Where to buy in DC if great PK3 is the goal

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't buy in this situation, but if I did, I'd try to buy in an area that met my immediate needs and also had decent resale value. Even if you don't care about upper elementary, middle and high school, the person who buys the house when you sell it in a few years may care about those things.

That said, it doesn't really matter all that much because DC's market doesn't often have houses in even halfway decent areas sitting on the market for a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should rent in the Capitol Riverfront so you can be inbound for Van Ness Elementary School.

Even Van Ness has inbound kids on the waitlist.

OP, the only guarantees are the early action schools. My DC attended one for PK3 and we were very happy but a buying house will not guarantee you PK3 at any school with a top-notch reputation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Yes - we only care about PK3 and 4. We intend to be in DC only 3 or so years. Language immersion in not important. Since we do have the flexibility to buy almost anywhere in DC, we would love to be strategic about it with regards to schools.

You know you aren't garuenteed a PK spot? You may get neighborhood preference but still not get in to your IB school. I know many families waitlisted at our Title 1 East of the Park for preschool who are all IB

[Anonymous]

Is money no option. OP? I ask this seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cap Hill in the Cluster boundary. Peabody is great and it's bigger than many other ECE programs - still not a given. You also have SWS, CH Montessori and charters as a citywide backups. Nothing guaranteed. Brent is great but tough for PK3 without siblings if you're IB.

^^ and in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... someone will chine in to disparage Hill middle schools

Er, no. OP said they would not be here that long, so it's irrelevant.

that never stops DCUM crowd from trolling CH middle schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First time posters here so please be gentle.

We are looking to buy in DC from out of state. DS is 6 months old. What neigborhood will give us the best odds of a great PK3 placement?

Oy. Your understanding of DC is so poor; you're setting yourself up for dreadfully bad decisions.

You can get free PK3 via the lottery - ANYWHERE - but you can't necessarily get it in your neighborhood. The most desirable neighborhoods (especially for old people) don't offer free PK3. So move where you want to live, apply for the lottery (fail, obviously) and then commute to the free PreK.

Everyone knows that the best PK3 are immersion charters, but you would be a horrible human being to take one of those (LAMB or YY) and then leave. Your children would be cursed for life, and they'd deserve it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cap Hill in the Cluster boundary. Peabody is great and it's bigger than many other ECE programs - still not a given. You also have SWS, CH Montessori and charters as a citywide backups. Nothing guaranteed. Brent is great but tough for PK3 without siblings if you're IB.

^^ and in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... someone will chine in to disparage Hill middle schools

Er, no. OP said they would not be here that long, so it's irrelevant.

that never stops DCUM crowd from trolling CH middle schools

Hmmm...

Something tells me it's not the collective DCUM trolling CH middle schools. Something tells me it's people who are actually familiar with CH middle schools...

Swami says: "Bingo!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First time posters here so please be gentle.

We are looking to buy in DC from out of state. DS is 6 months old. What neigborhood will give us the best odds of a great PK3 placement?

Oy. Your understanding of DC is so poor; you're setting yourself up for dreadfully bad decisions.

You can get free PK3 via the lottery - ANYWHERE - but you can't necessarily get it in your neighborhood. The most desirable neighborhoods (especially for old people) don't offer free PK3. So move where you want to live, apply for the lottery (fail, obviously) and then commute to the free PreK.

Everyone knows that the best PK3 are immersion charters, but you would be a horrible human being to take one of those (LAMB or YY) and then leave. Your children would be cursed for life, and they'd deserve it.

lol great summary! I'll add that another option is "buy a house that costs $50k less and put that money into a high-quality private preschool."

Also I do think that Capitol Hill in general is a good bet for location. You might luck out and get a lottery spot in Brent, Van Ness, Maury, Ludlow-Taylor, SWS. If not, you can try Two Rivers (Young or 4th St), or have a not-terrible commute to Mundo Verde or Inspired Teaching if you are willing to drive.

[Anonymous]

Hi - Op here. Our budget is up to $1.2M and would be ok with either a 2 bedroom row house or 3 br condo. We will leave DC after about 3 years and then return 3 to 4 years later from overseas. We intend to rent out the place before we leave but then look to either sell it or move into it when we return depending on our circumstances/needs.

I understand that IB is not a guarantee but since school location is our biggest consideration we would love to be strategically located for the most choices. Thanks to PP with the suggestion of trying certain clusters and then picking blocks based on that. I will start researching that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cap Hill in the Cluster boundary. Peabody is great and it's bigger than many other ECE programs - still not a given. You also have SWS, CH Montessori and charters as a citywide backups. Nothing guaranteed. Brent is great but tough for PK3 without siblings if you're IB.

^^ and in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... someone will chine in to disparage Hill middle schools

Er, no. OP said they would not be here that long, so it's irrelevant.

that never stops DCUM crowd from trolling CH middle schools

Hmmm...

Something tells me it's not the collective DCUM trolling CH middle schools. Something tells me it's people who are actually familiar with CH middle schools...

Swami says: "Bingo!"

no -- it's usually people who moved to the suburbs a decade ago and never got woke

[Anonymous]

It is important to note that OP's child is only 6 months old. So we are not talking about the 2018 lottery but rather about the 2020 lottery. Based on growth trends many of the schools with few sibling spots at PK3 will have even fewer or none in 2020. A lot could change between now and then in terms of what schools are accessible for PK3 as a non sibling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is important to note that OP's child is only 6 months old. So we are not talking about the 2018 lottery but rather about the 2020 lottery. Based on growth trends many of the schools with few sibling spots at PK3 will have even fewer or none in 2020. A lot could change between now and then in terms of what schools are accessible for PK3 as a non sibling.

Live in Eckington, OP. Langley and Seaton will be fine by then and you will be near great charters too. You can afford it, and you will love the toddler-friendly neighborhood. If you pick a school that is good now, you may not get in for 2020.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cap Hill in the Cluster boundary. Peabody is great and it's bigger than many other ECE programs - still not a given. You also have SWS, CH Montessori and charters as a citywide backups. Nothing guaranteed. Brent is great but tough for PK3 without siblings if you're IB.

^^ and in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... someone will chine in to disparage Hill middle schools

Er, no. OP said they would not be here that long, so it's irrelevant.

that never stops DCUM crowd from trolling CH middle schools

Hmmm...

Something tells me it's not the collective DCUM trolling CH middle schools. Something tells me it's people who are actually familiar with CH middle schools...

Swami says: "Bingo!"

Swami checking in here to say that I, affirmatively, do not say Bingo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi - Op here. Our budget is up to $1.2M and would be ok with either a 2 bedroom row house or 3 br condo. We will leave DC after about 3 years and then return 3 to 4 years later from overseas. We intend to rent out the place before we leave but then look to either sell it or move into it when we return depending on our circumstances/needs.

I understand that IB is not a guarantee but since school location is our biggest consideration we would love to be strategically located for the most choices. Thanks to PP with the suggestion of trying certain clusters and then picking blocks based on that. I will start researching that.

Do you plan to ditch the kids abroad when you return? You are looking at this whole thing so wrong and short-sighted. The only way to guarantee an inbound prek3/pk4 spot is to move to a neighborhood with bad elementary+ schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi - Op here. Our budget is up to $1.2M and would be ok with either a 2 bedroom row house or 3 br condo. We will leave DC after about 3 years and then return 3 to 4 years later from overseas. We intend to rent out the place before we leave but then look to either sell it or move into it when we return depending on our circumstances/needs.

I understand that IB is not a guarantee but since school location is our biggest consideration we would love to be strategically located for the most choices. Thanks to PP with the suggestion of trying certain clusters and then picking blocks based on that. I will start researching that.

Do you plan to ditch the kids abroad when you return? You are looking at this whole thing so wrong and short-sighted. The only way to guarantee an inbound prek3/pk4 spot is to move to a neighborhood with bad elementary+ schools.

I know, right? They're letting a $20,000 decision (rough cost of 2 years of private pre-K over public pre-K) drive their entire house purchase.

OP, if what you want is to be inbound for a good elementary school, pick that school. $1.2 mil is enough, get you in any number of good school boundaries - Brent, Maury, some of the NW schools if you look hard. But this is DC and preschool is literally a lottery. You are not going to be able to have "great PK3" as a reasonable goal because chance plays a huge role in getting a slot.