DC/VA neighborhoods that are great for black families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love 16th St Heights, Crestwood, Shepherd Park - really, any of DC's Gold Coast, but it might be tricky to find something there in your budget.

PP from the post above - I live in Ft Lincoln and although it's not near Metro or a happening neighborhood, you could definitely find a townhouse in your price range. Lots of black families over here.

https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/3624-Wright-Ter-20018/home/113738259?utm_source=ios_share&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy_link&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link

I see this property but why such poor schools? That would mean I’d have to send DC-5 to private.

Langdon is a 4 star school and scores are not bad. Great Schools scores rarely tell the whole story.

How do you tell where the good schools are without using Great Schools scores? I agree that those scores don’t tell the whole story but I don’t know what else to use to judge

https://www.myschooldc.org/
https://dcschoolreportcard.org/
http://results.osse.dc.gov/
https://dcpcsb.org/families/school-quality-report

[Anonymous]

h street corridor / Noma

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The houses are nice in PG but the schools are low performing and even the private schools are subpar

As for the “whites” comment, they wouldn’t step foot in PG county either especially Largo, Upper Marlboro, Suitland
Stop making this about, OPs question was a solid question parents to children of color ask.

Op, I’m in the same boat as you. I’d look to MOCO if you wanted to stay in the area
Or Annandale, Fairfax depending on how far you want to go out Loudon County has a good solid school system.

So explain this DC phenomenon. So are neighborhoods unacceptable until white folks get the itch to gentrify and everyone else falls in line. They won’t step foot in Largo but they’ll move to Trinidad?? Make it make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The houses are nice in PG but the schools are low performing and even the private schools are subpar

As for the “whites” comment, they wouldn’t step foot in PG county either especially Largo, Upper Marlboro, Suitland
Stop making this about, OPs question was a solid question parents to children of color ask.

Op, I’m in the same boat as you. I’d look to MOCO if you wanted to stay in the area
Or Annandale, Fairfax depending on how far you want to go out Loudon County has a good solid school system.

Bishop Mcnamara and De Matha are pretty good schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The houses are nice in PG but the schools are low performing and even the private schools are subpar

As for the “whites” comment, they wouldn’t step foot in PG county either especially Largo, Upper Marlboro, Suitland
Stop making this about, OPs question was a solid question parents to children of color ask.

Op, I’m in the same boat as you. I’d look to MOCO if you wanted to stay in the area
Or Annandale, Fairfax depending on how far you want to go out Loudon County has a good solid school system.

Husband and I are both products of PG county public schools. My HS was highly ranked, his was not. We both make well into the 6 figures into our early 30s. In our careers we are always one of the few minorities, but growing up in PG county showed us that these careers were even possible. Being taught by people who looked like us, seeing doctors/lawyers/engineers that looked like us and not dealing with the unconscious bias that runs rampant in majority white school systems was invaluable. So when people say "a good school system", it largely depends on what you value for your children. We value academics and their overall experience. As people of color, their experience shapes how they view themselves and the rest of the world. We've lived all over and ultimately decided to return to PG, it offers something unique that we haven't found anywhere else. We want our children to have that too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Options are limited because almost everyone on here excludes the largest county in MD. Lol. I honestly don’t feel bad for people that complain about being priced out or their long commutes. That’s what happens when you overlook an area that has immediate access to both DC and VA (depending on where you live). Furthermore, schools and crime in DC can be actually worst. But yea, let’s continue with this narrative against PG. It absolutely has its problems, but it’s not alone. Some of you could help be the solution, but I digress. Hope you find what you’re looking for. Try Charles county.

Sell me on neighborhoods in Moco. I did paint a broad brush. My bad. Sell me a neighborhood and I’ll add it to the list on the house hunt. 650k is my max. If I have to put my child in private school then we can lower that by about 10k-12k. I’m genuinely looking for a forever home and want a strong and diverse community where black people aren’t victimized by either police nor the community. -OP

https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/most-diverse-cities-in-the-us/

Wow, 4 of the top ten most diverse cities in the US are in MoCo. Very interesting.

Caucasian here. We grew up in Bowie. We seemed to do okay. My sister graduated from an Ivy League College.

[Anonymous]

I'm 9:29 poster here. Caucasian who grew up in Bowie.
Most of the parents in our neighborhood seemed to have decent jobs. They worked at NASA etc. MOst parents were invested in their kids education.

I wouldn't totally dismiss PG County. We went through the public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Options are limited because almost everyone on here excludes the largest county in MD. Lol. I honestly don’t feel bad for people that complain about being priced out or their long commutes. That’s what happens when you overlook an area that has immediate access to both DC and VA (depending on where you live). Furthermore, schools and crime in DC can be actually worst. But yea, let’s continue with this narrative against PG. It absolutely has its problems, but it’s not alone. Some of you could help be the solution, but I digress. Hope you find what you’re looking for. Try Charles county.

Sell me on neighborhoods in Moco. I did paint a broad brush. My bad. Sell me a neighborhood and I’ll add it to the list on the house hunt. 650k is my max. If I have to put my child in private school then we can lower that by about 10k-12k. I’m genuinely looking for a forever home and want a strong and diverse community where black people aren’t victimized by either police nor the community. -OP

https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/most-diverse-cities-in-the-us/

Wow, 4 of the top ten most diverse cities in the US are in MoCo. Very interesting.

OP here the MOCO areas- I'm giving the school clusters to make it easier. YOu should be able to find houses for 650K in these areas. Some of the GS ratings for these schools are low but we know not to focus too much on that. These are good schools and your kid will certainly not feel out of place here. I'm sure i'm missing others but these are the ones I'm familiar with.

Richard Montgomery HS
Northwest HS
Clarksburg HS
Blair HS
Einstein HS
Magruder
Seneca Valley HS (has an IB program and the demographics will be changing due to a boundary study which will likely increase it's GS rating)
Paint Branch

[Anonymous]

I would second the Kingstowne recommendation. Our AA family live here and it is very diverse and welcoming. My husband moved from PG county when we married (born and raised) and the neighborhood/schools he attended have changed for the worse. You cannot compare how PG county was 20 years ago to today. Our oldest will be entering Kindergarten in the fall, so how the school puzzle piece shakes out remains to be seen.

[Anonymous]

Lots of black families in our neighborhood, Brightwood. We’re in boundary for Whittier and are very happy with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Np here, wow I considered starting a similar thread yesterday. I am also black, in the process of moving, and heavily basing my decision where to move on the needs of my AA son.

I want to live in peace and want the same for my son. Anywhere with even the slightest hint of racism is out, as is PG county. I currently live in SS, and honestly think this is one of the few areas in the region that is truly diverse. I wish options weren't so limited, but they appear to be.

Black is too broad of a term for this discussion.

One of the northern Virginia neighborhoods I lived in had several black families but none of them were African Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The houses are nice in PG but the schools are low performing and even the private schools are subpar

As for the “whites” comment, they wouldn’t step foot in PG county either especially Largo, Upper Marlboro, Suitland
Stop making this about, OPs question was a solid question parents to children of color ask.

Op, I’m in the same boat as you. I’d look to MOCO if you wanted to stay in the area
Or Annandale, Fairfax depending on how far you want to go out Loudon County has a good solid school system.

Husband and I are both products of PG county public schools. My HS was highly ranked, his was not. We both make well into the 6 figures into our early 30s. In our careers we are always one of the few minorities, but growing up in PG county showed us that these careers were even possible. Being taught by people who looked like us, seeing doctors/lawyers/engineers that looked like us and not dealing with the unconscious bias that runs rampant in majority white school systems was invaluable. So when people say "a good school system", it largely depends on what you value for your children. We value academics and their overall experience. As people of color, their experience shapes how they view themselves and the rest of the world. We've lived all over and ultimately decided to return to PG, it offers something unique that we haven't found anywhere else. We want our children to have that too.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I, too am a product of Prince George’s County.
Where, I would not return to raise my children under the structure of the teaching or environment. Much like yourself, I am wel into “six figures” however, that’s an easy goal. I’m not looking to validate myself because of my income because of Prince George’s.
Prince George’s County lacks in education, extra-circular activity and overall culture and diversity. Yes, while I do agree with you that the County has something extremely special having sought after professions in these roles that are of color. It still lacks many areas where you’d want to raise your child to have fundamentally.
For instance, I want my child to be raised around other races. I want child to be exposed to other cultures and understand worldly exchanges. Prince George’s County is a bubble, it’s a mentality and unfortunately it’s still a moderately crime area. I would not feel as safe having my child attend schools that I attended.

You do what is good for your family, and I believe what OP was looking for is reasonable for the reason as to why mentioned PG is out of the equation.

[Anonymous]

Latina here. I saw South Reston mentioned. It is diverse! The high school has an IB program. It isn't going to be well ranked on great schools but I see those as just an indication of whiteness rather than overall quality.

[Anonymous]

I will caveat my comment: we are a white family so l may not understand/grasp nuances. We live in Franconia (Bush Hill ES). Never realized how much I appreciated diversity until my children started attending BHES. So I would agree with the Kingstowne posters and would also recommend neighboring/overlapping Franconia or Springfield. As to Edison v Hayfield, both appear to be good schools for kids who are motivated to do well. Both are diverse. You can look to the websites for both schools to see demographics and relevant test scores. My son attends Edison, theoretically one of the worst-performing schools in Fairfax County, and he was happy there. And I was satisfied with his education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My family lives in Kingstowne. And several other black (African-American) families we know live around there.

What are the views as to the relative desirability of Hayfield vs. Edison, both generally and as it relates to black students?

Hayfield is probably better. I believe that's where they are zoned. I've only heard good things about Hayfield from a black perspective.