“Fleeing” to the burbs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't flee. There is no need to flee. If you want to stay in DC, then stay in DC and figure it out like lots of other people do. Or, move to Montgomery County (or wherever) because you want to do that. And if you do move to Montgomery County, you do not have to move to Bethesda or Potomac.

Agree. I’ve never understood this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Then again, right now, parents at our title I school are interesting, mission-focused people who work in non profits and in government, and I like the idea of being in a community with those sorts of values. Then this forum makes me think that the kinds of amazing opportunities my kids would love is all in the burbs and not in dc—but maybe it’s just a grass is always greener situation. Any thoughts on how people are working through this kind of decision?

IMHO you will find your people in Takoma Park, or possibly even better, the East Silver Spring Elementary catchment because it feeds into TPMS (with its middle school magnet set-aside) and Blair, but without the TKPK property taxes!

Happy to see this. We bought in the ESS zone last year, but our kids haven’t started school yet. So far we’re very happy with the neighborhood and community.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. DCPS teacher and MCPS parent here. There are many things that can go either right or wrong in both DCPS and MCPS. That said, having moved from DC to MoCo, it definitely seems like a higher percentage of kids have a higher chance to be better served in MCPS. There are more options, more support, more activities...

Sadly, I think you can boil it down to this...
In either place, it's possible to have a truly incredible student experience. That experience is hard to come by and would look fairly similar in both places.
In either place, it's possible to have a truly horrible student experience. That experience is not too common in either place, but it's more likely in DC and looks worse in DC.
The average experience is better in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't flee. There is no need to flee. If you want to stay in DC, then stay in DC and figure it out like lots of other people do. Or, move to Montgomery County (or wherever) because you want to do that. And if you do move to Montgomery County, you do not have to move to Bethesda or Potomac.

What you are missing here is that there are very few reasonable middle school or high school options that are acceptable if you live in NE DC. So for many there, moving out of the city IS the only viable option to “figuring it out”. Where we lived our in bound high school was Dunbar. Beautiful building but serious problems for most of the kids who attend, very high truancy, teenage pregnancy, extremely low test scores. It was not an option I was comfortable with for good reason. There are also few charter options and they are all lottery. OP is asking the right questions to “figure it out”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't flee. There is no need to flee. If you want to stay in DC, then stay in DC and figure it out like lots of other people do. Or, move to Montgomery County (or wherever) because you want to do that. And if you do move to Montgomery County, you do not have to move to Bethesda or Potomac.

What you are missing here is that there are very few reasonable middle school or high school options that are acceptable if you live in NE DC. So for many there, moving out of the city IS the only viable option to “figuring it out”. Where we lived our in bound high school was Dunbar. Beautiful building but serious problems for most of the kids who attend, very high truancy, teenage pregnancy, extremely low test scores. It was not an option I was comfortable with for good reason. There are also few charter options and they are all lottery. OP is asking the right questions to “figure it out”.

DP

I hear these things about DCPS and I wonder if the charter system plays a role in this? It seems like there is just so much segregation in DCPS. I don't think there are any high schools in MCPS where 100% of students qualify for FARMS. Elementary schools yes.

[Anonymous]

We lived in Bloomingdale for about 5 years before moving to Moco. The move was partially for schools, but partially because we needed more house and a yard. At the time of the move we had a 3 year old, but wanted more kids. Also, our neighborhood was getting way to dangerous for my comfort. Sold our condo in DC for the same price that we paid for a 5 BR house in Rockville. I am a teacher in Rockville and my spouse was transitioning to working from home, so this move made sense for us.

If you *want* to move to the suburbs, but you want some of the same perks of being in DC, move somewhere like Aspen Hill or Silver Spring. My oldest is in the Center for Enriched Studies (4th grade) and I teach at a high school with a magnet. Honestly, I don't want him to do a magnet in middle and high school. I'd rather him go into Wood Middle School, his home school, which is getting an IB program next year, and then go onto Rockville High School, which has a non-magnet IB program (with a track that other schools don't have - the career program for 11th and 12th graders). Wood and RHS are diverse in the true sense of the word, but also are small enough that the kids all know each other.

If you like DC and you can afford it, by all means stay. But this was my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people who flee from DC to MCPS for the reasons you mentioned relocated in Bethesda/Potomac area so their kids can go to one of the W schools.

Outside of that, you don't want to look at MCPS, if that's your MO. You would be better off in NoVa, with Fairfax County or Loudoun County.

Some people are starting to flee MCPS for Frederick County Public Schools for the reasons you're stating, but that might be farther out than you'd like to go.

Agree with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't flee. There is no need to flee. If you want to stay in DC, then stay in DC and figure it out like lots of other people do. Or, move to Montgomery County (or wherever) because you want to do that. And if you do move to Montgomery County, you do not have to move to Bethesda or Potomac.

What you are missing here is that there are very few reasonable middle school or high school options that are acceptable if you live in NE DC. So for many there, moving out of the city IS the only viable option to “figuring it out”. Where we lived our in bound high school was Dunbar. Beautiful building but serious problems for most of the kids who attend, very high truancy, teenage pregnancy, extremely low test scores. It was not an option I was comfortable with for good reason. There are also few charter options and they are all lottery. OP is asking the right questions to “figure it out”.

True but we know lots of people who did Walls or Latin or Basis instead of schools like Dunbar. And it certainly doesn’t mean you need to move when your kids are little—DCPS has very strong ECE programs and many schools are strong into the ES years. -DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am OP! I have little kids but when we outgrow our teensy house, I don’t know where to begin figuring it out. I appreciate the don’t flee responses! I’d truly rather not. I just see so much saying that dc standards are horribly low and burbs are so much more rigorous, and I truly have zero clue how to assess those claims. The negativity about every option on here gets in my head! I just want my kids to have an outlet to be happy and passionate about learning and not incredibly bored. And the idea of denying them cool opportunity like robot space club or whatever because I prefer to live in a city makes me feel like a jerk.

Then again, right now, parents at our title I school are interesting, mission-focused people who work in non profits and in government, and I like the idea of being in a community with those sorts of values. Then this forum makes me think that the kinds of amazing opportunities my kids would love is all in the burbs and not in dc—but maybe it’s just a grass is always greener situation. Any thoughts on how people are working through this kind of decision?

There are plenty of feds etc in Bethesda. It will be less socioeconomically and racially diverse for sure. But there will be plenty of ppl in "mission-driven" type jobs.

We are a dual fed family.

Thank you! Are there certain pyramids in Bethesda where this is more true?

IME the dual feds in Bethesda all bought 10+ years ago, so there are plenty of them but they don’t have young kids anymore.

The dual feds with young families are more likely to buy in Silver Spring.

I agree with this. Down county Silver Spring and Kensington seem to be where it’s at for millennials with young kids who aren’t making Biglaw money.

We are dual fed in WJ cluster in Bethesda Zip code. You do have to compromise on something to make it work unless there's family money to support your housing choice: Smaller/older house/Townhouse/condo, but it can be done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't flee. There is no need to flee. If you want to stay in DC, then stay in DC and figure it out like lots of other people do. Or, move to Montgomery County (or wherever) because you want to do that. And if you do move to Montgomery County, you do not have to move to Bethesda or Potomac.

What you are missing here is that there are very few reasonable middle school or high school options that are acceptable if you live in NE DC. So for many there, moving out of the city IS the only viable option to “figuring it out”. Where we lived our in bound high school was Dunbar. Beautiful building but serious problems for most of the kids who attend, very high truancy, teenage pregnancy, extremely low test scores. It was not an option I was comfortable with for good reason. There are also few charter options and they are all lottery. OP is asking the right questions to “figure it out”.

DP

I hear these things about DCPS and I wonder if the charter system plays a role in this? It seems like there is just so much segregation in DCPS. I don't think there are any high schools in MCPS where 100% of students qualify for FARMS. Elementary schools yes.

Kennedy's 67% FARMS rate is the highest for high schools. And there are several elementary schools with rates in the mid-80s, but not 100%.

[Anonymous]

Re FARMS in DC, I think if it’s above a certain number, it’s marked as 100 and everyone gets free lunch. But it doesn’t mean that 100% of kids qualify independently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re FARMS in DC, I think if it’s above a certain number, it’s marked as 100 and everyone gets free lunch. But it doesn’t mean that 100% of kids qualify independently.

Yep, MCPS has done this for some ESs at least in the past.

[Anonymous]

Also I don't think there are any MCPS high schools with less than 5% White students. Dunbar is less than 1%. And there are definitely White people living there so they all literally all either leaving when their kids get school age or "figuring it out" (charter/private).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't flee. There is no need to flee. If you want to stay in DC, then stay in DC and figure it out like lots of other people do. Or, move to Montgomery County (or wherever) because you want to do that. And if you do move to Montgomery County, you do not have to move to Bethesda or Potomac.

What you are missing here is that there are very few reasonable middle school or high school options that are acceptable if you live in NE DC. So for many there, moving out of the city IS the only viable option to “figuring it out”. Where we lived our in bound high school was Dunbar. Beautiful building but serious problems for most of the kids who attend, very high truancy, teenage pregnancy, extremely low test scores. It was not an option I was comfortable with for good reason. There are also few charter options and they are all lottery. OP is asking the right questions to “figure it out”.

True but we know lots of people who did Walls or Latin or Basis instead of schools like Dunbar. And it certainly doesn’t mean you need to move when your kids are little—DCPS has very strong ECE programs and many schools are strong into the ES years. -DP

Oh you know lots of people who won a literal lottery. Great for them! But for many others it is more desirable to put down roots where your kid can stay through HS (not to mention better public college options). Moving in MS if you don’t win a lottery is far from simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also I don't think there are any MCPS high schools with less than 5% White students. Dunbar is less than 1%. And there are definitely White people living there so they all literally all either leaving when their kids get school age or "figuring it out" (charter/private).

Kennedy and Paint Branch. And Watkins Mill and Springbrook are just over 5%.