Moving to DC - what would be your ideal location based on DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Where did you previously live in DC? What did you love? Are you looking for walkable amenities? Public transportation? Reasonable commute? If you grew up with good suburban public schools where having a solid known path through high school is a real dealbreaker for you, you might be better off looking in Bethesda or Arlington or one of the other close-in suburbs with decent schools.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We are a Cap Hill family that started in public and then moved mid- elementary for upper NW privates. If you are prioritizing school, would not move here. We love the Hill for many many reasons but the schools are a mess. Even the best schools are in flux and have serious downsides (Brent feeds to an undesirable middle, Maury is getting combined with another school, Ludlow is ok and on the rise but the boundary is more H street than Cap Hill, and Peabody Watkins continues to suffer under poor leadership). They all culminate in Eastern which isn’t performing at all. I do not regret moving to the Hill because we’ve otherwise loved it and have amazing friends but we have commuted to school (first in Gtown and then to our children’s middle and upper campus). Talk to actual parents, not just DCUM people. Look at the school budgets and PTA notes of the schools you are considering.

+100 Great community, awful schools beyond ECE (even the charters). We live in Brookland--no good options here. Would not move here.

Another Capitol Hill family and totally agree. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have bought in upper NW or the burbs. We've been troubleshooting our school situation since our kids first entered PK because the schools here are so uneven (including MANY genuinely bad schools). We are now planning to move between elementary and MS (out of DC, and actually out of the area entirely) because we found an elementary school situation that is okay but we have no real path here other than playing the lottery and hoping it works out, which would also require us to commute far to school.

We bought here before kids and then were persuaded by friends and neighbors who told us the schools were good and "getting better" and there are so many other great things about living on the Hill with kids. Like 90% of those friends and neighbors have moved away when their kids hit MS. Not kidding. Only the die hards, or people who luck into charter spots and are willing to do the commute, stick around. It's all a big lie! It's my biggest parenting regret.

Yep. We are actually here for the long haul (through HS) because of lottery luck and DS is settled into school/friends/etc, but the schools local to Capitol Hill have not and will not get better. Families went the private school route and are happy but also can well afford it.

Another Cap Hill family that also agrees. DCPS policies make it next to impossible to improve the school situation. They don’t want another Ward 3 here.

Ward 3 parent here. They don’t want a Ward 3 anywhere. If you move here you will definitely get the best schools in the city. But be prepared to fight each year to keep them that way.

Can you please expand what you mean to fight to keep them that way? Are those things the pta does? What you do at home to supplement? Super curious. Thanks!

On a per pupil basis the Ward 3 schools are the lowest funded and each year DCPS will try to reduce budget. The Ward 3 councilman and mostly childless ANC commissioners are hellbent on increasing density in Ward 3 without any plan to support the schools which are already comically overcrowded. It’s a weekly fight.

You have to be freaking kidding me. I teach in an overcrowded EOTR school where my students have levels ranging from K - 8. I know where the students in W3 generally are in this is exactly why I left. You think your entitled to the same resources that the city is using to try and support neighborhoods that really need it. There's a finite pool of money from the city; you all are able to refill yours with PTA money. Accept that fact and move on

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a Cap Hill family that started in public and then moved mid- elementary for upper NW privates. If you are prioritizing school, would not move here. We love the Hill for many many reasons but the schools are a mess. Even the best schools are in flux and have serious downsides (Brent feeds to an undesirable middle, Maury is getting combined with another school, Ludlow is ok and on the rise but the boundary is more H street than Cap Hill, and Peabody Watkins continues to suffer under poor leadership). They all culminate in Eastern which isn’t performing at all. I do not regret moving to the Hill because we’ve otherwise loved it and have amazing friends but we have commuted to school (first in Gtown and then to our children’s middle and upper campus). Talk to actual parents, not just DCUM people. Look at the school budgets and PTA notes of the schools you are considering.

+100 Great community, awful schools beyond ECE (even the charters). We live in Brookland--no good options here. Would not move here.

Another Capitol Hill family and totally agree. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have bought in upper NW or the burbs. We've been troubleshooting our school situation since our kids first entered PK because the schools here are so uneven (including MANY genuinely bad schools). We are now planning to move between elementary and MS (out of DC, and actually out of the area entirely) because we found an elementary school situation that is okay but we have no real path here other than playing the lottery and hoping it works out, which would also require us to commute far to school.

We bought here before kids and then were persuaded by friends and neighbors who told us the schools were good and "getting better" and there are so many other great things about living on the Hill with kids. Like 90% of those friends and neighbors have moved away when their kids hit MS. Not kidding. Only the die hards, or people who luck into charter spots and are willing to do the commute, stick around. It's all a big lie! It's my biggest parenting regret.

Yep. We are actually here for the long haul (through HS) because of lottery luck and DS is settled into school/friends/etc, but the schools local to Capitol Hill have not and will not get better. Families went the private school route and are happy but also can well afford it.

Another Cap Hill family that also agrees. DCPS policies make it next to impossible to improve the school situation. They don’t want another Ward 3 here.

Ward 3 parent here. They don’t want a Ward 3 anywhere. If you move here you will definitely get the best schools in the city. But be prepared to fight each year to keep them that way.

Can you please expand what you mean to fight to keep them that way? Are those things the pta does? What you do at home to supplement? Super curious. Thanks!

On a per pupil basis the Ward 3 schools are the lowest funded and each year DCPS will try to reduce budget. The Ward 3 councilman and mostly childless ANC commissioners are hellbent on increasing density in Ward 3 without any plan to support the schools which are already comically overcrowded. It’s a weekly fight.

You have to be freaking kidding me. I teach in an overcrowded EOTR school where my students have levels ranging from K - 8. I know where the students in W3 generally are in this is exactly why I left. You think your entitled to the same resources that the city is using to try and support neighborhoods that really need it. There's a finite pool of money from the city; you all are able to refill yours with PTA money. Accept that fact and move on

It was obvious as far back as Mayor Gray that the strategy to close the achievement gap was to drag the top down. It hasn’t changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a Cap Hill family that started in public and then moved mid- elementary for upper NW privates. If you are prioritizing school, would not move here. We love the Hill for many many reasons but the schools are a mess. Even the best schools are in flux and have serious downsides (Brent feeds to an undesirable middle, Maury is getting combined with another school, Ludlow is ok and on the rise but the boundary is more H street than Cap Hill, and Peabody Watkins continues to suffer under poor leadership). They all culminate in Eastern which isn’t performing at all. I do not regret moving to the Hill because we’ve otherwise loved it and have amazing friends but we have commuted to school (first in Gtown and then to our children’s middle and upper campus). Talk to actual parents, not just DCUM people. Look at the school budgets and PTA notes of the schools you are considering.

+100 Great community, awful schools beyond ECE (even the charters). We live in Brookland--no good options here. Would not move here.

Another Capitol Hill family and totally agree. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have bought in upper NW or the burbs. We've been troubleshooting our school situation since our kids first entered PK because the schools here are so uneven (including MANY genuinely bad schools). We are now planning to move between elementary and MS (out of DC, and actually out of the area entirely) because we found an elementary school situation that is okay but we have no real path here other than playing the lottery and hoping it works out, which would also require us to commute far to school.

We bought here before kids and then were persuaded by friends and neighbors who told us the schools were good and "getting better" and there are so many other great things about living on the Hill with kids. Like 90% of those friends and neighbors have moved away when their kids hit MS. Not kidding. Only the die hards, or people who luck into charter spots and are willing to do the commute, stick around. It's all a big lie! It's my biggest parenting regret.

Yep. We are actually here for the long haul (through HS) because of lottery luck and DS is settled into school/friends/etc, but the schools local to Capitol Hill have not and will not get better. Families went the private school route and are happy but also can well afford it.

Another Cap Hill family that also agrees. DCPS policies make it next to impossible to improve the school situation. They don’t want another Ward 3 here.

Ward 3 parent here. They don’t want a Ward 3 anywhere. If you move here you will definitely get the best schools in the city. But be prepared to fight each year to keep them that way.

Can you please expand what you mean to fight to keep them that way? Are those things the pta does? What you do at home to supplement? Super curious. Thanks!

On a per pupil basis the Ward 3 schools are the lowest funded and each year DCPS will try to reduce budget. The Ward 3 councilman and mostly childless ANC commissioners are hellbent on increasing density in Ward 3 without any plan to support the schools which are already comically overcrowded. It’s a weekly fight.

You have to be freaking kidding me. I teach in an overcrowded EOTR school where my students have levels ranging from K - 8. I know where the students in W3 generally are in this is exactly why I left. You think your entitled to the same resources that the city is using to try and support neighborhoods that really need it. There's a finite pool of money from the city; you all are able to refill yours with PTA money. Accept that fact and move on

All kids in the city should be provided sufficient educational resources. The concept of "just let the PTAs handle it is BS." It's not your place to decidd that some families should bear extra taxes beyond what DC officially assesses.

Meanwhile, if the education keeps being increasingly crappy, more UMC/MC will move out, you can reallocate *all* public resources to only the subset of citizens you deem entitled. Of course, there will be no tax base and, therfore, no resources..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a Cap Hill family that started in public and then moved mid- elementary for upper NW privates. If you are prioritizing school, would not move here. We love the Hill for many many reasons but the schools are a mess. Even the best schools are in flux and have serious downsides (Brent feeds to an undesirable middle, Maury is getting combined with another school, Ludlow is ok and on the rise but the boundary is more H street than Cap Hill, and Peabody Watkins continues to suffer under poor leadership). They all culminate in Eastern which isn’t performing at all. I do not regret moving to the Hill because we’ve otherwise loved it and have amazing friends but we have commuted to school (first in Gtown and then to our children’s middle and upper campus). Talk to actual parents, not just DCUM people. Look at the school budgets and PTA notes of the schools you are considering.

+100 Great community, awful schools beyond ECE (even the charters). We live in Brookland--no good options here. Would not move here.

Another Capitol Hill family and totally agree. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have bought in upper NW or the burbs. We've been troubleshooting our school situation since our kids first entered PK because the schools here are so uneven (including MANY genuinely bad schools). We are now planning to move between elementary and MS (out of DC, and actually out of the area entirely) because we found an elementary school situation that is okay but we have no real path here other than playing the lottery and hoping it works out, which would also require us to commute far to school.

We bought here before kids and then were persuaded by friends and neighbors who told us the schools were good and "getting better" and there are so many other great things about living on the Hill with kids. Like 90% of those friends and neighbors have moved away when their kids hit MS. Not kidding. Only the die hards, or people who luck into charter spots and are willing to do the commute, stick around. It's all a big lie! It's my biggest parenting regret.

Yep. We are actually here for the long haul (through HS) because of lottery luck and DS is settled into school/friends/etc, but the schools local to Capitol Hill have not and will not get better. Families went the private school route and are happy but also can well afford it.

Another Cap Hill family that also agrees. DCPS policies make it next to impossible to improve the school situation. They don’t want another Ward 3 here.

Ward 3 parent here. They don’t want a Ward 3 anywhere. If you move here you will definitely get the best schools in the city. But be prepared to fight each year to keep them that way.

Can you please expand what you mean to fight to keep them that way? Are those things the pta does? What you do at home to supplement? Super curious. Thanks!

On a per pupil basis the Ward 3 schools are the lowest funded and each year DCPS will try to reduce budget. The Ward 3 councilman and mostly childless ANC commissioners are hellbent on increasing density in Ward 3 without any plan to support the schools which are already comically overcrowded. It’s a weekly fight.

You have to be freaking kidding me. I teach in an overcrowded EOTR school where my students have levels ranging from K - 8. I know where the students in W3 generally are in this is exactly why I left. You think your entitled to the same resources that the city is using to try and support neighborhoods that really need it. There's a finite pool of money from the city; you all are able to refill yours with PTA money. Accept that fact and move on

All kids in the city should be provided sufficient educational resources. The concept of "just let the PTAs handle it is BS." It's not your place to decidd that some families should bear extra taxes beyond what DC officially assesses.

Meanwhile, if the education keeps being increasingly crappy, more UMC/MC will move out, you can reallocate *all* public resources to only the subset of citizens you deem entitled. Of course, there will be no tax base and, therfore, no resources..

But you do have sufficient educational resources. Students in W3 score better on assessments, make their growth goals more frequently and generally go on to better universities. By definition that is sufficient.

[Anonymous]

North Arlington. Less crime AND better schools. Special programming for academically gifted students which DC does not provide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a Cap Hill family that started in public and then moved mid- elementary for upper NW privates. If you are prioritizing school, would not move here. We love the Hill for many many reasons but the schools are a mess. Even the best schools are in flux and have serious downsides (Brent feeds to an undesirable middle, Maury is getting combined with another school, Ludlow is ok and on the rise but the boundary is more H street than Cap Hill, and Peabody Watkins continues to suffer under poor leadership). They all culminate in Eastern which isn’t performing at all. I do not regret moving to the Hill because we’ve otherwise loved it and have amazing friends but we have commuted to school (first in Gtown and then to our children’s middle and upper campus). Talk to actual parents, not just DCUM people. Look at the school budgets and PTA notes of the schools you are considering.

+100 Great community, awful schools beyond ECE (even the charters). We live in Brookland--no good options here. Would not move here.

Another Capitol Hill family and totally agree. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have bought in upper NW or the burbs. We've been troubleshooting our school situation since our kids first entered PK because the schools here are so uneven (including MANY genuinely bad schools). We are now planning to move between elementary and MS (out of DC, and actually out of the area entirely) because we found an elementary school situation that is okay but we have no real path here other than playing the lottery and hoping it works out, which would also require us to commute far to school.

We bought here before kids and then were persuaded by friends and neighbors who told us the schools were good and "getting better" and there are so many other great things about living on the Hill with kids. Like 90% of those friends and neighbors have moved away when their kids hit MS. Not kidding. Only the die hards, or people who luck into charter spots and are willing to do the commute, stick around. It's all a big lie! It's my biggest parenting regret.

Yep. We are actually here for the long haul (through HS) because of lottery luck and DS is settled into school/friends/etc, but the schools local to Capitol Hill have not and will not get better. Families went the private school route and are happy but also can well afford it.

Another Cap Hill family that also agrees. DCPS policies make it next to impossible to improve the school situation. They don’t want another Ward 3 here.

Ward 3 parent here. They don’t want a Ward 3 anywhere. If you move here you will definitely get the best schools in the city. But be prepared to fight each year to keep them that way.

Can you please expand what you mean to fight to keep them that way? Are those things the pta does? What you do at home to supplement? Super curious. Thanks!

On a per pupil basis the Ward 3 schools are the lowest funded and each year DCPS will try to reduce budget. The Ward 3 councilman and mostly childless ANC commissioners are hellbent on increasing density in Ward 3 without any plan to support the schools which are already comically overcrowded. It’s a weekly fight.

You have to be freaking kidding me. I teach in an overcrowded EOTR school where my students have levels ranging from K - 8. I know where the students in W3 generally are in this is exactly why I left. You think your entitled to the same resources that the city is using to try and support neighborhoods that really need it. There's a finite pool of money from the city; you all are able to refill yours with PTA money. Accept that fact and move on

Another insane ongoing fight/debate is that many ward 3 schools do raise a lot of money to help support the schools and there is a separate constant fight about how unfair it is to allow them to raise money and a push to require PTA money to be redistributed fairly across the city. There are those that want to (1) keep funding lower in ward 3, AND (2) prohibit ward 3 families from trying to raise funds themselves, AND (3) push to have more at risk students given lottery seats at these schools which lack the funds to support these higher need students.

The other crazy part is I do not think it is actually better in suburban schools in the DMV, just different kinds of drama.

[Anonymous]

The answer to OP’s question is ward 3.

As a former Hill resident who now lives in ward 3 I find the honesty in this thread, by hill parents, refreshing. These are all the things that bothered us along the way (and exactly why we moved) but never felt comfortable saying out loud because we lived among the woke (or hypocritically woke as the case may be)

And let’s face it. The hill is not so walkable. Relative to other parts of dc. There are more walkable amenities in AU park, kids can walk to school through grade 12, and gosh you can even walk to a neighbor’s house after dark without fearing being the victim of a crime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a Cap Hill family that started in public and then moved mid- elementary for upper NW privates. If you are prioritizing school, would not move here. We love the Hill for many many reasons but the schools are a mess. Even the best schools are in flux and have serious downsides (Brent feeds to an undesirable middle, Maury is getting combined with another school, Ludlow is ok and on the rise but the boundary is more H street than Cap Hill, and Peabody Watkins continues to suffer under poor leadership). They all culminate in Eastern which isn’t performing at all. I do not regret moving to the Hill because we’ve otherwise loved it and have amazing friends but we have commuted to school (first in Gtown and then to our children’s middle and upper campus). Talk to actual parents, not just DCUM people. Look at the school budgets and PTA notes of the schools you are considering.

+100 Great community, awful schools beyond ECE (even the charters). We live in Brookland--no good options here. Would not move here.

Another Capitol Hill family and totally agree. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have bought in upper NW or the burbs. We've been troubleshooting our school situation since our kids first entered PK because the schools here are so uneven (including MANY genuinely bad schools). We are now planning to move between elementary and MS (out of DC, and actually out of the area entirely) because we found an elementary school situation that is okay but we have no real path here other than playing the lottery and hoping it works out, which would also require us to commute far to school.

We bought here before kids and then were persuaded by friends and neighbors who told us the schools were good and "getting better" and there are so many other great things about living on the Hill with kids. Like 90% of those friends and neighbors have moved away when their kids hit MS. Not kidding. Only the die hards, or people who luck into charter spots and are willing to do the commute, stick around. It's all a big lie! It's my biggest parenting regret.

Yep. We are actually here for the long haul (through HS) because of lottery luck and DS is settled into school/friends/etc, but the schools local to Capitol Hill have not and will not get better. Families went the private school route and are happy but also can well afford it.

Another Cap Hill family that also agrees. DCPS policies make it next to impossible to improve the school situation. They don’t want another Ward 3 here.

Ward 3 parent here. They don’t want a Ward 3 anywhere. If you move here you will definitely get the best schools in the city. But be prepared to fight each year to keep them that way.

Can you please expand what you mean to fight to keep them that way? Are those things the pta does? What you do at home to supplement? Super curious. Thanks!

On a per pupil basis the Ward 3 schools are the lowest funded and each year DCPS will try to reduce budget. The Ward 3 councilman and mostly childless ANC commissioners are hellbent on increasing density in Ward 3 without any plan to support the schools which are already comically overcrowded. It’s a weekly fight.

You have to be freaking kidding me. I teach in an overcrowded EOTR school where my students have levels ranging from K - 8. I know where the students in W3 generally are in this is exactly why I left. You think your entitled to the same resources that the city is using to try and support neighborhoods that really need it. There's a finite pool of money from the city; you all are able to refill yours with PTA money. Accept that fact and move on

All kids in the city should be provided sufficient educational resources. The concept of "just let the PTAs handle it is BS." It's not your place to decidd that some families should bear extra taxes beyond what DC officially assesses.

Meanwhile, if the education keeps being increasingly crappy, more UMC/MC will move out, you can reallocate *all* public resources to only the subset of citizens you deem entitled. Of course, there will be no tax base and, therfore, no resources..

But you do have sufficient educational resources. Students in W3 score better on assessments, make their growth goals more frequently and generally go on to better universities. By definition that is sufficient.

Sufficient by whose definition? None of what you said means these kids are getting the education they need or deserve.

By your logic, you could just deny these kids school altogether and your 'statistics' would still hold because the families would step in.

But the world is larger than DC, and people will only put up so far about their kids' education being sacrificed.

See above about a chunk of the tax base moving away because of schools.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I think the ward 3 elementary schools are better than those in the suburbs because they are smaller. But the suburban schools are better for middle and high school.

[Anonymous]

I am a ward 3 parent and I would not recommend anyone plan on DCPS. It’s constant headaches. DCPS at the top is not well-managed and rules trickle down to fix issues, but end up creating others. Our teachers are incredible, but DCPS is constantly chipping away the parts that work and it’s a constant battle to keep things par for your kids. Don’t even think of improving things, it’s a battle to keep things at the same level.

After being in the systems for years I understand why ward 3 has higher performance and scores and it’s out-of-school supplementing. RSM, Mathnasium and tutors make a killing, but it’s still cheaper that privates so I don’t see that changing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The answer to OP’s question is ward 3.

As a former Hill resident who now lives in ward 3 I find the honesty in this thread, by hill parents, refreshing. These are all the things that bothered us along the way (and exactly why we moved) but never felt comfortable saying out loud because we lived among the woke (or hypocritically woke as the case may be)

And let’s face it. The hill is not so walkable. Relative to other parts of dc. There are more walkable amenities in AU park, kids can walk to school through grade 12, and gosh you can even walk to a neighbor’s house after dark without fearing being the victim of a crime.

I think this depends where you live and is more about stretching the definition of the Hill. We live near Stanton Park and it is extremely walkable/I think you would struggle to find a “more” walkable place in DC for a family with ES children. AU Park is nice, and I’d be happy to live there, but it’s not more walkable than where I live. The Maury IB? Much less so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a Cap Hill family that started in public and then moved mid- elementary for upper NW privates. If you are prioritizing school, would not move here. We love the Hill for many many reasons but the schools are a mess. Even the best schools are in flux and have serious downsides (Brent feeds to an undesirable middle, Maury is getting combined with another school, Ludlow is ok and on the rise but the boundary is more H street than Cap Hill, and Peabody Watkins continues to suffer under poor leadership). They all culminate in Eastern which isn’t performing at all. I do not regret moving to the Hill because we’ve otherwise loved it and have amazing friends but we have commuted to school (first in Gtown and then to our children’s middle and upper campus). Talk to actual parents, not just DCUM people. Look at the school budgets and PTA notes of the schools you are considering.

+100 Great community, awful schools beyond ECE (even the charters). We live in Brookland--no good options here. Would not move here.

Another Capitol Hill family and totally agree. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have bought in upper NW or the burbs. We've been troubleshooting our school situation since our kids first entered PK because the schools here are so uneven (including MANY genuinely bad schools). We are now planning to move between elementary and MS (out of DC, and actually out of the area entirely) because we found an elementary school situation that is okay but we have no real path here other than playing the lottery and hoping it works out, which would also require us to commute far to school.

We bought here before kids and then were persuaded by friends and neighbors who told us the schools were good and "getting better" and there are so many other great things about living on the Hill with kids. Like 90% of those friends and neighbors have moved away when their kids hit MS. Not kidding. Only the die hards, or people who luck into charter spots and are willing to do the commute, stick around. It's all a big lie! It's my biggest parenting regret.

Yep. We are actually here for the long haul (through HS) because of lottery luck and DS is settled into school/friends/etc, but the schools local to Capitol Hill have not and will not get better. Families went the private school route and are happy but also can well afford it.

Another Cap Hill family that also agrees. DCPS policies make it next to impossible to improve the school situation. They don’t want another Ward 3 here.

Ward 3 parent here. They don’t want a Ward 3 anywhere. If you move here you will definitely get the best schools in the city. But be prepared to fight each year to keep them that way.

Can you please expand what you mean to fight to keep them that way? Are those things the pta does? What you do at home to supplement? Super curious. Thanks!

On a per pupil basis the Ward 3 schools are the lowest funded and each year DCPS will try to reduce budget. The Ward 3 councilman and mostly childless ANC commissioners are hellbent on increasing density in Ward 3 without any plan to support the schools which are already comically overcrowded. It’s a weekly fight.

You have to be freaking kidding me. I teach in an overcrowded EOTR school where my students have levels ranging from K - 8. I know where the students in W3 generally are in this is exactly why I left. You think your entitled to the same resources that the city is using to try and support neighborhoods that really need it. There's a finite pool of money from the city; you all are able to refill yours with PTA money. Accept that fact and move on

All kids in the city should be provided sufficient educational resources. The concept of "just let the PTAs handle it is BS." It's not your place to decidd that some families should bear extra taxes beyond what DC officially assesses.

Meanwhile, if the education keeps being increasingly crappy, more UMC/MC will move out, you can reallocate *all* public resources to only the subset of citizens you deem entitled. Of course, there will be no tax base and, therfore, no resources..

But you do have sufficient educational resources. Students in W3 score better on assessments, make their growth goals more frequently and generally go on to better universities. By definition that is sufficient.

Sufficient by whose definition? None of what you said means these kids are getting the education they need or deserve.

By your logic, you could just deny these kids school altogether and your 'statistics' would still hold because the families would step in.

But the world is larger than DC, and people will only put up so far about their kids' education being sacrificed.

See above about a chunk of the tax base moving away because of schools.

If we want to be so much about test scores and using those to justify student success, then the education students are receiving in W3 schools are absolutely sufficient. You want supplements and advanced coursework which is a fine goal, but that is different than providing an appropriate, grade - level, education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a Cap Hill family that started in public and then moved mid- elementary for upper NW privates. If you are prioritizing school, would not move here. We love the Hill for many many reasons but the schools are a mess. Even the best schools are in flux and have serious downsides (Brent feeds to an undesirable middle, Maury is getting combined with another school, Ludlow is ok and on the rise but the boundary is more H street than Cap Hill, and Peabody Watkins continues to suffer under poor leadership). They all culminate in Eastern which isn’t performing at all. I do not regret moving to the Hill because we’ve otherwise loved it and have amazing friends but we have commuted to school (first in Gtown and then to our children’s middle and upper campus). Talk to actual parents, not just DCUM people. Look at the school budgets and PTA notes of the schools you are considering.

+100 Great community, awful schools beyond ECE (even the charters). We live in Brookland--no good options here. Would not move here.

Another Capitol Hill family and totally agree. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have bought in upper NW or the burbs. We've been troubleshooting our school situation since our kids first entered PK because the schools here are so uneven (including MANY genuinely bad schools). We are now planning to move between elementary and MS (out of DC, and actually out of the area entirely) because we found an elementary school situation that is okay but we have no real path here other than playing the lottery and hoping it works out, which would also require us to commute far to school.

We bought here before kids and then were persuaded by friends and neighbors who told us the schools were good and "getting better" and there are so many other great things about living on the Hill with kids. Like 90% of those friends and neighbors have moved away when their kids hit MS. Not kidding. Only the die hards, or people who luck into charter spots and are willing to do the commute, stick around. It's all a big lie! It's my biggest parenting regret.

Yep. We are actually here for the long haul (through HS) because of lottery luck and DS is settled into school/friends/etc, but the schools local to Capitol Hill have not and will not get better. Families went the private school route and are happy but also can well afford it.

Another Cap Hill family that also agrees. DCPS policies make it next to impossible to improve the school situation. They don’t want another Ward 3 here.

Ward 3 parent here. They don’t want a Ward 3 anywhere. If you move here you will definitely get the best schools in the city. But be prepared to fight each year to keep them that way.

Can you please expand what you mean to fight to keep them that way? Are those things the pta does? What you do at home to supplement? Super curious. Thanks!

On a per pupil basis the Ward 3 schools are the lowest funded and each year DCPS will try to reduce budget. The Ward 3 councilman and mostly childless ANC commissioners are hellbent on increasing density in Ward 3 without any plan to support the schools which are already comically overcrowded. It’s a weekly fight.

You have to be freaking kidding me. I teach in an overcrowded EOTR school where my students have levels ranging from K - 8. I know where the students in W3 generally are in this is exactly why I left. You think your entitled to the same resources that the city is using to try and support neighborhoods that really need it. There's a finite pool of money from the city; you all are able to refill yours with PTA money. Accept that fact and move on

All kids in the city should be provided sufficient educational resources. The concept of "just let the PTAs handle it is BS." It's not your place to decidd that some families should bear extra taxes beyond what DC officially assesses.

Meanwhile, if the education keeps being increasingly crappy, more UMC/MC will move out, you can reallocate *all* public resources to only the subset of citizens you deem entitled. Of course, there will be no tax base and, therfore, no resources..

But you do have sufficient educational resources. Students in W3 score better on assessments, make their growth goals more frequently and generally go on to better universities. By definition that is sufficient.

Sufficient by whose definition? None of what you said means these kids are getting the education they need or deserve.

By your logic, you could just deny these kids school altogether and your 'statistics' would still hold because the families would step in.

But the world is larger than DC, and people will only put up so far about their kids' education being sacrificed.

See above about a chunk of the tax base moving away because of schools.

If we want to be so much about test scores and using those to justify student success, then the education students are receiving in W3 schools are absolutely sufficient. You want supplements and advanced coursework which is a fine goal, but that is different than providing an appropriate, grade - level, education.

And this who-cares-if-they-languish-if-they-can-already-read attitude is why more DC students attend DCPCS + privates than DCPS. And that's not including the many families who have just moved to Md or Va instead of dealing with the insanity.

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Anonymous wrote:We are a Cap Hill family that started in public and then moved mid- elementary for upper NW privates. If you are prioritizing school, would not move here. We love the Hill for many many reasons but the schools are a mess. Even the best schools are in flux and have serious downsides (Brent feeds to an undesirable middle, Maury is getting combined with another school, Ludlow is ok and on the rise but the boundary is more H street than Cap Hill, and Peabody Watkins continues to suffer under poor leadership). They all culminate in Eastern which isn’t performing at all. I do not regret moving to the Hill because we’ve otherwise loved it and have amazing friends but we have commuted to school (first in Gtown and then to our children’s middle and upper campus). Talk to actual parents, not just DCUM people. Look at the school budgets and PTA notes of the schools you are considering.

+100 Great community, awful schools beyond ECE (even the charters). We live in Brookland--no good options here. Would not move here.

Another Capitol Hill family and totally agree. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have bought in upper NW or the burbs. We've been troubleshooting our school situation since our kids first entered PK because the schools here are so uneven (including MANY genuinely bad schools). We are now planning to move between elementary and MS (out of DC, and actually out of the area entirely) because we found an elementary school situation that is okay but we have no real path here other than playing the lottery and hoping it works out, which would also require us to commute far to school.

We bought here before kids and then were persuaded by friends and neighbors who told us the schools were good and "getting better" and there are so many other great things about living on the Hill with kids. Like 90% of those friends and neighbors have moved away when their kids hit MS. Not kidding. Only the die hards, or people who luck into charter spots and are willing to do the commute, stick around. It's all a big lie! It's my biggest parenting regret.

Yep. We are actually here for the long haul (through HS) because of lottery luck and DS is settled into school/friends/etc, but the schools local to Capitol Hill have not and will not get better. Families went the private school route and are happy but also can well afford it.

Another Cap Hill family that also agrees. DCPS policies make it next to impossible to improve the school situation. They don’t want another Ward 3 here.

Ward 3 parent here. They don’t want a Ward 3 anywhere. If you move here you will definitely get the best schools in the city. But be prepared to fight each year to keep them that way.

Can you please expand what you mean to fight to keep them that way? Are those things the pta does? What you do at home to supplement? Super curious. Thanks!

On a per pupil basis the Ward 3 schools are the lowest funded and each year DCPS will try to reduce budget. The Ward 3 councilman and mostly childless ANC commissioners are hellbent on increasing density in Ward 3 without any plan to support the schools which are already comically overcrowded. It’s a weekly fight.

I dispute the density issue. Nearly all the ANCs want more school spots too. The city is fighting them on it. For example, they should've made the Lab school into a new DCPS school, bought the Filmore school to give Stoddert breathing room, etc, etc. The councilman is fighting for funding, but Bowser's folks fight them on every step.