gah - need instruction on how school works in DC!

[Anonymous]

To the person who posted that DCPS schools for Bloomingdale inspire no confidence, do you mean among people spooked by underinformed people, or by people like me who send our kids there? I am proud to say that our daughter in pre-K has thrived at Emery, will be back next and that I'm proud to be involved in the ascending PTA. If you can tell me you have been in the school, have talked to Mr. Moore, have visited classrooms and still are not confident, so be it. But when my four-year-old comes home singing in Chinese, practicing math in the car, eager to do homework and saying how much she likes her school and new friends there, I will take that to any of my fellow Westchesterites and Columbia alums and say I think we are doing something right. Much of what I read on these forums is so much blather.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the person who posted that DCPS schools for Bloomingdale inspire no confidence, do you mean among people spooked by underinformed people, or by people like me who send our kids there? I am proud to say that our daughter in pre-K has thrived at Emery, will be back next and that I'm proud to be involved in the ascending PTA. If you can tell me you have been in the school, have talked to Mr. Moore, have visited classrooms and still are not confident, so be it. But when my four-year-old comes home singing in Chinese, practicing math in the car, eager to do homework and saying how much she likes her school and new friends there, I will take that to any of my fellow Westchesterites and Columbia alums and say I think we are doing something right. Much of what I read on these forums is so much blather.

That's great that you like Emery, congratulations. Those of us who disagree aren't just blathering. I recall someone on the listserv saying they moved to MoCo because there was talk among the group about joining together and going to Emery, but in the end they felt like they were going it alone and weren't happy. That's a pretty serious rejection. Many of us simply aren't comfortable with the homeless shelter right there. It's not as if we're a small group of uninformed snobs.

Do you recall the City Paper article quoting Suzanne Des Marais - the local realtor - saying she didn't know of anyone who uses the neighborhood schools (her own goes to a private)? According to the article, Bloomingdale families overwhelmingly are interested in EL Haynes, Yu Ying, and Two Rivers. You may not agree, but many of us have done a fair bit of research and do know whereof we speak. We're not under-informed just because we aren't validating your choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought Garrision was in Shaw.

Garrison is on S between 11th & 13th. It serves much of the U Street & Logan Circle neighborhoods. I can't get the maps to load on the DCPS website, but I seem to remember that Bloomingdale has a choice of a few different schools since the local option got shut down.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you're looking at CH, you might want to check the boundaries for Barnard and consider Petworth, instead. More house for your money, and I hear excellent things about Barnard. (This is not first-hand experience. My child will be going to HD Cooke in the fall.)