Somerset ES - Chevy Chase; honest feedback please

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somerset has a foundation so there are lots of extras for the kids: free tutoring, professional play production, wonderful summer camp, etc.
Diverse student body (international, not domestic).

This! A million times. A diverse student body (International, not domestic) basically means that you will see children of Oxford educated Africans instead of poor African-Americans, the kids of the Cuban engineer and painter instead of ESOL needing illegal hispanics. Everyone is rich and educated and everyone was rich and educated from whatever country they came from. The billionaire in Dubai understands the billionaire in Mar-e-lago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, 6 years will go by in the blink of an eye. Why would you buy a house when your kid is starting K if you would have to move by middle school? (I'm not of the opinion that you have to move if you choose Mann, but if that's your going in position, you should either find room in your budget for private or move to whatever district enables you to avoid having to move simply for better schools.)

It's also strikes me as pretty silly to pick a house based on whether the school has a teacher's aide for elementary levels.

it sounds like OP is looking to rent not buy in the boundaries of one of the schools. For a renter, it's not that hard to move whenever you want.

[Anonymous]

OP here- thanks everyone.
I am a single Mom with a stable job downtown, but I am not a high earner. So, I am not buying a house. I am looking for a nice, safe condo building with good amenities. And yes, the ES can be the deciding factor, since I do not have the budget for private. If I cannot buy, then I will rent. I am international myself, my kid is bi-lingual, and I work in international development, so having a lot of internationals is a definite plus.

Somerset looks lovely, though I have not gone on a tour inside yet, I will schedule one soon.
I heard good things about it, but also not so good things. Therefore I am asking for your feedback. I can stay in our current neighborhood and then kid starts K at H. Mann, which has two adults in each class. And yes, that makes a huge difference in my view. Having and additional adult for 20-22 kids! And Mann is an excellent school. I would like to hear form parents whose kids go or have gone to Somerset, if having just one teacher was an issue or not. Also, would love feedback about the aftercare programs. Are they good, and does everyone get in or not. At Mann I was told everyone gets in.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

My child is at Somerset. in my opinion you should stay where you are. It doesn't sound like you have a reason to move. We love Somerset but it only has 1 teacher in k. Each teacher is able to handle it, but obviously 2 would be preferable. I don't really understand why you are considering this move if you are already happy with your IB school.

[Anonymous]

I live in the Somerset area and I like the school a lot, but if I already lived in the Mann area like you I would stay there for elementary because of the smaller class sizes and presence of a classroom aide. You can move for middle school.

[Anonymous]

OP - thanks everyone for your feedback. The reason I was considering this is the following: we live in a rental in NW DC which belongs to another ES and my kids attends PK-4 there. It's a fine school, but I made my mind that I want him to either attend Mann or Somerset. So, according to this decision I could either buy or rent a condo close and zoned to either Mann, or Somerset. It would be cheaper to buy or rent closer to Somerset, and I would be able to get a bigger place for my budget. But it would be more convenient to stay in the Mann area, since we currently live in that neighborhood already (unfortunately our current building is zoned to another school, not Mann), but I can get less square footage for my money here, i.e. I could rent or buy a bigger place in the are zoned to Somerset. So, that is why I was considering moving to the Somerset area. Either way we will move in the coming months, the question is, should we stay in our current neighborhood into another building zoned to Mann, or make the move to one of the buildings zoned to Somerset. Thank you all!

[Anonymous]

Both seem like good options OP. Go with your gut on this one. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I'm a Somerset parent. So far, we've had a great experience with the school. PPs are right that there are a lot of international families; there's even a PTA subcommittee for new and international families that organizes events several times per year (ice skating, etc.) and there's an international night that the school hosts where different cultures show/display/discuss their culture. Families have also come in during the school year to talk to the kids about their culture -- I know DS learned about Chinese New Year last year and Diwali. A lot of the international families seem to live in the condos and apartment buildings that are zoned for Somerset. (We're not international, fwiw.)

The class sizes aren't ideal, honestly. The teachers we've had so far have been amazing at handling them, although I don't know how they do it. Unfortunately, it's totally hit or miss what you'll end up with in your specific year -- it just depends on how many kids enroll that year and if you end up with bigger or smaller class sizes. There are smaller classes for reading; I think my DS has about 26 kids in his class (which is big), but they add an extra classroom for reading, so there are about 20 kids in his reading class.

I think other posters are right that both schools are great, and you should go with your gut. You may also want to talk to your child's day care or preschool teachers. They might have a better sense of whether your child will do fine in a bigger class or if he or she would specifically benefit from having lower ratios.

[Anonymous]

OP here again - thank you everyone, so much! I stopped by Somerset this morning and talked to the administrators. I was surprised to find out that the school does not teach languages at all.

I was also told that a new Middle School is being built at this time? Do you guys know anything about that?

[Anonymous]

Yes, but Somerset will be going to Westland, not the new middle school.

[Anonymous]

OP - do you know where the new middle school will be and which schools will feed into it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again - thank you everyone, so much! I stopped by Somerset this morning and talked to the administrators. I was surprised to find out that the school does not teach languages at all.

I was also told that a new Middle School is being built at this time? Do you guys know anything about that?

Do a search for BCC middle school 2. There have been many threads on this. As mentioned above, Somerset will continue to feed to Westland.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/210/598118.page

[Anonymous]

OP - thank you PP!

[Anonymous]

I would do Mann over Somerset (Somerset parent who used to live in DC) if you are renting. ALTHOUGH please know that it will be hard for your child to make new friends if/when you move.

[Anonymous]

OP- thanks PP. I think we will stay with Mann till Middle and then move. Do you think it will be difficult for my child to make new friends in Middle School?