new to DC

[Anonymous]

We are looking at a house on Blagden avenue NW. Anyone know anything about the area?
The school listing shows 25 schools, how do I find out which one my son would be going to?

[Anonymous]

http://dcatlas.dcgis.dc.gov/schools/
Above is the link to the DCPS site which will tell you what your neighborhood school is based on the address. However, also be aware that there are lots of options in DC -- charter schools and out-of-boundaries attendance at schools in a different neighborhood. The o-o-b lottery wa during the early winter but there may be some charters still accepting new students.

[Anonymous]

I live in that neighborhood. Depending on where you are, the local schools are West and Powell, I believe. I've heard a few positive things about West, but I don't know anyone who sends their child there, although there are some postings on this website if you want to look. I've never heard anything good about Powell and their test scores are abysmal. I've lived here for over ten years and most of the parents I know send their kids out of boundary (Murch, Eaton, Lafayette, etc.) or to charters (Cap City and Washington Latin are popular), or to private. There's a neighborhood listserve that you can post to as well with inquiries.

[jsteele]

I also live in Crestwood and also operate the website and mailing list mentioned by the PP. You can reach them at www.crestwood-dc.org.

The PP basically said everything. We visited Powell and I was impressed with the school officials I met (though I believe Rhee fired the principle). But, the student body is what it is -- a huge percentage is ESL which doesn't help test scores. There is significant community support, especially from the hispanic community. I believe the borderline to West is Allison Street, but I could be wrong.

I don't know anyone in the neighborhood that sends their kids to either Powell or West. Even the Mayor has chosen private school so far. Schools are one of the most common factors people move out of the neighborhood in fact. However, if you have luck with lotteries, we are convenient to Capital City and E. L. Haynes.

Also, beware that Blagden is basically a race track at various times of the day, converting to a parking lot during morning rush hour.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP above (not JSteele, who does such a great job with our listserve - thanks Jeff!). I just want to add, that although Blagden gets a lot of traffic, Crestwood is an absolutely wonderful neighborhood; friendly, diverse, lots of kids riding their bikes and people walking their dogs. I think it's one of the nicest neighborhoods in DC.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the information. House didn't work out. My husband is basically out in DC and MC today looking for a rental for us.
How difficult is it to get into an out of boundary school in DC?

[Anonymous]

I just wanted to pop in to defend West: my child is still too young for school, but a sizable number of folks in our babysitting co-op send kids to West and really love it.

[Anonymous]

Out of boundary is very difficult. DC now runs a lottery system and the placements for next year are already done (I think early April?) MC has very strong schools so if you are deciding at this late date, it would be much safer to rent there for the time being. You can always learn more about DC schools after moving here before you buy anything. Other suburban school systems are also excellent. While school reform under Rhee may be promising, the system as a whole, and some schools specifically, are long ways from being competitive with the excellent schools outside the DC borders.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Out of boundary is very difficult. DC now runs a lottery system and the placements for next year are already done (I think early April?) MC has very strong schools so if you are deciding at this late date, it would be much safer to rent there for the time being. You can always learn more about DC schools after moving here before you buy anything. Other suburban school systems are also excellent. While school reform under Rhee may be promising, the system as a whole, and some schools specifically, are long ways from being competitive with the excellent schools outside the DC borders.

Good luck.

Actuallly, if you're going to rent, this is the time to rent in-boundaries at the school you like. Then when you buy a house somewhere else your kid can stay in the school out-of-boundaries. (Just be sure that you're planning a convenient carpool route.) This is what happened with our daughter. We liked her school so much that when it came time to buy we bought in DC just to make sure she could stay in that school. I did confirm though before buying that she would be able to stay. If you choose a strategy like this, you may want to rent in-boundaries at a good K-8 school so you can stay put for a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out of boundary is very difficult. DC now runs a lottery system and the placements for next year are already done (I think early April?) MC has very strong schools so if you are deciding at this late date, it would be much safer to rent there for the time being. You can always learn more about DC schools after moving here before you buy anything. Other suburban school systems are also excellent. While school reform under Rhee may be promising, the system as a whole, and some schools specifically, are long ways from being competitive with the excellent schools outside the DC borders.

Good luck.

Actuallly, if you're going to rent, this is the time to rent in-boundaries at the school you like. Then when you buy a house somewhere else your kid can stay in the school out-of-boundaries. (Just be sure that you're planning a convenient carpool route.) This is what happened with our daughter. We liked her school so much that when it came time to buy we bought in DC just to make sure she could stay in that school. I did confirm though before buying that she would be able to stay. If you choose a strategy like this, you may want to rent in-boundaries at a good K-8 school so you can stay put for a long time.

Really? I had assumed that if you move out of the boundary, you need to switch schools the next academic year. Is that not the case? You can re-register your child, even living out of bounds?

[Anonymous]

Yes, the child automatically becomes an admitted out-of-boundary student for future school years. Now, certain issues *could* come up that might cause problems. Least likely, I'm sure, is the remote possibility that the school will exercise its right to dismiss an out-of-boundary student because of behavior or attendance issues. I've only seen this done in a couple of extreme cases. Also, out-of-boundary students coming from "feeder" elementary schools get a strong preference in the out-of-boundary middle school lotteries. I've never seen anyone actually turned away under these circumstances, but it's not supposed to be a sure thing.

[Anonymous]

22:32 again -- Yes, I did worry about whether my child would feed into the middle school and while people were reassuring no one could tell me for sure if she would get in. It turned out that the spaces that were identified as available in the lottery for the middle school were the spaces that were left after accounting for the entire population of all the feeder elementary schools, including the o-o-b kids, so there was plenty of room.

At any rate, the school -- Hardy -- went to an arts magnet program in the sixth grade so you had to apply to get in and the lottery didn't apply for sixth grade -- so my worries about the lottery didn't hold. That's another thing to note -- check out to see if schools have magnet programs within the schools. My daughter's elementary school, Hyde, went to a magnet program in the early grades so you have to apply anyway.

However I will leave you with a caveat -- this was my experience a few years ago. I think more and more middle class people are sending their kids to DCPS for elementary and it may be harder to get into some places o-o-b.