pricier side, although their may be some cheap rentals to be found. Good luck! |
Google maps tends to say to take the metro (even when I tried to prefer bus. Should I bother to look up bus lines and go by that? Or just give up and live in NoVa? |
$800K(or stretching to $900K) would pretty much be my preferred upper price point... but my plan is really to rent for a while (so my ranges will likely have to change accordingly over time). I don't like to buy until I really know I'm going to be in the same location for >5 years. |
| Another suggestion is Friendship Armstrong, at 1st and P NW. It's a doable walk from the Convention Center metro station. They have a Reggio preschool program and last I heard, have a short PK4 waitlist. You would probably want to rent somewhere east of the school (Bloomindale, Eckington, NOMA) area. There are 2-3 bedroom condos and basement apartments in those areas at around $2500/mo. |