Moving to DC for a year....school question

[Anonymous]

Good morning! We are moving to the DC area fo DH job. We will only be there for a year. We have two children...High school freshman and a 7th grader. We should be in DC around Christmas time.

1) Are the schools in NoVA pretty open and welcoming to new students? The area we have been living the few years was NOT! Like, at all. I just want to pick a great area for my kids to 'fit right in'!
Any advice on exceptionally welcoming communities that our kids can make friends with AND go to the neighborhood school would be great! Older kids....middle school and high schoolers please!

2) I am contemplating homeschooling for a year. Not really me teaching, but have an online program. Has anyone had any experience in this...just for a year??

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

Are you going back to your current community after this year? Or will you be moving again to a different city?

If it's just a year and you're returning to your current community, I would consider leaving your kids with a relative or friends in your current community during the two semesters of school they'd have been in the DC area. You can have them with you during the summers and vacation periods. That would be least disruptive to their schooling, social lives, and extracurriculars.

[Anonymous]

Also, if you're going to move back to current community, ask your kids' schools/school district which homeschooling program would be best fit.

[Anonymous]

Sorry....no, we will not be moving back to the same community. We will be moving to another location.

Also, as far as where in NOVA, we can move anywhere. My DH will be working mostly from home. We just want to find a great community/neighborhood with a good school.

[Anonymous]

what is your budget op? The schools vary greatly around here.

[Anonymous]

If your DH can work mostly from home, would it be worth it to stay where you are and for him to fly/commute to the DC area occasionally? He can probably rent a room and do like 2 Wednesday through Tuesday stints per month, meaning he's around the work location at least once per week.

[Anonymous]

Our budget is $3500/month.

We are moving to DC with my DH. We are not staying behind. Trust me, we have thought of every scenario. We are moving to DC....just need advice on where close nit community is located with a good school.

[Anonymous]

Do you want to be in DC or in a close in suburb?

[Anonymous]

I guess I should put OP before commenting.....sorry!

In DC would be nice, but I have a feeling the since of community/neighborhood isn't there. Riding bikes in the street, talking on the front porch with neighbors, kids playing basketball, etc. So, for our kids, we should look in the suburbs. Again......neighborhood with sidewalks, since of close community is what we would really like.

[Anonymous]

*Sense of community. I will try to proofread first. ugh!

[Anonymous]

I would look in Bethesda

[Anonymous]

Agree w/ the PPs that going to a school for just 1 year is tough for kids. But, if it can't be helped, one suggestion is Robinson Secondary in Fairfax. It's 7-12 so your kids could at least go to school together, nice community, big school but that also means it has lots of activities and opportunities to find your people.

[Anonymous]

So your HS freshman will split his freshman year, starting where you live and ending someone where in the Dzc area and in a year he will start his sophomore year in DC and then end it somewhere else? So he will have to go to three HS in the first two years of his HS life?

Is there anyway he can go to boarding school or stay where his is until next year and only go to two HSs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I should put OP before commenting.....sorry!

In DC would be nice, but I have a feeling the since of community/neighborhood isn't there. Riding bikes in the street, talking on the front porch with neighbors, kids playing basketball, etc. So, for our kids, we should look in the suburbs. Again......neighborhood with sidewalks, since of close community is what we would really like.

We have all of this in our upper NW DC neighborhood zoned for Deal/Wilson. However, a budget of $3500/month would be tough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I should put OP before commenting.....sorry!

In DC would be nice, but I have a feeling the since of community/neighborhood isn't there. Riding bikes in the street, talking on the front porch with neighbors, kids playing basketball, etc. So, for our kids, we should look in the suburbs. Again......neighborhood with sidewalks, since of close community is what we would really like.

Community takes time, a year is not enough. People will be reluctant to put time into a relationship that is gone in a year. Most of the kids around here have already had to say goodbye to close friends who have left after a few years. They are not keen to do that again.