Single dad moving to DC with 3 year old - recommendations for where to move and preK 3?

[hahmad]

Anonymous wrote:So, if you actually mean you are going to be working at WHC or any of the medical facilities in that vicinity then that is very different than working in Columbia Heights.

You might want to get a two bedroom at The Cloisters apartment complex in Brookland. It's a large complex and there are usually openings.
I've been in those apartments and they are fine. There is parking right there which you will need because walking to your job will be difficult even though those apartments are very close to the hospitals as the crow flies. Also, you will need to drive your kid to school.

In that case there are MANY excellent pre-schools nearby. Both public and private. It may be too late to get into one for this year, but it may not be!

Go for the easiest to get into schools if saving on tuition is your highest priority.

For this year get on the list now for: Shining Stars Montessori, SELA, Bridges, Two Rivers, Creative Minds, Lee Montessori, all of the Apple Tree Schools (These are easier to get into because they are just pre-school). I would actually be surprised if, even at the end of those lists you didn't get into one of those schools by September.

For the PK4 year if you aren't happy yet with your school, Inspired Teaching is a great option. Also add Yu Ying, Lee Montessori and any others you'll have heard good things about by that time. As well as perhaps Bunker Hill Elementary and any other DCPS schools that you can make work with your commute.

Another option is to rent a whole house in Riggs Park or North Michigan Park. You would have a relatively easy commute to the hospitals, many charter schools nearby and a yard, which I know is a big plus with a pre-schooler. The rents there can be similar to many apartments and you get a whole house. Also, there is a library, several playgrounds and several grocery stores in walking distance, with another grocery soon to come.

A private option many locals attend for PK3 if they don't get in elsewhere is Scrilli School. Or you could just get a nanny for this year. Lots to explore in the city for your nanny and child.

This is so helpful thank you. Yes I should have said I'll be working at WHC.

[Anonymous]

Also note that prek doesn’t cover summers. You’re likely better off at a center.

[Anonymous]

OP... as a single parent in the medical profession, I would urge you to consider whether a private daycare would be a better fit. Otherwise, you will likely need to confirm availability for pre-care and after-care, and even then the times may not work for you. And then what about all of the half days, random 4 day weekends, breaks where you will scramble for camps? At a day care, you will have standard hours 7:00 am to 6:00 pm year round, no worries about school breaks. And if you find a Montessori-style daycare, that would go through kindergarten. I realize that would be a big hit on your budget but you may struggle with the DCPS winter/spring/summer breaks and all of the TONS of days off in between.

[Anonymous]

McLean Gardens is a sort of micro neighborhood, but people here have been referring to the apartment complex, which has a pool (not super common in DC and GREAT for little kids).

https://www.mcleangardens.com/home.asp

It’s on Wisconsin Ave. The neighborhood to the south is loosely called Cathedral Commons, which has a Silver restaurant (kid friendly) and some halfway decent grown up restaurants for a drink or date or whatever.

To the north is Wegmens and a bunch of brand new rental apartments that will be top of market price wise but will have the advantage of being new. Thinking is lots of law student types as neighbors due to neighboring American U.

https://www.cityridgedc.com/

Less family oriented, but on top of a new Equinox gym (w childcare!) and some new restaurants and amenities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP... as a single parent in the medical profession, I would urge you to consider whether a private daycare would be a better fit. Otherwise, you will likely need to confirm availability for pre-care and after-care, and even then the times may not work for you. And then what about all of the half days, random 4 day weekends, breaks where you will scramble for camps? At a day care, you will have standard hours 7:00 am to 6:00 pm year round, no worries about school breaks. And if you find a Montessori-style daycare, that would go through kindergarten. I realize that would be a big hit on your budget but you may struggle with the DCPS winter/spring/summer breaks and all of the TONS of days off in between.

CentroNia has a summer program as well. A good option in Columbia Heights.

[Anonymous]

Also, as PP — Brookland is very nice, super family oriented, but also is charter school focused … the charters are crazy hard to access in the lottery, though someone mentioned Shining Stars Montessori which you can get into but which has also fallen down post pandemic. It is less dense with activities for kids, more SFH than apartments. It has a more hipster Brooklyn vibe than Upper Northwest if that’s you. But easily finding a community of kids activities and families etc will likely be easier in Upper NW.

Our family lives east of Rock Creek Park…we work on Capitol Hill and live that life east of the park, but allllll our kid stuff is west of the park.

[Anonymous]

Also, Communikids and St Albans operate year round on daycare hours. You have to pay for summers but is functionally daycare.

[Anonymous]

hahmad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would 100 percent do McLean Gardens. Use the free Communikids or St Alban’s this next year, then you can try to lottery for Eaton for prek 4 with inboundary preference, and be at a great spot for K if you’re still here.

So many little kid amenities are concentrated in upper NW, and that complex is right next to the new Wegmans and close to the Cathedral Commons strip of restaurants and shops. Columbia Heights is just tougher with littles, and Petworth / Brightwood has seen a troubling crime surge.

To be clear — the free early education that DC offers isn’t just through the lottery. It is also extended to commercial programs that function like a combo of preschool and daycare. That’s Communikids and St Albans and others. You can find the list here

https://www.myschooldc.org/find-schools/school-options-outside-my-school-dc/

I've heard a lot of good things about McLean Gardens. Is this like an apartment complex or a neighborhood cz I was told to live there but wasn't sure where there exactly referred to. Would this be a good option if I'm commuting to WHC?

McLean Gardens is a lovely community of apartments and townhouses that's on Wisconsin Ave. in one of the wealthiest parts of DC. It would be a great place to raise a kid!

But, and I'm coming at this from my perspective as a single parent who works a job that can't be done at home, it's also a commute that's often 30 minutes but can easily be an hour.

If I was the single parent of a 3 year old, I would want to set up my lifestyle so that I was minimizing other things that pulled time away from my child, and I would look at other, also wonderful neighborhoods that are much closer to WHC, and that didn't require me to pass through neighborhoods like Columbia Heights which often have a lot of traffic congestion. I'm the one who suggested the area around John Lewis, but I'd also look in Brookland and surrounding areas, but that's because I'm someone who really values outdoor time with kids, and likes neighborhoods with a little more green space. If you want a more urban dense feeling the neighborhoods on the Eastern side of Columbia Heights, where you don't have to drive through Columbia Heights are also great convenient options.

I'll also say that if I was in that position, and had the option of a childcare center, rather than a school, that didn't have a before school/school day/aftercare model, and didn't have summer and spring break etc . . . to figure out, I'd do that. Fewer transitions, more consistency, longer nap so that my kid is awake for time with me, etc . . . would all be reasons. Yes, it would cost more, but not hugely more because before care, aftercare, and winter, spring and summer camps cost a lot too. Scrilli is a great suggestion if you choose Brookland. There are lots of other great options too, depending on where you settle. I'd also check out the La Petite center that's on the Veteran's Hospital campus, right next to WHC. I don't know if it's good, but the location can't be beat.

[Anonymous]

The person above who listed all the charters — Lee, Yu Ying, etc — you will only get in if you literally win the lottery. Most people don’t. SSMA you can get into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP... as a single parent in the medical profession, I would urge you to consider whether a private daycare would be a better fit. Otherwise, you will likely need to confirm availability for pre-care and after-care, and even then the times may not work for you. And then what about all of the half days, random 4 day weekends, breaks where you will scramble for camps? At a day care, you will have standard hours 7:00 am to 6:00 pm year round, no worries about school breaks. And if you find a Montessori-style daycare, that would go through kindergarten. I realize that would be a big hit on your budget but you may struggle with the DCPS winter/spring/summer breaks and all of the TONS of days off in between.

I was thinking (hoping) I could find a nanny for those situations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

hahmad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would 100 percent do McLean Gardens. Use the free Communikids or St Alban’s this next year, then you can try to lottery for Eaton for prek 4 with inboundary preference, and be at a great spot for K if you’re still here.

So many little kid amenities are concentrated in upper NW, and that complex is right next to the new Wegmans and close to the Cathedral Commons strip of restaurants and shops. Columbia Heights is just tougher with littles, and Petworth / Brightwood has seen a troubling crime surge.

To be clear — the free early education that DC offers isn’t just through the lottery. It is also extended to commercial programs that function like a combo of preschool and daycare. That’s Communikids and St Albans and others. You can find the list here

https://www.myschooldc.org/find-schools/school-options-outside-my-school-dc/

There are lots of other great options too, depending on where you settle. I'd also check out the La Petite center that's on the Veteran's Hospital campus, right next to WHC. I don't know if it's good, but the location can't be beat.

Definitely value time with my daughter, especially outdoor. La Petite Academy at the VA was actually the one that told me as an FYI about the free preK options. What do you think about the recommendations of St Albans and Communikids (I think that's what it was called) since they're apparently functionally like daycares?

[Anonymous]

It’s tough to find a nanny that would work in only those situations. That said, there are many places that offer camps on break days (Silver Stars gymnastics is a great one) or holiday weeks. But it’s definitely a thing that goes on the mental load list.

You can also sign up with a service like White House Nannies (high end) who can give you a provider in those situations. Or, your employer may have benefits with Bright Horizons daycare centers.

We use a combo of all of the above for our super active kid, even though we also have a full time nanny for our 2nd, who is a baby. It’s a lot, and we have 2 working parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

hahmad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would 100 percent do McLean Gardens. Use the free Communikids or St Alban’s this next year, then you can try to lottery for Eaton for prek 4 with inboundary preference, and be at a great spot for K if you’re still here.

So many little kid amenities are concentrated in upper NW, and that complex is right next to the new Wegmans and close to the Cathedral Commons strip of restaurants and shops. Columbia Heights is just tougher with littles, and Petworth / Brightwood has seen a troubling crime surge.

To be clear — the free early education that DC offers isn’t just through the lottery. It is also extended to commercial programs that function like a combo of preschool and daycare. That’s Communikids and St Albans and others. You can find the list here

https://www.myschooldc.org/find-schools/school-options-outside-my-school-dc/

There are lots of other great options too, depending on where you settle. I'd also check out the La Petite center that's on the Veteran's Hospital campus, right next to WHC. I don't know if it's good, but the location can't be beat.

Definitely value time with my daughter, especially outdoor. La Petite Academy at the VA was actually the one that told me as an FYI about the free preK options. What do you think about the recommendations of St Albans and Communikids (I think that's what it was called) since they're apparently functionally like daycares?

I think that SAEC and Communikids and other similar sites probably have the same benefits as far as scheduling. But they are much further away than La Petite, or a school in a close by neighborhood.

If you decide that getting the right community is worth the extra commute and choose McLean Gardens, then I think SAEC and Communikids are great choices.

If you're thinking of a full time nanny and not doing before/aftercare, then my concerns about not doing a public or charter school are much less. You could also do a part time preschool.

[Anonymous]

I would call St. Alban's, 2 Birds or CommuniKids (or all 3) to get a sense of the process for getting into one of those programs. All of them have really nice communities. One of the + of all of them is that once you are enrolled, I think you will find it easier to connect with families and look for support. I know of employees from St. Alban's who used to walk a kid home and stay with them - transitioning from a PreK teacher to babysitter. Or we had friends (in the program) who we would call and ask to stick with our kid in the case we were stuck in traffic.
The move will be hard - but figuring out how to quickly create you village is important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

hahmad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would 100 percent do McLean Gardens. Use the free Communikids or St Alban’s this next year, then you can try to lottery for Eaton for prek 4 with inboundary preference, and be at a great spot for K if you’re still here.

So many little kid amenities are concentrated in upper NW, and that complex is right next to the new Wegmans and close to the Cathedral Commons strip of restaurants and shops. Columbia Heights is just tougher with littles, and Petworth / Brightwood has seen a troubling crime surge.

To be clear — the free early education that DC offers isn’t just through the lottery. It is also extended to commercial programs that function like a combo of preschool and daycare. That’s Communikids and St Albans and others. You can find the list here

https://www.myschooldc.org/find-schools/school-options-outside-my-school-dc/

I've heard a lot of good things about McLean Gardens. Is this like an apartment complex or a neighborhood cz I was told to live there but wasn't sure where there exactly referred to. Would this be a good option if I'm commuting to WHC?

McLean Gardens is a lovely community of apartments and townhouses that's on Wisconsin Ave. in one of the wealthiest parts of DC. It would be a great place to raise a kid!

But, and I'm coming at this from my perspective as a single parent who works a job that can't be done at home, it's also a commute that's often 30 minutes but can easily be an hour.

If I was the single parent of a 3 year old, I would want to set up my lifestyle so that I was minimizing other things that pulled time away from my child, and I would look at other, also wonderful neighborhoods that are much closer to WHC, and that didn't require me to pass through neighborhoods like Columbia Heights which often have a lot of traffic congestion. I'm the one who suggested the area around John Lewis, but I'd also look in Brookland and surrounding areas, but that's because I'm someone who really values outdoor time with kids, and likes neighborhoods with a little more green space. If you want a more urban dense feeling the neighborhoods on the Eastern side of Columbia Heights, where you don't have to drive through Columbia Heights are also great convenient options.

I'll also say that if I was in that position, and had the option of a childcare center, rather than a school, that didn't have a before school/school day/aftercare model, and didn't have summer and spring break etc . . . to figure out, I'd do that. Fewer transitions, more consistency, longer nap so that my kid is awake for time with me, etc . . . would all be reasons. Yes, it would cost more, but not hugely more because before care, aftercare, and winter, spring and summer camps cost a lot too. Scrilli is a great suggestion if you choose Brookland. There are lots of other great options too, depending on where you settle. I'd also check out the La Petite center that's on the Veteran's Hospital campus, right next to WHC. I don't know if it's good, but the location can't be beat.

Honestly, Columbia Heights traffic is fine as long as you aren’t driving right past the Target. Traffic is much worse in Brookland trying to cross one of the bridges over the metro line. Trust me, I am in both locations every day.

Plus, if you live in Colombia Heights you can just take the shuttle to WHC or walk. It is by far the simplest most convenient location for a single parent working at WHC that wanted to maximize their time with their kid. Get a PK spot at Raymond or CentroNia call it a day.