Capitol Hill - middle school and beyond?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We are moving. We waffled the first few years of elementary because we like the neighborhood and our ES. And we've done the dance with "well SH seems okay, maybe we can put it off."

But then one morning I woke up and decided: I don't want to do this anymore. We are moving after this year ends. Our primary goal in where we end up is solid ES-MS-HS situation, no surprises. I think we have lower standards for what that means than many in this area, but higher than Eastern. We want honors tracking, foreign language, good IB or AP offerings, and a solid extracurricular program. I don't need my kids to go to "the best" high school. I didn't. But I want them to have options, whether they are high achievers or just middle of the road.

We are also excited about more space (a yard!), better in state college options, and hopefully a slightly slower paced neighborhood with less crime and general angst. We'll miss the walkability and great transit options, and some of our neighbors

I’m excited for you. I wish we had moved years ago.

Thank you, we are excited too. That's how I knew it was the right choice. The thought if just putting this whole conversation in our rear view just filled me when the joy.

Just curious—how old are your kids? And where are you considering? Hoping to stay on the Hill at the school we love a bit longer, but I don’t want to wait too long and have the transition be tougher on the kids having to make new friends. Curious when you are making the leap. I also feel like I will be so relieved once we’ve just chosen a path through high school, but we gotta hang on a bit. Uncertainty is not my forte though 😫

I will say this as someone who has a clear path through high school: having a path doesn't necessarily make things easier. We are at BASIS and my child is doing very well (top 5%), and I am constantly questioning whether we should just move. BASIS is stressful and the building sucks. The city feels like it is getting more and more dangerous. We love the Hill and our friends, but we are questioning our choices all the time.

We're in the same situation as you -- kid at BASIS with consistent straight As -- but kid isn't stressed and thinks the building is fine. So I'm the one who wants to move, but I wonder if the move is more for me than for my kid? Would I make his situation worse off by moving?

The MS years are hard enough (physically, socially, mentally, etc) so if you have a kid who is happy at school and doing well, I wouldn't rock the boat.

100% agree with this. I changed schools in 7th grade from a small school to a huge public middle in the burbs. It was awful.

Whatever. My social anxiety-prone older Hill kid was happy with virtual learning, pleased that she didn't have to deal with other human beings while hiding at home. Sitting in front of computer screen all day made her happy and helped her academically. But was the arrangement good for her? Absolutely not. Then there's my younger kid, the "gifted" one, who cruised through her upper ES grades in her DCPS and 5th grade at BASIS without breaking a sweat. She liked easily earning top grades while improving her doodling skills. My spouse and I grew fed up with BASIS' laser beam like emphasis on test prep, crappy building, weak arts education and ECs and high teacher turnover. We bailed for a private middle school after grandparents offered to pay tuition, even though the kids would have been fine with staying where they were (these are the kids who'd have ice cream at every meal if you let them). Thankfully, the kids love their new school.

I guess I don't understand what a person whose kids go to private school is doing posting on the DCPS/DCPCS forum other than to talk trash about our choices, but OK.

No surprise. People have to justify their choices.

If this one of the usual Basis-bashing posters, I think their kids are at some Catholic school no one has ever heard of.

[Anonymous]

New USN&WR rankings are out.

BASIS DC retained its rankings as #1 middle public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective high school in DC.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Have lived on the hill a decade now with no plans to leave - DH is obsessed with being in the city and we can't afford upper NW so for the foreseeable future we plan to stay in our townhouse. Both kids are in a DCI feeder school so we are putting all our eggs in the DCI basket. Will try for one of the Latin campuses in 6th if we don't get into DCI.

You should prod DH on whether he really believes that people really he cool because he lives near the federal government.

I am the PP who is moving and my DH was like this too, and actually it really is worth it to unpack why one or both partners are very attached to living "in the city." For my DH, he had this idea that moving outside the city was moving backwards because he'd lived in the suburbs in his 20s before finally moving into DC and being much happier to be close to friends and things to do. He moved into DC around the time we met, and he associates moving into DC as the time his life got really good.

But that was over a decade ago, before we married, owned a home, or had kids. When I'd suggest moving, he'd talk about how lonely he was in the burbs and how much less lonely his is now, and it took some time for me to convince him that living in a 1-bedroom apartment in the suburbs at the age of 26 is a totally different deal than living in a 3 bedroom house with your wife and family in your 40s. I actually think that potentially we will be more social and go out more once we move, because our lifestyle will be more in line with neighbors and also the lower cost of living will leave more money for babysitters and date nights.

It is somewhat comical how long it took to convince him of this but eventually he came around. But yes, initially he was incredibly attached to staying in the city, like if he left it would be some kind of tragedy. We're talking about moving 30 minutes away to a close-in suburb!

Different strokes for different folks.

My sister and her DH are home homebodies and burbs would fit them fine.

Whereas we do a lot of things in the city with dining out, Kennedy center, theater, concerts, family friendly activities in the city. Even if we moved just 1/2 hour outside, there is no way we would do 2/3rd of the things we would do because of the hassle of driving into the city.

It’s much easier though because we have only 1 and more time for outside interests/hobbies/friends and don’t need a huge place.

I agree different strokes but you make it sound like all city people go out a lot and the suburbs are just for staying home. This is a weird binary. Everyone I know in the suburbs goes out a ton. It's just more likely to be stuff like an evening bike ride with kids, a backyard BBQ with other families, hiking nearby, etc.

Not all suburbs are huge and sprawling with big houses either. I also know people who live in dense close in suburbs, in walkable neighborhoods close to Metro, who regularly do the things you mention.

The primary difference between them and people on CH is that they have an acceptable IB HS situation. Not lifestyle.

I'm not buying this. My ex lives in Arlington and we share custody so my kids go to an Arlington public MS. My life would be easier if I moved to Arlington to be closer to my ex but I'm not going. The Arlington lifestyle doesn't appeal. I won't give up Hill density, longtime friends, neighbors, activities, lovely architecture, or my walkable/bikeable commute to a Congressional office building. My kids don't want me to move.

PP, I may be in a similar situation at some point. How does your custody schedule work? How is getting them to school and back commute wise?

Straightforward 50-50 custody. Commute to Arlington school (they attend the nearest MS to Cap Hill SE, look it up) is a breeze if we leave by 7:15, 15 mins, 20 max. This is a MUCH easier and shorter commute than to the Latins or DCI. They come home together by Metro from Clarendon to Eastern Market, takes them no more than 45 mins. Arlington MS completely worth it, lovely facilities with big library, playing fields and courts, full menu of honors classes from 7th grade, strong arts program, good discipline and counseling, stable teaching force and many strong educators, chance to apply to TJ from 8th. The school is around 1/3 at-risk and ELL but not a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New USN&WR rankings are out.

BASIS DC retained its rankings as #1 middle public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective high school in DC.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia

Yup. Won’t be long now before they get ranked above Walls and Banneker, even though Basis is 100% lottery. Basis PARCC scores are higher than both those schools for 9th grade and so are SAT scores. And Basis gets stronger every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are moving. We waffled the first few years of elementary because we like the neighborhood and our ES. And we've done the dance with "well SH seems okay, maybe we can put it off."

But then one morning I woke up and decided: I don't want to do this anymore. We are moving after this year ends. Our primary goal in where we end up is solid ES-MS-HS situation, no surprises. I think we have lower standards for what that means than many in this area, but higher than Eastern. We want honors tracking, foreign language, good IB or AP offerings, and a solid extracurricular program. I don't need my kids to go to "the best" high school. I didn't. But I want them to have options, whether they are high achievers or just middle of the road.

We are also excited about more space (a yard!), better in state college options, and hopefully a slightly slower paced neighborhood with less crime and general angst. We'll miss the walkability and great transit options, and some of our neighbors

I’m excited for you. I wish we had moved years ago.

Thank you, we are excited too. That's how I knew it was the right choice. The thought if just putting this whole conversation in our rear view just filled me when the joy.

Just curious—how old are your kids? And where are you considering? Hoping to stay on the Hill at the school we love a bit longer, but I don’t want to wait too long and have the transition be tougher on the kids having to make new friends. Curious when you are making the leap. I also feel like I will be so relieved once we’ve just chosen a path through high school, but we gotta hang on a bit. Uncertainty is not my forte though 😫

I will say this as someone who has a clear path through high school: having a path doesn't necessarily make things easier. We are at BASIS and my child is doing very well (top 5%), and I am constantly questioning whether we should just move. BASIS is stressful and the building sucks. The city feels like it is getting more and more dangerous. We love the Hill and our friends, but we are questioning our choices all the time.

We're in the same situation as you -- kid at BASIS with consistent straight As -- but kid isn't stressed and thinks the building is fine. So I'm the one who wants to move, but I wonder if the move is more for me than for my kid? Would I make his situation worse off by moving?

The MS years are hard enough (physically, socially, mentally, etc) so if you have a kid who is happy at school and doing well, I wouldn't rock the boat.

100% agree with this. I changed schools in 7th grade from a small school to a huge public middle in the burbs. It was awful.

Whatever. My social anxiety-prone older Hill kid was happy with virtual learning, pleased that she didn't have to deal with other human beings while hiding at home. Sitting in front of computer screen all day made her happy and helped her academically. But was the arrangement good for her? Absolutely not. Then there's my younger kid, the "gifted" one, who cruised through her upper ES grades in her DCPS and 5th grade at BASIS without breaking a sweat. She liked easily earning top grades while improving her doodling skills. My spouse and I grew fed up with BASIS' laser beam like emphasis on test prep, crappy building, weak arts education and ECs and high teacher turnover. We bailed for a private middle school after grandparents offered to pay tuition, even though the kids would have been fine with staying where they were (these are the kids who'd have ice cream at every meal if you let them). Thankfully, the kids love their new school.

I guess I don't understand what a person whose kids go to private school is doing posting on the DCPS/DCPCS forum other than to talk trash about our choices, but OK.

No surprise. People have to justify their choices.

If this one of the usual Basis-bashing posters, I think their kids are at some Catholic school no one has ever heard of.

Grow up. It's not unusual for BASIS ms students to leave for parochial high schools, particularly boys. Half of my kids' BASIS MS friends seem to be at St. Johns, St. Anselms, Bishop Ireton or Gonzaga. The St. Anselms boys didn't last through 8th at BASIS because that school starts in 6th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have lived on the hill a decade now with no plans to leave - DH is obsessed with being in the city and we can't afford upper NW so for the foreseeable future we plan to stay in our townhouse. Both kids are in a DCI feeder school so we are putting all our eggs in the DCI basket. Will try for one of the Latin campuses in 6th if we don't get into DCI.

You should prod DH on whether he really believes that people really he cool because he lives near the federal government.

I am the PP who is moving and my DH was like this too, and actually it really is worth it to unpack why one or both partners are very attached to living "in the city." For my DH, he had this idea that moving outside the city was moving backwards because he'd lived in the suburbs in his 20s before finally moving into DC and being much happier to be close to friends and things to do. He moved into DC around the time we met, and he associates moving into DC as the time his life got really good.

But that was over a decade ago, before we married, owned a home, or had kids. When I'd suggest moving, he'd talk about how lonely he was in the burbs and how much less lonely his is now, and it took some time for me to convince him that living in a 1-bedroom apartment in the suburbs at the age of 26 is a totally different deal than living in a 3 bedroom house with your wife and family in your 40s. I actually think that potentially we will be more social and go out more once we move, because our lifestyle will be more in line with neighbors and also the lower cost of living will leave more money for babysitters and date nights.

It is somewhat comical how long it took to convince him of this but eventually he came around. But yes, initially he was incredibly attached to staying in the city, like if he left it would be some kind of tragedy. We're talking about moving 30 minutes away to a close-in suburb!

Different strokes for different folks.

My sister and her DH are home homebodies and burbs would fit them fine.

Whereas we do a lot of things in the city with dining out, Kennedy center, theater, concerts, family friendly activities in the city. Even if we moved just 1/2 hour outside, there is no way we would do 2/3rd of the things we would do because of the hassle of driving into the city.

It’s much easier though because we have only 1 and more time for outside interests/hobbies/friends and don’t need a huge place.

I agree different strokes but you make it sound like all city people go out a lot and the suburbs are just for staying home. This is a weird binary. Everyone I know in the suburbs goes out a ton. It's just more likely to be stuff like an evening bike ride with kids, a backyard BBQ with other families, hiking nearby, etc.

Not all suburbs are huge and sprawling with big houses either. I also know people who live in dense close in suburbs, in walkable neighborhoods close to Metro, who regularly do the things you mention.

The primary difference between them and people on CH is that they have an acceptable IB HS situation. Not lifestyle.

I'm not buying this. My ex lives in Arlington and we share custody so my kids go to an Arlington public MS. My life would be easier if I moved to Arlington to be closer to my ex but I'm not going. The Arlington lifestyle doesn't appeal. I won't give up Hill density, longtime friends, neighbors, activities, lovely architecture, or my walkable/bikeable commute to a Congressional office building. My kids don't want me to move.

Shocking that you think your ex's lifestyle sucks and yours is amazing, truly an unbiased assessment.

I know a bunch of people in close in Maryland suburbs (Bethesda, Takoma Park, parts of Silver Spring, Hyattsville) who are NOT your ex, and they take Metro to work, can walk to restaurants and bars from their house, life in fairly dense neighborhoods (some in townhomes), go to museums and concerts, are very social, and lead very active lives. I know very few people who just stay home all the time.

I also know people on Capital Hill who don't go out much except to stuff associated with their kids' school or activities. Actually I know a lot of people like this on CH (which is where I live) because a lot of people here are very kid-focused and especially when kids are in elementary, they seem to drop a lot of their other social activity and just focus on family. I think part of the appeal of CH for people like this is that if you like your elementary, you can do all of this stuff on foot/bike, which is great. I think that is sometimes harder to do even in a dense, walkable suburb, though might be feasible if you were selective about your home (close to the elementary school) and selective about kid's activities (swimming at walkable pool, or mostly activities through the pool). You'd still probably drive more than you'd need to on CH.

But the idea that people in suburbs just stay home in their huge houses on huge lots in unwalkable neighborhoods, and people on CH are all universally going out to museums and concerts and restaurants all the time, is just untrue. The entire world is not defined by "people like you" and "people like your ex."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New USN&WR rankings are out.

BASIS DC retained its rankings as #1 middle public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective high school in DC.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia

A Basis parent, but I don't think the "non-selective" is very useful here. Banneker is 27 percent at risk; Basis is 9 percent at risk. And I'd bet the share of college and/or grad school educated parents is much higher at Basis. It's not a selective admissions school, but there is clearly self-selection in enrollment, both initial and continued.

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain these rankings to me? Why is Latin so popular if it's ranked #14 in middle schools? None of these schools have 10-13 kids per class, so the student/teacher ratios seem way off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain these rankings to me? Why is Latin so popular if it's ranked #14 in middle schools? None of these schools have 10-13 kids per class, so the student/teacher ratios seem way off.

From their website:
"The rankings use the same methodology for all included grade levels. For each state, schools were assessed on their shares of students who were proficient or above proficient in their mathematics and reading/language arts state assessments. Half the formula was the results themselves; the other half was the results in the context of socioeconomic demographics. In other words, the top-ranked schools are all high achieving and have succeeded at educating all their students."

...Kind of what we have been talking about on various threads the past few days. People who look at overall school performance want to see that they are doing a better job educating all of the kids, not just certain sub groups. And despite many people on here not caring about that, I think caring about how at-risk kids are doing is crucial for two reason. A) those kids are members of our communities - our kids' teammates and friends so we should care how they are doing and B) if a school does well educating at-risk kids as well as kids from other sub-groups, it probably indicates stronger overall teachers.

As for the ratio, I believe it may include special educators in the total count, and maybe other teachers as well - not just the traditional classroom teachers.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings#:~:text=The%20elementary%20and%20middle%20school,ties%20in%20the%20overall%20score.&text=The%20math%20proficiency%20and%20reading,students'%20achievements%20on%20these%20assessments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain these rankings to me? Why is Latin so popular if it's ranked #14 in middle schools? None of these schools have 10-13 kids per class, so the student/teacher ratios seem way off.

Nice to see Whittier up there, but it hasn't had any middle grades for two years. Given how out of date basic information is, how is this even kind of reliable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain these rankings to me? Why is Latin so popular if it's ranked #14 in middle schools? None of these schools have 10-13 kids per class, so the student/teacher ratios seem way off.

Nice to see Whittier up there, but it hasn't had any middle grades for two years. Given how out of date basic information is, how is this even kind of reliable?

It is not. Do not decide which school to send your kid to based on US News rankings, or Great Schools rankings, or Niche rankings.

Choose a school by visiting schools, talking to parents, looking at offered programming, thinking about your kids and what they need, as well as your families resources and what you need. Trying to just go to the highest ranked school you can afford to attend, or luck into via a lottery or whatever, is not a recipe for success here.

[Anonymous]

Since when does "existing" have anything to do with how well they educate their students? Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have lived on the hill a decade now with no plans to leave - DH is obsessed with being in the city and we can't afford upper NW so for the foreseeable future we plan to stay in our townhouse. Both kids are in a DCI feeder school so we are putting all our eggs in the DCI basket. Will try for one of the Latin campuses in 6th if we don't get into DCI.

You should prod DH on whether he really believes that people really he cool because he lives near the federal government.

I am the PP who is moving and my DH was like this too, and actually it really is worth it to unpack why one or both partners are very attached to living "in the city." For my DH, he had this idea that moving outside the city was moving backwards because he'd lived in the suburbs in his 20s before finally moving into DC and being much happier to be close to friends and things to do. He moved into DC around the time we met, and he associates moving into DC as the time his life got really good.

But that was over a decade ago, before we married, owned a home, or had kids. When I'd suggest moving, he'd talk about how lonely he was in the burbs and how much less lonely his is now, and it took some time for me to convince him that living in a 1-bedroom apartment in the suburbs at the age of 26 is a totally different deal than living in a 3 bedroom house with your wife and family in your 40s. I actually think that potentially we will be more social and go out more once we move, because our lifestyle will be more in line with neighbors and also the lower cost of living will leave more money for babysitters and date nights.

It is somewhat comical how long it took to convince him of this but eventually he came around. But yes, initially he was incredibly attached to staying in the city, like if he left it would be some kind of tragedy. We're talking about moving 30 minutes away to a close-in suburb!

Different strokes for different folks.

My sister and her DH are home homebodies and burbs would fit them fine.

Whereas we do a lot of things in the city with dining out, Kennedy center, theater, concerts, family friendly activities in the city. Even if we moved just 1/2 hour outside, there is no way we would do 2/3rd of the things we would do because of the hassle of driving into the city.

It’s much easier though because we have only 1 and more time for outside interests/hobbies/friends and don’t need a huge place.

I agree different strokes but you make it sound like all city people go out a lot and the suburbs are just for staying home. This is a weird binary. Everyone I know in the suburbs goes out a ton. It's just more likely to be stuff like an evening bike ride with kids, a backyard BBQ with other families, hiking nearby, etc.

Not all suburbs are huge and sprawling with big houses either. I also know people who live in dense close in suburbs, in walkable neighborhoods close to Metro, who regularly do the things you mention.

The primary difference between them and people on CH is that they have an acceptable IB HS situation. Not lifestyle.

I'm not buying this. My ex lives in Arlington and we share custody so my kids go to an Arlington public MS. My life would be easier if I moved to Arlington to be closer to my ex but I'm not going. The Arlington lifestyle doesn't appeal. I won't give up Hill density, longtime friends, neighbors, activities, lovely architecture, or my walkable/bikeable commute to a Congressional office building. My kids don't want me to move.

Shocking that you think your ex's lifestyle sucks and yours is amazing, truly an unbiased assessment.

I know a bunch of people in close in Maryland suburbs (Bethesda, Takoma Park, parts of Silver Spring, Hyattsville) who are NOT your ex, and they take Metro to work, can walk to restaurants and bars from their house, life in fairly dense neighborhoods (some in townhomes), go to museums and concerts, are very social, and lead very active lives. I know very few people who just stay home all the time.

I also know people on Capital Hill who don't go out much except to stuff associated with their kids' school or activities. Actually I know a lot of people like this on CH (which is where I live) because a lot of people here are very kid-focused and especially when kids are in elementary, they seem to drop a lot of their other social activity and just focus on family. I think part of the appeal of CH for people like this is that if you like your elementary, you can do all of this stuff on foot/bike, which is great. I think that is sometimes harder to do even in a dense, walkable suburb, though might be feasible if you were selective about your home (close to the elementary school) and selective about kid's activities (swimming at walkable pool, or mostly activities through the pool). You'd still probably drive more than you'd need to on CH.

But the idea that people in suburbs just stay home in their huge houses on huge lots in unwalkable neighborhoods, and people on CH are all universally going out to museums and concerts and restaurants all the time, is just untrue. The entire world is not defined by "people like you" and "people like your ex."

Come on. Ridiculous. Different strokes for different folks/parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have lived on the hill a decade now with no plans to leave - DH is obsessed with being in the city and we can't afford upper NW so for the foreseeable future we plan to stay in our townhouse. Both kids are in a DCI feeder school so we are putting all our eggs in the DCI basket. Will try for one of the Latin campuses in 6th if we don't get into DCI.

You should prod DH on whether he really believes that people really he cool because he lives near the federal government.

I am the PP who is moving and my DH was like this too, and actually it really is worth it to unpack why one or both partners are very attached to living "in the city." For my DH, he had this idea that moving outside the city was moving backwards because he'd lived in the suburbs in his 20s before finally moving into DC and being much happier to be close to friends and things to do. He moved into DC around the time we met, and he associates moving into DC as the time his life got really good.

But that was over a decade ago, before we married, owned a home, or had kids. When I'd suggest moving, he'd talk about how lonely he was in the burbs and how much less lonely his is now, and it took some time for me to convince him that living in a 1-bedroom apartment in the suburbs at the age of 26 is a totally different deal than living in a 3 bedroom house with your wife and family in your 40s. I actually think that potentially we will be more social and go out more once we move, because our lifestyle will be more in line with neighbors and also the lower cost of living will leave more money for babysitters and date nights.

It is somewhat comical how long it took to convince him of this but eventually he came around. But yes, initially he was incredibly attached to staying in the city, like if he left it would be some kind of tragedy. We're talking about moving 30 minutes away to a close-in suburb!

Different strokes for different folks.

My sister and her DH are home homebodies and burbs would fit them fine.

Whereas we do a lot of things in the city with dining out, Kennedy center, theater, concerts, family friendly activities in the city. Even if we moved just 1/2 hour outside, there is no way we would do 2/3rd of the things we would do because of the hassle of driving into the city.

It’s much easier though because we have only 1 and more time for outside interests/hobbies/friends and don’t need a huge place.

I agree different strokes but you make it sound like all city people go out a lot and the suburbs are just for staying home. This is a weird binary. Everyone I know in the suburbs goes out a ton. It's just more likely to be stuff like an evening bike ride with kids, a backyard BBQ with other families, hiking nearby, etc.

Not all suburbs are huge and sprawling with big houses either. I also know people who live in dense close in suburbs, in walkable neighborhoods close to Metro, who regularly do the things you mention.

The primary difference between them and people on CH is that they have an acceptable IB HS situation. Not lifestyle.

I'm not buying this. My ex lives in Arlington and we share custody so my kids go to an Arlington public MS. My life would be easier if I moved to Arlington to be closer to my ex but I'm not going. The Arlington lifestyle doesn't appeal. I won't give up Hill density, longtime friends, neighbors, activities, lovely architecture, or my walkable/bikeable commute to a Congressional office building. My kids don't want me to move.

Shocking that you think your ex's lifestyle sucks and yours is amazing, truly an unbiased assessment.

I know a bunch of people in close in Maryland suburbs (Bethesda, Takoma Park, parts of Silver Spring, Hyattsville) who are NOT your ex, and they take Metro to work, can walk to restaurants and bars from their house, life in fairly dense neighborhoods (some in townhomes), go to museums and concerts, are very social, and lead very active lives. I know very few people who just stay home all the time.

I also know people on Capital Hill who don't go out much except to stuff associated with their kids' school or activities. Actually I know a lot of people like this on CH (which is where I live) because a lot of people here are very kid-focused and especially when kids are in elementary, they seem to drop a lot of their other social activity and just focus on family. I think part of the appeal of CH for people like this is that if you like your elementary, you can do all of this stuff on foot/bike, which is great. I think that is sometimes harder to do even in a dense, walkable suburb, though might be feasible if you were selective about your home (close to the elementary school) and selective about kid's activities (swimming at walkable pool, or mostly activities through the pool). You'd still probably drive more than you'd need to on CH.

But the idea that people in suburbs just stay home in their huge houses on huge lots in unwalkable neighborhoods, and people on CH are all universally going out to museums and concerts and restaurants all the time, is just untrue. The entire world is not defined by "people like you" and "people like your ex."

Come on. Ridiculous. Different strokes for different folks/parents.

Yes, but not along a binary. CH is sleepy compared to other DC neighborhoods. Parts of close-in suburbs are denser with more to do. The idea that everyone who leave CH for better schools in the burbs is consigning themselves to a boring life of sitting at home in their 3000 sq ft McMansion is a fantasy invented by people on the Hill who don't want to move. It's something people who stay say to themselves to make themselves feel better about the stressful, risky school situation.

So don't move! But that doesn't mean that people who did are living the opposite life you are.

[Anonymous]

I’m new to the area. Can someone help?

DCI?
Latin?
Basis?
ITS?

Can you give me the general gist if these schools?

Thank you.