We're middle-class - do we buy in the rich or poor school district?

[Anonymous]

We have HHI under $200,000 and live in Bethesda with 2 kids. Everyone with families is friendly and involved, including the diplomat families who don't pay a cent of taxes.
Really, try not to let your children have this paranoid attitude, let them judge people for who they are whatever that may be and then take it from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why I would purchase somewhere middle class. There have got to be some solidly middle class areas with good schools in MD. We found one in VA and are genuinely happy.

Do tell, where is the solid middle class in VA?!

well, it isn't the ONLY place in VA, but we wound up in the West Fairfax/Chantilly area. This doesn't really help anyone who commutes to downtown (our commutes are to Ashburn and Lorton, and most of my daughter's friends' parents commute to Tysons), but there are places in Springfield, Burke and Annandale that would probably work for someone who commutes to downtown.

[Anonymous]

So you're in an A school district (comparatively to the entire area), and wonder if it's worth moving to get into an A+ district? Seems a ton of other things would come into the picture: commute, neighborhood, quality of life, etc. There is no one size fits all answer here.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Potomac and would not move back there. It is too wealthy and just really not like the rest of the nation. We used to go to Takoma Park to visit the dentist and I thought that the little houses in Takoma Park/ Silver Spring were poor people, rather than solidly middle class people. Although I do remember loving the idea of so many kids around and seeing all the kids walking to school. We were the only ones on our street who walked to school.

Now of days the house we grew up in would be a tear-down, but it was pretty big in the day, just not compared to what they are putting up in that area today.

I would opt for more diversity of race and socioeconomics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, not saying what will be best for your family, but my tactic has been to retreat to the relatively less affluent PG County, where my kids will be in the wealthier half of the group at school or in the neighborhood. This feels right to us. There is a lot more diversity. We can choose to go down to one income if we want. No worries about keeping up with the Joneses. Feels like more breathing room.

PG County sure is tempting: nice homes, close to metro, low prices. Maybe for just a couple years ...

[Anonymous]

I have a former colleague who lives in Cheverly and loves it. Granted, I think her child is at a private school, but she is constantly posting about how wonderful the town is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why I would purchase somewhere middle class. There have got to be some solidly middle class areas with good schools in MD. We found one in VA and are genuinely happy.

Do tell, where is the solid middle class in VA?!

well, it isn't the ONLY place in VA, but we wound up in the West Fairfax/Chantilly area. This doesn't really help anyone who commutes to downtown (our commutes are to Ashburn and Lorton, and most of my daughter's friends' parents commute to Tysons), but there are places in Springfield, Burke and Annandale that would probably work for someone who commutes to downtown.

The reason I asked is that it seems like there aren't many middle class families close-in. Vienna feels middle class and probably still is except for new people that bought after 2002 or so. Maybe parts of Alexandria are still middle class. As some here would say "oh, but there are bad schools down there!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Potomac and would not move back there. It is too wealthy and just really not like the rest of the nation. We used to go to Takoma Park to visit the dentist and I thought that the little houses in Takoma Park/ Silver Spring were poor people, rather than solidly middle class people. Although I do remember loving the idea of so many kids around and seeing all the kids walking to school. We were the only ones on our street who walked to school.

Now of days the house we grew up in would be a tear-down, but it was pretty big in the day, just not compared to what they are putting up in that area today.

I would opt for more diversity of race and socioeconomics.

We bought there for that reasons - small house, kids that walk to school, racial and socioeconomic diversity.

[Anonymous]

I grew up solidly middle-class in a solidly middle-class school district. It was very comfortable. I looked for the same for my daughter - I was hoping to find a house in the "middle" high school in Arlington. (Washington-Lee.) Ended up buying in Yorktown ((the rich HS) and I worry sometimes that my daughter will feel poor because our income is similar to yours. I assume I'll spend more for nicer clothes and she'll have my old Acura to drive instead of a total hoopty.

How about Walter Johnson? It's pretty "normal," right?

[Anonymous]

21:51 here - for a PP - there are several decent, solidly middle-class high schools in Fairfax. Fairfax HS, Robinson, Lake Braddock, probably Marshall. (I work in DC so I didn't look further out than those.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up solidly middle-class in a solidly middle-class school district. It was very comfortable. I looked for the same for my daughter - I was hoping to find a house in the "middle" high school in Arlington. (Washington-Lee.) Ended up buying in Yorktown ((the rich HS) and I worry sometimes that my daughter will feel poor because our income is similar to yours. I assume I'll spend more for nicer clothes and she'll have my old Acura to drive instead of a total hoopty.

How about Walter Johnson? It's pretty "normal," right?

I think WJ is supposed to be the "normal" high school relatively speaking. I would say it is more middle to middle-upper class than either outright wealthy or extremes. I don't think the typical WJ student is talking about returning from exotic family vacations, getting expensive new cars, and sweet 16 parties like the ones on MTV, but I could be wrong. On the other hand I don't know that money considerations as in not everyone can afford school supplies, to participate in x sport or summer camp etc is on the radar because there isn't a lot of economic diversity. Though to be honest, I don't know how well kids really navigate friendships when there are those differences or if as they get older the mostly do things with the kids in a similar economic situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:21:51 here - for a PP - there are several decent, solidly middle-class high schools in Fairfax. Fairfax HS, Robinson, Lake Braddock, probably Marshall. (I work in DC so I didn't look further out than those.)

http://franklymls.com/FX7729405

This one has been on the market for a while. Is the issue that it backs up to the beltway? It seems like it is in a good school pyramid.