Is one hour commute ever worth it?

[Anonymous]

I'm a PP who wrote about quality time in the car with our child.

I also commuted quite a ways to high school. My dad drove, and we had some of the best conversations we've ever had in these drives. I had him all to myself, and he was often the first person I saw at the end of the school day when I needed someone to talk with. He's a great dad, but is one of those who still offers to fix things for me (household stuff), but who passes the phone to my mom 4 seconds after I call. Without those drives to and from school, I didn't think we would know as much about each other, and we certainly would not have been as close as we still are. So, I think some of it is what you make of it.

Also, I loved my high school and still count classmates as my closest friends. But, it was very stressful, both academically and socially, and I really liked that I could have my own private life in my far away neighborhood. I enjoyed having two sets of friends, having activities that involved different people, etc. And I think it actually made me more popular at school since there was something somewhat mysterious about me (crazy sounding, I know)

[Anonymous]

FWIW, an hour long public transit commute might be really different from an hour long drive in terms of distance covered, so the far from friends implications change. My MS'er has an hour long commute, for example, but we live 5 miles from the school so we're pretty close in as far as everyone else is concerned.

[Anonymous]

No, its not worth it.

You can make it "worth it" in your mind but I have yet to see any DC private school that is so fantastic that I would waste an hour in traffic for it. There are plenty of other good schools both public and private in the burbs.

As far as it's a great fit, sure whatever. You can make any school a "great fit" in your mind when you visit and are dazzled by the tour and great stuff your hear and want the school to be. The same thing could happen at any given school really as long as you don't set your mind on one school being the best regardless of what else is out there.

Further, for those caught up in college placements, if you look at the DC privates their laundry list of college placements in similar to those for public and private schools in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, its not worth it.

You can make it "worth it" in your mind but I have yet to see any DC private school that is so fantastic that I would waste an hour in traffic for it. There are plenty of other good schools both public and private in the burbs.

As far as it's a great fit, sure whatever. You can make any school a "great fit" in your mind when you visit and are dazzled by the tour and great stuff your hear and want the school to be. The same thing could happen at any given school really as long as you don't set your mind on one school being the best regardless of what else is out there.

Further, for those caught up in college placements, if you look at the DC privates their laundry list of college placements in similar to those for public and private schools in the area.

Completely disagree. DC spent a year at a local public high school. The difference between public and private is night and day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, its not worth it.

You can make it "worth it" in your mind but I have yet to see any DC private school that is so fantastic that I would waste an hour in traffic for it. There are plenty of other good schools both public and private in the burbs.

As far as it's a great fit, sure whatever. You can make any school a "great fit" in your mind when you visit and are dazzled by the tour and great stuff your hear and want the school to be. The same thing could happen at any given school really as long as you don't set your mind on one school being the best regardless of what else is out there.

Further, for those caught up in college placements, if you look at the DC privates their laundry list of college placements in similar to those for public and private schools in the area.

Completely disagree. DC spent a year at a local public high school. The difference between public and private is night and day.

That's one public. I think the point was that there may be other schools (either public, like TJ, or private) closer to where you live that may be a really good fit without the daily 2 hr trip.

[Anonymous]

A PP here. Lots of kids commute more than an hour to TJ, and that's just after they reach their bus stops. Most I've spoken to find it well worth it to commute.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much for all of the thoughtful comments, pro and con.

[Anonymous]

OP, are you by any chance thinking about St. Anselm's? The commute is difficult, but I hear that a lot of parents carpool, so you might want to look into that.

[Anonymous]

Have you looked into if other kids are also commuting from where you live to the school? As far as the social aspect of school, then if there are other kids nearby then that doesn't really factor into it. But I think you really should ask your child what they think about the commute and if they really want to do it just to attend the particular school. But, in all honesty, tons of kids don't live near their private schools. When I was in high school, there were a ton of girls that commuted from Ft. Washington/Indian Head to attend upper NW privates. And they were fine with itl. I'm sure there are just as many now commuting from Bowie into NW DC (just using this as an example).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, its not worth it.

You can make it "worth it" in your mind but I have yet to see any DC private school that is so fantastic that I would waste an hour in traffic for it. There are plenty of other good schools both public and private in the burbs.

As far as it's a great fit, sure whatever. You can make any school a "great fit" in your mind when you visit and are dazzled by the tour and great stuff your hear and want the school to be. The same thing could happen at any given school really as long as you don't set your mind on one school being the best regardless of what else is out there.

Further, for those caught up in college placements, if you look at the DC privates their laundry list of college placements in similar to those for public and private schools in the area.

Completely AGREE!