Chevy Chase versus Mclean or other areas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up on the mainline and now live in CC with young kids here is my advice:

NW DC is truly the best bet -- on redfin search in "DEAL middle school" -- that catchment is not old money, has casual vibes, and is on the redline so you can easily get to amtrak. DC also has free prek4 and a lot of the daycares are now offering free prek3 on that side of the park -- sooo you will have two years less of childcare payments then you will in MD/VA. All of those public elementary schools are excellent too.

Don't worry about making friends, NW DC is full of families that are 1. are not from here and 2. desperate to say they still "live in the city" and like to go out. Once you have kids you will make a ton of friends just from mom groups/ play dates / etc.

Isn't that by lottery only and mostly not in upper NW?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who is considering both options,I'm leaning towards McLean despite the fact that it will be a longer commute.

Mclean covers a lot of territory. Some is adjacent to North Arlington, some Falls Church, and some Great Falls. Drive to downtown is less time from close in Mclean than close in Bethesda. How do I know? People did test drives on routes and time of day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up on the mainline and now live in CC with young kids here is my advice:

NW DC is truly the best bet -- on redfin search in "DEAL middle school" -- that catchment is not old money, has casual vibes, and is on the redline so you can easily get to amtrak. DC also has free prek4 and a lot of the daycares are now offering free prek3 on that side of the park -- sooo you will have two years less of childcare payments then you will in MD/VA. All of those public elementary schools are excellent too.

Don't worry about making friends, NW DC is full of families that are 1. are not from here and 2. desperate to say they still "live in the city" and like to go out. Once you have kids you will make a ton of friends just from mom groups/ play dates / etc.

Isn't that by lottery only and mostly not in upper NW?

Most schools in upper NW don’t offer preK 3. You can get into preK 4 by lottery if you live in area. Usually.

[Anonymous]

We are transplants in Chevy Chase, MD. My neighbors are all from different places, not established DC families. However, everyone has kids. And you can meet a lot of people that way. But moving into area childless is much more unusual in my neighborhood at least.

[Anonymous]

If you plan to send your kids to private school then Chevy Chase, MD. If you plan to send your kids to public then McLean or Langley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you plan to send your kids to private school then Chevy Chase, MD. If you plan to send your kids to public then McLean or Langley.

The IB program at BCC is pretty darn good. Plus there are other downcounty magnets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you plan to send your kids to private school then Chevy Chase, MD. If you plan to send your kids to public then McLean or Langley.

The IB program at BCC is pretty darn good. Plus there are other downcounty magnets.

Not here to debate the quality of MCPS. If you live in Chevy Chase, MD, most of your neighbors will also be sending their kids to private schools at some point and nearly all of the private schools that most people are interested in are a lot geographically closer and more convenient. If you live in McLean or Langley, while many do still send their kids private, it is just less convenient so most of the neighborhood will be in public with you. In other words, don’t move to Chevy Chase, MD, even a street with lots of kids, if your expectation is that your kids will make a lot of friends in the neighborhood and through that you will develop your sense of community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up on the mainline and now live in CC with young kids here is my advice:

NW DC is truly the best bet -- on redfin search in "DEAL middle school" -- that catchment is not old money, has casual vibes, and is on the redline so you can easily get to amtrak. DC also has free prek4 and a lot of the daycares are now offering free prek3 on that side of the park -- sooo you will have two years less of childcare payments then you will in MD/VA. All of those public elementary schools are excellent too.

Don't worry about making friends, NW DC is full of families that are 1. are not from here and 2. desperate to say they still "live in the city" and like to go out. Once you have kids you will make a ton of friends just from mom groups/ play dates / etc.

Isn't that by lottery only and mostly not in upper NW?

Most schools in upper NW don’t offer preK 3. You can get into preK 4 by lottery if you live in area. Usually.

That's why I can never take seriously those people who claim that living in DC can save on childcare payments. PreK3 is far and inconvenient (which destroys your commute argument), preK4 is by lottery, so how is this cheaper or easier?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up on the mainline and now live in CC with young kids here is my advice:

NW DC is truly the best bet -- on redfin search in "DEAL middle school" -- that catchment is not old money, has casual vibes, and is on the redline so you can easily get to amtrak. DC also has free prek4 and a lot of the daycares are now offering free prek3 on that side of the park -- sooo you will have two years less of childcare payments then you will in MD/VA. All of those public elementary schools are excellent too.

Don't worry about making friends, NW DC is full of families that are 1. are not from here and 2. desperate to say they still "live in the city" and like to go out. Once you have kids you will make a ton of friends just from mom groups/ play dates / etc.

Isn't that by lottery only and mostly not in upper NW?

basically if you are already in a daycare that offers prek-3/4, you more or less have a guaranteed spot. I don't know how they game the system to work like that, but they do. We literally just moved from West End to Tenley/AU - both of our kids are still at a daycare in West End (which offers both - and the older one is in prek-3), but in the daycare we will move them to up in Tenley, basically if they start at the day care by this coming summer, the older one will have a guaranteed prek-4 spot and the younger one will have guaranteed spots once she is old enough.