Help me choose my next house/condo!

[Anonymous]

I am a former district resident looking to sell my house and move back into the district. I have about 500-550k to spend and willing to downsize (2BD, 1.5 BATH) to get into a excellent school district. I love the charters but if I don't get into a good charter, I still want my IB to be a great school. I value diversity and language immersion. Where should I buy?

[Anonymous]

OP here, forgot to add that I am looking at PK3 in the fall.

[Anonymous]

Takoma, DC. TEC is getting better every year, and several great charters close by.

[Anonymous]

Word on the street is that Powell and Bancroft are up-and-comers. Try IBs for there.

[Anonymous]

Don't waste your time trying to but near a charter. That won't guarantee you admission. Also, think about Oyster where all of the IB Latino families live.

[Anonymous]

Well it's too late to register anywhere for the Fall of this year. If you afford Ward 3 I will go with that.

[Anonymous]

OP here, I am OK with keeping my DD where she is for the start of PK3.

Oyster seems like a great option with their bilingual component.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Takoma, DC. TEC is getting better every year, and several great charters close by.

I wouldn't count on TEC beyond K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Word on the street is that Powell and Bancroft are up-and-comers. Try IBs for there.

We live near Powell and you can still get a three-bedroom house there for $550K.

[Anonymous]

Just another alternative: think about Janney/Murch for elementary school. The languages are not there, but you can supplement after school and in the summer. Then you've got Alice Deal and Wilson--both very strong middle and high schools WITH STRONG LANGUAGE PROGRAMS:
http://alicedeal.org/2012/05/us-school-students-put-language-learning-to-use-in-china/
I throw this out there (in addition to the strong recommendations above) because after elementary school, that's when sophisticated language learning (literature, newspaper reading, travel) can really take place. Be sure to consider middle and upper schools. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

You should buy a place along the Red Line and be inbounds for Janney, Murch, Eaton, or, possibly, Layfayette. Two of these are diverse in the sense that the pie chart of skin color has a good balance. One is OK.

It boggles my mind that people place iffy defacto Spanish "immersion" above the ***entire rest of the school experience.***

Your English-dominant kid isn't going to graduate Bancroft able to read One Hundred Days of Solitude in Spanish and be able to discuss it with his Bancroft-area peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just another alternative: think about Janney/Murch for elementary school. The languages are not there, but you can supplement after school and in the summer. Then you've got Alice Deal and Wilson--both very strong middle and high schools WITH STRONG LANGUAGE PROGRAMS:
http://alicedeal.org/2012/05/us-school-students-put-language-learning-to-use-in-china/
I throw this out there (in addition to the strong recommendations above) because after elementary school, that's when sophisticated language learning (literature, newspaper reading, travel) can really take place. Be sure to consider middle and upper schools. Good luck!

Waiting until after elementary school for language learning is a bad idea and cheats the child of the optimal time to learn a language (birth to somewhere around puberty).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should buy a place along the Red Line and be inbounds for Janney, Murch, Eaton, or, possibly, Layfayette. Two of these are diverse in the sense that the pie chart of skin color has a good balance. One is OK.

It boggles my mind that people place iffy defacto Spanish "immersion" above the ***entire rest of the school experience.***

Your English-dominant kid isn't going to graduate Bancroft able to read One Hundred Days of Solitude in Spanish and be able to discuss it with his Bancroft-area peers.

Um, this would be true if your definition of diverse is 60-70+% white. For real diversity, stick with Eaton or Hearst.

However, if language is important to you I would go with Murch because they have a language immersion aftercare program. To me it is the best alternative to a language immersion school (if you can't get into a charter) and then you get to go to Deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your English-dominant kid isn't going to graduate Bancroft able to read One Hundred Days of Solitude in Spanish and be able to discuss it with his Bancroft-area peers.

It appears DC adults will not be able to discuss One Hundred Days of Solitude either. Because the book's title is One Hundred YEARS of Solitude. Felicidades!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your English-dominant kid isn't going to graduate Bancroft able to read One Hundred Days of Solitude in Spanish and be able to discuss it with his Bancroft-area peers.

It appears DC adults will not be able to discuss One Hundred Days of Solitude either. Because the book's title is One Hundred YEARS of Solitude. Felicidades!

Perhaps PP was talking about the abridged version?