Reply to Commuter nightmare- any options that you would consider?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think your older child’s best and only option is McArthur. Ignore the haters, it’s a fine school. My daughter will likely end up there and I am happy with it (our IB is Eastern and would not consider that an option at least in comparison). So you’ll do best to design the rest of your commute to be as close to that as possible so your child isn’t floating around the city for 3 hours a day on transit.

I agree Hyde would be ideal but rarely has lottery spots after 3rd grade. It’s a great school so I hope I’m wrong, as that would be the best option location wise. Go ahead and call their office and ask if they think they may pull any 4th graders. Mention that you have a McA student you’re trying to align commutes. Worst they can do is confirm 4th grade is full and no plans to pull from waitlist. Best is they check and maybe decide to pull a few ahead of you and maybe those all turn it down til it gets to you (many people do Hyde as a backup but change their mind due to the location when actually getting a spot - my family did that in a previous year, but we took a spot last year and turns out we don’t mind the commute at all). If you do get in, there are other Hillcrest and Ward 7/8 families so you may luck into a carpool.

I agree with the PP that adding a post lottery choice of Thomson for the younger (the D94 bus picks up nearby, might be able to time it right to drop the older child so they are at least just doing one bus in the morning) and Stevens EC as well. Chisholm is another good idea to at least be on some kind of home to McArthur path (it’s close to 395).

If you work from home and are flexible enough that you can work early before the commute and in the evenings after, you can make this work for a school year then try for something closer to McArthur for the younger child next year.

Good luck and I wish the best for you and your kids![/quote]

Thank you for this. I added Thomson and  have a very low number,  I appreciate you mentioning the nearby bus as well. 
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I don’t think Thomson has before care (though I know our school is adding it back this year due to parent request, maybe other schools are too). But if they do, sign the younger up and plan to drop her when that opens. Depending on traffic you could keep going to drop the older at McA or get her to the D94 bus stop (it only runs every 20-30 minutes depending on time of day and is still like 40+ minutes so she’d need to be on it by 7:30 at the latest). If your WFH job is flexible would also try to see if you could structure  afternoon to be able to take 3-4:30 pm off to pick younger up at dismissal instead of doing after care, in order to beat the evening rush traffic. This would rely on older getting herself most of the way home on her own because I assume she might want to stay later for clubs or sports. A budget for Uber/Lyft will be in order so she can bus or metro part way and get something safer straight to the door if you can’t fetch her.

Look into SkipHopDrive as well - it’s a more vetted version of Uber for kids. If might be an option for younger kiddo or even the older if you’re worried about creepy uber drivers. I was considering it for mornings when we switched schools but was able to get a second car and do the run myself.

And the people here laying into you about choices and circumstances can pound sand. If someone can’t be supportive, scroll by. No one has a crystal ball and even people who have planned perfectly have life events that get in the way (look at all of the people laid off and having to take new jobs with different commutes or move due to financial issues…).

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