Has anyone decided to give up on DCPS and move to Virginia?

[Anonymous]

Real estate agents may, by fair housing law, only refer clients to websites and other municipal entities where they can find statistical data. School performance, crime rates, church locales etc are not to be discussed beyond that. Every agent in the area should know this. Period. It's not rocket science people. Think about the liability.

Of course if a client comes to an agent and says, I only want to look in so and so school district"... that's just fine.

[Anonymous]

It is not all about test scores and school reputation people.
It is really very very simple.

At the end of the day you just need to ask yourselves what models you want for your children.

Do the students and parents in your DCPS school exhibit the behavior, attitude, manners, etc. that you want your child to emulate in their lives? Think about the front desk staff, the after care aides, the custodians, the parents dropping their kids off, ALL of the kids in the school, and the teachers.

Ask yourself again.

As for me I am moving out of DC as fast as I can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is not all about test scores and school reputation people.
It is really very very simple.

At the end of the day you just need to ask yourselves what models you want for your children.

Do the students and parents in your DCPS school exhibit the behavior, attitude, manners, etc. that you want your child to emulate in their lives? Think about the front desk staff, the after care aides, the custodians, the parents dropping their kids off, ALL of the kids in the school, and the teachers.

Ask yourself again.

As for me I am moving out of DC as fast as I can.

we'll be glad to see you go. we don't need such negativity. you'll be great in the suburbs of virgina. seems more your small-minded pace.

[Anonymous]

Another way to think of it is this: write down all of the reasons you are staying in DC. Rank them.
Is "great schools" at the top or the bottom of your list?

Make a responsible decision and get your kids into the best possible environment.

[Anonymous]

Great schools in not at the top of my list, believe it or not. But a dynamic, culturally rich community where my kids will have the opportunity to meet and befriend ALL KINDS if people and where I will constantly have my beliefs and attitudes challenged by the people I meet IS at the top of my list. So is almost never getting in my car, never fighting traffic and being able to walk to the smithsonian museums, great restaurantd, bars I rank a short commute and time with my family at the top,toooo. etc.

I am looking for good enough schools, but I want a. GREAT lifestyle in a GREAT city. Call me biased and judgmental, but in my true opinion, the lifestyle in the Washington DC suburbs resembles a certain kind of bell on earth. biaed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not all about test scores and school reputation people.
It is really very very simple.

At the end of the day you just need to ask yourselves what models you want for your children.

Do the students and parents in your DCPS school exhibit the behavior, attitude, manners, etc. that you want your child to emulate in their lives? Think about the front desk staff, the after care aides, the custodians, the parents dropping their kids off, ALL of the kids in the school, and the teachers.

Ask yourself again.

As for me I am moving out of DC as fast as I can.

I was born and raised in VA, and I live in DC now! If you think moving to VA is somehow going to "blanket" you from diversity, and specific attitudes. You are sadly mistaken. Some areas of VA are not "cake walks"! It takes a certain type of person to appreciate DC, same goes for VA. I may move back to VA when I get ready to retire, but not now! DC has great privates, charters and public schools! If you want to move to VA, bye!! One or two more spaces just became available...thanks!

we'll be glad to see you go. we don't need such negativity. you'll be great in the suburbs of virgina. seems more your small-minded pace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great schools in not at the top of my list, believe it or not. But a dynamic, culturally rich community where my kids will have the opportunity to meet and befriend ALL KINDS if people and where I will constantly have my beliefs and attitudes challenged by the people I meet IS at the top of my list. So is almost never getting in my car, never fighting traffic and being able to walk to the smithsonian museums, great restaurantd, bars I rank a short commute and time with my family at the top,toooo. etc.

I am looking for good enough schools, but I want a. GREAT lifestyle in a GREAT city. Call me biased and judgmental, but in my true opinion, the lifestyle in the Washington DC suburbs resembles a certain kind of bell on earth. biaed.

Same goes for me

[Anonymous]

So much of life - and learning - takes place OUTSIDE the classroom.

I don't want to raise children who've been drilled. I want to raise children whose eyes are open to the world.

[Anonymous]

In some parts of DC the only diversity is blonde and brunette. Like at Key.

[Anonymous]

Overheard an AA Landon mom say she moved her kid from Lafayette cause it wasn't diverse enough. Who would have thought...

Sounds like the DC Lifstyle advocate lives on the Hill. Just a guess.

[Anonymous]

I don't want to leave the city, but I also don't want to have to drive my child everyplace, including school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't want to leave the city, but I also don't want to have to drive my child everyplace, including school.

Then you may be out of luck. It's not like there are any suburbs with a walkable lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

By sixth or seventh grade your kid can get herself around the city on public transportation, including to many schools. This is less likely in the suburbs I imagine, where you end up shuttling to school, the mall ( the other kind ) and friends houses for much longer.

[Anonymous]

I'm so much like you. But I have been told by friends that it's not all about me or what I want anymore. Kids want to hang out at their friends' houses not at the museum and want a home cooked meal not a fancy restaurant. The other problem is that in DC you're either rich or poor so it is a skewed view of the world. Middle class folks live in the burbs. Oh and since it's mostly liberal, you won't have your views opposed. Hope you have a good school but others aren't so lucky so they need to move.

Anonymous wrote:Great schools in not at the top of my list, believe it or not. But a dynamic, culturally rich community where my kids will have the opportunity to meet and befriend ALL KINDS if people and where I will constantly have my beliefs and attitudes challenged by the people I meet IS at the top of my list. So is almost never getting in my car, never fighting traffic and being able to walk to the smithsonian museums, great restaurantd, bars I rank a short commute and time with my family at the top,toooo. etc.

I am looking for good enough schools, but I want a. GREAT lifestyle in a GREAT city. Call me biased and judgmental, but in my true opinion, the lifestyle in the Washington DC suburbs resembles a certain kind of bell on earth. biaed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm so much like you. But I have been told by friends that it's not all about me or what I want anymore. Kids want to hang out at their friends' houses not at the museum and want a home cooked meal not a fancy restaurant. The other problem is that in DC you're either rich or poor so it is a skewed view of the world. Middle class folks live in the burbs. Oh and since it's mostly liberal, you won't have your views opposed. Hope you have a good school but others aren't so lucky so they need to move.

Anonymous wrote:Great schools in not at the top of my list, believe it or not. But a dynamic, culturally rich community where my kids will have the opportunity to meet and befriend ALL KINDS if people and where I will constantly have my beliefs and attitudes challenged by the people I meet IS at the top of my list. So is almost never getting in my car, never fighting traffic and being able to walk to the smithsonian museums, great restaurantd, bars I rank a short commute and time with my family at the top,toooo. etc.

I am looking for good enough schools, but I want a. GREAT lifestyle in a GREAT city. Call me biased and judgmental, but in my true opinion, the lifestyle in the Washington DC suburbs resembles a certain kind of bell on earth. biaed.

Having grown up in the city, I would disagree with what your friends say kids want. If you, as parents, model the sort of city-centric lifestyle the first poster is talking about, your kids will pick up on at least some of it. Before I became a too-cool teen, I loved hanging out in the museums, and my parents would let me take the metro downtown by myself to do so. I gained a real sense of empowerment and independence from doing so. After I got too cool to hang out at museums, my friends and I would hang out in Dupont, Georgetown, etc., which I think is at least a little more redeeming than hanging out at the mall (although just a little). Any time a big art exhibit came into town, my mom took us (i.e., made us go), so we saw Picasso, Gaugin, and all these other artists that I had absolutely no appreciation for until I was a bit older, and then realized how lucky I was to have been in a city where iconic art was accessible. We had the home-cooked meals but also enjoyed dining in fine restaurants and got an early dose of the proper manners to be able to do so. Since I went to DCPS, I was not only surrounded by rich/poor - are you aware of the huge black middle class in the city?? We were upper middle class, but I went to school with students from various backgrounds - it definitely wasn't the rich/poor dichotomy you describe above. I agree with one thing you/your friends say though, your liberal view point won't get as much of a workout in DC as it would in the burbs.