DC got accepted to a school we LOVE, but the commute is scaring me. Any advice?

[Anonymous]

Move closer to the school you feel is the best fit.

[Anonymous]

OP here... no no no. I love our 'hood. We can walk everywhere, near a great metro, etc. I would only move for kid's ed. if they were super special needs, otherwise, no need.

[Anonymous]

Is this Norwood vs. Beauvoir?

[Anonymous]

Or GEDS?

[Anonymous]

Or Holton vs. NCS?

[Anonymous]

It is GEDS vs NPS. OP here.

[Anonymous]

We are choosing GEDS over Beauvoir and Norwood. GEDS will be a longer commute. But we love the Grace parents and kids we've met over the past few months. It just feels like the right place for our child and family.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you are very lucky to have two wonderful choices ... I would probably recommend the closer commute as the other PPs have. However, it really depends on the school ... I would drive up to 45 minutes each way for Burgundy but probably not an hour each way. Trying it for just one year seems reasonable if you are truly undecided, but it sort of sounds like you have made the decision!

[Anonymous]

we have a longish commute, but the school has a great bus service. i was a bit concerned about the length of commute for my pre-k son, but it has worked out ok. he loves the bus, makes friends with the kids on the bus, and the bus seems to give a nice transition from home to school and back.

if your school has a bus option, that would be something to consider

[Anonymous]

23:13 wishing you the best of luck with your choice, OP. You might call GEDS and ask about carpools. I understand they are easy to arrange from DC.

[Anonymous]

For those of you who do decide to commute quite a distance: we bought a lot of CDs by Jim Weiss, a wonderful storyteller, who both kids and parents can enjoy. Our kids learned about Greek mythology, folk and fairy tales, American history, and Shakespeare in the car while we were commuting. Commuting time became a wonderful enhancement to their education. You can find many of his CDs at the library. Now that my kids are older, commuting time has become a great way for me to connect with my kids (especially my teenager). She tells me lots of things in the car that might not have come up otherwise.

[Anonymous]

I dunno, OP-- I'm ten mins from our school (Burgundy), but my dd has classmates who come from Falls Church, from PG County, from Capitol Hill, from Reston-- and though I don't think I could handle a 30-60 commute like that, the parents who do seem to feel it's worth it. Burgundy is one of those schools that's half school, half cult-- I mean that in a good way--- either it's not for you, or you LOVE it. So maybe before you decide, you should visit each school again-- and at the further school, ask for contact info for some other parents who live further away. Call them and ask if it feels worth it. Also, look into car-pooling-- it may turn out that there are in fact a handful of others in your area who would be interested in car-pooling, etc.

[Anonymous]

If you live near NPS, I highly recommend it. It's such a nice, warm community.

[Anonymous]

If you decide on GEDS, remember that starting in 1st grade they're in Kensington, which would be much closer to you than Silver Spring, so the commute would only be horrible for a few years.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, but what do you do when you are close to KENSINGTON and need to come back into the city DURING rush hour?

Argh.