Where to buy in DC if great PK3 is the goal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi - Op here. Our budget is up to $1.2M and would be ok with either a 2 bedroom row house or 3 br condo. We will leave DC after about 3 years and then return 3 to 4 years later from overseas. We intend to rent out the place before we leave but then look to either sell it or move into it when we return depending on our circumstances/needs.

I understand that IB is not a guarantee but since school location is our biggest consideration we would love to be strategically located for the most choices. Thanks to PP with the suggestion of trying certain clusters and then picking blocks based on that. I will start researching that.

Do you plan to ditch the kids abroad when you return? You are looking at this whole thing so wrong and short-sighted. The only way to guarantee an inbound prek3/pk4 spot is to move to a neighborhood with bad elementary+ schools.

I know, right? They're letting a $20,000 decision (rough cost of 2 years of private pre-K over public pre-K) drive their entire house purchase.

OP, if what you want is to be inbound for a good elementary school, pick that school. $1.2 mil is enough, get you in any number of good school boundaries - Brent, Maury, some of the NW schools if you look hard. But this is DC and preschool is literally a lottery. You are not going to be able to have "great PK3" as a reasonable goal because chance plays a huge role in getting a slot.

It makes no sense. If they were hellbent on a DCI feeder, or had a smaller budget, then it's a reasonable question and I would not hesitate to recommend Edgewood. But dude, just buy in upper NW and call it a day. If you have to sell the house (which you will, because the chance of you getting into a school for PK3 that you want to attend through 8th is very small), the transaction costs and hassle of it will far exceed the cost of private for PK3 and PK4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cap Hill in the Cluster boundary. Peabody is great and it's bigger than many other ECE programs - still not a given. You also have SWS, CH Montessori and charters as a citywide backups. Nothing guaranteed. Brent is great but tough for PK3 without siblings if you're IB.

^^ and in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... someone will chine in to disparage Hill middle schools

Er, no. OP said they would not be here that long, so it's irrelevant.

that never stops DCUM crowd from trolling CH middle schools

Hmmm...

Something tells me it's not the collective DCUM trolling CH middle schools. Something tells me it's people who are actually familiar with CH middle schools...

Swami says: "Bingo!"

no -- it's usually people who moved to the suburbs a decade ago and never got woke

Oh. Another case of an old lady on DCUM thinking that the deliberate use of poor grammar makes her "cool"....

[Anonymous]

What I don't understand, OP, is why with a budget of $1.2M you're worried about getting into free PK3. Are you planning on being house poor? Agree you should buy IB for one of the best elementary schools, most of which don't offer PK3 at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I don't understand, OP, is why with a budget of $1.2M you're worried about getting into free PK3. Are you planning on being house poor? Agree you should buy IB for one of the best elementary schools, most of which don't offer PK3 at all.

exactly. if all you care about is PK you can buy any number of really cool houses for $1 mil and have more than enough left over to pay for private preschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First time posters here so please be gentle.

We are looking to buy in DC from out of state. DS is 6 months old. What neigborhood will give us the best odds of a great PK3 placement?

Oy. Your understanding of DC is so poor; you're setting yourself up for dreadfully bad decisions.

You can get free PK3 via the lottery - ANYWHERE - but you can't necessarily get it in your neighborhood. The most desirable neighborhoods (especially for old people) don't offer free PK3. So move where you want to live, apply for the lottery (fail, obviously) and then commute to the free PreK.

Everyone knows that the best PK3 are immersion charters, but you would be a horrible human being to take one of those (LAMB or YY) and then leave. Your children would be cursed for life, and they'd deserve it.

If you apply for PK3 in the lottery, get a spot, and then leave, you will be exercising your rights as a citizen and a taxpayer, and will not be a horrible human being.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cap Hill in the Cluster boundary. Peabody is great and it's bigger than many other ECE programs - still not a given. You also have SWS, CH Montessori and charters as a citywide backups. Nothing guaranteed. Brent is great but tough for PK3 without siblings if you're IB.

^^ and in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... someone will chine in to disparage Hill middle schools

Er, no. OP said they would not be here that long, so it's irrelevant.

that never stops DCUM crowd from trolling CH middle schools

Hmmm...

Something tells me it's not the collective DCUM trolling CH middle schools. Something tells me it's people who are actually familiar with CH middle schools...

Swami says: "Bingo!"

no -- it's usually people who moved to the suburbs a decade ago and never got woke

Oh. Another case of an old lady on DCUM thinking that the deliberate use of poor grammar makes her "cool"....

you're an idiot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First time posters here so please be gentle.

We are looking to buy in DC from out of state. DS is 6 months old. What neigborhood will give us the best odds of a great PK3 placement?

Oy. Your understanding of DC is so poor; you're setting yourself up for dreadfully bad decisions.

You can get free PK3 via the lottery - ANYWHERE - but you can't necessarily get it in your neighborhood. The most desirable neighborhoods (especially for old people) don't offer free PK3. So move where you want to live, apply for the lottery (fail, obviously) and then commute to the free PreK.

Everyone knows that the best PK3 are immersion charters, but you would be a horrible human being to take one of those (LAMB or YY) and then leave. Your children would be cursed for life, and they'd deserve it.

If you apply for PK3 in the lottery, get a spot, and then leave, you will be exercising your rights as a citizen and a taxpayer, and will not be a horrible human being.

For most schools, but taking a spot at a school like LAMB is a dick move because they don't admit in the upper grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First time posters here so please be gentle.

We are looking to buy in DC from out of state. DS is 6 months old. What neigborhood will give us the best odds of a great PK3 placement?

Oy. Your understanding of DC is so poor; you're setting yourself up for dreadfully bad decisions.

You can get free PK3 via the lottery - ANYWHERE - but you can't necessarily get it in your neighborhood. The most desirable neighborhoods (especially for old people) don't offer free PK3. So move where you want to live, apply for the lottery (fail, obviously) and then commute to the free PreK.

Everyone knows that the best PK3 are immersion charters, but you would be a horrible human being to take one of those (LAMB or YY) and then leave. Your children would be cursed for life, and they'd deserve it.

If you apply for PK3 in the lottery, get a spot, and then leave, you will be exercising your rights as a citizen and a taxpayer, and will not be a horrible human being.

For most schools, but taking a spot at a school like LAMB is a dick move because they don't admit in the upper grades.

That is not on OP. By that logic no one has a right to move ever out of a cherished school boundary. Life happens. Get over it.

[Anonymous]

I'd look in Old City/H Street/NoMa in NE DC. Amazing family community, lots of young families, extremely walkable, Whole Foods, soon to be Trader Joe's, Union Market, etc. no one has mentioned JO Wilson, but it's a great elementary school option as well. Location is perfect to commute via train, bike, car, etc. if you plan to rent, you'll easily cover your mortgage.

[Anonymous]

If I were you I would buy IB for Hyde Addison because its good and it has PK3 and it's possible to get IB without sibling preference (which isn't a case in many other good elementaries) and it feeds into a good middle and high and it will be brand new after the renovation in 2 years. Now, the problem might be 1.2 million... it could buy you a smaller place in Georgetown but not many of those come up on the market. In dc, 1.2 actually isn't enough in many cases if
you want more than a 2BR condo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First time posters here so please be gentle.

We are looking to buy in DC from out of state. DS is 6 months old. What neigborhood will give us the best odds of a great PK3 placement?

Oy. Your understanding of DC is so poor; you're setting yourself up for dreadfully bad decisions.

You can get free PK3 via the lottery - ANYWHERE - but you can't necessarily get it in your neighborhood. The most desirable neighborhoods (especially for old people) don't offer free PK3. So move where you want to live, apply for the lottery (fail, obviously) and then commute to the free PreK.

Everyone knows that the best PK3 are immersion charters, but you would be a horrible human being to take one of those (LAMB or YY) and then leave. Your children would be cursed for life, and they'd deserve it.

NP. Are you serious? Her children would be "cursed for life" because of HER decisions, of which YOU don't approve, and they'd "deserve it"? I think it's pretty obvious who the horrible human being is. Crawl back under your rock please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd look in Old City/H Street/NoMa in NE DC. Amazing family community, lots of young families, extremely walkable, Whole Foods, soon to be Trader Joe's, Union Market, etc. no one has mentioned JO Wilson, but it's a great elementary school option as well. Location is perfect to commute via train, bike, car, etc. if you plan to rent, you'll easily cover your mortgage.

And the middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd look in Old City/H Street/NoMa in NE DC. Amazing family community, lots of young families, extremely walkable, Whole Foods, soon to be Trader Joe's, Union Market, etc. no one has mentioned JO Wilson, but it's a great elementary school option as well. Location is perfect to commute via train, bike, car, etc. if you plan to rent, you'll easily cover your mortgage.

And the middle school?

Stuart-Hobson will be fine by the time OP's baby is old enough. Or she will go to one of the many charters in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cap Hill in the Cluster boundary. Peabody is great and it's bigger than many other ECE programs - still not a given. You also have SWS, CH Montessori and charters as a citywide backups. Nothing guaranteed. Brent is great but tough for PK3 without siblings if you're IB.

^^ and in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... someone will chine in to disparage Hill middle schools

Er, no. OP said they would not be here that long, so it's irrelevant.

that never stops DCUM crowd from trolling CH middle schools

Hmmm...

Something tells me it's not the collective DCUM trolling CH middle schools. Something tells me it's people who are actually familiar with CH middle schools...

Swami says: "Bingo!"

no -- it's usually people who moved to the suburbs a decade ago and never got woke

Oh. Another case of an old lady on DCUM thinking that the deliberate use of poor grammar makes her "cool"....

you're an idiot

NP but PP didn't use "got woke" properly and made me cringe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Yes - we only care about PK3 and 4. We intend to be in DC only 3 or so years. Language immersion in not important. Since we do have the flexibility to buy almost anywhere in DC, we would love to be strategic about it with regards to schools.

With $1.2M you really don't have the flexibility to buy "almost anywhere in DC". Houses in Brookland are going for $1 million.