OP - you didn't mention your financial situation. If you can easily afford it, consider private. If not and you are not comfortable with Garrison, I would consider moving by K or 1st for continuity for your child.

We love our local public school in NWDC. Our child is challenged and happy.
I went to school in one of the better systems in the world. My child is getting better education here K through 5.

OP here. Our local school is Garrison - it's not the best but it's not the worst.

We really like the walkability of city life. We've thought about the closer-in and metro accessible spots in VA, like Court house and Ballston. But the schools don't seem to get very high ratings there either. Thoughts on that?

Stay and do public/charter through elementary

Move.

I live in a DC neighborhood that I love and we lotteried into a great DCPS school, but every single child on my block goes to a different school and as the kids get older, their center of gravity will shift to be their school / school friends.

It’s good you are considering this. I’m you 10 years later facing the middle school dilemma on the Hill, and really unhappy with our options.

A lot depends on what you can afford. If you can afford a house in Cleveland Park or Glover Park, go for it now. The NW schools are not perfect but it’s a good balance of urban amenities and decent schools.

On privates, do you know your child is neurotypical? If so, privates can be a good fallback if you have a good reason to believe your kid will get in. A LOT of families zoned for bad DCPS MS and HS plan on sending their kids to privates after sticking it out in ES DCPS or charters. But then your plan still depends on winning a spot. So you still need a contingency plan of moving.

How is the zoned elementary school through 5th grade? It may be fine to stay there. But your kid will miss out on some of the autonmy they would get in a safer neighborhood. And uprooting for MS/HS is still painful.

Going private now in ES provides some more stability (because you will do a k-12 or have more reassurance about admittance to private HS - that’s part of what you pay for). But it’s a LOT of money, when you could just take it and move to Cleveland Park. And ultimately schlepping your kid out of your walkable, urban neighborhood for 12-15 yrs for school seems to defeat the purpose. Both in terms of enjoying walkability and having ties in the neighborhood. One of the joys of having older kids is seeing them make real friends and having freedom to go back and forth to each other’s houses. You can’t really have that if your kid goes to some NW private.

See a very similar thread in the zgeneral Education forum…

How old is your child, and what type of school do you actually want?

If your IB school is Ross, it will be lovely through 5th. If it's Garrison, the preschool is lovely and the school as a whole is improving. I would encourage you to at least look into it.

I never understood why families choose to live in dc proper

Go read the private school board and see just how easy it is to get into private schools these days.

Have you checked out your neighborhood school? Start there.

No, likely the schools the rest of us send are kids to are likely not great. You should definitely move. It’s now or later with that mindset, so Vite the bullet and do it now

If you aren't willing to entertain DC schools, I would move. Commuting with the kid for private isn't going to be fun, and your kid's friends will be scattered all around. Just move to the burbs so they can make friends in their neighborhood and ride a bus to school--it's so much easier. And you can do things like soccer and music lessons and scouts and day camp closer to home as well.

There are places where housing isn't any more expensive than Logan Circle...even if you pick a more expensive area, you can take a mortgage for a house but not for school, and a house can appreciate while an education cannot be resold.

Maybe start with a charter school lottery? If you can afford it, the right private school seems like a great option. That said, I live in close in Montgomery County. Mostly, I love our schools. When my kids are struggling, though, there is not a lot of special attention to be had. Sometimes, that seems like an advantage and other times I wish for smaller, calmer environments for my kids. Anyway, it’s a non-issue, I can afford college, but not two private school tuitions until college.

DH and I love our Logan circle location but admit the public school options are likely not going to be great. Do we fork over a ton of cash for private school starting in elementary or just move to MD or VA locations with better school?

It’s the age old question! We only have one child.