Just moved to DC post-divorce and COMPLETELY confused about public schools - Please Help!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which red line station is near Shepherd Park elementary?

The Silver Spring station is 1 mile away. Northern parts of Shepherd Park are even closer. I know a couple folks who walk from their homes to Metro in 10-15 min.

I am 6 blocks to Takoma metro.

how long is the walk? do you commute that way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which red line station is near Shepherd Park elementary?

The Silver Spring station is 1 mile away. Northern parts of Shepherd Park are even closer. I know a couple folks who walk from their homes to Metro in 10-15 min.

I am 6 blocks to Takoma metro.

how long is the walk? do you commute that way?

My walk is about 8-10 minutes. I metro to work, DH takes 16th St bus after walking to Shepherd (which happens to be a few more block walk than metro for us). Shepherd is a bit isolated, buts it's really convenient for our family, especially in summer where we tend to do camps WOTP and lower MoCo. Our close friends are in Petworth, Brightwood and Columbia Heights so for us we consider it convenient and suburban. Best of both worlds. I would never sell it as the most central neighborhood, but there's a great charm to it and the school.

[Anonymous]

Move IB to Hardy or Deal.
I'd choose Hardy since it's closer to your sister's and a smaller school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which red line station is near Shepherd Park elementary?

The Silver Spring station is 1 mile away. Northern parts of Shepherd Park are even closer. I know a couple folks who walk from their homes to Metro in 10-15 min.

I am 6 blocks to Takoma metro.

how long is the walk? do you commute that way?

My walk is about 8-10 minutes. I metro to work, DH takes 16th St bus after walking to Shepherd (which happens to be a few more block walk than metro for us). Shepherd is a bit isolated, buts it's really convenient for our family, especially in summer where we tend to do camps WOTP and lower MoCo. Our close friends are in Petworth, Brightwood and Columbia Heights so for us we consider it convenient and suburban. Best of both worlds. I would never sell it as the most central neighborhood, but there's a great charm to it and the school.

Totally agree with this assessment. Shepherd Park's location also works great if one person in household works in MD and the other in DC--we know several families in this situation.

PP, the only thing you didn't hit on is the proximity to Rock Creek Park. In our household, all adults (and the dog) go for hikes/jogs on RCP trails regularly. Also great access to Beach Drive for cycling. So for outdoorsy families, this is a great benefit of the location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which red line station is near Shepherd Park elementary?

The Silver Spring station is 1 mile away. Northern parts of Shepherd Park are even closer. I know a couple folks who walk from their homes to Metro in 10-15 min.

I am 6 blocks to Takoma metro.

how long is the walk? do you commute that way?

My walk is about 8-10 minutes. I metro to work, DH takes 16th St bus after walking to Shepherd (which happens to be a few more block walk than metro for us). Shepherd is a bit isolated, buts it's really convenient for our family, especially in summer where we tend to do camps WOTP and lower MoCo. Our close friends are in Petworth, Brightwood and Columbia Heights so for us we consider it convenient and suburban. Best of both worlds. I would never sell it as the most central neighborhood, but there's a great charm to it and the school.

Totally agree with this assessment. Shepherd Park's location also works great if one person in household works in MD and the other in DC--we know several families in this situation.

PP, the only thing you didn't hit on is the proximity to Rock Creek Park. In our household, all adults (and the dog) go for hikes/jogs on RCP trails regularly. Also great access to Beach Drive for cycling. So for outdoorsy families, this is a great benefit of the location.

+1 we are 3 blocks from Holly trail in RCP. It is such a lovely mini-hike that we do almost daily from March-Oct (gets too muddy in winter). My kids and dogs think it's the coolest thing in the world to explore it and encounter horses and different animals each day. When we're really adventurous, we walk it all the way to MD side and visit the horse stables.

[Anonymous]

My advice, do everything you can to get into Janney. There's Janney and then everything else . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My advice, do everything you can to get into Janney. There's Janney and then everything else . . .

Ugh. People don't take the bait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice, do everything you can to get into Janney. There's Janney and then everything else . . .

Ugh. People don't take the bait.

I was just thinking the same thing. I'd love to think it is a troll, but I think that many Janney parents on DCUM would seriously post that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice, do everything you can to get into Janney. There's Janney and then everything else . . .

Ugh. People don't take the bait.

I was just thinking the same thing. I'd love to think it is a troll, but I think that many Janney parents on DCUM would seriously post that.

Especially when all things equal demographically, schools like Hearst, Ross, Inspired, Two Rivers do better in testing than Janney

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice, do everything you can to get into Janney. There's Janney and then everything else . . .

Ugh. People don't take the bait.

I was just thinking the same thing. I'd love to think it is a troll, but I think that many Janney parents on DCUM would seriously post that.

Especially when all things equal demographically, schools like Hearst, Ross, Inspired, Two Rivers do better in testing than Janney

Here we go again. Another parent that is jealous of Janney. Test scores, resources, parent involvement, do I need to go on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice, do everything you can to get into Janney. There's Janney and then everything else . . .

Ugh. People don't take the bait.

I was just thinking the same thing. I'd love to think it is a troll, but I think that many Janney parents on DCUM would seriously post that.

Especially when all things equal demographically, schools like Hearst, Ross, Inspired, Two Rivers do better in testing than Janney

Here we go again. Another parent that is jealous of Janney. Test scores, resources, parent involvement, do I need to go on?

Nobody is jealous of Janney. Do you dare say that Stoddert, Ross, Hearst, Two Rivers, Inspired etc and the like don't have parent involvement? Diversity, non judgmental bitch moms...you should be the one that is jealous of diverse school with better performance (with less resources). Your response is exactly why I would never ever but in Janney. Hearst, Stoddert, or Lafayette for us.

[Anonymous]

I love that Janney posters are so reliable. They cannot fathom that others wouldn't dream to be in their shoes.

[Anonymous]

So it seems that some people prefer Hardy and some Deal. Why is one "better" than the other? What are the differences?

And since the older two are already in Middle School, it seems that you guys are listing the Elementary Schools so I choose one and then move into that area for my little one. Are all the elementaries that feed into Hardy or Deal comperable? Are there notable differences between the different elementary schools that would cause one to choose one over the other?

I am looking for something multicultural, and not too test heavy. Inclusive and embracing, where they will easily settle in as international students.

In terms of budget, honestly I have no idea. I started looking at schools first. What do you guys think are reasonable budgets for places for a mom and three kids? What options do I have? I would be renting and have never rented in DC before.

As always, thank you!

[Anonymous]

If you can afford it, I would try to move inboundary for Hearst. That will give you what you are looking for at the elementary school level and ensure that your kids are inbounds for Deal/Wilson.

Re the differences between the two, Deal is an International Baccalaureate middle school and is much, much bigger than Hardy (1,300 students vs. 350). Deal has higher test scores, but that may be because the students are much wealthier than the Hardy students.

Hardy has a great new principal that has set up an honors track to challenge students. But there are lots of people on DCUM who wouldn't consider it because, frankly, there are not many white students there; most of the students are from out of boundary; it's low income, and as a result the scores are much lower.

Since you're looking for a school right now, assuming you are comfortable with its size, I would go for Deal if you have the choice. I think that Hardy is improving and that you could be a part of the improvement, but Deal is possibly the best school in all of DC, and I think it's a surer bet that your kids will like it there. Also, if they are into sports and extracurricular activities, Deal will have more options just because it is so much bigger.

For what it's worth, there are a few people who go to Hardy out of bounds on my block, and their parents really like it. So, I wouldn't say don't go there--I just think that Deal gets the edge because you're ready to send your kids there now.

Good luck--let us know where you end up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can afford it, I would try to move inboundary for Hearst. That will give you what you are looking for at the elementary school level and ensure that your kids are inbounds for Deal/Wilson.

Re the differences between the two, Deal is an International Baccalaureate middle school and is much, much bigger than Hardy (1,300 students vs. 350). Deal has higher test scores, but that may be because the students are much wealthier than the Hardy students.

Hardy has a great new principal that has set up an honors track to challenge students. But there are lots of people on DCUM who wouldn't consider it because, frankly, there are not many white students there; most of the students are from out of boundary; it's low income, and as a result the scores are much lower.

Since you're looking for a school right now, assuming you are comfortable with its size, I would go for Deal if you have the choice. I think that Hardy is improving and that you could be a part of the improvement, but Deal is possibly the best school in all of DC, and I think it's a surer bet that your kids will like it there. Also, if they are into sports and extracurricular activities, Deal will have more options just because it is so much bigger.

For what it's worth, there are a few people who go to Hardy out of bounds on my block, and their parents really like it. So, I wouldn't say don't go there--I just think that Deal gets the edge because you're ready to send your kids there now.

Good luck--let us know where you end up!

I forgot to mention that many people on DCUM dislike that Hardy has a uniform. (Deal does not.) This is not a big deal to me. Our elementary school has a uniform, and it has simplified mornings a lot. I actually think a uniform is more important as you move into middle school, especially at a school like Hardy that has a wide range of incomes.