Reply to Capitol Hill families - If you moved to NW or burbs for school, do you have any regrets?

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Reply to "Capitol Hill families - If you moved to NW or burbs for school, do you have any regrets?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Most people on CH can’t afford to move or go private, so they are really stuck. However there are more charter high schools than the ones DCUM finds acceptable and many families I know send their kids to these high schools. [/quote]

Total BS. Whether a family rents or buys on CH, the same money spent on rent and equity/mortgage payments could be spent on housing in the DC burbs. No middle-class family is stuck with mediocre or bad schooling options in Ward 6.[/quote]

No, housing is relatively cheaper on the Hill. Many of us can’t trade up that easily. [/quote]

Cheaper as compared to where? North and Central Arlington 3-bedroom houses and Hill houses are priced comparably (we've done lots of searching).  Same with 3-bedroom rentals.  Almost all of Fairfax and Falls Church and at least half of MoCo are cheaper than the Hill. [/quote]

Not for schools that are clearly better.

NW DC, Arlington, Falls Church and MoCo zoned for the “good” schools have almosr nothing under $1m. 20002/20003 currently have 150+ 2br+ properties for under $1 mil. Fairfax is better but you start getting really deep into the burbs and trading off time for money.

This leaves families contemplating a move to the DCC or Richard Montgomery HS. At that point many Hill families will stick it out a bit longer to hope that Walls or McKinley or a cheaper Catholic HS will work out.

[/quote]You keep saying this.  But you've been told over and over again that things sell quickly in these areas so you just won't ever see lots of inventory at any price point.  (At least not in the 7 years I've lived in Arlington.)  There are never ever 150+ properties on the market in a single price range.  You have to watch when things come up and pounce.  It doesn't mean that there aren't options.  It just means that they don't sit around.  [/quote]

This is not even remotely limited to Arlington. Houses in the Dc area sell fast. And i don’t know where you’re finding homes under 1 million on Capitol Hill. They don’t really exist. 
[b]
As a final note- Arlington middle schools are not good.[/b] [/quote]

What is your basis for arguing this?  I live on the Hill while my ex lives in Arlington. We split custody.  I like the neighborhood MS my boys attend in Arlington, although it's not one of the several with the "most favorable demographics." My rising 8th grader has earned the grades to enroll in "intensified" (honors) classes across the board for his last year in MS, in science, math (geometry and algebra II), social studies (geography for HS credit), English and band. He's also going into his 3rd year of Chinese at the school. He's taken band as a daily class since 6th grade, learned to play a brass instrument well for free. For the most part, his teachers are strong, experienced, older, been at the school for many years. Admins tell me that intensified classes outside math will be available to younger son starting in 7th grade, a new county initiative.

At the several DCPS middle schools in Ward 6, which my ex and I considered, the only definite honors classes I heard about are for math, and maybe grade-level English at Stuart Hobson.  If Arlington middle schools aren't good, where are they good in this area, other than the super duper GT test-in programs in Fairfax and MoCo serving less than 10% of students?  Arlington doesn't have test-in GT, DCPS either of course. [/quote]

A lot of UMC in Ward 6 have kids at BASIS, which starts in 5th.  True, you have to get accepted in 5th grade and it gets harder each year (easier with sibling preference).

There are other options in DC as well:

[url]https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia[/url]

Other than maybe Williamsburg or Swanson, it doesn't seem like Arlington has very good options.[/quote]You're out of the loop.  Right now Hamm is the most highly regarded MS in Arlington.  [/quote]

Oh, the most highly regarded?  By whom?  You?

According to USNWR, it is the worst of the bunch in Arlington.

[url]https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/virginia?city-zip=arlington[/url][/quote]

DP.  It’s unranked because it’s still very new.  It’s a new school in a brand new building in N Arlington.  It’s the most coveted MS in Arlington by many people.  [/quote]
I've also heard wonderful reports from parents with kids there.  A lot of happy parents and kids.

I've heard loads of complaints from both Swanson and Kenmore parents. [/quote]

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