Looking to move to DC and overwhelmed by school system!

[Anonymous]

Petworth might be one of the best neighborhoods in DC or anywhere to raise small kids. The community here is incredible. I wouldn't live anywhere else. I am zoned for Barnard and didn't consider it because of the use of screentime and a generally old school approach. Look at homes zoned to John Lewis,.Powell, and, Bruce Monroe. Powell and Bruce Monroe are duel language Spanish and Bruce Monroe in particular has a strong reputation. If you are patient in your search and/ or willing to buy something not fully upgraded you can make these work

[Anonymous]

DCUM will always tell you to move to the suburbs or at the very least live zones for JR and still lottery like hell because DCPS is evil. Reality is obviously more nuanced. Lots of families are thriving east of the park and buy in for some middle schools is improving. Having a baby in the burbs seems incredibly isolating to me and giving up the city for high school when you haven't even conceived yet is wild. So much can and will change before you even get to Prek- both with the schools and you!

[Anonymous]

OP I would not listen to these people who are like move to the burbs. To me it’s indicative of a certain type of personality so prevalent in DC - extremely risk adverse. Right now you don’t even have a child, much less know what kind of student your child is and what kind of educational environment they will need. You can move to the suburbs for “good” schools and still find they don’t meet your kids needs and then what? Now you’re paying for private school anyway and you have to live in East bumblef.

[Anonymous]

If you can lottery into LAMB or one of the other immersions, you'll all-but-guaranteed a spot at DCI for middle and high school. All good options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I would not listen to these people who are like move to the burbs. To me it’s indicative of a certain type of personality so prevalent in DC - extremely risk adverse. Right now you don’t even have a child, much less know what kind of student your child is and what kind of educational environment they will need. You can move to the suburbs for “good” schools and still find they don’t meet your kids needs and then what? Now you’re paying for private school anyway and you have to live in East bumblef.

This is fair. You can assess what kind of student your kid appears to be around 2-3 grade (no sooner, despite whatever prodigious skills they show) and jump ship then if need be. But I do encourage a healthy skepticism about middle and high school in DCPS. We have lived the lottery for many years now and it has really taken a toll on our family, including on our kids. Hard to explain to a 4th grader why all of his friends are starting middle school together and he has to stay in his elementary school for 5th grader and, also, won’t know where he will be for middle until the next round of the lottery a whole year later.

[Anonymous]

While I am sure it is not a universal experience, my friends who have moved to the suburbs have described their years with very small children as extremely isolating and the worst years of their lives. Living in an EOTP neighborhood with lots of small children, I have not felt isolated at all in these years. We chose to buy in DC prekids planning to take advantage of DC’s prek program and knowing that we may need to move later on if the schools weren’t working for us. We were lucky and lotteried into a DCI feeder so currently have no plans to move. For what it’s worth, the average amount of time that an American owns a single home is something like 7 years. Your first home is very unlikely to be your forever home so I recommend that you stay conservative in your home purchase so you have more options later on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I am sure it is not a universal experience, my friends who have moved to the suburbs have described their years with very small children as extremely isolating and the worst years of their lives. Living in an EOTP neighborhood with lots of small children, I have not felt isolated at all in these years. We chose to buy in DC prekids planning to take advantage of DC’s prek program and knowing that we may need to move later on if the schools weren’t working for us. We were lucky and lotteried into a DCI feeder so currently have no plans to move. For what it’s worth, the average amount of time that an American owns a single home is something like 7 years. Your first home is very unlikely to be your forever home so I recommend that you stay conservative in your home purchase so you have more options later on.

Yes, the lottery worked out for you! And how awesome that you get to stay without feeling like you’re making serious compromises. I agree that being a parent of a baby in the suburbs sounds awful, especially the far flung and spread out ones. And even for an older kid, I didn’t want my kid to just be carted around from activity to activity in a car and have no sense of autonomy and independence. The city has a lot of things to offer and the very old, close in suburbs with better schools do too (but they are expensive). It’s just that often parents realize they have hit a wall with the schools in 5th grade or, worse, in 8th grade, and it really sucks to relocate at those points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I am sure it is not a universal experience, my friends who have moved to the suburbs have described their years with very small children as extremely isolating and the worst years of their lives. Living in an EOTP neighborhood with lots of small children, I have not felt isolated at all in these years. We chose to buy in DC prekids planning to take advantage of DC’s prek program and knowing that we may need to move later on if the schools weren’t working for us. We were lucky and lotteried into a DCI feeder so currently have no plans to move. For what it’s worth, the average amount of time that an American owns a single home is something like 7 years. Your first home is very unlikely to be your forever home so I recommend that you stay conservative in your home purchase so you have more options later on.

Yes, the lottery worked out for you! And how awesome that you get to stay without feeling like you’re making serious compromises. I agree that being a parent of a baby in the suburbs sounds awful, especially the far flung and spread out ones. And even for an older kid, I didn’t want my kid to just be carted around from activity to activity in a car and have no sense of autonomy and independence. The city has a lot of things to offer and the very old, close in suburbs with better schools do too (but they are expensive). It’s just that often parents realize they have hit a wall with the schools in 5th grade or, worse, in 8th grade, and it really sucks to relocate at those points.

Yes, but I made my choices being well aware of that potential future. My point was that the op should also be aware of that possibility and make conservative housing choices that give them flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Petworth might be one of the best neighborhoods in DC or anywhere to raise small kids. The community here is incredible. I wouldn't live anywhere else. I am zoned for Barnard and didn't consider it because of the use of screentime and a generally old school approach. Look at homes zoned to John Lewis,.Powell, and, Bruce Monroe. Powell and Bruce Monroe are duel language Spanish and Bruce Monroe in particular has a strong reputation. If you are patient in your search and/ or willing to buy something not fully upgraded you can make these work

I genuinely despite petworth so much. Zero nightlife, no metro, sketchy, bad parking but terrifying metro stop (I could detail multiple shootings), has the cons of the suburbs with the cons of an urban place with little positives and those schools mentioned are total nonstarters. There are way nicer places in dc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Petworth might be one of the best neighborhoods in DC or anywhere to raise small kids. The community here is incredible. I wouldn't live anywhere else. I am zoned for Barnard and didn't consider it because of the use of screentime and a generally old school approach. Look at homes zoned to John Lewis,.Powell, and, Bruce Monroe. Powell and Bruce Monroe are duel language Spanish and Bruce Monroe in particular has a strong reputation. If you are patient in your search and/ or willing to buy something not fully upgraded you can make these work

I genuinely despite petworth so much. Zero nightlife, no metro, sketchy, bad parking but terrifying metro stop (I could detail multiple shootings), has the cons of the suburbs with the cons of an urban place with little positives and those schools mentioned are total nonstarters. There are way nicer places in dc.

Despise. Not despite. Also the house stock is both poor quality and expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know much about Barnard but there are a number of good options in that neighborhood.

If you tell us your budget we can tell you three or four neighborhoods to target with decent and/or up-and-coming elementary schools.

We are looking to spend max 800k for a small place (2-3 bedrooms). I previously lived in petworth in my early 20s so definitely interested in that area, but don't know much about the schools.

Thank you!

You should look into McLean Gardens in NW DC. 2-3 bedroom condos are in your price range and zoned for either Hearst-Deal-Jackson Reed or Eaton-Hardy-Macarthur.

+1 this is the best advice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know much about Barnard but there are a number of good options in that neighborhood.

If you tell us your budget we can tell you three or four neighborhoods to target with decent and/or up-and-coming elementary schools.

We are looking to spend max 800k for a small place (2-3 bedrooms). I previously lived in petworth in my early 20s so definitely interested in that area, but don't know much about the schools.

Thank you!

You should look into McLean Gardens in NW DC. 2-3 bedroom condos are in your price range and zoned for either Hearst-Deal-Jackson Reed or Eaton-Hardy-Macarthur.

I've heard that there is a great sense of community there. Does anyone know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM will always tell you to move to the suburbs or at the very least live zones for JR and still lottery like hell because DCPS is evil. Reality is obviously more nuanced. Lots of families are thriving east of the park and buy in for some middle schools is improving. Having a baby in the burbs seems incredibly isolating to me and giving up the city for high school when you haven't even conceived yet is wild. So much can and will change before you even get to Prek- both with the schools and you!

The problem is that many of us ignored (or didn't get) advice like that when we were in OP's position and now have middle school age kids and are REALLY unhappy with our options and wish we'd planned better. The whole "so much can change!" advice is just a way to kick the can and not deal with something that will eventually be a problem.

I'd love to be able to say "don't worry, most of the middle schools and high schools in the city are fine, and people freak out about this for no reason." The truth is that most of the middle schools in the city are hot garbage, high school is worse, and making better choices when you can do so will save you a lot of headaches down the road.

Also, close in suburbs are not isolated. Plenty are dense, close to transit, with walkable neighborhoods and plenty to do. The difference between Petworth and, say, Takoma Park, is negligible in terms of connectivity. But if you buy in the right part of TP, you can be in bound for Blair high school which is a perfectly good school. If you buy in Petworth, you might have a great elementary experience and then realize you want to be in TP, and then discover you can't afford to move or doing so uproots your life in challenging ways.

I live in DC, I wish I'd either bought IB for JR or for a close in suburb. The school situation in DC is fine-to-great for PK and elementary, and then totally falls apart for middle and high school. I've already dropped my standards so far just out of self preservation and it's still hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I am sure it is not a universal experience, my friends who have moved to the suburbs have described their years with very small children as extremely isolating and the worst years of their lives. Living in an EOTP neighborhood with lots of small children, I have not felt isolated at all in these years. We chose to buy in DC prekids planning to take advantage of DC’s prek program and knowing that we may need to move later on if the schools weren’t working for us. We were lucky and lotteried into a DCI feeder so currently have no plans to move. For what it’s worth, the average amount of time that an American owns a single home is something like 7 years. Your first home is very unlikely to be your forever home so I recommend that you stay conservative in your home purchase so you have more options later on.

Correct, this is not a universal experience.

Also, how old are your kids? I'm guessing still in elementary. DCI does not look as good close up as it does from the distance of PK.

Winning the PK lottery just postponed your crisis, it didn't get rid of it.

It's also ridiculous in these threads when people act like your options are (1) terrific, vibrant city neighborhood with lots of kids and convenient transit and all the amenities, or (2) far flung suburb where you have to drive to get your mail. It's not that binary. I know plenty of car dependent people in DC (including some in Petworth), and I know folks in suburbs that are walkable, community oriented, and lively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I am sure it is not a universal experience, my friends who have moved to the suburbs have described their years with very small children as extremely isolating and the worst years of their lives. Living in an EOTP neighborhood with lots of small children, I have not felt isolated at all in these years. We chose to buy in DC prekids planning to take advantage of DC’s prek program and knowing that we may need to move later on if the schools weren’t working for us. We were lucky and lotteried into a DCI feeder so currently have no plans to move. For what it’s worth, the average amount of time that an American owns a single home is something like 7 years. Your first home is very unlikely to be your forever home so I recommend that you stay conservative in your home purchase so you have more options later on.

Correct, this is not a universal experience.

Also, how old are your kids? I'm guessing still in elementary. DCI does not look as good close up as it does from the distance of PK.

Winning the PK lottery just postponed your crisis, it didn't get rid of it.

It's also ridiculous in these threads when people act like your options are (1) terrific, vibrant city neighborhood with lots of kids and convenient transit and all the amenities, or (2) far flung suburb where you have to drive to get your mail. It's not that binary. I know plenty of car dependent people in DC (including some in Petworth), and I know folks in suburbs that are walkable, community oriented, and lively.

I am not in a crisis. I bought here knowing that moving is a possibility, even with having a good lottery result. I made smart financial choices and can easily afford to move to a close-in suburb if the time comes. Sorry you feel stuck.