Capitol Hill families - If you moved to NW or burbs for school, do you have any regrets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the renting in Hill East poster (and to the lesser degree to the OP), if you overall really like the neighborhood, why not just stay? Leave if and when it actually stops working. Its maybe kind of like the observation in the Lean In book - people get worried about middle and high school and not having a rock solid next 5-10 year plan but then they leave far before it actually stops working.

Not OP or the Hill East poster, but the reason we are thinking of leaving before it "stops working" is that we'd like to avoid a situation where our kid is 12 or 13, we have run out of options on the Hill, and we have to uproot them not only form our neighborhood and school, but also their extra-curricular activities and non-school friends.

It's easier to move a kid at 7 or 8 than once they've started MS. That's why even people who would be okay with SH or EH for middle still sometimes move pre-emptively, because if you bank on Walls or Banneker (or even private) for HS and it doesn't work out as you hoped, moving for high school is going to be more painful than moving when your kid is in 4th or 5th grade and there is still time for them to establish new friend groups and extra-curriculars in another community before they are totally entrenched.

Lot of people move kids to elite privates, boarding and magnets in 9th grade.

In Upper NW maybe, but not from Capitol Hill. The Hill families we know who "went private" mostly enrolled in parochial high schools in VA or MD. What do you mean by magnets? Banneker or Walls? They're certainly not like magnets in MoCo or the one I attended in NYC as a teen (Stuyvesant). Kids can't apply to suburban magnets from DC, or past 8th grade in the burbs.

Oh god the NYC magnet troll has arrived.

The word “troll” doesn’t mean what you think it means

And there's more than one NYC magnet grad on CH and, presumably on DCUM. Two in our house alone, and two more next door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SJC (Saint Johns College), popular with Hill families, is hardly an elite private. SJC is a parochial high school, not all that hard to get into, tuition in the low 20s, around half what top non-sectarian programs are charging, e.g. Sidwell, NCS. St. Albans, Maret.

Apologies. Obviously I'm not up on the technicalities of the eliteness of privates. Maybe the senior at NCS qualifies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the renting in Hill East poster (and to the lesser degree to the OP), if you overall really like the neighborhood, why not just stay? Leave if and when it actually stops working. Its maybe kind of like the observation in the Lean In book - people get worried about middle and high school and not having a rock solid next 5-10 year plan but then they leave far before it actually stops working.

Not OP or the Hill East poster, but the reason we are thinking of leaving before it "stops working" is that we'd like to avoid a situation where our kid is 12 or 13, we have run out of options on the Hill, and we have to uproot them not only form our neighborhood and school, but also their extra-curricular activities and non-school friends.

It's easier to move a kid at 7 or 8 than once they've started MS. That's why even people who would be okay with SH or EH for middle still sometimes move pre-emptively, because if you bank on Walls or Banneker (or even private) for HS and it doesn't work out as you hoped, moving for high school is going to be more painful than moving when your kid is in 4th or 5th grade and there is still time for them to establish new friend groups and extra-curriculars in another community before they are totally entrenched.

Lot of people move kids to elite privates, boarding and magnets in 9th grade.

In Upper NW maybe, but not from Capitol Hill. The Hill families we know who "went private" mostly enrolled in parochial high schools in VA or MD. What do you mean by magnets? Banneker or Walls? They're certainly not like magnets in MoCo or the one I attended in NYC as a teen (Stuyvesant). Kids can't apply to suburban magnets from DC, or past 8th grade in the burbs.

Oh god the NYC magnet troll has arrived.

The word “troll” doesn’t mean what you think it means

And there's more than one NYC magnet grad on CH and, presumably on DCUM. Two in our house alone, and two more next door.

Only one feels the need to post about Stuyvesant in every thread about DC schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These comments on this thread have honestly just made me glad we're leaving the Hill. There are great people here but there are also some smug jerks and I'm happy to leave them behind. CH is great but it's not the last good place. It doesn't even have a decent HS! it's obviously not perfect.

We've been taking our kids from CH to MoCo for classic music training on weekends for almost a decade. The experience has taught me that CH doesn't have a monopoly on smug jerks. You know that MoCo is a v. competitive place, where kids try to test into all-GT public schools from 3rd grade? Later on, they try to test into GT school-within-a-school middle school programs. In 8th grade, they try to test into high-powered school-within-a-school high school magnets.

What I hear from Blair parents that we've gotten to know through the music programs is that if your bright teen doesn't fails to test into one of the Blair magnets (STEM or Communication Arts) is that they can feel like second class citizen in the school. There's a pecking order at Blair, and Richard Montgomery (IB Diploma magnet). No point in pretending otherwise. If we move, and we may, we'll go for Arlington or McClean, where IB Diploma access is based on grades in prerequisite subjects, not an entrance exam.

The grass is always greener.

You are probably correct about a pecking order at Blair and Richard Montgomery. Some kids are sensitive to it while others couldn’t care less. But there are many MCPS high schools besides these two where you don’t have a magnet program within a school. Not sure you need to rule out all of Montgomery County because of the two magnet programs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These comments on this thread have honestly just made me glad we're leaving the Hill. There are great people here but there are also some smug jerks and I'm happy to leave them behind. CH is great but it's not the last good place. It doesn't even have a decent HS! it's obviously not perfect.

We've been taking our kids from CH to MoCo for classic music training on weekends for almost a decade. The experience has taught me that CH doesn't have a monopoly on smug jerks. You know that MoCo is a v. competitive place, where kids try to test into all-GT public schools from 3rd grade? Later on, they try to test into GT school-within-a-school middle school programs. In 8th grade, they try to test into high-powered school-within-a-school high school magnets.

What I hear from Blair parents that we've gotten to know through the music programs is that if your bright teen doesn't fails to test into one of the Blair magnets (STEM or Communication Arts) is that they can feel like second class citizen in the school. There's a pecking order at Blair, and Richard Montgomery (IB Diploma magnet). No point in pretending otherwise. If we move, and we may, we'll go for Arlington or McClean, where IB Diploma access is based on grades in prerequisite subjects, not an entrance exam.

The grass is always greener.

Of course. Nowhere is perfect. Including CH, which is why the people acting like it's utopia sound so out of touch.

Pretty much anywhere you go, there are tradeoffs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These comments on this thread have honestly just made me glad we're leaving the Hill. There are great people here but there are also some smug jerks and I'm happy to leave them behind. CH is great but it's not the last good place. It doesn't even have a decent HS! it's obviously not perfect.

We've been taking our kids from CH to MoCo for classic music training on weekends for almost a decade. The experience has taught me that CH doesn't have a monopoly on smug jerks. You know that MoCo is a v. competitive place, where kids try to test into all-GT public schools from 3rd grade? Later on, they try to test into GT school-within-a-school middle school programs. In 8th grade, they try to test into high-powered school-within-a-school high school magnets.

What I hear from Blair parents that we've gotten to know through the music programs is that if your bright teen doesn't fails to test into one of the Blair magnets (STEM or Communication Arts) is that they can feel like second class citizen in the school. There's a pecking order at Blair, and Richard Montgomery (IB Diploma magnet). No point in pretending otherwise. If we move, and we may, we'll go for Arlington or McClean, where IB Diploma access is based on grades in prerequisite subjects, not an entrance exam.

The grass is always greener.

Why are you surprised by this? Of course there is a pecking order and kids know which kids are the smart ones in the higher level classes or programs. That’s life. Some kids are bothered by this and some could care less.

It doesn’t sound like you are confident your kid can get into the program and why you are not considering Blair. That’s fine but you can’t protect your kid from the realities of life forever. The sooner they realize that there are kids much smarter than them the better. What is important is not being the smartest but doing your best so that you reach your full potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These comments on this thread have honestly just made me glad we're leaving the Hill. There are great people here but there are also some smug jerks and I'm happy to leave them behind. CH is great but it's not the last good place. It doesn't even have a decent HS! it's obviously not perfect.

We've been taking our kids from CH to MoCo for classic music training on weekends for almost a decade. The experience has taught me that CH doesn't have a monopoly on smug jerks. You know that MoCo is a v. competitive place, where kids try to test into all-GT public schools from 3rd grade? Later on, they try to test into GT school-within-a-school middle school programs. In 8th grade, they try to test into high-powered school-within-a-school high school magnets.

What I hear from Blair parents that we've gotten to know through the music programs is that if your bright teen doesn't fails to test into one of the Blair magnets (STEM or Communication Arts) is that they can feel like second class citizen in the school. There's a pecking order at Blair, and Richard Montgomery (IB Diploma magnet). No point in pretending otherwise. If we move, and we may, we'll go for Arlington or McClean, where IB Diploma access is based on grades in prerequisite subjects, not an entrance exam.

The grass is always greener.

Why are you surprised by this? Of course there is a pecking order and kids know which kids are the smart ones in the higher level classes or programs. That’s life. Some kids are bothered by this and some could care less.

It doesn’t sound like you are confident your kid can get into the program and why you are not considering Blair. That’s fine but you can’t protect your kid from the realities of life forever. The sooner they realize that there are kids much smarter than them the better. What is important is not being the smartest but doing your best so that you reach your full potential.

Thanks for the life advice grandma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These comments on this thread have honestly just made me glad we're leaving the Hill. There are great people here but there are also some smug jerks and I'm happy to leave them behind. CH is great but it's not the last good place. It doesn't even have a decent HS! it's obviously not perfect.

We've been taking our kids from CH to MoCo for classic music training on weekends for almost a decade. The experience has taught me that CH doesn't have a monopoly on smug jerks. You know that MoCo is a v. competitive place, where kids try to test into all-GT public schools from 3rd grade? Later on, they try to test into GT school-within-a-school middle school programs. In 8th grade, they try to test into high-powered school-within-a-school high school magnets.

What I hear from Blair parents that we've gotten to know through the music programs is that if your bright teen doesn't fails to test into one of the Blair magnets (STEM or Communication Arts) is that they can feel like second class citizen in the school. There's a pecking order at Blair, and Richard Montgomery (IB Diploma magnet). No point in pretending otherwise. If we move, and we may, we'll go for Arlington or McClean, where IB Diploma access is based on grades in prerequisite subjects, not an entrance exam.

The grass is always greener.

Why are you surprised by this? Of course there is a pecking order and kids know which kids are the smart ones in the higher level classes or programs. That’s life. Some kids are bothered by this and some could care less.

It doesn’t sound like you are confident your kid can get into the program and why you are not considering Blair. That’s fine but you can’t protect your kid from the realities of life forever. The sooner they realize that there are kids much smarter than them the better. What is important is not being the smartest but doing your best so that you reach your full potential.

Thanks for the life advice grandma.

Grandma makes a good point. Where I went to college, the Engineering kids liked to act like they were the smartest kids and the hardest working. They clearly believed there was a pecking order even though most kids didn’t care. This happens everywhere. You have to learn to follow your own path and ignore the noise around you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These comments on this thread have honestly just made me glad we're leaving the Hill. There are great people here but there are also some smug jerks and I'm happy to leave them behind. CH is great but it's not the last good place. It doesn't even have a decent HS! it's obviously not perfect.

We've been taking our kids from CH to MoCo for classic music training on weekends for almost a decade. The experience has taught me that CH doesn't have a monopoly on smug jerks. You know that MoCo is a v. competitive place, where kids try to test into all-GT public schools from 3rd grade? Later on, they try to test into GT school-within-a-school middle school programs. In 8th grade, they try to test into high-powered school-within-a-school high school magnets.

What I hear from Blair parents that we've gotten to know through the music programs is that if your bright teen doesn't fails to test into one of the Blair magnets (STEM or Communication Arts) is that they can feel like second class citizen in the school. There's a pecking order at Blair, and Richard Montgomery (IB Diploma magnet). No point in pretending otherwise. If we move, and we may, we'll go for Arlington or McClean, where IB Diploma access is based on grades in prerequisite subjects, not an entrance exam.

The grass is always greener.

Of course. Nowhere is perfect. Including CH, which is why the people acting like it's utopia sound so out of touch.

Pretty much anywhere you go, there are tradeoffs.

We've had the same thought about moving to Arlington or Fairfax for IB Diploma vs. MoCo. We know that many of the top IB Diploma students in this area are native speakers who can't ace MoCo's GT entrance exams. Bilingual kids, like ours, are seldom admitted to MoCo "Centers for Enriched Studies (4th-5th grade all GT stand-alone schools) schools or Middle School test-in magnets because their English isn't as strong as that of monolingual peers. The reality is that MoCo has a strong tendency to admit students to its HS magnets who came up through MoCo MS magnets and the Centers for Enriched Studies (formerly the Centers for the Highly Gifted). Thus, access to a first-rate HS education is much more accessible to CH transplants in VA, where bright, hard-working teens can pursue IBD at Washington-Liberty and half a dozen Fairfax programs based on MS performance alone. Same with the AP curriculum schools in VA. If you're going to move from CH to the burbs for schools, viable paths to HS challenge from DC should be a consideration.

[Anonymous]

The tradeoffs for MoCo on schools do seem bigger than for NOVA due to MoCo's rigid, intense, entrance test-based tracking, at least in the eastern swathe of the county. If you can afford to move from CH in-boundary for Whitman or BCC in the Bethesda area, the tracking is much less of a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The tradeoffs for MoCo on schools do seem bigger than for NOVA due to MoCo's rigid, intense, entrance test-based tracking, at least in the eastern swathe of the county. If you can afford to move from CH in-boundary for Whitman or BCC in the Bethesda area, the tracking is much less of a problem.

you mean Blair and RM? At both of those schools the kids can take AP classes even if they aren’t in the test-in program. At RM they can take the IB classes starting in 11th I believe.

but anyway yes, after a lot of research, our most likely move would be to an apartment zoned for BCC. I actually like the Silver Spring area mucb better than Bethesda, but Blair just seems intimidating.

[Anonymous]

RM doesn’t actually offer access to many IB classes for students outside the magnet. Not sure what the point of IB is if kids don’t pursue the full Diploma. BCC also offers IBD but access seems limited to the highest achievers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The tradeoffs for MoCo on schools do seem bigger than for NOVA due to MoCo's rigid, intense, entrance test-based tracking, at least in the eastern swathe of the county. If you can afford to move from CH in-boundary for Whitman or BCC in the Bethesda area, the tracking is much less of a problem.

you mean Blair and RM? At both of those schools the kids can take AP classes even if they aren’t in the test-in program. At RM they can take the IB classes starting in 11th I believe.

but anyway yes, after a lot of research, our most likely move would be to an apartment zoned for BCC. I actually like the Silver Spring area mucb better than Bethesda, but Blair just seems intimidating.

I don’t think you should be intimidated by Blair. Maybe reach out to the PTO and see if you can speak with some parents. Also, aren’t there some areas of Silver Spring that are zoned for BCC? I’m not sure what those neighborhoods are like. What about the parts of Chevy Chase that are closer to Kensington and the beltway. They look nice and I assume they feed to BCC.

[Anonymous]

I know some people won't think it's good enough, but Einstein has an IB diploma program that is not part of the DCC magnet system. It also has application art programs (both visual and performing) that are quite good. Einstein's catchment encompasses parts of Kensington, the area just west of the Wheaton metro, parts of downtown Silver Spring, etc. -- so lots of options depending on whether you want something close to public transportation or more residential or more of a small town feel.

There are several elementaries in Einstein's triangle that are really well-liked by parent communities -- Flora Singer and OTES, there are others.

Blair or BCC are not the only options in MoCo, and not every family is laser focused on G&T programming and aggressive tracking as long as the baseline academics are solid. For CH families looking for other options, the eastern part of MoCo offers some of the same community advantages of CH (friendly neighbors, lots of kids and families, community spaces in the form of pools and parks) with better MS and HS options.

I think people in this area sometimes get obsessed with optimizing every aspect of their kid's lives and need their kids to be in the "best" schools defined very narrowly. But if you live on CH, you're already probably making some compromise in terms of education. There are lots of options between Eastern/lottery and Sidwell or TJ that are still major upgrades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:RM doesn’t actually offer access to many IB classes for students outside the magnet. Not sure what the point of IB is if kids don’t pursue the full Diploma. BCC also offers IBD but access seems limited to the highest achievers.

Do you have links for this? My understanding was different.