Looking to move to DC and overwhelmed by school system!

[Anonymous]

A plug for Brookland - two good in boundary elementary schools (Burroughs and Bunker Hill) that people love. Lots of greater charter schools (Stokes, Mundo Verde, Yu Ying, Inspired). It’s peaceful but has some nightlife/restaurants, easy access to downtown on the metro, lots of single family homes in your budget (you’ll be happy for outdoor space when you have a kid, I promise), and a really strong community - especially for parents and kids.

Downside is that right now Brookland middle is absolutely not somewhere I would send my kids. But if you’re only now TTC, that’s not a problem you’ll need to think about for a decade or more, at which point a lot will have changed both in your lives and in the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A plug for Brookland - two good in boundary elementary schools (Burroughs and Bunker Hill) that people love. Lots of greater charter schools (Stokes, Mundo Verde, Yu Ying, Inspired). It’s peaceful but has some nightlife/restaurants, easy access to downtown on the metro, lots of single family homes in your budget (you’ll be happy for outdoor space when you have a kid, I promise), and a really strong community - especially for parents and kids.

Downside is that right now Brookland middle is absolutely not somewhere I would send my kids. But if you’re only now TTC, that’s not a problem you’ll need to think about for a decade or more, at which point a lot will have changed both in your lives and in the world.

I heard the same when I moved to dc and I still find the high school and middle school wholly unacceptable for my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A plug for Brookland - two good in boundary elementary schools (Burroughs and Bunker Hill) that people love. Lots of greater charter schools (Stokes, Mundo Verde, Yu Ying, Inspired). It’s peaceful but has some nightlife/restaurants, easy access to downtown on the metro, lots of single family homes in your budget (you’ll be happy for outdoor space when you have a kid, I promise), and a really strong community - especially for parents and kids.

Downside is that right now Brookland middle is absolutely not somewhere I would send my kids. But if you’re only now TTC, that’s not a problem you’ll need to think about for a decade or more, at which point a lot will have changed both in your lives and in the world.

I heard the same when I moved to dc and I still find the high school and middle school wholly unacceptable for my kids.

In a different neighborhood but yes, we heard this too a decade ago. Hoping other people come before you and gentrify your zoned public schools is not a plan. In our feeder pattern, some folks tried the middle with mixed results and now that momentum is lost. The neighboring feeder pattern has gentrified and the middle is considered acceptable now, but the high school still is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A plug for Brookland - two good in boundary elementary schools (Burroughs and Bunker Hill) that people love. Lots of greater charter schools (Stokes, Mundo Verde, Yu Ying, Inspired). It’s peaceful but has some nightlife/restaurants, easy access to downtown on the metro, lots of single family homes in your budget (you’ll be happy for outdoor space when you have a kid, I promise), and a really strong community - especially for parents and kids.

Downside is that right now Brookland middle is absolutely not somewhere I would send my kids. But if you’re only now TTC, that’s not a problem you’ll need to think about for a decade or more, at which point a lot will have changed both in your lives and in the world.

I heard the same when I moved to dc and I still find the high school and middle school wholly unacceptable for my kids.

In a different neighborhood but yes, we heard this too a decade ago. Hoping other people come before you and gentrify your zoned public schools is not a plan. In our feeder pattern, some folks tried the middle with mixed results and now that momentum is lost. The neighboring feeder pattern has gentrified and the middle is considered acceptable now, but the high school still is not.

That's why you perhaps table the long term planning until closer to middle school. We ended up in a DCI feeder and this is working out for now. This assumes that people nowadays do not move permanently into one house for 20 years, and that changing schools and feeders over the same 20 years is ok with a family (ie, they live in 2026 not 1950). Granted, some of the suburbs here are more like 1950 which is why we don't live there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A plug for Brookland - two good in boundary elementary schools (Burroughs and Bunker Hill) that people love. Lots of greater charter schools (Stokes, Mundo Verde, Yu Ying, Inspired). It’s peaceful but has some nightlife/restaurants, easy access to downtown on the metro, lots of single family homes in your budget (you’ll be happy for outdoor space when you have a kid, I promise), and a really strong community - especially for parents and kids.

Downside is that right now Brookland middle is absolutely not somewhere I would send my kids. But if you’re only now TTC, that’s not a problem you’ll need to think about for a decade or more, at which point a lot will have changed both in your lives and in the world.

I heard the same when I moved to dc and I still find the high school and middle school wholly unacceptable for my kids.

In a different neighborhood but yes, we heard this too a decade ago. Hoping other people come before you and gentrify your zoned public schools is not a plan. In our feeder pattern, some folks tried the middle with mixed results and now that momentum is lost. The neighboring feeder pattern has gentrified and the middle is considered acceptable now, but the high school still is not.

OP of the Brookland plug here.

To clarify: I wasn't suggesting that I think Brookland Middle will be a good school in ten years. I was suggesting that a lot can change in ten years - perhaps the middle, but any number of other things too. People change jobs. They want different things from their homes and lives. They learn about the kid that, for now, exists only in their imagination. God forbid, nuclear wars, economic collapse, etc.... I think trying to optimize for a middle/high school path plan ten years out when you're still TTC isn't a great strategy at the best of times, but it's particularly pointless when the world and DC in particular are in such flux.

FWIW I think I agree with you and the other replies in general. I can see the middle school from my house and I would sooner change every other thing in my life before I sent my kid there. We're lucky that we're now in a DCI feeder, so that's potentially an option depending on chance/what happens with DCI over the coming years; we may try for St Anselm's when we reach that point if our economic situation allows it and it seems like the right thing for our kid; lottery for a different DCPS feeder; move to the burbs; move country... who knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A plug for Brookland - two good in boundary elementary schools (Burroughs and Bunker Hill) that people love. Lots of greater charter schools (Stokes, Mundo Verde, Yu Ying, Inspired). It’s peaceful but has some nightlife/restaurants, easy access to downtown on the metro, lots of single family homes in your budget (you’ll be happy for outdoor space when you have a kid, I promise), and a really strong community - especially for parents and kids.

Downside is that right now Brookland middle is absolutely not somewhere I would send my kids. But if you’re only now TTC, that’s not a problem you’ll need to think about for a decade or more, at which point a lot will have changed both in your lives and in the world.

I heard the same when I moved to dc and I still find the high school and middle school wholly unacceptable for my kids.

Yes, but there are so many DCI feeders near Brookland that it's more viable than it was 15-20 years ago.

[Anonymous]

I would look at places inbounds for BCC just across the line in Moco. Wide variety of housing types, lots of walkability/parks and many have access to the red line.

[Anonymous]

Mom of a rising PK3er here, and we faced a similar choice when looking to move 5 years ago. We chose Brookland on the idea that there are plenty of charters around that feed into DCI, and you'll likely get into one of them. Alternatively, Bunker Hill is a great elementary school and you can figure out middle school later. Now, after we got a terrible lottery number and didn't land a single charter, I wish I had looked more carefully at Middle/High pyramids and moved to the suburbs to start with.

This is just me, but I dislike a ton of uncertainty, and for me, hate that I'll have to navigate the lottery for the next few years and then deal with uncertainty again at middle school. My kid (as much as you can tell at this early age) doesn't deal well with lots of change and transitions, and I worry that moving her at PK4/K, and then seeing friends peel off in 4th and then again in 5th will be hard. For me and my family, I'd rather her be with the same/mostly the same group from K through 12. I'm sure others feel differently, but I wish I had thought about this more when TTC and understood how I'd feel when considering yanking my kid around.

I love Brookland, love the families we've met and everything about the neighborhood. But the lottery sucks and even if you "win," there is still a lot of volatility/uncertainty involved that just isn't for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mom of a rising PK3er here, and we faced a similar choice when looking to move 5 years ago. We chose Brookland on the idea that there are plenty of charters around that feed into DCI, and you'll likely get into one of them. Alternatively, Bunker Hill is a great elementary school and you can figure out middle school later. Now, after we got a terrible lottery number and didn't land a single charter, I wish I had looked more carefully at Middle/High pyramids and moved to the suburbs to start with.

This is just me, but I dislike a ton of uncertainty, and for me, hate that I'll have to navigate the lottery for the next few years and then deal with uncertainty again at middle school. My kid (as much as you can tell at this early age) doesn't deal well with lots of change and transitions, and I worry that moving her at PK4/K, and then seeing friends peel off in 4th and then again in 5th will be hard. For me and my family, I'd rather her be with the same/mostly the same group from K through 12. I'm sure others feel differently, but I wish I had thought about this more when TTC and understood how I'd feel when considering yanking my kid around.

I love Brookland, love the families we've met and everything about the neighborhood. But the lottery sucks and even if you "win," there is still a lot of volatility/uncertainty involved that just isn't for me.

I hate uncertainty too, but our friends in MoCo (who bought houses long ago) are no better off with boundary madness happening there and I've only seen headlines about Northern Virginia's similar issues. The only thing that insulates you is wealth to pick up and move at a moment's notice or paying for a private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mom of a rising PK3er here, and we faced a similar choice when looking to move 5 years ago. We chose Brookland on the idea that there are plenty of charters around that feed into DCI, and you'll likely get into one of them. Alternatively, Bunker Hill is a great elementary school and you can figure out middle school later. Now, after we got a terrible lottery number and didn't land a single charter, I wish I had looked more carefully at Middle/High pyramids and moved to the suburbs to start with.

This is just me, but I dislike a ton of uncertainty, and for me, hate that I'll have to navigate the lottery for the next few years and then deal with uncertainty again at middle school. My kid (as much as you can tell at this early age) doesn't deal well with lots of change and transitions, and I worry that moving her at PK4/K, and then seeing friends peel off in 4th and then again in 5th will be hard. For me and my family, I'd rather her be with the same/mostly the same group from K through 12. I'm sure others feel differently, but I wish I had thought about this more when TTC and understood how I'd feel when considering yanking my kid around.

I love Brookland, love the families we've met and everything about the neighborhood. But the lottery sucks and even if you "win," there is still a lot of volatility/uncertainty involved that just isn't for me.

I hate uncertainty too, but our friends in MoCo (who bought houses long ago) are no better off with boundary madness happening there and I've only seen headlines about Northern Virginia's similar issues. The only thing that insulates you is wealth to pick up and move at a moment's notice or paying for a private school.

This is true and why we targeted Virginia for a move. But that said your kid will be moved into another good school. Whereas if you end up at any dcps
Middle or high it is known to be a bad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mom of a rising PK3er here, and we faced a similar choice when looking to move 5 years ago. We chose Brookland on the idea that there are plenty of charters around that feed into DCI, and you'll likely get into one of them. Alternatively, Bunker Hill is a great elementary school and you can figure out middle school later. Now, after we got a terrible lottery number and didn't land a single charter, I wish I had looked more carefully at Middle/High pyramids and moved to the suburbs to start with.

This is just me, but I dislike a ton of uncertainty, and for me, hate that I'll have to navigate the lottery for the next few years and then deal with uncertainty again at middle school. My kid (as much as you can tell at this early age) doesn't deal well with lots of change and transitions, and I worry that moving her at PK4/K, and then seeing friends peel off in 4th and then again in 5th will be hard. For me and my family, I'd rather her be with the same/mostly the same group from K through 12. I'm sure others feel differently, but I wish I had thought about this more when TTC and understood how I'd feel when considering yanking my kid around.

I love Brookland, love the families we've met and everything about the neighborhood. But the lottery sucks and even if you "win," there is still a lot of volatility/uncertainty involved that just isn't for me.

I hate uncertainty too, but our friends in MoCo (who bought houses long ago) are no better off with boundary madness happening there and I've only seen headlines about Northern Virginia's similar issues. The only thing that insulates you is wealth to pick up and move at a moment's notice or paying for a private school.

This is true and why we targeted Virginia for a move. But that said your kid will be moved into another good school. Whereas if you end up at any dcps
Middle or high it is known to be a bad school.

The Moco boundary process is done now so actually a great time to have transparency as they won't change it again for a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would look at places inbounds for BCC just across the line in Moco. Wide variety of housing types, lots of walkability/parks and many have access to the red line.

For $800k? Honestly asking - what can get you get for that there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would look at places inbounds for BCC just across the line in Moco. Wide variety of housing types, lots of walkability/parks and many have access to the red line.

For $800k? Honestly asking - what can get you get for that there?

I’m not who you’re talking to but this is why I’m on this forum right now. I would have rather squeezed into a mediocre spot in the suburbs than deal with serious issues with my kids education now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- thanks everyone!
We actually live in a suburb right now and our commutes to our jobs in the city (Capitol Hill for my husband, Tenleytown for me) are draining our souls. Suburbs may happen in our future, but we really miss urban living and that's the environment we want to raise young kids in- where we have all of our friends and connections. Also, there is no way we are going to stay in a 2 bedroom condo for 11 years, so moving will absolutely have to happen in the future and that's a part of life. I moved in 6th grade and I turned out okay, so I think our kids can handle it too. I really appreciate the thoughts on potential neighborhoods!

If your spouse works in Tenleytown, just buy in McLean Gardens or a townhouse in the Tenley/AU Park/Friendship Heights area and be done. Then your future kids will be in bounds for the best DCPS schools, you won’t have to move again, and you’ll get the neighborhood/community feel you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would look at places inbounds for BCC just across the line in Moco. Wide variety of housing types, lots of walkability/parks and many have access to the red line.

For $800k? Honestly asking - what can get you get for that there?

I’m not who you’re talking to but this is why I’m on this forum right now. I would have rather squeezed into a mediocre spot in the suburbs than deal with serious issues with my kids education now.

I'm asking the people that keep saying to move to the suburbs. What good school district in the suburbs has housing for $800K?