Win-win solutions for Brent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone quantify the mystical Brent "premium"? I don't see much of a drop off for house listings IB for Maury, Watkins or Tyler. And, IIRC, a CQ house recently listed for nearly $900,000, and that's IB for Amidon.

Not to mention that Maury, Watkins and Tyler are safer bets to gain PS3 seats IB than Brent (granted Watkins EC is at Peabody)

I can't quantify the premium, but it must be there. I say this because we're IB in a small 2-bedroom house, looking for a 3-bedroom also in the Brent District. We've bid on larger houses several times in the last 18 months. Each time, another young family has outbid us for more than we can afford (and we can afford at least 800K). Same thing for two houses we bid on in the Maury District.

We're kicking ourselves for not upgrading before Brent and Maury were hot.

Part of the premium has nothing to do with Brent itself but location. It is much closer to the Capitol and seen as safer.

[Anonymous]

Plus every house is within a few blocks of Capitol South or Eastern Market Metro. Plus quick access to I 395 or I 295 south. It's a very convenient area for everything

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plus every house is within a few blocks of Capitol South or Eastern Market Metro. Plus quick access to I 395 or I 295 south. It's a very convenient area for everything

Fail to see the premium as prices reflect most established areas against emerging areas (particularly to the east)

As someone who lives just south of Lincoln Park in the Historic District, we have even better access to Eastern Market Metro than lots of houses IB for Brent plus easy 11th St. access to freeway + plus easier access to east/NY Ave, etc . . . houses are pricey everywhere on the Hill right now. The police reports look more or less here as those to the west. The closer walking access to Capitol/Mall/SE Waterfront is the only geographic advantage, but I'd concede there's a lot of buzz about Brent as a driver for families interested in IB schools. Eastern half has better access to Fragers (at least will again) and the only full size grocery options on the Hill.

[Anonymous]

Incidentally, I just asked the school how far we've moved up the WL since lottery results were announced - 2 spots. The person helping me said that, by this time last year, half a dozen spots had moved.

It's clear that families with the means are increasingly motivated to buy and stay in-boundary. Will Brent become unbearably crowded if preschool stays, anybody's guess but I'd wager, yes. With two dozen kids remaining on the the PreS3 through the school year, they're probably going to need several K classes for this age cohort without kids getting pushed to a neighboring school by a boundary change.

It will be interesting to see how many kids turn up for K in the fall. I'm told that, last year, it was 9 more than were in PreK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone quantify the mystical Brent "premium"? I don't see much of a drop off for house listings IB for Maury, Watkins or Tyler. And, IIRC, a CQ house recently listed for nearly $900,000, and that's IB for Amidon.

Not to mention that Maury, Watkins and Tyler are safer bets to gain PS3 seats IB than Brent (granted Watkins EC is at Peabody)

I can't quantify the premium, but it must be there. I

Truthiness?

[Anonymous]

To the PPs who don't believe that a Brent District location jacks up a property's value any more than another Hill location, tried to buy an in-boundary house lately?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PPs who don't believe that a Brent District location jacks up a property's value any more than another Hill location, tried to buy an in-boundary house lately?

yeah you can search for homes by school boundary on redfin. have fun!
http://www.redfin.com/homes-for-sale#!market=dc®ion_id=141660®ion_type=7&v=8

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It is premature to start putting too many eggs in the Van Ness basket. The short and long-term academic success of the school will depend on a multitude of factors, including teacher qualifications and experience. the principal, specials and afterschool programming, the funds the PTA is able to raise and contribute, the number of IEP(SN) students, the number of OOB students, etc. Schools like Ludlow-Taylor would seem to be poised to succeed and serve their neighborhood and yet fail to do so year after year. DCPS really has to think outside the box here as the optics are not great in terms of spending millions of dollars to open a school with only a few classrooms initially operational.

Perhaps DCPS is thinking "outside the box" but not in the way you'd expect. Maybe DCPS is helping the charter movement, and is purposely frustrating engaged, gentrifying parents. This way, parents will actually be grateful when they are eventually presented with a different opportunity -- new charter schools to replace the DCPS schools in neighborhoods where both home prices and the numbers of small children are rising rapidly.

DCPS leadership may not know how to improve education for all children, but they sure know that engaged parents are willing to fight to get their kids the best education they can. Could be they are putting obstacles in your path now, so that when you're presented with a charter-only option it will look pretty good compared to the alternative of selling your home and moving to the burbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It is premature to start putting too many eggs in the Van Ness basket. The short and long-term academic success of the school will depend on a multitude of factors, including teacher qualifications and experience. the principal, specials and afterschool programming, the funds the PTA is able to raise and contribute, the number of IEP(SN) students, the number of OOB students, etc. Schools like Ludlow-Taylor would seem to be poised to succeed and serve their neighborhood and yet fail to do so year after year. DCPS really has to think outside the box here as the optics are not great in terms of spending millions of dollars to open a school with only a few classrooms initially operational.

Perhaps DCPS is thinking "outside the box" but not in the way you'd expect. Maybe DCPS is helping the charter movement, and is purposely frustrating engaged, gentrifying parents. This way, parents will actually be grateful when they are eventually presented with a different opportunity -- new charter schools to replace the DCPS schools in neighborhoods where both home prices and the numbers of small children are rising rapidly.

DCPS leadership may not know how to improve education for all children, but they sure know that engaged parents are willing to fight to get their kids the best education they can. Could be they are putting obstacles in your path now, so that when you're presented with a charter-only option it will look pretty good compared to the alternative of selling your home and moving to the burbs.

You are giving DCPS WAY too much credit by stating they are "thinking" The problem is they aren't thinking at all.

[Anonymous]

+1. There is no stategery happening at DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1. There is no stategery happening at DCPS.

I would take it a step higher. The electorate in DC is not rationale. We elect corrupt politicians and we punish leaders if they disrupt the status quo. Voters have the power to change things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1. There is no stategery happening at DCPS.

I would take it a step higher. The electorate in DC is not rationale. We elect corrupt politicians and we punish leaders if they disrupt the status quo. Voters have the power to change things.

kidding right? I'm suppose, though that DCPS people reading here are relieved to hear Hill families think there's no strategy to use parents as pawns to turn your neighborhood schools into charters -- it will make it much easier for them to do it.

at this point, disrupting the status quo would be to be welcoming of neighborhood families. It's not happening at Ludlow-taylor

But if the plan is to get parents so frustrated that they will jump at opportunity to go charter, then the plan is working fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PPs who don't believe that a Brent District location jacks up a property's value any more than another Hill location, tried to buy an in-boundary house lately?

Yes, and the price premium has always been about proximity to Capitol. The difference now is no greater than it was 5-10 years ago when the Brent IB wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole

[Anonymous]

I suspect that there is a lesser disparity today than a decade ago. In other words, prices outside the Brent district have risen at a greater rate than those within the district.

[Anonymous]

how did last Thursday's meeting at Brent go?