DC house hunting in quality school districts

[Anonymous]

To the OP: There are a lot of years between pregnancy & middle school. DC will change & the DCPS school scene will change between now & then.

[Anonymous]

@11:00 you are completely missing the point. OP should also consider condos if she is that concerned about getting into a 'good' school. And yes, DC isn't Manhattan but eventually the density will probably be the same.

[Anonymous]

Not a straw man . I am a straw woman. Yes everyone is clamoring to get into a 'good school district' because the bad school districts are at capacity? Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: DC isn't Manhattan but eventually the density will probably be the same.

Not without relaxing the height limits and getting all of the long time residents who are opposed to change to move on, but that is for a different thread.

[Anonymous]

Don't worry about the long time residents - they are either heading south, moving out of the city or dying.

[Anonymous]

Yes everyone is clamoring to get into a 'good school district' because the bad school districts are at capacity? Give me a break.

No, people clamor to get into good schools because going to a bad school sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:@11:00 you are completely missing the point. OP should also consider condos if she is that concerned about getting into a 'good' school. And yes, DC isn't Manhattan but eventually the density will probably be the same.

Some of you can't do math.

The population of DC would have to increase by 3 million for equivalent density to Manhattan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a straw man . I am a straw woman. Yes everyone is clamoring to get into a 'good school district' because the bad school districts are at capacity? Give me a break.

Nowhere does anyone say that the bad school districts are at capacity, you're inferring quite a lot.

There is a difference between wanting your child in one of the best schools and thinking they'll be a complete failure if they didn't get in. People are allowed to want what they believe to be the best, and it doesn't mean they collapse if they don't get it.

There is a color between black and white. It is called gray.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:@11:00 you are completely missing the point. OP should also consider condos if she is that concerned about getting into a 'good' school. And yes, DC isn't Manhattan but eventually the density will probably be the same.

Some of you can't do math.

The population of DC would have to increase by 3 million for equivalent density to Manhattan.

Including me, btw, because that number should be closer to 4 million than 3. Karma.

[Anonymous]

Chill, NY lovers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with previous posters: charter lotteries are a total crap shoot, and in all likelihood you'll get shut out like we have been til this year's Yu Ying bubble miracle. Likewise, the DCPS PS and PK lotteries - don't get your hopes up. I am in the exact same boat as you, just fast forwarded 5 years. Bought a house in Petworth, figuring we'd have plenty of time before we had to make school decisions and assuming the schools would improve in the next 5 years, plus I'm a resourceful, determined professional - I should be able to get my kid into a decent school, right? Ha! That's why its called a lottery... persistence and determination mean nothing. So, our options are buy/rent a tiny condo somewhere in Ward 3 so we're in- boundary at a tolerable school. Or take our $600k and buy a 3-bedroom in Falls Church. Or stay in Petworth and homeschool.

I take it that means you got in to YY this year? Congratulations.

OP could always rent somewhere inbounds to JKLM and still give herself a shot at the lotteries. If she got in to one she liked, she could buy a house anywhere in the city.

OTOH, if you want a good overall district-type system, yes you're better off moving to FFX County. There are good elementaries, but once you get past JKLM themselves you're still in trouble. Latin is a lottery, Deal is the size of a small town, and Hardy is a mess.

+1
Yes, we got a spot at Yu Ying and by some strange alternate-reality twist of fate, got a really low number (>5) waitlist spot for LAMB. But regardless - we'll be SOL after 5th grade with LAMB and after 8th grade for Yu Ying and we'll be right back where we are now. And yeah, it's 5 years off, but that's what I said 5 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:is a condo out of the question? city living here is going to look increasingly like nyc, where i just moved from. lots of families in apartments and condos as opposed to sfh. personally, i am very ok with that. especially if it means that you can buy a nice place in woodley/kalorama/adams morgan: your kids can go to oyster and you can live in a vibrant, centrally located nabe.

This is what we (and many others we know) do.

OP would have to let go of the 3-bedroom house thing. Honestly, the popular decision in this area to sacrifice location (by moving to Upper NW or beyond) or even schools for the sake of superfluous space makes no sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:is a condo out of the question? city living here is going to look increasingly like nyc, where i just moved from. lots of families in apartments and condos as opposed to sfh. personally, i am very ok with that. especially if it means that you can buy a nice place in woodley/kalorama/adams morgan: your kids can go to oyster and you can live in a vibrant, centrally located nabe.

Except that Manhattan is 1.5 million people in 23 sq. miles, and DC is 600K people in 64 sq. miles. That's 65K people/sq. mi. vs. 9300/sq. mil. which less dense by almost an order of magnitude.

People who come to DC expecting it to be NY are bound to be disappointed. It's an altogether different city in its own right.

Eh. PP's point, I thought, was that central living and a decent school is available to those with moderate incomes if they just make do with nicely finished but smaller living space. OP could get a nice 2-bedroom condo in Kalorama Triangle zoned for Oyster for her budget. People priced out of larger spaces who don't want to be exiled from urban living or decent schools have this option, and it's perfectly acceptable to many of us.

[Anonymous]

NYC SUCKS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:is a condo out of the question? city living here is going to look increasingly like nyc, where i just moved from. lots of families in apartments and condos as opposed to sfh. personally, i am very ok with that. especially if it means that you can buy a nice place in woodley/kalorama/adams morgan: your kids can go to oyster and you can live in a vibrant, centrally located nabe.

Not sure what you're talking about. We live in adams morgan and are zoned to Marie Reed. Plenty of Kalorama residents are cranky about being re-zoned away from Oyster as well. And the only people who I know with kids at Oyster aren't happy with it and say it's going downhill. We love our home in Adams Morgan -- might never leave if it wasn't for the school issue. But let's face it: you can't have everything -- there are tradeoffs, including giving up "vibrant, centrally located nabe" to have your kids in one of the best available DCPS. Sorry.