Does it actually matter which school you send your kid to?

[Anonymous]

Our daughter is 1 year old. We currently live downtown, and we're thinking we'll need to move in the next year or two to get a little more space. As we think about the parts of the city we'd love to live in, though, we keep coming back to the school conversation. A desirable (and affordable!) neighborhood to live in does not necessary have schools known for being great.

Does that matter? What is the lifelong impact of sending your kid to an amazing school? An okay one? A kind of crappy one? And then how are we defining amazing/okay/crappy.. is it just test scores?

I'm curious how you chose the school you chose (or how you chose to wing it with the lottery). And I'm curious your philosophy on the importance--or lack thereof--of K-12 education.

And then to get into practical advice.. any feeder patterns you love or would avoid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our daughter is 1 year old. We currently live downtown, and we're thinking we'll need to move in the next year or two to get a little more space. As we think about the parts of the city we'd love to live in, though, we keep coming back to the school conversation. A desirable (and affordable!) neighborhood to live in does not necessary have schools known for being great.

Does that matter? What is the lifelong impact of sending your kid to an amazing school? An okay one? A kind of crappy one? And then how are we defining amazing/okay/crappy.. is it just test scores?

I'm curious how you chose the school you chose (or how you chose to wing it with the lottery). And I'm curious your philosophy on the importance--or lack thereof--of K-12 education.

And then to get into practical advice.. any feeder patterns you love or would avoid?

Many desirable neighborhoods EOTP don’t have great schools. Many families go charter, and it works for them.

Test scores are not the be all and end all but it gives you a sense of peer group. How many kids are below grade level, on grade level, above grade level?
This starts to become important in the upper elementary as the academic gap widens between those below and those on or above grade level, especially since there is no G & T or AAP or tracking.

We wanted language immersion because felt it was important to be bilingual in today’s diverse society. Language immersion also tends to be a harder curriculum in general because the child is learning all topics in 2 languages. We were very lucky in the lottery and are currently very happy with DC’s experience so far. Private was our back up if the lottery did not work out. Our IB school was not a viable option.

The language immersion charters has a feeder pattern to not only middle school but also high school with DCI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our daughter is 1 year old. We currently live downtown, and we're thinking we'll need to move in the next year or two to get a little more space. As we think about the parts of the city we'd love to live in, though, we keep coming back to the school conversation. A desirable (and affordable!) neighborhood to live in does not necessary have schools known for being great.

Does that matter? What is the lifelong impact of sending your kid to an amazing school? An okay one? A kind of crappy one? And then how are we defining amazing/okay/crappy.. is it just test scores?

I'm curious how you chose the school you chose (or how you chose to wing it with the lottery). And I'm curious your philosophy on the importance--or lack thereof--of K-12 education.

And then to get into practical advice.. any feeder patterns you love or would avoid?

Many desirable neighborhoods EOTP don’t have great schools. Many families go charter, and it works for them.

Test scores are not the be all and end all but it gives you a sense of peer group. How many kids are below grade level, on grade level, above grade level?
This starts to become important in the upper elementary as the academic gap widens between those below and those on or above grade level, especially since there is no G & T or AAP or tracking.

We wanted language immersion because felt it was important to be bilingual in today’s diverse society. Language immersion also tends to be a harder curriculum in general because the child is learning all topics in 2 languages. We were very lucky in the lottery and are currently very happy with DC’s experience so far. Private was our back up if the lottery did not work out. Our IB school was not a viable option.

The language immersion charters has a feeder pattern to not only middle school but also high school with DCI.

You're asking the right question. I'm a grandparent. We raised our kids in a wealthy DC suburb and sent them to very highly regarded public schools. Very few poor kids, if any. Zero diversity. But man, did it have high test scores.

Fast forward 25 years, we're living in DC and our grandkids are enrolled in a largely black, largely poor school. When we show up, everyone in the school knows who we are because we don't look like anybody else. And guess what? The grandkids are reading well above grade level and are doing very well socially. In the end, it all boils down to who they go home to.

Don't get caught up in the rat race like we did.

[Anonymous]

Schools can change lives. I firmly believe that. Are we all in a position to pick an “amazing” school for our kids? No. So they usually get an adequate school with “pluses & minuses” and it will do the job. But a wonderful school will change a child. And when I saw “wonderful” I mean wonderful for that child, not everyone reacts the same to a school.

[Anonymous]

It matters a great deal where you send your child. But not necessarily in the ways that people think. An elementary school should be warm and caring, orderly, engaging, diverse, and full of talented teachers. This can be had all over the city! Test scores matter a little, but even somewhat iffy schools will have a large enough block of kids on grade level to satisfy most children. The test scores only cover grades 3-5, and often grades K-2nd are higher-performing due to gentrification. You need to understand that a lot of DCPS schools are in a state of gentrification and are changing rapidly. The current test scores (which are from tests taken almost a year ago now) are already out of date.


You know what else matters? Parents having a reasonable commute so that they get home to spend time with their child, and can implement homework and piano practice or whatever without becoming overly frazzled. This is even more true if you have a second baby. So if you like living downtown, I'd suggest you choose a school that's closer to downtown like, for example, Seaton. It's a lovely little school with a great atmosphere and community, plenty of diversity, and really impressive growth metrics, especially in math. It has everything a young child needs. If you want a little more space at a reasonable cost, try Whittier. Because a young child doesn't need an impressive middle school or high school. You can figure that out later. It won't affect your child's experience now. Moving farther out to be in the Wilson pattern will put you through a long commute twice every single day.

And your child will not attend even middle school for 10 more years, right? So much can change in 10 years. Schools can open, close, move, boundaries and feeder patterns can change, principals and programs come and go. Don't buy an expensive house in the Wilson feeder pattern and then get put out in the next boundary review!

[Anonymous]

OP, here is what we did. Before having kids, moved on purpose to a bad school zone with a good commute. This was to obtain an affordable home and reasonable commute. A year after, had a baby. Our zoned school was closed and was folded in with another equally bad. DD struck out in the PK3 lottery, as did many of our friends, so we decided to make a go of it together at the zoned school. It turned out to have some pretty great teachers and we were happy there for several years. Lotteried into a high performing charter for second grade, when the academics start to matter more, and DD was right on track, not behind at all. The high performing school is not really more impressive when you consider that they have an easier group of kids. I have no regrets and would do it again exactly the same.

Wilson is not all that. We are doing application high schools.

[Anonymous]

Of course it matters. How can it not matter? Especially in middle and high school. I think you're really just asking if it's ok to live in a quickly gentrifying neighborhood where the schools haven't caught up yet. You could do what we did. Moved to NE near many good charters and hope for the best. You'll be good that way for at least a few years, since early years seem to be fine at nearly every school. Bonus, you might be good all the way through if you get into the charter of your choice. Of course, then your choice charter might move and you'll be looking at a long commute again (charters are notoriously unstable particularly in their location). But at least you'll have built up some equity by then.

[Anonymous]

OP, tell us the neighborhoods you like and we can help you more.

We live in Edgewood and the neighborhood school (Langley) is improving rapidly. It was great for us for three years. Then there are plenty of charters in the area and you will get lucky eventually.

[Anonymous]

What matters in a school is what matters to your family, not others.

We wanted a school EotP where our Asian children would be in class with other Asian children every year. We didn't have that as Asian kids growing up, hated it, and were bullied pretty relentlessly for being Asian.

We found what we were looking for in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Middle and high school are very difficult to do right. It definitely matters. You have more flexibility for elementary school.

[Anonymous]

I thnk it depends on the age and peer group at some point. we are white UMC family and our kid is not in fourth year at Title EoTP school. Only white kid in class. She is have a great experience. Learning a lot, small class sizes and very little teacher turnover. This makes a huge difference. Schools that have more teachers with at least 5 years of experience really has an impact on classroom management. But I know middle school is going to be the break off point for us. I don't want my kid in a class where 75% of kids are scoring below grade level on tests. I know its not all about the test. but by 5th grade it definitely is a major factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thnk it depends on the age and peer group at some point. we are white UMC family and our kid is not in fourth year at Title EoTP school. Only white kid in class. She is have a great experience. Learning a lot, small class sizes and very little teacher turnover. This makes a huge difference. Schools that have more teachers with at least 5 years of experience really has an impact on classroom management. But I know middle school is going to be the break off point for us. I don't want my kid in a class where 75% of kids are scoring below grade level on tests. I know its not all about the test. but by 5th grade it definitely is a major factor.

Are the other children not reaping the same positive benefits as your daughter? Will they end up below grade level by middle school despite the capable teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our daughter is 1 year old. We currently live downtown, and we're thinking we'll need to move in the next year or two to get a little more space. As we think about the parts of the city we'd love to live in, though, we keep coming back to the school conversation. A desirable (and affordable!) neighborhood to live in does not necessary have schools known for being great.

Does that matter? What is the lifelong impact of sending your kid to an amazing school? An okay one? A kind of crappy one? And then how are we defining amazing/okay/crappy.. is it just test scores?

I'm curious how you chose the school you chose (or how you chose to wing it with the lottery). And I'm curious your philosophy on the importance--or lack thereof--of K-12 education.

And then to get into practical advice.. any feeder patterns you love or would avoid?

Many desirable neighborhoods EOTP don’t have great schools. Many families go charter, and it works for them.

Test scores are not the be all and end all but it gives you a sense of peer group. How many kids are below grade level, on grade level, above grade level?
This starts to become important in the upper elementary as the academic gap widens between those below and those on or above grade level, especially since there is no G & T or AAP or tracking.

We wanted language immersion because felt it was important to be bilingual in today’s diverse society. Language immersion also tends to be a harder curriculum in general because the child is learning all topics in 2 languages. We were very lucky in the lottery and are currently very happy with DC’s experience so far. Private was our back up if the lottery did not work out. Our IB school was not a viable option.

The language immersion charters has a feeder pattern to not only middle school but also high school with DCI.

You're asking the right question. I'm a grandparent. We raised our kids in a wealthy DC suburb and sent them to very highly regarded public schools. Very few poor kids, if any. Zero diversity. But man, did it have high test scores.

Fast forward 25 years, we're living in DC and our grandkids are enrolled in a largely black, largely poor school. When we show up, everyone in the school knows who we are because we don't look like anybody else. And guess what? The grandkids are reading well above grade level and are doing very well socially. In the end, it all boils down to who they go home to.

Don't get caught up in the rat race like we did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thnk it depends on the age and peer group at some point. we are white UMC family and our kid is not in fourth year at Title EoTP school. Only white kid in class. She is have a great experience. Learning a lot, small class sizes and very little teacher turnover. This makes a huge difference. Schools that have more teachers with at least 5 years of experience really has an impact on classroom management. But I know middle school is going to be the break off point for us. I don't want my kid in a class where 75% of kids are scoring below grade level on tests. I know its not all about the test. but by 5th grade it definitely is a major factor.

Are the other children not reaping the same positive benefits as your daughter? Will they end up below grade level by middle school despite the capable teachers?

I'm not the PP, but these schools tend to have high turnover (high housing costs, family changes can result in switching schools) so there are always new kids and they didn't benefit from the school's good teachers.

[Anonymous]

My kid is who she is. I strongly believe she’d do the same from any school.

I didn’t go to a good school and in some ways I think it was better because instead of the AP pressure cooker I had the time and energy to teach myself and explore my own interests. But that’s who I was. If your kid isn’t like that, they might need the pressure cooker to get the same knowledge.