DC Public Schools

[Anonymous]

I find Cleveland Park/AU/Van Ness/Chevy Chase area to be safe, nice and kind of boring, the main street traffic on Connecticut and Wisconsin is terrible, but the single family houses are very $$$ so your neighbors tend to be rich or old, less crime, kids test higher, there are nice grocery stores, restaurants...its not "hip" anymore despite the AU campus being there but its nice. Many people send their kids to private in that area (which is why I was able to get my kids in to a public school there, there was space for out of boundary students) and you'll find it convenient for after school and weekend enrichment activities.
I've always wanted to get a house in the boundary for the Cleveland Park Swim Club (assuming my house didn't have a pool) http://clevelandparkclub.org/en/Membership.html

[Anonymous]

OP, what language(s) do you speak at home? If Spanish, I'd also recommend Oyster Bilingual in Woodley Park.

[Anonymous]

OP, there is a school fair on Capitol Hill that might be a good start for you (in addition to the helpful posts here). It's on Dec. 7 (Sun) from 2-5 at Capitol Hill Day School (near Capitol South Metro station). The MySchoolDC people will be there and can explain a lot. Also there will be all of the Hill public schools and several charters there. It won't be a comprehensive look at all your options since the Upper NW schools don't attend, but it's a good source for information. While the event is sponsored and run by Moms on the Hill (MoTH) it is absolutely open to any parents who would like to attend. Here's a list of the schools and organizations that will be represented:

Preschools (9)
Capitol Hill Cooperative Nursery School (Ms. Frances)
Capitol Hill Learning Group
Gan Shalom Cooperative Preschool
The Hill Preschool
Riverpark Nursery School
G Street Cooperative Playgroup
Capitol Hill Cooperative Playschool
Toddlers on the Hill Montessori Classroom
Busy Bees Arts & Music Playgroup

Public Elementary Schools (11)
Brent ES
Cap Hill Cluster (Peabody, Watkins, Stuart-Hobson)
Cap Hill Montessori at Logan
JO Wilson ES
Ludlow-Taylor ES
Maury ES
Miner ES
Payne ES
School Within a School at Goding
Tyler ES
Van Ness ES

Public Charter Elementary Schools (8)
Apple Tree PCS
Capital City PCS
Eagle Academy PCS
Inspired Teaching School
Lee Montessori
Mundo Verde PCS
Two Rivers PCS
Yu Ying PCS

Private Elementary Schools (2)
Burgundy Farm Country Day School
Capitol Hill Day School

Religiously Affiliated Schools (7)
Beauvoir
Christian Family Montessori School
CHLG Hybrid
Friends Community School
St. Peter School
Waterfront Academy
Our Lady of Victory

Middle/High Schools (9)
BASIS DC PCS
Eliot-Hine MS
Jefferson MS
Washington Latin PCS
Emerson Prep
Howard Gardner School
Dematha Catholic High School
Elizabeth Seaton Catholic High School
Archbishop Carroll Catholic High SChool
Eastern HS

Other (11)
Learning/Special Ed Services (5)
Downey School Consulting
DCPS/DCPCS Common Lottery (MySchoolDC)
Dr. Cheryl Shapiro Low
Colleen Buchanan, Learning Specialist
Family Psychological Services of Capitol Hill
National Speech & Language Therapy
Claster Educational Services

Extracurricular Programs (6)
Breathing Space Yoga
CHAW
Cooking Thyme
Little Loft
Mr. Mike's Music
Tippi Toes
Au Pair in America

[Anonymous]

Thank you!!!!!

[Anonymous]

19:22, you are a most helpful person!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We love capitol hill and sw and are open to cleveland park, but uts a little far for my commute. A

So you're able to move to be in-bounds for a school you like? You'd probably be satisfied at any school west of Rock Creek Park. While there are some great EotP options out there, you'd probably experience more stress with the whole process.

Don't listen to posters like this. I'm sure she has not been to more than 1 school and therefore cannot attest to stress levels east of the park. Hearsay at the playground doesn't count.

[Anonymous]

I would stay away from the hill due to limited long term options. Also, the hill seems so isolated and it is very difficult to commute into and out of. Ross elementary is a very diverse school that manages to have test scores just as good as west of the park. Bancroft is a Spanish immersion school DCPS that feeds to Deal (best middle school in the city). Shepherd elementary (also feeds to Deal and Wilson high) also has good test scores and the diversity is getting better and better each year. This year was their first year having PK3 and it was filled with in bound kids. The neighborhood looks very suburban, has a great community feel, and you can get an a great house for $1M. It's next door to Walter reed which is developing into a great retail space. Many parts are walking distance to Takoms or Silver Spring metro or an easy bus ride down 16th st downtown. Blocks away from GA ace with many ethnic eateries aNd also walkin distance to downtown silver spring (depending on which part of Neighborhood you're in).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally given your budget I would look in North Cleveland Park, Van Ness, Tenleytown, AU Park, etc. (So in bounds for Murch, Janney, Hearst, maybe Lafayette but it's farther from the metro). You would be able to find something in your budget in those areas (and walking distance the metro) and, at least in my opinion, they offer the most certainty from elementary up through high school.

Yes, other schools seem promising and you could play your luck in the lottery but in those areas (especially North Cleveland Park/Van Ness/Tenleytown) you can get a house < 0.5 miles from the metro and be at a great school. I personally am just very risk averse and so would opt for a neighborhood where I would have pretty high confidence in the schools all the way through, if I could afford it (which it sounds like you can). (ANd I would be willing to perhaps get a smaller, less fancy house in those areas. But again, that's just me; clearly others make other choices and are also quite happy with them!).

This is what I would do if I had your budget. I'm also a risk-adverse person. You want an elementary school that feeds into Deal Middle School (although Hardy seems poised to be just as well-regarded as Deal in 10 years, but that's not guaranteed). As it is, we're going to be playing the charter/OOB DCPS lottery for our rising PK3'er. The sought after charter schools have tough odds of getting in, and there are numerous less-well regarded charter schools with better odds of getting in. Also keep in mind that if your kid gets into a charter, it will probably give you a longer overall commute than if you were sending them to a neighborhood school in a neighborhood further from where you work.

Myschooldc.org is a good place to start.

The hard part about these neighborhoods is that they're basically suburbs. If you want to be in an "urban" neighborhood, you have to roll the dice on a charter (odds are exceedingly low of getting into something I would consider "good.") If you want a spot at a decent elementary, you have to live in a neighborhood that, while technically DC, doesn't have any urban flavor.

OP -- check out these neighborhoods yourself before taking pp.'s word for it that they are basically suburbs -- I don't think so at all. You are definitely in-town, with walkability to metro, shopping, restaurants, etc in many areas listed above. less pavement and more greenspace - which is not a drawback for most people.

[Anonymous]

Key is best, but any JKLM is better than what you'd get in the burbs. Hyde (Georgetown) & Stoddert (glover park) are good too. I believe there is a good one in cap hill (Brent maybe?) that is good also.

The days of moving to the burbs are over unless you can't afford the crazy dc real estate prices...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally given your budget I would look in North Cleveland Park, Van Ness, Tenleytown, AU Park, etc. (So in bounds for Murch, Janney, Hearst, maybe Lafayette but it's farther from the metro). You would be able to find something in your budget in those areas (and walking distance the metro) and, at least in my opinion, they offer the most certainty from elementary up through high school.

Yes, other schools seem promising and you could play your luck in the lottery but in those areas (especially North Cleveland Park/Van Ness/Tenleytown) you can get a house < 0.5 miles from the metro and be at a great school. I personally am just very risk averse and so would opt for a neighborhood where I would have pretty high confidence in the schools all the way through, if I could afford it (which it sounds like you can). (ANd I would be willing to perhaps get a smaller, less fancy house in those areas. But again, that's just me; clearly others make other choices and are also quite happy with them!).

This is what I would do if I had your budget. I'm also a risk-adverse person. You want an elementary school that feeds into Deal Middle School (although Hardy seems poised to be just as well-regarded as Deal in 10 years, but that's not guaranteed). As it is, we're going to be playing the charter/OOB DCPS lottery for our rising PK3'er. The sought after charter schools have tough odds of getting in, and there are numerous less-well regarded charter schools with better odds of getting in. Also keep in mind that if your kid gets into a charter, it will probably give you a longer overall commute than if you were sending them to a neighborhood school in a neighborhood further from where you work.

Myschooldc.org is a good place to start.

The hard part about these neighborhoods is that they're basically suburbs. If you want to be in an "urban" neighborhood, you have to roll the dice on a charter (odds are exceedingly low of getting into something I would consider "good." If you want a spot at a decent elementary, you have to live in a neighborhood that, while technically DC, doesn't have any urban flavor.

OP -- check out these neighborhoods yourself before taking pp.'s word for it that they are basically suburbs -- I don't think so at all. You are definitely in-town, with walkability to metro, shopping, restaurants, etc in many areas listed above. less pavement and more greenspace - which is not a drawback for most people.

Agree. If you can walk to metro, what's the downside if some trees and a little grass.

[Anonymous]

^ Moved to the area from PA 4 years ago, we have no regrets about moving into DC. We got lucky and found something that we could afford, but similar places in the burbs would either have us in areas that are totally car dependent, no sidewalks, strip malls et cetera, plus a 45+ minute commute into the city - or cramped in a tiny place in a concrete jungle like Arlington with far less green space.

[Anonymous]

The largest public housing unit is on Capitol Hill (Potomac Gardens). The neighborhood blocks will never have the baby boom on what a housing project can produce. DCPS knows this and that's why the SES residents don't even come up as a blip on Kaya ' s radar. Why hell every superintendent/Chancellor has ignored that 10 block radius pretty regularly.

[Anonymous]

I would go AU Park, which will give you Janney and Deal and the Metro stop at Tenley Town. If you don't care about the Metro or middle school, Palisades (Key) and Glover Park (Stoddert) are good bets too. Cleveland Park is a great neighborhood, but you will get less for your money there than AU Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know it may freak the heck out of DCUM, but I bet you'd find good education going on at Raymond. Now, you won't see the school administration out there building a reputation for itself. You have a student population that is STRICTLY poor AND minority. And test scores reflecting student backgrounds, life experiences, maternal education, etc.

But the teaching is probably pretty good. That has been what I've seen in DCPS. I want to challenge everyone here to get willing to truly integrate DCPS and see what happens. Your kids, my kids, will be OK.

DS attends a similar school, one that people claim is "up and coming" and all of that. Truth is, it's the same high-minority, high-poverty school as most of DC with a sprinkling of kids who aren't, but somehow its reputation has broken past barriers for many educated families. It's not an "emperor without clothes"/grit your teeth/willful blindness thing - it's that for too long we have shut our eyes to educational opportunities and only looked at the children in the schools and asked whether it was acceptable to mix them with our children.

I think you really need a laser focus on the learning possibilities within each school. Maybe at some point things were just terrible, but a good education really is possible in many, many more DCPS than people are putting on their lists.

This is not the majority opinion among the educated in DC though it may get nominal lip service face to face (as opposed to anonymously).

This being 'Murica, it is almost certainly not the majority opinion in any place that includes diverse communities across race and class who do not otherwise integrate significantly.

But, as you're coming into DCPS from outside with a fresh perspective, challenge yourself. I don't mean to insult anyone here, but take a look at lots of schools. Open houses are starting. Seriously, take a chance.

100% incorrect (having worked in the EC classrooms at Raymond.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would look at Brent Elementary on the Hill and maybe Maury.

Maury is fantastic, but has a very small boundary area. Very tight market.

The reasonable boundary and moderate number of classes per grade are the reason it's becoming/ has become a neighborhood school.