Moving to dc....

[Anonymous]

It looks like we'll be moving to DC from New York this summer. We currently do public in Brooklyn and have one kid, who's going to be in third grade in the fall.

I've been reading threads, running searches on neighborhoods and schools, and trying to get a sense of this. The more I learn, the more confused I get. I'm not crazy about charter schools (the way they've rolled through New York has been problematic), but a lot of my personal beliefs about them get thrown out the window when it comes to the kid... so... I really don't know. My understanding is, if we wanted to try for a charter we'd have to get an application for the second round in soon? What is the deadline?

Can anyone offer suggestions for a neighborhood and school similar to Clinton Hill/Fort Greene, Brooklyn, which is where we are now? We'll be renting for a year or two and working downtown. I'm intrigued by Shepard Park and its elementary school, which feeds into Deal, which is apparently a good thing, but it's pretty far out there. I also don't really drive much, we don't own a car now, so was thinking of somewhere closer in. I'd love to have a strings program at the school, art, science, the usual. Since the kid hasn't had languages up until now, immersion probably wouldn't work.

Most everyone I have asked has said "move to the burbs," but I really don't want to do that. I've lived in cities my entire life--and, from looking at ratings (which I realize don't tell the entire story ever), the burbs with diversity (racial and socioeconomic) don't have better ratings than the dc schools.

Our budget's not sky high, but it's not that low either. Any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Tenleytown - close to a metro, good schools, neighborhood/suburban feel. I wouldn't live there (feels too suburban to me) ....but it is a safe bet.

[Anonymous]

Move IB for Hearst along the red line. You wouldn't need a car, several grocery stores walkable and near rock creek park. you can rent an apartment and walk to the red line.

[Anonymous]

Cleveland or Grover park apartment until you're hear and can get a better understanding of what's going on. Boundaries are being redrawn, top charters are impossible to get into and not having a car but being inbounds for Shepherd is a non-starter. There's a huge learning curve to life in this city. You're better off renting in a West of the Park area ("WofP" or West of Rock Creek Park) until you can get a handle on the jungle hear. Than go from there. GL!

[Anonymous]

You need to tell us your budget. Sheperd Park is not a good fit if you don't want to drive much. Its a cute little neighborhood but not a lot of rental and the houses are very very pricey.
If you want to rent into a great school In Bounds, look in Ward 3/Upper NW around Tenleytown metro for Janney Elem. All of the upper NW schools are good and you could rent around the metro stations on Wisconsin avenue or Connecticut Avenue. You could be in a great elem and most likely feed into Deal and then Wilson if you are in it for the long haul.
Cap Hill is a great family walkable neighborhood. Brent elem is the best but lots of families like Watkins. But most families who can bail after 4th grade do so and go for the charters such as Latin, Basis or private. You will have more long term options in upper NW.

[Anonymous]

"here" not "hear"

[Anonymous]

If you are worried about the school feeder changers-head to NWDC inbound for Hearst, Janney, Lafayette etc. Might be slightly more suburban feeling than you would like ideally, but frankly, DC isn't NYC. It's all a bit more suburban feeling.

[Anonymous]

Closest thing to Clinton Hill/Ft. Greene is probably Capitol Hill. You'd want to rent a rowhouse inbound for Brent or Maury elementary schools. You'll have a few years to get the lay of the land for middle school. You may have to move, eventually, but there are significant school boundary issues in play right now - nothing is certain for anyone.

[Anonymous]

We kind of want to rent a house, and I was thinking more like Petworth, Brightwood, Brookland, Mount Pleasant, the Hill or north of it.... urban is fine. I think Tenleytown is too suburban too. Budget maxes out around 3K.

[Anonymous]

What's the difference between Brent and Maury, in terms of programs? What about JO Wilson or Ludlow-Taylor? They both have some good (and some mixed) reviews here.

If I come down the week after spring break will I be able to do some informal tours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We kind of want to rent a house, and I was thinking more like Petworth, Brightwood, Brookland, Mount Pleasant, the Hill or north of it.... urban is fine. I think Tenleytown is too suburban too. Budget maxes out around 3K.

The areas you mention are nice.They first three are very diverse and changing for the best. Takoma and Powell are the schools you may want to be zoned for.

[Anonymous]

We moved here from Park Slope and the Hill is really the most analogous area in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We kind of want to rent a house, and I was thinking more like Petworth, Brightwood, Brookland, Mount Pleasant, the Hill or north of it.... urban is fine. I think Tenleytown is too suburban too. Budget maxes out around 3K.

I live EOTP and would caution you at that grade and with no chance of getting into a top charter since you missed the lottery to definitely move WOTP. The most urban feel is Woodley Park, and then you are IB for Oyster. However, I wouldn't recommend it if your child has not done Spanish before. I would look a little north on Connecticut Ave, in the Cleveland Park and Van Ness metro line communities. I would not worry about feeder patterns if you are renting--you can always try to lottery to another school like Washington Latin charter for 5th grade, and if that fails you can move IB for Deal. Agree with PP that the Hill would also work -- and that you want IB for either Brent or Maury if you go that route.

$3k however will not get you far in these neighborhoods (not sure about the Hill). Best of luck.

[Anonymous]

We just bought in Shepherd Park last year and love it. Demographics tend to be very liberal/social justice-type folks, mostly observant Jews and middle/upper middle-class blacks. However, I agree that Shepherd Park is probably too far out if you live downtown (I work in MD myself), and not very accessible by metro, unless you live in the section that borders downtown Silver Spring (then it'd be ~1/2-1 mile walking). Otherwise, not very walkable. I don't think I've seen rentals in this area, though, so probably better options elsewhere.

There are some gems east of the park, but until you know the lay of the land better after being here a while, I'd look west of Rock Creek Park for better schools.

People could probably give you better advice if you indicate your ballpark rental budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the difference between Brent and Maury, in terms of programs? What about JO Wilson or Ludlow-Taylor? They both have some good (and some mixed) reviews here.

If I come down the week after spring break will I be able to do some informal tours?

I would only consider JO Wilson and L-T for PK, maybe lower grades. In many schools, there is a huge difference between the PK/K grades and higher grades. At 3rd grade, I think you only want to focus on Brent and Maury. Maury is the smaller of the two.