Crazy to move from BCC cluster ES to Janney/Deal/Wilson for schools?

[Anonymous]

1st grade DC at a BCC cluster ES. The overcrowding is bordering on negligence and it will only get worse as new development keeps coming. Went to the Open House on Columbus Day and it was chaos. The teacher is doing her best, but there are too many issues for her to handle.

All we want is a decent school that is not overcrowded, a small house with a garden, off-street parking for one car and a reasonably walkable neighborhood. We have all of that now, except for the school. Looking around, AU Park/Tenley would seem to give us some of the same benefits, except perhaps not as many amenities at the same or even a slightly lower price point. But, crucially without the constant threat of pop-up construction changing the character of the neighborhood. In addition, moving at least somewhat closer in insulates us better from relying solely on Metrorail for commuting. And frankly at some point, all this development will eventually hurt MoCo real estate prices.

While I understand and acknowledge that Janney, Deal and Wilson may have their own capacity issues, I reasonably believe that MCPS takes it to a whole other level. The cohorts that we are staring at look like a ticking time bomb that neither MCPS nor the county council want to acknowledge. Also, while I understand that BCC is probably better than Wilson, it's a little too early to be worrying about high school and the DC Tuition Assistance Grant more than makes up for that inconvenience. I just refuse to believe that DCPS and the DC government can be any more incompetent than what we are seeing from MCPS and the county council.

Looking for some feedback because we are seriously considering starting to get our house ready over this winter to show in Spring. Is this a crazy idea? Anyone else have experience making this move?

[Anonymous]

I was totally with you up to this point.

"I just refuse to believe that DCPS and the DC government can be any more incompetent than what we are seeing from MCPS and the county council."

Don't move here expecting that local government will improve.

Janney/Deal/Wilson are exceptions, in large part because of hte affluent neighborhoods that surround them. They are succeeding in spite of the local government and DCPS.

But yes, your reasons for moving sound valid and I don't think you're harming your children.

[Anonymous]

I am someone who made this choice -- moved from the Westland feeder neighborhood to a deal feeder. I am thrilled I did. Our school has smaller class sizes, isn't under thread of tons of new construction and, frankly, the PARCC scores beat the pants off Westbrook/BE/Wood Acres etc.

I think Wilson may be the weakest part of this chain, I think it can be highly successful for many kids. My kids are also young, so we have lots of time to worry about HS.

There will be a lot of posters who will come one here and blindly state that DCPS can never get near MCPS-- but they are remembering two systems from 10+ years ago. Things have changed considerably on both sides of Western Ave.

[Anonymous]

Could you do private? Moving is going to cost a lot, for no guarantee that you'll like the schools better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could you do private? Moving is going to cost a lot, for no guarantee that you'll like the schools better.

It's a lot cheaper to move -- even twice! -- than go private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was totally with you up to this point.

"I just refuse to believe that DCPS and the DC government can be any more incompetent than what we are seeing from MCPS and the county council."

Don't move here expecting that local government will improve.

Janney/Deal/Wilson are exceptions, in large part because of hte affluent neighborhoods that surround them. They are succeeding in spite of the local government and DCPS.

But yes, your reasons for moving sound valid and I don't think you're harming your children.

Thanks for the response. You're right that probably asking for better local governance is likely a step too far, but we have just as many elected representatives for the whole of Montgomery County as there are for DC as a whole. There is a reason why it is highly likely that Question B will pass and half the council will get term limited out. To be honest, I feel like MoCo is just one more bad decision away from large scale flight. It feels crazy wondering if any semblance of quality can hold for another 11 years when the whole government, from the Governor on down, makes such capricious decisions.

On the flip side, I see a DC school system in NW delivering excellent results (the rest of the city not so much). And if we ever did need to go private, a lot of the top options would be right on our doorstep.

Just for comparison's sake, I've read that some older grades at Janney have 30 kids in one room, but with two teachers. That cannot be great, but it is a better option than what we have, which is 29 kids with one teacher. In the first grade I might add.

Can anyone identify a serious downside that I may be missing here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am someone who made this choice -- moved from the Westland feeder neighborhood to a deal feeder. I am thrilled I did. Our school has smaller class sizes, isn't under thread of tons of new construction and, frankly, the PARCC scores beat the pants off Westbrook/BE/Wood Acres etc.

I think Wilson may be the weakest part of this chain, I think it can be highly successful for many kids. My kids are also young, so we have lots of time to worry about HS.

There will be a lot of posters who will come one here and blindly state that DCPS can never get near MCPS-- but they are remembering two systems from 10+ years ago. Things have changed considerably on both sides of Western Ave.

Wait, no this is US!!! We rented for 10+ years in Burning Tree ES and then moved into feeder/Deal/Wilson. My kids are older and have 2 at Wilson now. We haven't looked back. I grew up in Bethesda and my parents plus siblings (with kids) all live in Whitman or BCC area. I would say that my kids are having almost the exact same education as my nieces and nephews. Yes, Wilson is a bit rougher around the edges but my kids are doing just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am someone who made this choice -- moved from the Westland feeder neighborhood to a deal feeder. I am thrilled I did. Our school has smaller class sizes, isn't under thread of tons of new construction and, frankly, the PARCC scores beat the pants off Westbrook/BE/Wood Acres etc.

I think Wilson may be the weakest part of this chain, I think it can be highly successful for many kids. My kids are also young, so we have lots of time to worry about HS.

There will be a lot of posters who will come one here and blindly state that DCPS can never get near MCPS-- but they are remembering two systems from 10+ years ago. Things have changed considerably on both sides of Western Ave.

Wait, no this is US!!! We rented for 10+ years in Burning Tree ES and then moved into feeder/Deal/Wilson. My kids are older and have 2 at Wilson now. We haven't looked back. I grew up in Bethesda and my parents plus siblings (with kids) all live in Whitman or BCC area. I would say that my kids are having almost the exact same education as my nieces and nephews. Yes, Wilson is a bit rougher around the edges but my kids are doing just fine.

They also have a better shot at selective colleges...

-- PP, your doppleganger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could you do private? Moving is going to cost a lot, for no guarantee that you'll like the schools better.

It's a lot cheaper to move -- even twice! -- than go private.

I think it isn't unlikely she'll move and eventually go private anyway. It would be cheaper to skip the move.

[Anonymous]

Just me, but as the parent of a young elementary kid and a middle school kid in the BCC catchment, there's no way on earth I'd make this move unless I was capable of paying for private and prepared for the rat race and uncertainty of applying to privates. I know there are loads of legitimate complaints about MCPS, and I agree with many of them. But I work in DC, have many friends and colleagues with kids at Deal and Wilson, and there's simply no comparison with Westland / BCC.

Please understand that this is not an uneducated smear or knock on those schools. I genuinely believe that a smart, well-motivated, well-supported, amazing student can do wonderfully in either school. But I know a few too many first-hand stories about kids who are a lot like mine - good kids, reasonably smart, but not rock star academics, from super engaged families - who wound up having a really rough time in even the best DCPS schools. Mostly just usual rough time, but a few kids who really crashed and burned in ways that are going to be tough to rebound from.

OP, you need to do a lot more due diligence if you're going to make this move. Packing your family up and selling your house because Open House day was a disappointment (yes, it always is, especially for parents of first graders!) is just silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am someone who made this choice -- moved from the Westland feeder neighborhood to a deal feeder. I am thrilled I did. Our school has smaller class sizes, isn't under thread of tons of new construction and, frankly, the PARCC scores beat the pants off Westbrook/BE/Wood Acres etc.

I think Wilson may be the weakest part of this chain, I think it can be highly successful for many kids. My kids are also young, so we have lots of time to worry about HS.

There will be a lot of posters who will come one here and blindly state that DCPS can never get near MCPS-- but they are remembering two systems from 10+ years ago. Things have changed considerably on both sides of Western Ave.

Wait, no this is US!!! We rented for 10+ years in Burning Tree ES and then moved into feeder/Deal/Wilson. My kids are older and have 2 at Wilson now. We haven't looked back. I grew up in Bethesda and my parents plus siblings (with kids) all live in Whitman or BCC area. I would say that my kids are having almost the exact same education as my nieces and nephews. Yes, Wilson is a bit rougher around the edges but my kids are doing just fine.

I do wonder how much this is happening and not being widely acknowledged. Surely all of these anecdotes do combine to form a trend of sorts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just me, but as the parent of a young elementary kid and a middle school kid in the BCC catchment, there's no way on earth I'd make this move unless I was capable of paying for private and prepared for the rat race and uncertainty of applying to privates. I know there are loads of legitimate complaints about MCPS, and I agree with many of them. But I work in DC, have many friends and colleagues with kids at Deal and Wilson, and there's simply no comparison with Westland / BCC.

Please understand that this is not an uneducated smear or knock on those schools. I genuinely believe that a smart, well-motivated, well-supported, amazing student can do wonderfully in either school. But I know a few too many first-hand stories about kids who are a lot like mine - good kids, reasonably smart, but not rock star academics, from super engaged families - who wound up having a really rough time in even the best DCPS schools. Mostly just usual rough time, but a few kids who really crashed and burned in ways that are going to be tough to rebound from.

OP, you need to do a lot more due diligence if you're going to make this move. Packing your family up and selling your house because Open House day was a disappointment (yes, it always is, especially for parents of first graders!) is just silly.

OP here, thanks for the feedback. This is very useful and helpful. Could you elaborate more on "crash and burn". Is this like drugs/shoplifting/criminal record type stuff? Or bullying, apprehension, fear, unmotivated, outsider, angst type stuff? Or something entirely different?

[Anonymous]

You mean going from the frying pan into the fire?

Yeah, sure, why don't you try that, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am someone who made this choice -- moved from the Westland feeder neighborhood to a deal feeder. I am thrilled I did. Our school has smaller class sizes, isn't under thread of tons of new construction and, frankly, the PARCC scores beat the pants off Westbrook/BE/Wood Acres etc.

I think Wilson may be the weakest part of this chain, I think it can be highly successful for many kids. My kids are also young, so we have lots of time to worry about HS.

There will be a lot of posters who will come one here and blindly state that DCPS can never get near MCPS-- but they are remembering two systems from 10+ years ago. Things have changed considerably on both sides of Western Ave.

Wait, no this is US!!! We rented for 10+ years in Burning Tree ES and then moved into feeder/Deal/Wilson. My kids are older and have 2 at Wilson now. We haven't looked back. I grew up in Bethesda and my parents plus siblings (with kids) all live in Whitman or BCC area. I would say that my kids are having almost the exact same education as my nieces and nephews. Yes, Wilson is a bit rougher around the edges but my kids are doing just fine.

I do wonder how much this is happening and not being widely acknowledged. Surely all of these anecdotes do combine to form a trend of sorts?

I think its more naturally happening with families starting off in DCPS instead of MCPS from the outset. If you've got $900K+ to spend on a house, NWDC/Bethesda/CC all are on your list of possibilities.

[Anonymous]

We moved from another 'W' district to a Deal/Wilson neighborhood, but this was before having school-aged kids. I think more people are considering this due to overcrowding and worsening traffic.

Also, anecdotes aside, PARCC scores are similar for kids in Deal/Wilson feeders vs. nearby MoCo schools--maybe someone else can find and link to the appropriate thread.