Benefits of neighborhood school

[Anonymous]

We're still tring to make up our mind between our neighborhood public school and a charter that's some distance away. How beneficial do people find it to have school friends in the neighborhood? Other logisitcal plusses/minuses? Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

The time you save commuting can be used for playing in a park, reading books to your child, getting dinner ready, getting child ready for the next school day. DD's school is 10 min away and any further is really a hassle. DD gets invited to lots of birthday parties and playdates which are all relatively close. I would opt for the neighborhood/closer school if all other things are equal. If the charter is a lot better in your mind, then it's a harder decision. Still, a long commute for your child in your car or on a bus is not the best. As your child grows up, there will be more and more after school events he or she will want to participate in, and during the school day kids have performances, and different events where parents are expected to show up. Convenience and avoiding traffic would be the main reasons to opt for the closer school.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much. I figured it made a difference but wanted to hear from those who are doing it. Anyone out there with kids in school further away who doesn't find it such a burden?

[Anonymous]

We lived in-boundaries near my daughter's elementary school and when it came time to buy a house we couldn't afford the neighborhood and moved across town but we kept her in the same school out-of-boundaries.

I will say that I felt more connected to the other school families when we walked her to school and picked her up after school. The parents would wait outside for the kids and we got to know them better.

On the other hand, given that there were a fair number of out of boundaries families, there was a good contingent carpooling over from our new neighborhood. Fortunately dd became best friends with some kids who lived nearby -- but they still weren't in walking distance.

I think your decision would be influenced a great deal by the difference in the two schools. Is the charter that much better than the neighborhood school? How long has the charter been in operation? How many of the neighborhood families actually attend the neighborhood school?

[Anonymous]

we go to a charter school across town which takes at least 20 mins to get to, and not our neighborhood school one block away......

[Anonymous]

We aren't in DC, but made a choice for the neighborhood school over a parochial one 20 minutes away. Both our choices were good.

No regrets. We have made local friends through the school - people we'd never have met if our children weren't together. We don't spend much time in the car. We live near all sorts of people who can pick up our kid when we need to work late/train breaks. Play dates are easy.

I think it would be most challenging if the charter families mostly came from one or two neighborhoods - for them it would be a neighborhood school of sorts, and you'd have a hard time becoming part of the crowd. The burden would all be yours. If everyone at the charter school was in the same boat, then playdates, friendships, and anything else requiring effort would be more likely to happen.

[Anonymous]

OP. Thanks again everyone. 20:45, that sounds very similar to what our situation would be although the local schoo is further. Do you regret your choice? We're on the outer edge of boundary for our school and seems that the kids within walking distance (there aren't many) all go to private.

[Anonymous]

Our daughter goes to our neighborhood school in Alexandria... two blocks from our house. It's been GREAT and it makes it really hard for me now to imagine moving her to a private school, which originally I thought of doing after K. We walk to school and can use the school playground after hours, and pretty much every time we go by the playground, we see a dozen children she knows well from school and the neighborhood. When we walk or drive in our immediate neighborhood, she knows half the houses: "That's where Taylor lives.... that's Elizabeth's house.... That's Jack's house..." etc. It helps make her feel safe and confident, knowing so many neighbors, and it makes spontaneous playdates a possibility: after school, kids of all ages often just congregate in the elementary school playground, and half the time one or two of them will wind up at our house, or our kids will be invited to another child's house, and the distances are so close that it is not a big deal for a parent or babysitter to walk or drive a child home. I'm very sold on neighborhood schools, as you can see!

[Anonymous]

We live in Arlington and our son is going to one of the county-wide schools (Spanish immersion) rather than the neighborhood school. The opportunity for language immersion trumps the other considerations for us, and we like the fact that the immersion school is diverse (unlike the virtually all-white neighborhood school).

The neighborhood school might seem more attractive if we didn't both work, but since our son will be using the school's after-care in any case, playdates will be more "scheduled" no matter where he goes The immersion school actually has a larger proportion of students using after-care, so our son is more likely to be with friends than would be the case in the neighborhood school.

Finally, for us, we find that Arlington isn't so huge so going to different parts of the county for playdates doesn't deter us.

[Anonymous]

I live in PG County, and my son attends the neighborhood public elementary school.

First a quick note about me and my neighborhood: I'm a caucasian single mother with shared custody. My son's father lives six blocks away from us. The local elementary school is small and terrific. Test scores are not the greatest, but the school serves many English Language Learners, and there is a high rate of kids getting free and reduced lunch. The school is also relatively small, has great teachers, a strong, caring PTO, and a terrific principal.

I busted my butt to stay in the same school boundary as my ex when we separated, and it wasn't easy. This neighborhood is really the only place where we can afford to stay this close to each other and still make the rest of our lives work, and the housing vacancy rate is low. Still, we debated (and debated) sending ds to a private school. I even got financial aid. Aftercare and transportation were the deal-killers. Aftercare was tuition all over again. So with a depressed sigh of resignation, I sent my son to his first day of kindergarten in public school in Prince Georges County.

It turned out to be a wonderful non-decision. First of all, there's a bus that shows up and takes him there. This is so much easier than trucking him all over the place and struggling to get to work on time. I have room to breathe and am a much better parent without the stress. His classroom looks like his neighborhood. Not everyone is the same color. The kids on our street are the ones he goes to school with and rides the bus with, and this is great for developing friendships for him and relationships with our neighbors. The private school where we were considering sending him starts Spanish in kindergarten. Many of the kids at the bus stop and in the school are bilingual, and many of the parents and grandparents at the bus stop are bilingual. We have many opportunities to pick up and practice conversational Spanish, and if we want to learn in a more formal and structured way later, we can. My son is getting the attention he needs at school, and is doing very well, reading and doing math above grade level.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Wanted to add that "charter" does not necessarily equal "great." Some are terrific and some are dismal, just like regular public schools. If it's really something terrific and special, it might be worth the logistical headache. If it isn't, probably not.