How to decide which neighborhoods to look at given the crapshoot DC school lottery system?
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Anonymous
| I'm the OP of this thread, disappointed but I suppose not surprised that it seems to be heading in the direction of "you hipster assholes are bad parents because you don't live in Chevy Chase or Rockville" incongruously combined with "you hipster assholes are stupid if you think you can find a small house you can afford to buy in Chevy Chase or Rockville.". If you are so happy with your home and school situation why the bitterness? |
Anonymous
Well, OP, look at some of the recent threads re: hipster parents. A lot of folks I know (not saying you are necessarily one of them) who live in "urban hipster" areas like Mt. P/Hill/Bloomingdale look down on the rest of us who live in "boring" upper suburbia in the neighborhoods that feed to quality DCPS elementary schools (e.g. Tenleytown/AU Park/Chevy Chase). Then the hipsters come on here and bemoan the difficulty of the lottery process, crapshoot of charters etc. Well, that's the price you pay for living where you live. Of course, I think all children in the District should be entitled to a high-quality education. But folks who CHOOSE to live in Mt. P/Hill/Bloomingdale, and then complain about the bad public schools, made their own bed. Everyone makes sacrifices. I could be living in a bigger/detached/nicer house EoTP but I chose to live in low-risk upper-NW DC. You won't see me wringing my hands about the DCPS / charter school lottery process. Again, there is a clear crisis in DCPS for thousands of kids who have no real choice about where to live or go to school. I agree that this system needs to be fixed for them (and for all kids). But I won't be shedding a tear for hipsters' kids, many of whom could (with some sacrifice-- but yes, we all have to make them) move to a smaller home in a solid school district. |
Anonymous
NP here. You clearly have time on your hands, and an axe to grind. Great. Let's get back on topic. OP, fellow hipster here living in Columbia Heights. My opinion is that your best option is to wait and see what pans out with charters. The charters seem to have some excellent options. If you got into one that works for you, you would be kicking yourself if you had moved far across town for JKLMM options that you didn't necessarily need. Also, the middle schools are not good options on those areas - would you then pay for a house in a JKLMM district and then pay for private middle school? |
Anonymous
To be clear, OP took the thread off-topic by making his/her comment. |
Anonymous
You may not have heard, but Alice Deal Middle School is quite good actually. That is fed by a number of ward 3 and eotp elementaries, although its feeder pattern is under review right now. In any event, I think the OP is being thoughtful about this and recognizing the choices she has. Hopefully that will lower the charter stress as she already has her back up strategy. |
Anonymous
| I know a few people who really wanted their newish Charter school to work but ended up leaving because they were frustrated by poor facilities, lack of good outdoor space, need to constantly fundraise and the general inexperience of the school. Of course this doesn't apply to all Charters but I would be careful about turning down an opportunity to buy in a JKLM neighborhood. There is something to be said for a traditional publi school that has done well for a long period of time and comes with heavily involved parents who have the means to donate heavily to the school. Also Lafayette and Murch have been approved to be rennovated. This will happen in phases over the next few years. |
Anonymous
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Yes, it is amusing to this old timer (Columbia rd, now in CCDC) see this constant refrain of "just get into some charter! All will be wonderful! " as if all charters are really good.
Why, it's a charter. It must be excellent, dear. |
Anonymous
This makes sense. Even charters that have good reputations have not been around as long and are, basically by definition, not as institutionally established as regular public schools. But it is hard to weigh the chances of, on the one hand, getting into a good charter, having it work out great for our kids, and being able to stay in (or buy in) a neighborhood that's relatively affordable and that we know and like, vs., on the other hand, moving to a West of the park neighborhood for a "sure thing" school but spending a LOT more on a mortgage and/or living in a too-small house or apartment, plus being in a neighborhood that we would not like as much--less walkable, etc. Or, on the third hand, buying in the 'burbs and having a longer commute plus a neighborhood we probably won't like as much. I can certainly see why people make different choices. |
Anonymous
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OP, I think everyone works this one out in their own particular way! We bought a much smaller place than we might have otherwise, and live in a small apartment where I'd be comfortable with the in-bounds schools even if we were redistricted. I can still walk to metro, grocery stores, library, movie theater and a ton of good restaurants. We have a large 1brm apartment and we built in an extra room.
I'm committed to the public school system but I don't think I'd be comfortable with a charter. |
Anonymous
| We bought in Capitol Hill in bounds for one of the "good" elementary schools. With the velocity at which the schools are improving here, we are hopeful that there will be a middle school option when the time comes in 12 years. If not, we should have enough equity to sell and move, or she'll out for private. I think it is a great compromise between the urban culture of nw and the established schools the JKLMNOP neighborhoods. |
Anonymous
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We bought in MtP several years ago, too, and we sat tight to see how things panned out on the lotteries. Luckily, we got into out first choice -- albeit 3 weeks into the start of the PK4 school year -- but couldn't be happier. I know it is stressful, but looking back, we wouldn't trade our immersion charter for any West of the Park DCPS.
Since most of MtP feeds into Deal and Wilson, I don't think we're sacrificing anything in the long term by staying in a neighborhood we love. I know that's easy to say from my vantage point, but I'd definitely wait it out. I've had lots of friends who moved to better elementary school districts only to find out their kids had special needs or talents that caused them to go private or charter anyway. |