“Fleeing” to the burbs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also I don't think there are any MCPS high schools with less than 5% White students. Dunbar is less than 1%. And there are definitely White people living there so they all literally all either leaving when their kids get school age or "figuring it out" (charter/private).

Kennedy and Paint Branch. And Watkins Mill and Springbrook are just over 5%.

Having Kennedy, Watkins Mill, and Springbrook house the regional IB magnets is one attempt to move these numbers.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. Just want to note I appreciate so much of the advice here about the various trade-offs! This is also just a decently snarkless thread. Thanks so much for the insights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re FARMS in DC, I think if it’s above a certain number, it’s marked as 100 and everyone gets free lunch. But it doesn’t mean that 100% of kids qualify independently.

This. Some schools are marked as "community eligibility FARMs" schools in DC. Our school was estimated to be 70% FARMs, but because it was community eligibility, our kids got free breakfast, lunch, supper, and aftercare. (I think aftercare is now different -- even if you are at a community eligibility school, you have to show you qualify for FARMs to get the free aftercare. But when we were there, it was free for all.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't flee. There is no need to flee. If you want to stay in DC, then stay in DC and figure it out like lots of other people do. Or, move to Montgomery County (or wherever) because you want to do that. And if you do move to Montgomery County, you do not have to move to Bethesda or Potomac.

What you are missing here is that there are very few reasonable middle school or high school options that are acceptable if you live in NE DC. So for many there, moving out of the city IS the only viable option to “figuring it out”. Where we lived our in bound high school was Dunbar. Beautiful building but serious problems for most of the kids who attend, very high truancy, teenage pregnancy, extremely low test scores. It was not an option I was comfortable with for good reason. There are also few charter options and they are all lottery. OP is asking the right questions to “figure it out”.

True but we know lots of people who did Walls or Latin or Basis instead of schools like Dunbar. And it certainly doesn’t mean you need to move when your kids are little—DCPS has very strong ECE programs and many schools are strong into the ES years. -DP

Oh you know lots of people who won a literal lottery. Great for them! But for many others it is more desirable to put down roots where your kid can stay through HS (not to mention better public college options). Moving in MS if you don’t win a lottery is far from simple.

Or you stay in DC until it doesn't work, and then you move. But if you keep playing the lottery, most people I know were able to find something they liked. I certainly wouldn't "flee" to MCPS when my kids hadn't even tried the lottery for several years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Just want to note I appreciate so much of the advice here about the various trade-offs! This is also just a decently snarkless thread. Thanks so much for the insights.

Agree. I am also considering moving from DC to MoCo, so I have been reading this. But just reading the MCPS forum is so different than the DCPS forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't flee. There is no need to flee. If you want to stay in DC, then stay in DC and figure it out like lots of other people do. Or, move to Montgomery County (or wherever) because you want to do that. And if you do move to Montgomery County, you do not have to move to Bethesda or Potomac.

What you are missing here is that there are very few reasonable middle school or high school options that are acceptable if you live in NE DC. So for many there, moving out of the city IS the only viable option to “figuring it out”. Where we lived our in bound high school was Dunbar. Beautiful building but serious problems for most of the kids who attend, very high truancy, teenage pregnancy, extremely low test scores. It was not an option I was comfortable with for good reason. There are also few charter options and they are all lottery. OP is asking the right questions to “figure it out”.

True but we know lots of people who did Walls or Latin or Basis instead of schools like Dunbar. And it certainly doesn’t mean you need to move when your kids are little—DCPS has very strong ECE programs and many schools are strong into the ES years. -DP

Oh you know lots of people who won a literal lottery. Great for them! But for many others it is more desirable to put down roots where your kid can stay through HS (not to mention better public college options). Moving in MS if you don’t win a lottery is far from simple.

Or you stay in DC until it doesn't work, and then you move. But if you keep playing the lottery, most people I know were able to find something they liked. I certainly wouldn't "flee" to MCPS when my kids hadn't even tried the lottery for several years.

They were able to find MS and HS? Doubt it. And you missed my point, which is that it is really hard to uproot your kid in 6th grade (or 9th) if it doesn’t work out. That’s exactly why many people reasonably move when their kid is younger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't flee. There is no need to flee. If you want to stay in DC, then stay in DC and figure it out like lots of other people do. Or, move to Montgomery County (or wherever) because you want to do that. And if you do move to Montgomery County, you do not have to move to Bethesda or Potomac.

What you are missing here is that there are very few reasonable middle school or high school options that are acceptable if you live in NE DC. So for many there, moving out of the city IS the only viable option to “figuring it out”. Where we lived our in bound high school was Dunbar. Beautiful building but serious problems for most of the kids who attend, very high truancy, teenage pregnancy, extremely low test scores. It was not an option I was comfortable with for good reason. There are also few charter options and they are all lottery. OP is asking the right questions to “figure it out”.

True but we know lots of people who did Walls or Latin or Basis instead of schools like Dunbar. And it certainly doesn’t mean you need to move when your kids are little—DCPS has very strong ECE programs and many schools are strong into the ES years. -DP

Oh you know lots of people who won a literal lottery. Great for them! But for many others it is more desirable to put down roots where your kid can stay through HS (not to mention better public college options). Moving in MS if you don’t win a lottery is far from simple.

Or you stay in DC until it doesn't work, and then you move. But if you keep playing the lottery, most people I know were able to find something they liked. I certainly wouldn't "flee" to MCPS when my kids hadn't even tried the lottery for several years.

Most people eventually find something like for elementary. There are few choices for middle and high school with moving to certain parts of DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't flee. There is no need to flee. If you want to stay in DC, then stay in DC and figure it out like lots of other people do. Or, move to Montgomery County (or wherever) because you want to do that. And if you do move to Montgomery County, you do not have to move to Bethesda or Potomac.

What you are missing here is that there are very few reasonable middle school or high school options that are acceptable if you live in NE DC. So for many there, moving out of the city IS the only viable option to “figuring it out”. Where we lived our in bound high school was Dunbar. Beautiful building but serious problems for most of the kids who attend, very high truancy, teenage pregnancy, extremely low test scores. It was not an option I was comfortable with for good reason. There are also few charter options and they are all lottery. OP is asking the right questions to “figure it out”.

True but we know lots of people who did Walls or Latin or Basis instead of schools like Dunbar. And it certainly doesn’t mean you need to move when your kids are little—DCPS has very strong ECE programs and many schools are strong into the ES years. -DP

Oh you know lots of people who won a literal lottery. Great for them! But for many others it is more desirable to put down roots where your kid can stay through HS (not to mention better public college options). Moving in MS if you don’t win a lottery is far from simple.

Or you stay in DC until it doesn't work, and then you move. But if you keep playing the lottery, most people I know were able to find something they liked. I certainly wouldn't "flee" to MCPS when my kids hadn't even tried the lottery for several years.

Most people eventually find something like for elementary. There are few choices for middle and high school with moving to certain parts of DC.

If you are willing to have your kid do Basis, most people get an offer. And I know people who strategically lotteries into ES with good feeder patterns even though they were happy with their home elementary schools in order to lock in solid middle and high school choices. The point is, it's not suburbs or bust, and the overall life you lead in DC is pretty different from the overall life you lead in Montgomery County. Personally, I would rather be in DC, even though we did haul ourselves out here ten years ago in part because we needed more space.

[Anonymous]

One of the things that MCPS does a really good job at is at the high school level. The availability of support, programs, clubs, and classes is impressive, and there is something for everyone. This is regardless of how the school is rated, therefore I disagree with the opinion that your kid can only have a good experience or a good education at one of the Ws. We're very happy at Seneca Valley, in fact, and have heard the same from friends with kids at other non-W high schools. Don't listen to the people who claim that W is the only way to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am OP! I have little kids but when we outgrow our teensy house, I don’t know where to begin figuring it out. I appreciate the don’t flee responses! I’d truly rather not. I just see so much saying that dc standards are horribly low and burbs are so much more rigorous, and I truly have zero clue how to assess those claims. The negativity about every option on here gets in my head! I just want my kids to have an outlet to be happy and passionate about learning and not incredibly bored. And the idea of denying them cool opportunity like robot space club or whatever because I prefer to live in a city makes me feel like a jerk.

Then again, right now, parents at our title I school are interesting, mission-focused people who work in non profits and in government, and I like the idea of being in a community with those sorts of values. Then this forum makes me think that the kinds of amazing opportunities my kids would love is all in the burbs and not in dc—but maybe it’s just a grass is always greener situation. Any thoughts on how people are working through this kind of decision?

There are plenty of feds etc in Bethesda. It will be less socioeconomically and racially diverse for sure. But there will be plenty of ppl in "mission-driven" type jobs.

We are a dual fed family.

Thank you! Are there certain pyramids in Bethesda where this is more true?

BCC pyramid for Bethesda

Ha! I am the dual fed PP from above and yes we are in BCC pyramid!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people who flee from DC to MCPS for the reasons you mentioned relocated in Bethesda/Potomac area so their kids can go to one of the W schools.

Outside of that, you don't want to look at MCPS, if that's your MO. You would be better off in NoVa, with Fairfax County or Loudoun County.

Some people are starting to flee MCPS for Frederick County Public Schools for the reasons you're stating, but that might be farther out than you'd like to go.

A clueless NoVa person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the things that MCPS does a really good job at is at the high school level. The availability of support, programs, clubs, and classes is impressive, and there is something for everyone. This is regardless of how the school is rated, therefore I disagree with the opinion that your kid can only have a good experience or a good education at one of the Ws. We're very happy at Seneca Valley, in fact, and have heard the same from friends with kids at other non-W high schools. Don't listen to the people who claim that W is the only way to go.

This, 100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Then again, right now, parents at our title I school are interesting, mission-focused people who work in non profits and in government, and I like the idea of being in a community with those sorts of values. Then this forum makes me think that the kinds of amazing opportunities my kids would love is all in the burbs and not in dc—but maybe it’s just a grass is always greener situation. Any thoughts on how people are working through this kind of decision?

IMHO you will find your people in Takoma Park, or possibly even better, the East Silver Spring Elementary catchment because it feeds into TPMS (with its middle school magnet set-aside) and Blair, but without the TKPK property taxes!

Before you flee to TKPK, if you're not big on crime, you may want to shop around first. Check on Blair's suspension and serious incident stats. It's not the rosy picture it's cracked up to be.

[Anonymous]

Fleeing is more of a term used for the teachers in a profession that has no value or support in the US. It's treated like the next big money bailout bubble paid for by workers to funnel money to the top.

[Anonymous]

I think the problem is the concept of “fleeing.” We are in DC and considering a move, to the burbs within or outside of DC. But we don’t feel like we are fleeing—we’ve lived our time at our school (for the most part) and really love our neighborhood (for the most part) and our home (for the most part) and the community of parents and kids and friends wr have here (unequivocally). We’ll leave if we find the perfect place, but we are more weighing the options and wondering if there is something better for us, rather than fleeing.