schools in Hillcrest?

[Anonymous]

We are considering a house in Hillcrest, which seems like a lovely, peaceful neighborhood. Our kids are 9 and 13, so will need fourth and eighth grades this year. The schools data on the web doesn't look great. If there are parents from that neighborhood on this board, would appreciate their feedback on where they send their kids, what they like about it, etc.
Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Is Hillcrest located anywhere near Alabama Ave. SE. if so I would say you may want to look at Anne Beers Elementary School but the middle school is not so great. Maybe try keeping them where they are unless it is located in Maryland or try KIPP School located in SE I did hear that is a great school and they also have a middle and high school as well. Congratulations on your home those are lovely homes over there.

[Anonymous]

Hillcrest being the nicest neighborhood on that side of the river will basically have schools that are mostly filled with kids form the rest of that side of the river. You will need to research privates and charters.

[Anonymous]

Do you already live in DC, and your kids are already in school, or are you moving here so you're starting fresh?

When will you be moving here?

I hate to be pessimistic, but you need to start researching school options right now. A lot might come down to luck and lottery. If you move mid-year, you might have some luck sliding into a good school but that school will be a distance from your home.

[Anonymous]

I'm not in Hillcrest but very close and I have a couple of friends who live there. We all send our kids to school on the Hill.

I have another friend who is not in Hillcrest but close to it and her 4th grader attends Randle Highlands. They have a newly renovated building and are a year round school. I haven't asked her in detail but she didn't express any concerns when we briefly talked about the school.

[Anonymous]

how far are you willing to have your kids commute?

are you open to religious schools?

what is your race, and do you mind if your child is in a very small minority?

Beers, Leckie, and Randle Highlands are among the best DCPS elementary schools east of the river. There is a possibility that JBAB Bolling will get to open a charter school soon but it will give priority to military families so it's hard to say whether you'd get a seat (note: if it opens, military families will stop using Leckie and the school will change a lot).

For high school, if you have a son, Ron Brown high school may be an option later on but it's new this year so hard to say. Thurgood Marshall Academy would be my top high school choice in the area, but it doesn't really compare to the DCPS application high schools, or BASIS and Latin.

Middle school is tough.

[Anonymous]

If you are moving this year, you will probably not get into anywhere except your in-bounds schools. You can try the lottery for next year.

You could ask on the private school forum if there are options for this year. For a high schooler, Blyth-Templeton Academy on Capitol Hill would be a decent commute and it's cheap as private schools go, but it is very small and lacks the trappings of a traditional high school (sports teams, yearbook, an actual school building, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:how far are you willing to have your kids commute?

are you open to religious schools?

what is your race, and do you mind if your child is in a very small minority?

Beers, Leckie, and Randle Highlands are among the best DCPS elementary schools east of the river. There is a possibility that JBAB Bolling will get to open a charter school soon but it will give priority to military families so it's hard to say whether you'd get a seat (note: if it opens, military families will stop using Leckie and the school will change a lot).

For high school, if you have a son, Ron Brown high school may be an option later on but it's new this year so hard to say. Thurgood Marshall Academy would be my top high school choice in the area, but it doesn't really compare to the DCPS application high schools, or BASIS and Latin.

Middle school is tough.

How will that be allowed under current charter rules?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how far are you willing to have your kids commute?

are you open to religious schools?

what is your race, and do you mind if your child is in a very small minority?

Beers, Leckie, and Randle Highlands are among the best DCPS elementary schools east of the river. There is a possibility that JBAB Bolling will get to open a charter school soon but it will give priority to military families so it's hard to say whether you'd get a seat (note: if it opens, military families will stop using Leckie and the school will change a lot).

For high school, if you have a son, Ron Brown high school may be an option later on but it's new this year so hard to say. Thurgood Marshall Academy would be my top high school choice in the area, but it doesn't really compare to the DCPS application high schools, or BASIS and Latin.

Middle school is tough.

How will that be allowed under current charter rules?

There are motions underway to change the rules to allow this. Really, who is going to object to accommodating military families?

[Anonymous]

Some residents are concerned about schools in Ward 7 and seek improvement and new programs beyond an all year round school. Continued lobbying might give parents more options other than dropping their kids off at schools with higher test scores and opportunities in other wards on the way to work. Some schools are trying to give their all for area students.

Maybe the new chancellor will build on Henderson's accomplishments, but focus more on East of the River working with the new Councilmembers for Wards 7 and 8. Parents would love to shorten their commutes taking kids to school and maybe shorten kids' time in before and aftercare. Walkable neighborhood schools or ones on public transportation needed, at least for traditional schools. Nannies to drive kids to school not used so much.

[Anonymous]

You will have to lottery into a school outside of Hilllcrest, home school or send your kids to private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how far are you willing to have your kids commute?

are you open to religious schools?

what is your race, and do you mind if your child is in a very small minority?

Beers, Leckie, and Randle Highlands are among the best DCPS elementary schools east of the river. There is a possibility that JBAB Bolling will get to open a charter school soon but it will give priority to military families so it's hard to say whether you'd get a seat (note: if it opens, military families will stop using Leckie and the school will change a lot).

For high school, if you have a son, Ron Brown high school may be an option later on but it's new this year so hard to say. Thurgood Marshall Academy would be my top high school choice in the area, but it doesn't really compare to the DCPS application high schools, or BASIS and Latin.

Middle school is tough.

How will that be allowed under current charter rules?

There are motions underway to change the rules to allow this. Really, who is going to object to accommodating military families?

City, DCPCSB and DOD partnering on this. All want it to happen. The once a year lottery timelines really dont work for military families who can be transferred at any time and these students often have unique social-emotional needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will have to lottery into a school outside of Hilllcrest, home school or send your kids to private school.

Agree. If your kids were preschool the answers may be different.

[Anonymous]

KIPP on Benning road is fantastic. I live in Ft DuPont park and my son goes to a different KIPP campus (but only because that campus was more convenient to our prior home). I've heard really good things about the Benning Rd campus though, and they had really high PARCC scores.

Also look on the Hill and downtown.

[Anonymous]

The houses in the area are very nice, but realistically, the schools are lacking. The only elementary school I can suggest would be Anne Beers because the principal and teachers really care about the students education (this is based on my son attending in the 5th grade only to finish up elementary school). Also, do a lot of research about the location of schools that you are interested in because the commute from that area can be crazy in the morning especially after 7:30. In the end I settled on ITS because it goes up to the 8th grade and all of my children could be dropped off at the same location (8, 11, 13). Although, I will say the middle school has been going through some growing pains.