Renting: IB for Eaton or Mann?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you commuting?
Both are great schools. Mann has beautiful facilities. It is not a very convenient location for public transit.
Eaton is a bit more convenient for public transit, although still a hike from metrorail. We have friends there who love it and have had a great experience. Just depends on where you work, etc. But the potential renovation and swing space is something to consider.

Why not Hearst, as others have suggested? Their renovation is already complete. Great school as well.

Not to mention that Hearst feeds to a more highly regarded middle school (Deal)

They are renting. They can move IB to Deal later if needed.

[Anonymous]

Why on earth plan for a move if you know you won’t use the middle school? Renting or no, sounds like a pain.

[Anonymous]

The most rentable neighborhood is Lafayette and the schools is great - very comparable to the others you are mentioning. It has a total neighborhood feel, completely walkable. Great teachers. New head that some don't like but in a few years the ones used to the old one will be out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth plan for a move if you know you won’t use the middle school? Renting or no, sounds like a pain.

Because the rental building may be no good. I'd know because I live in one. Renters don't usually have the amount of stuff home owners have. DC is entering K, not 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The most rentable neighborhood is Lafayette and the schools is great - very comparable to the others you are mentioning. It has a total neighborhood feel, completely walkable. Great teachers. New head that some don't like but in a few years the ones used to the old one will be out.

Murch also has a fair amount of rental stock IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you commuting?
Both are great schools. Mann has beautiful facilities. It is not a very convenient location for public transit.
Eaton is a bit more convenient for public transit, although still a hike from metrorail. We have friends there who love it and have had a great experience. Just depends on where you work, etc. But the potential renovation and swing space is something to consider.

Why not Hearst, as others have suggested? Their renovation is already complete. Great school as well.

Not to mention that Hearst feeds to a more highly regarded middle school (Deal)

As if Hearst neighborhood were not awesome enough already, you will soon be walkable to 1) Wegmans, 2) new Surfside, and a 3) new outdoor pool. Oh, and also Deal. Is there even a debate here? Start packing.

[Anonymous]

Eaton has incredible diversity. The best private schools in DC work hard to create the kind if diversity that Eaton has naturally (socio-economic, geographic, religious, national origin, ethnicity, racial etc). Look at the DCPS website for the breakdown. Eaton has more children who arrive with English as a second language - Russian, Egyptian, Jordanian, Spanish, Italian, Serbian, Norwegian, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese, French, Ethiopian, etc - which may impact test scores. The kids at Eaton are really smart. It’s the only DCPS with a spelling bee starting in first grade and it typically has three of the ten finalists in the DC-wide spelling bee.

Two music teachers are very talented. Lots of enrichment. The principal does a very good job hiring talented teachers. Parents are highly involved and a great group. I dont think there’s any other school like it in the area. The number of classes per grade -three- is perfect in my mind. It provides many options for kids to find friends. But they know everyone in their grade well. We have been extremely happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eaton has incredible diversity. The best private schools in DC work hard to create the kind if diversity that Eaton has naturally (socio-economic, geographic, religious, national origin, ethnicity, racial etc). Look at the DCPS website for the breakdown. Eaton has more children who arrive with English as a second language - Russian, Egyptian, Jordanian, Spanish, Italian, Serbian, Norwegian, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese, French, Ethiopian, etc - which may impact test scores. The kids at Eaton are really smart. It’s the only DCPS with a spelling bee starting in first grade and it typically has three of the ten finalists in the DC-wide spelling bee.

Two music teachers are very talented. Lots of enrichment. The principal does a very good job hiring talented teachers. Parents are highly involved and a great group. I dont think there’s any other school like it in the area. The number of classes per grade -three- is perfect in my mind. It provides many options for kids to find friends. But they know everyone in their grade well. We have been extremely happy.

This sounds great. But then why is DCPS trying to mess with Eaton, by turning a smallish school into a larger school, when the school has the capacity to accommodate local growth? Expanding the school footprint also means shrinking the existing sub-optimal, small playground significantly.

[Anonymous]

DCPS just said it’s modernizing Eaton for a projected enrollment of 490. They have come down from an initial projection of 550, which was an absurd number given the landlocked space.

The community (parents, neighbors, etc.) is working together to make sure the playground space is preserved and that children’s needs are met.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS just said it’s modernizing Eaton for a projected enrollment of 490. They have come down from an initial projection of 550, which was an absurd number given the landlocked space.

The community (parents, neighbors, etc.) is working together to make sure the playground space is preserved and that children’s needs are met.

490 still seems quite high for the site. I would think a 450 number would be about right, anything to avoid building a new above-ground classroom wing that reduces playground space substantially.

[Anonymous]

490 is up from the current 425 capacity, so that’s a 15% increase in official capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:490 is up from the current 425 capacity, so that’s a 15% increase in official capacity.

And of course, this being DCPS, the new 'official capacity' will just be a starting point.

DCPS doesn't want to let OOB slots fall below 40% at Eaton, given how few are left at other Upper N.W. elem schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eaton has incredible diversity. The best private schools in DC work hard to create the kind if diversity that Eaton has naturally (socio-economic, geographic, religious, national origin, ethnicity, racial etc). Look at the DCPS website for the breakdown. Eaton has more children who arrive with English as a second language - Russian, Egyptian, Jordanian, Spanish, Italian, Serbian, Norwegian, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese, French, Ethiopian, etc - which may impact test scores. The kids at Eaton are really smart. It’s the only DCPS with a spelling bee starting in first grade and it typically has three of the ten finalists in the DC-wide spelling bee.

Two music teachers are very talented. Lots of enrichment. The principal does a very good job hiring talented teachers. Parents are highly involved and a great group. I dont think there’s any other school like it in the area. The number of classes per grade -three- is perfect in my mind. It provides many options for kids to find friends. But they know everyone in their grade well. We have been extremely happy.

I don’t have anything against Eaton, but I want to correct the record. Oyster has a school spelling bee that starts in 1st grade; and a Spanish spelling bee that begins in 4th grade. Oyster regularly has finalists in the DC-wide spelling bee. In fact, a couple of Oyster students have won the DC bee within the past 5 to 10 years, and went on to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.