Moving from DC to Takoma Park?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As PP said, the tax differences between DC and Takoma Park can be quite sizable.

At least you get better schools with the property taxes.

Not really!

Definitely better

[Anonymous]

No middle school in the DMV can compete with TPMS. This is the middle school that competes in High school Math competitions.

[Anonymous]

Lack of sidewalks l

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No middle school in the DMV can compete with TPMS. This is the middle school that competes in High school Math competitions.

Just because there are a handful of brilliant math students at TPMS doesn't mean that it is a great school overall for the average kid. That's the farce about magnet schools.

[Anonymous]

We made the move from DC to Takoma Park and love it. We’re about a miles from the metro. Tons of kids around, nice families, we love the schools and the downtown area. People will say it’s not really diverse, but it’s better than many places...on our block are young families and senior citizens, many persons of color, and families with two moms and two dads. There is a great sense of community, which was really important to us. We are generally liberal, but definitely not hippies.

[Anonymous]

We moved a rented apartment in Petworth to a house in Takoma Park. When we first moved we were childless; now we have two young kids. Overall, we are very happy here. The neighborhood (especially all the parks) is great. Lots of young families. The downtown and the Junction make it very walkable. Farmers market is nice, even during covid. Kids not old enough for public school yet,so can't comment on that personally, although I have heard the schools are fine.

As other posters have observed, the city taxes make it more expensive than neighboring SS. The current mayoral election is turning into a fight over how to decrease the city tax rate. But at the end of the day, it's all lumped into your PITI, which is really what we focused on when buying a house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No middle school in the DMV can compete with TPMS. This is the middle school that competes in High school Math competitions.

Just because there are a handful of brilliant math students at TPMS doesn't mean that it is a great school overall for the average kid. That's the farce about magnet schools.

It is great school overall, even but GS standing, which is 10/10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved a rented apartment in Petworth to a house in Takoma Park. When we first moved we were childless; now we have two young kids. Overall, we are very happy here. The neighborhood (especially all the parks) is great. Lots of young families. The downtown and the Junction make it very walkable. Farmers market is nice, even during covid. Kids not old enough for public school yet,so can't comment on that personally, although I have heard the schools are fine.

As other posters have observed, the city taxes make it more expensive than neighboring SS. The current mayoral election is turning into a fight over how to decrease the city tax rate. But at the end of the day, it's all lumped into your PITI, which is really what we focused on when buying a house.

Takoma Park is small town - for better and for worse. I love it, but it can tend towards provincial especially re: development and politics. The funny thing about the new candidate looking to decrease taxes is that he is part of very vocal group that wants the City to develop and operate a city-owned parking lot for community purposes (though there is a relatively new community building literally down the street) - so not sure how this fits into lower taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No middle school in the DMV can compete with TPMS. This is the middle school that competes in High school Math competitions.

Just because there are a handful of brilliant math students at TPMS doesn't mean that it is a great school overall for the average kid. That's the farce about magnet schools.

Yeah, I think there are much better middle schools than TPMS for students who are *not* math geniuses. Also found their Humanities to pretty "meh." TPMS has some very bright kids and some very privileged kids--not always the same subset

[Anonymous]

How is Blair aside from the magnet program? Is it worth moving from a DC charter to takoma/east SS for Blair?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is Blair aside from the magnet program? Is it worth moving from a DC charter to takoma/east SS for Blair?

Depends on the charter and depends on your kid. I have come to believe that above a certain level of competence for the school, what matters more than a lot of these metrics you see tossed about (GS rating, number of national merit finalists, college admissions, etc), is the size and social atmosphere of the school and how that fits with your kid's personality and learning style. And beyond that, as these larger schools, so much depends on which teachers they get, which friends they make, etc. Just no way to do a straight comparison between Blair and some random DC charter school.

[Anonymous]

GS ratings seem to tie almost perfectly in with affluence, and to some extent, lack of cultural diversity. In our experience with several schools, different kids, etc... a high GS ranking was no indicator of much beyond an affluent population that's mostly English-speaking. Any school with a large esol program or FARMS gets dinged in the rankings.

The best school our kids ever attended was ranked a 4. The small size and close attention meant a lot more than a 9 because some kids test well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is Blair aside from the magnet program? Is it worth moving from a DC charter to takoma/east SS for Blair?

We did it. And my answer is... Maybe, but.

A few things. What high school options are there in DC and how well do they dovetail with interested? Is the charter school Latin? Probably not, then. I think. How good is your kid with crowds? Are they self directed enough to be happy with 3000 peers? Will they find their gang (that is not an actual gang) or be overwhelmed by the options?

The DCC has some great programs, many of which are self-selecting, so even a bon magnet kid has some choices. But... There is also another lottery. If you want IB, Blair doesn't have it. Need to lottery or test into a school that does. If you want a magnet and don't get in... That's it. You can't apply next year. (Except to Vac). Didn't get into the lottery option I was counting on (we turned down Blair for it) but did get into a selective program. But off a wait list. So there was a good week or so when I was staring at the offered school (which wasn't awful, but wasn't great for the programs and the kid) and having flashbacks to the DC lottery system, where I had to make choices like, "what happens in middle school to a Montessori kid?" And, "what if we don't lottery into Latin?" (We did not get a spot there.)

Every school in the DCC has its strengths and I am impressed by them. But there are some weird things too. Like the pecking orders. The snobbery from the east part of the county. The sheer size.

Oh, and this may not bug you, but it does me: every single high school in the DCC (except Einstein and Wheaton) is parked along a major busy massive six-lane road. It just makes coming and going feel like you'd never want to go for a walk afterward. On the other hand, unlike DC, they have school busses. And for working parents that's pretty huge too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved a rented apartment in Petworth to a house in Takoma Park. When we first moved we were childless; now we have two young kids. Overall, we are very happy here. The neighborhood (especially all the parks) is great. Lots of young families. The downtown and the Junction make it very walkable. Farmers market is nice, even during covid. Kids not old enough for public school yet,so can't comment on that personally, although I have heard the schools are fine.

As other posters have observed, the city taxes make it more expensive than neighboring SS. The current mayoral election is turning into a fight over how to decrease the city tax rate. But at the end of the day, it's all lumped into your PITI, which is really what we focused on when buying a house.

Takoma Park is small town - for better and for worse. I love it, but it can tend towards provincial especially re: development and politics. The funny thing about the new candidate looking to decrease taxes is that he is part of very vocal group that wants the City to develop and operate a city-owned parking lot for community purposes (though there is a relatively new community building literally down the street) - so not sure how this fits into lower taxes.

Takoma Park isn't a small town. Its large and has a huge population. people confuse the historic area near the metro with being all of TP. That is the small town feel part. Go to the Chucky Cheese in TP and tell me if it still feels like a quaint middle class small town. Thats a larger part of TP and defines it more even if the white moms pretend it isn't part of it. The families that live in that part is why so, so many from the SFH part fight so hard to get their kids in immersion, magnet or Enriched programs. It isn't because their kids are that smart

[Anonymous]

One thing you get with maps is a bit more certainty. Zones may change but schools are reasonably strong. There aren't many reasonably strong dcps so unless you are zoned for one you have to hopenfoe charter luck or for high school test in luck.