Future parents--heartburn over schooling--would love insight
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Anonymous
I'm another Brent parent and I agree with everything you say. Also, clearly Stuart Hobson is better right now today than Elliot Hine. Just like Watkins isn't perfect, but it's better than say, Miner. So for Brent parents feeding into Stuart Hobson would be an improvement over the status quo. Say we fed into Stuart Hobson, and only 30% of Brent "graduates" went on to Stuart - my son would still have good friends there on day one. I would say in favor of EH, in the upper grades there are a bunch of Hill East people at Brent (inclusing my family). So the EH location would work well for a lot the families in the upper grades, but location isn't enough to sell us on a school. But I do have to say that the Jefferson location is a big turn off to me. It just feels far and if I have to drive my kid to school - why not Hardy? Or the Howard stem MS? Or 2Rs? |
Anonymous
Luckily for you, 7 years ago people at Brent DID buy that line, or at least decided to give it a try. Within 3 years, Brent it went from being on the short list to close because of underenrollment, to full enrollment. Now it has crazy waitlists. Given the right conditions, change can happen VERY fast. I don't own property in SW, but that is starting to look like a fantastic place to own. |
Anonymous
OP here. I'm sorry, but that's rude. I have plently of common sense. I just value convenience, a vibrant neighborhood, and an easier social life and commute. I don't want to live inHillcrest, I'm sorry. Enjoy Hillcrest--I hear it's a nice neighborhood. I'd rather work something else out (including waiting to buy if I have to) to live on the Hill. This is a strong personal preference/desire. It's not as simple as "common sense." |
Anonymous
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Luckily for you, 7 years ago people at Brent DID buy that line, or at least decided to give it a try. Within 3 years, Brent it went from being on the short list to close because of underenrollment, to full enrollment. Now it has crazy waitlists. Given the right conditions, change can happen VERY fast. I don't own property in SW, but that is starting to look like a fantastic place to own.
That was before the explosion of ES charters like Yu Ying and Inspire DC, and before the CH Montessori and Peabody made more room; those days seem to be gone. The "right conditions" are simply much harder to find than 6 or 7 years ago. Watch the Payne and Ludlow-Taylor PTAs struggle to keep IB families past K for evidence of this. The middle-class cohort on the Hill is already spread too thin. Moreover, the Brent District has very little low-income housing and no homeless shelter (vs. Payne, where 1/3 of the kids come from the big one on Mass Ave.), unlike most of the others on the Hill. I agree that SW may be "different" due to the surge in development/town house construction, but wouldn't bank on it. |
Anonymous
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1/3 of the kids at Payne do not come from the homeless shelter. This is wildly inaccurate and actually harmful to parents who are considering Payne.
And Payne isn't struggling to keep families past K. The 2011/12 school year was the first year that "gentrifiers" tried Payne. Of the 6 or 7 families in preschool and preK, all but maybe one were very happy atleast for that school year. And about half are staying for the next grade. I don't know if any are thinking of Payne longterm, but not because Payne is bad. I think a lot of parents in the less popular schools play the lottery every year and then weigh options. My child was at Payne and the school was safe and orderly. We would have stayed but are moving our child to be with his sibling. |
Anonymous
| 10:49 - are you looking at Howard M&S and/or 2R for middle school? Interested in 2R in particular as we have a great waitlist number there and hoping to make it in-- at a school that will be good through middle school... |
Anonymous
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I think it would be reasonable to compare Stuart Hobson to 2Rivers for middle school. They both offer Spanish (which is a useful, modern language and that is attractive to my family). Hobson is relatively small and 2Rivers MS is tiny. Both middle schools have a large proportion of middle class AA families (based on people I've met).
The challenge at 2Rs is that people seem to leave in droves in 4th and 5th grade and that could be hard to go through for a kid and a parent. |
Anonymous
HA HA I don't live in Hillcrest. Wish I did though....My comments rude?? What I find rude is the total dismissal of some of the best real estate in DC which is east of the river. Born and raised in DC. I am amazed at some the schools and areas (including those on the hill) that have become "desirable"....You wouldn't even think of enrolling your dog there 20 years ago. You scoff at east of the river because there aren't enough gentrifiers to sooth your needs. You chose to share your heartburn over schooling for a child that hasn't arrived yet. The elitism on this board just enrages me. When you do have children and you see that schools like Winston and Anne Beers are filled with gentrifiers' children and those neighborhoods bustling with the social scene you seek for half the mortgage price, remember you read it here first. An example, Potomac Avenue is totally different from the way it was 20 years ago. |
Anonymous
| I'm not OP, but I also found your comment rude-- she loves the SW/hill neighborhood. As nice as Hillcrest is, it is TOTALLY different from SW. hillcrest is very residential, but SW is as downtown as you can get and still find a single family homes. Just because someone likes SW doesn't make Hillcrest any less attractive to others. "Common sense" isn't the issue-- individual preference is! |
Anonymous
| At 14:42...you are absolutely right. It is all about individual preference. I didn't realize SW is now considered Capitol Hill. Just pick neighborhood you love and worry about the rest later without there being dialogue about the numbers of black, low income presence at the schools that surround that area. If you put your business out there that you have $800k to sink into a house without kids, then you have enough money to live anywhere you want. I do understand where OP is coming from but Washington DC is forever changing (for the better...) I live in ward 7 and I am no where near low income but I find the elitism offensive. Define "downtown". |
Anonymous
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NP. No one said "SW is now considered Capitol Hill" except you. Recommending Hillcrest (or Brookland) to someone who wants to live in Capitol Hill/SW is ridiculous and if you can't see that, oh well.
We live downtown DC and would never consider Hillcrest or Brookland for obvious reasons. Not saying they are not nice neighborhoods but not our preference. |
Anonymous
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So, the downtown feel is the reason??? I didn't realize Capitol Hill/SW had such a "downtown" feel.....WOW!
15:11 - "Obvious reasons?" What are those? Too residential or too dark? |
Anonymous
Obvious reasons as in, you need a car. We didn't own one and like walking to work and being within a block of metro, supermarket, restaurants, etc. |
Anonymous
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OK....making sense now....just want the low income kids to be left alone. It is the rude, loud, obnoxious ones that I personally avoid and don't want my kids to associate with.
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Anonymous
| However, Metro does go east of the river....So the downtown argument still doesn't fly! Demographics are the problem..... |