Question for those who are doing the DCPS lotteries-- why did you choose to live where you live?

[Anonymous]

PP, what will you do for MS and HS, and what about the other Brent families?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Claire! You have a name. What is your response to the situation that many PPs have posted about, namely families who have CHOSEN to live in neighborhoods with crappy IB schools for commute/diversity/hipster/whatever reasons. They could easily chose to move, yet they don't and their situation is one of their own creation. I recognize that this situation is not YOUR situation. But your situation is not the one we are discussing. Of the PPs who posted their stories on this thread, I would say most them made the conscious choice to live where they wanted to live, and the lottery worked out for them. My guess is that the demographics of DCUM are that the "conscious choice" crowd is greater than the low SES crowd, which I get you are a part of. We aren't talking about you.

You're so out of touch! Do you REALLY think that it is as simple as buying a small house in ward 3 vs. buying a big house in ward 5, 7, 8, heck, even many parts of most wards? This is the oversimplification of the century. Do I think that some families do make choices like that? Sure. But MOST families I know in my neighborhood, the ones in the bigger houses, probably could have afforded a condo in bounds for a "decent" (NOT top) school on the Hill, say. Ward 3 stuff is pretty squarely out of reach for most of us. And maybe you think it is reasonable to squeeze a family of 4 into a 900 SF condo or apartment (and again, that is assuming they can afford it), but to some people, that does not seem like a realistic choice. Although many homes in my neighborhood are bigger, that's probably not the only reason people bought here. The chief reason is they are affordable. They are in-reach for some, whereas others are not.

The thing is, let's take Eckington / Bloomingdale. We looked at the cool "big" houses there and they were already out of our reach at 600K. Let's say someone bought there at 600K. That doesn't mean they could have automatically spent 600K on something elsewhere in bounds for a good school. Do you really think there is that much 600K real estate in bounds for good schools? The moment that real estate is declared in bounds for a good school, it is priced out of the reach of MANY of these people you accuse of making "choices."

What they maybe CAN choose to do is get in bounds for a mediocre school. Or, for a school without a middle school / high school feed that inspires confidence. They can spend ALL of their money hoping for adequacy, or they can spend less money and hope to use whatever tools they can use (investing time and effort into the local school produced encouraging results until the one-two punch of NCLB and the charter school aka parental resource drain machine kicked in) to boost the local schools. Or they can ride the charter roller coaster.

What I don't get, anti-Claires out there, is exactly why you seem so pissed off that people do not live in your wealthy neighborhood, why people with more limited choices in this world than you clearly have, are exercising what little choice and flexibility they do have?

You seem to think that they can't complain about a deeply flawed system because they didn't drain their bank accounts on a "smaller" house in a mediocre school district instead of taking a chance where they were. You are misrepresenting the choices that even people with far, far more money than my family has, can actually make.

[Anonymous]

"Claire" here. Here is an in-bounds map for Brent. Brent is a fine school. Considered the "best" of the Hill and Brent families really love the school. Still, not exactly the best school in the world.

Now let's talk about the average real estate prices here. We're talking over a million for a small home, right? I actually don't know - these places were so far out of our reach and I'm not a real estate expert. But educate me. I'm not talking about the one or two houses that might fall under the average, but what is the AVERAGE price for a three bedroom home in that tiny square of in boundaries.

http://www.zillow.com/washington-dc/schools/brent-elementary-school-8247/

[Anonymous]

This entire thread is ridiculous. Bottom line - no matter where you live, you have the right to expect that your public schools will be a decent choice. We all pay taxes to support them and should demand as much. And instead of demeaning people who for whatever reason live in neighborhoods with a poor IB school, we should all be celebrating the fact that this many people are investing in the system and that real changes are being made. The rest of these stupid arguments are just that - stupid and petty as hell.

[Anonymous]

^^Plus, I just want to add two points directed toward that those who argue everyone should just move into the neighborhoods with great schools or shut up:

1. Even if everyone in the city could afford it, there simply isn't enough housing, AND

2. The schools there don't have the capacity to accomodate every single child in the city.

So really, your arguments are just beyond ignorant. Fact is you are all smug and happy with your privileged lives and have no tolerance for anyone whose situation is different, through choice or circumstance. I sincerely hope you people are policy-makers, though it might explain a lot.

[Anonymous]

^^AREN'T policymakers, I should sya.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, what will you do for MS and HS, and what about the other Brent families?

NP here. I have a 4th grader at Brent so this is a matter weighing on my mind. I plan to have my child stay at Brent through 5th and then research and apply to every middle school that seems like a good fit for my child, including privates. I'm positive we will find the perfect fit for middle school. I know that last year many families went from Brent to Latin, Basis, Hardy and Jefferson.

Latin and BASIS will allow my child to apply for a 5th grade spot next year at their schools while my child is already in 5th grade at Brent, so I'm not much worried that we will lose out by waiting a year.

[Anonymous]

Are none of you concerned about your kids missing out on the traditional neighborhood school? Maybe it doesn't matter as much if you work full time and your kids don't get home from after-care until 6pm. But I would hate to think that every child in my neighborhood went to a different school. I would hate my child's school to be miles away from our neighborhood. We don't live in D.C. anymore. One of the things I absolutely LOVE about our neighborhood is that all the kids in our neighborhood ride their bikes to school together. There is a real sense of community because all of us are concerned about working to make our neighborhood school the best it can be. My son's teacher lives four houses away from me. The principal lives two streets down. We have crossing guards to help the kids cross the streets safely. They know all the kids by name. Community events are often held at the schools. Our community is tied together in many ways by our school.

I would hate it if my kids' schools started allowing out-of-boundary kids, if for no other reason than the additional traffic. We have almost no car riders. ALL the kids walk or bike. The only time there is a car pool line is in bad weather.

I really think you are missing out on the value of supporting the elementary school in your community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are none of you concerned about your kids missing out on the traditional neighborhood school? Maybe it doesn't matter as much if you work full time and your kids don't get home from after-care until 6pm. But I would hate to think that every child in my neighborhood went to a different school. I would hate my child's school to be miles away from our neighborhood. We don't live in D.C. anymore. One of the things I absolutely LOVE about our neighborhood is that all the kids in our neighborhood ride their bikes to school together. There is a real sense of community because all of us are concerned about working to make our neighborhood school the best it can be. My son's teacher lives four houses away from me. The principal lives two streets down. We have crossing guards to help the kids cross the streets safely. They know all the kids by name. Community events are often held at the schools. Our community is tied together in many ways by our school.

I would hate it if my kids' schools started allowing out-of-boundary kids, if for no other reason than the additional traffic. We have almost no car riders. ALL the kids walk or bike. The only time there is a car pool line is in bad weather.

I really think you are missing out on the value of supporting the elementary school in your community.

Oh holy night. Really? You seriously don't get it, eh?

I'm sure 99 percent of these parents would like to support a neighborhood school. This is claire here. I know I would LOVE to support my neighborhood school. However, as I said, here's the deal. DCPS schools were already shitty, then NCLB made sure that even the BEST schools would be a test taking factory, and then charter school explosion meant that parents who might have invested in the local in bounds and tried to resist the NCLB train were bled away by these other options. While I agree with you fundamentally, those of us trying to put the horse back in the gate are just shouting into the wind. Many of us in ward 5 are at least happy that our charter school options are close (if not directly in the neighborhood).

So the thing is, your'e making my point ("Claire" here) while also fundamentally missing the fact that YES, most of us would LOVE LOVE LOVE a viable in-bounds school in our neighborhood but again, we do not have the means to live in a neighborhood where that can happen. Tell me your zip code and how much you paid for your house and I'll tell you how far over my head that would have been. And contrary to what people are saying, that my family is the exception, I beg to differ. Let's say my family makes 111K per year. Are our options different now? Not really. We made that much when we were house shopping. We make less now because of an illness. Add just one more reason to be thankful we made the choices we made, and didn't bankrupt ourselves trying to reach way over our heads to live in bounds for a "mediocre / adequate at best" school district.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 95% of people the lottery works out.

We live in a neighborhood that the OP would undoubtedly consider undesirable. We moved there before I was pregnant. We thought we would move before our kids were school aged.

I now have 3 kids OOB at one of the best EOP elementary schools in the city. My kids litterally run into the school like they were going to Disney World every day. Our house payment is slightly less than $1600 a month. We live 2 blocks from a metro station. Our house has doubled in value. Our commutes are very reasonable.

The middle school lottery craziness looms ahead, but if we strike out we can move to Takoma Park or whereever. I kind of think on the lottery stuff that you just have to fight letting it get to you, and getting obsessed with it. Go to a couple open houses. See where the chips fall.

I really don't think that NWDC was the safest bet for you OP. If I was going to be totally Ms. safe choice, I'd have gone with Arlington or Bethesda near a metro.

That's the key isn't it. OP probably considers a majority of the neighborhoods in DC undesirable - except maybe in her perfect Ward 3 world.

Right, but it's so desirable to you that you want to send your kids to school anywhere but there (dare I even say her precious ward 3). Give me a break!

Nope, wouldn't even send my kids to Ward 3 schools. No immersion programs that is acceptable to me in DCPS. My kid goes to charter school. My child is bilingual and will most likely be trilingual by the time she graduates. I'm sure your kids will enjoy working for her.

You say your kid will be trilingual like it's a big deal. My kids all spoke three languages fluently before they entered K, with no formal schooling, just because mommy and daddy do. They may or may not pick up language #4 by the time they graduate, we don't care. Paying for language education is so ...American.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 95% of people the lottery works out.

We live in a neighborhood that the OP would undoubtedly consider undesirable. We moved there before I was pregnant. We thought we would move before our kids were school aged.

I now have 3 kids OOB at one of the best EOP elementary schools in the city. My kids litterally run into the school like they were going to Disney World every day. Our house payment is slightly less than $1600 a month. We live 2 blocks from a metro station. Our house has doubled in value. Our commutes are very reasonable.

The middle school lottery craziness looms ahead, but if we strike out we can move to Takoma Park or whereever. I kind of think on the lottery stuff that you just have to fight letting it get to you, and getting obsessed with it. Go to a couple open houses. See where the chips fall.

I really don't think that NWDC was the safest bet for you OP. If I was going to be totally Ms. safe choice, I'd have gone with Arlington or Bethesda near a metro.

That's the key isn't it. OP probably considers a majority of the neighborhoods in DC undesirable - except maybe in her perfect Ward 3 world.

Right, but it's so desirable to you that you want to send your kids to school anywhere but there (dare I even say her precious ward 3). Give me a break!

Nope, wouldn't even send my kids to Ward 3 schools. No immersion programs that is acceptable to me in DCPS. My kid goes to charter school. My child is bilingual and will most likely be trilingual by the time she graduates. I'm sure your kids will enjoy working for her.

You say your kid will be trilingual like it's a big deal. My kids all spoke three languages fluently before they entered K, with no formal schooling, just because mommy and daddy do. They may or may not pick up language #4 by the time they graduate, we don't care. Paying for language education is so ...American.

Not pp, but in the same position. What an odd comment. That is nice that your kids are trilingual becuase you are. Do you know tht other people are not all exactly like you? And, you don't pay for charter schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are none of you concerned about your kids missing out on the traditional neighborhood school? Maybe it doesn't matter as much if you work full time and your kids don't get home from after-care until 6pm. But I would hate to think that every child in my neighborhood went to a different school. I would hate my child's school to be miles away from our neighborhood. We don't live in D.C. anymore. One of the things I absolutely LOVE about our neighborhood is that all the kids in our neighborhood ride their bikes to school together. There is a real sense of community because all of us are concerned about working to make our neighborhood school the best it can be. My son's teacher lives four houses away from me. The principal lives two streets down. We have crossing guards to help the kids cross the streets safely. They know all the kids by name. Community events are often held at the schools. Our community is tied together in many ways by our school.

I would hate it if my kids' schools started allowing out-of-boundary kids, if for no other reason than the additional traffic. We have almost no car riders. ALL the kids walk or bike. The only time there is a car pool line is in bad weather.

I really think you are missing out on the value of supporting the elementary school in your community.

Oh holy night. Really? You seriously don't get it, eh?

I'm sure 99 percent of these parents would like to support a neighborhood school. This is claire here. I know I would LOVE to support my neighborhood school. However, as I said, here's the deal. DCPS schools were already shitty, then NCLB made sure that even the BEST schools would be a test taking factory, and then charter school explosion meant that parents who might have invested in the local in bounds and tried to resist the NCLB train were bled away by these other options. While I agree with you fundamentally, those of us trying to put the horse back in the gate are just shouting into the wind. Many of us in ward 5 are at least happy that our charter school options are close (if not directly in the neighborhood).

So the thing is, your'e making my point ("Claire" here) while also fundamentally missing the fact that YES, most of us would LOVE LOVE LOVE a viable in-bounds school in our neighborhood but again, we do not have the means to live in a neighborhood where that can happen. Tell me your zip code and how much you paid for your house and I'll tell you how far over my head that would have been. And contrary to what people are saying, that my family is the exception, I beg to differ. Let's say my family makes 111K per year. Are our options different now? Not really. We made that much when we were house shopping. We make less now because of an illness. Add just one more reason to be thankful we made the choices we made, and didn't bankrupt ourselves trying to reach way over our heads to live in bounds for a "mediocre / adequate at best" school district.

Claire, I agree with 4 trillion percent. I was adamantly anti-charter from the very beginning, but now my DS is enrolled at one b/c I really had no other acceptable choice. I am the PP who said I had tried to rally some local parents to support our IB school without success. I really like our school but I am still ambivalent about the whole charter movement. Education and QOL is the entire reason we plan to move out of the area entirely before DS starts K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are none of you concerned about your kids missing out on the traditional neighborhood school? Maybe it doesn't matter as much if you work full time and your kids don't get home from after-care until 6pm. But I would hate to think that every child in my neighborhood went to a different school. I would hate my child's school to be miles away from our neighborhood. We don't live in D.C. anymore. One of the things I absolutely LOVE about our neighborhood is that all the kids in our neighborhood ride their bikes to school together. There is a real sense of community because all of us are concerned about working to make our neighborhood school the best it can be. My son's teacher lives four houses away from me. The principal lives two streets down. We have crossing guards to help the kids cross the streets safely. They know all the kids by name. Community events are often held at the schools. Our community is tied together in many ways by our school.

What makes you think charter schools don't have an active parent and local community that is concerned about making the school the best it can be? Charter schools have some of the most active parent communities you can imagine. In fact, one of the frequent criticisms of charter schools is that they have better outcomes because they self-select parents that care enough about their kids education to apply and make sure they get there, rather than taking the path of least resistence and send them to the school they can bike to because it's 4 blocks away. And we also have crossing guards (but so what?) and numerous community events at the school. I went to local, IB elementary school in a rural area, and I had to travel about 5 times as far to get to it as my kid has to travel to get to her school. Whileour idealized version of elementary school where everyone lives half a mile from school exists, it certainly isn' the norm. And as someone else posted, it really doesn'tmatter HOW close the school is if it sucks.

Short version - you don't have to live in Mayberry to have an active, caring community that supports a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are none of you concerned about your kids missing out on the traditional neighborhood school? Maybe it doesn't matter as much if you work full time and your kids don't get home from after-care until 6pm. But I would hate to think that every child in my neighborhood went to a different school. I would hate my child's school to be miles away from our neighborhood. We don't live in D.C. anymore. One of the things I absolutely LOVE about our neighborhood is that all the kids in our neighborhood ride their bikes to school together. There is a real sense of community because all of us are concerned about working to make our neighborhood school the best it can be. My son's teacher lives four houses away from me. The principal lives two streets down. We have crossing guards to help the kids cross the streets safely. They know all the kids by name. Community events are often held at the schools. Our community is tied together in many ways by our school.

I would hate it if my kids' schools started allowing out-of-boundary kids, if for no other reason than the additional traffic. We have almost no car riders. ALL the kids walk or bike. The only time there is a car pool line is in bad weather.

I really think you are missing out on the value of supporting the elementary school in your community.

Good grief. As a previous poster noted, I'm glad you live in Mayberry. I live in the real world, in a real city, with real kids, and a real mortgage. I'm glad you moved out of here. Why are you trolling through the DC Public Schools forum, again? You obviously have no investment in this discussion but your high opinion of yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 95% of people the lottery works out.

We live in a neighborhood that the OP would undoubtedly consider undesirable. We moved there before I was pregnant. We thought we would move before our kids were school aged.

I now have 3 kids OOB at one of the best EOP elementary schools in the city. My kids litterally run into the school like they were going to Disney World every day. Our house payment is slightly less than $1600 a month. We live 2 blocks from a metro station. Our house has doubled in value. Our commutes are very reasonable.

The middle school lottery craziness looms ahead, but if we strike out we can move to Takoma Park or whereever. I kind of think on the lottery stuff that you just have to fight letting it get to you, and getting obsessed with it. Go to a couple open houses. See where the chips fall.

I really don't think that NWDC was the safest bet for you OP. If I was going to be totally Ms. safe choice, I'd have gone with Arlington or Bethesda near a metro.

That's the key isn't it. OP probably considers a majority of the neighborhoods in DC undesirable - except maybe in her perfect Ward 3 world.

Right, but it's so desirable to you that you want to send your kids to school anywhere but there (dare I even say her precious ward 3). Give me a break!

Nope, wouldn't even send my kids to Ward 3 schools. No immersion programs that is acceptable to me in DCPS. My kid goes to charter school. My child is bilingual and will most likely be trilingual by the time she graduates. I'm sure your kids will enjoy working for her.

You say your kid will be trilingual like it's a big deal. My kids all spoke three languages fluently before they entered K, with no formal schooling, just because mommy and daddy do. They may or may not pick up language #4 by the time they graduate, we don't care. Paying for language education is so ...American.

Not pp, but in the same position. What an odd comment. That is nice that your kids are trilingual becuase you are. Do you know tht other people are not all exactly like you? And, you don't pay for charter schools.

Being a 3 yr old who's trilingual is not the same thing as a 23 yr old who it trilingual - meaning they are literate and can operate in all three languages equally. That takes schooling. Honestly, a trilingual 3 yr old is not impressive. Get back to us in 20 yrs.