Anonymous wrote:
The only other thing I'd be aware of is that I have a few friends at not-JKLM schools who are quite happy with the school day but dismayed at aftercare, which is run by a different program. We don't use aftercare, but if you intend to, you may want to look into this as it is an important factor.

This. I want to choose my neighborhood school, but worried about being "dismayed" at aftercare.

This is what happened at Brent. Maybe at other schools too, but I can personally testify that Brent changed BIG time for 2nd and 3rd grade from when my kid started at PreK 4 to the point she is at for 3rd grade right now. Kinda unsettling how much it changed so quickly, actually.

What grade are you looking at?

We chose the neighborhood school for PS3 and PK4 and it was far and away the best choice we could have made. We declined a popular charter and have no regrets. Just witnessing the logistical challenges that people who made different choices faced was stressful.

We have a 5 minute walk to drop off and pick up, and needless to say we were satisfied enough with the quality of the program in the first place, so it just made the most sense. We have actually been very pleasantly surprised with the quality of the program, and teachers and even though we're doing the lottery for K we are ok with staying another year if that plan makes the most sense.

To that end, if you choose to go for the early childhood years, don't try to convince yourself you'll stay forever. You may, and that would be great. But you may not. You can't change everything.

The only other thing I'd be aware of is that I have a few friends at not-JKLM schools who are quite happy with the school day but dismayed at aftercare, which is run by a different program. We don't use aftercare, but if you intend to, you may want to look into this as it is an important factor.

I wholeheartedly recommend using in-boundary schools if they are "good enough" for the early childhood years at least. Not only is it easier on the family and the child, but it ultimately makes a dent in helping the schools attract neighborhood families, which is usually a quicker path to making them higher quality institutions.

Families will always move on unless there is a clear path through middle school. Ways to help neighborhood schools are

eliminate the disasterous preS to 8, make elementary schools end at 5th

eliminate the "feeder right" so that the tempatation to move to an elementary with an acceptable MS feed is also eliminated

create good MS (or an MS, for Ward 4, Ward 5)

Right, PP. But unless families are willing to leave the District at 3rd grade (and after spending $700K on a house in petworth??!?!, I seriously doubt it) there will not be anywhere for them to move to in 2nd or 3rd grade...all the charters will be full with the kids that matriculated from earlier grades. Unless people second mortgage themselves into crazy debt, a lot of families will just have to stay. Now if lots more attractive charters keep showing up, that might be an alternative, but where will they go...possible facilities are becoming hard to come by.

Anonymous wrote:PP is right about trying to think ahead 3 or 4 years. But here's the thing...many of those rising schools will change drastically in just a few years...and I truly believe that. There are so many new, young, middle class families moving into neighborhoods like Petworth and Brookland and Woodridge and etc...that those neighborhood schools WILL change, WILL get better. So, yes, think if you want to be there in 3-4 years, but depending on the school, I bet you can gauge that some schools will have a fast turnaround. Good luck, OP.

But they won't if most middle class families go in saying, "This will work for preschool, then we'll move on." That is happening at most EOTP schools and there is little sign that it's changing. Somebody has to be the first to stay all the way through but nobody has the will to do it. This is the "big flip" or whatever it was in that Post op ed a few weeks back.

PP is right about trying to think ahead 3 or 4 years. But here's the thing...many of those rising schools will change drastically in just a few years...and I truly believe that. There are so many new, young, middle class families moving into neighborhoods like Petworth and Brookland and Woodridge and etc...that those neighborhood schools WILL change, WILL get better. So, yes, think if you want to be there in 3-4 years, but depending on the school, I bet you can gauge that some schools will have a fast turnaround. Good luck, OP.

will you want to be a part of the rising school in 3rd grade? Go do a tour of your neighborhood school and look at the 2nd and 3rd grade class as opposed to just the PreS / PreK.

It will be here before you know it. Do you see your child in that class? If no - rank others above it.

You can be part of the school, make it sort of your added living space and also participate actively in your child's classroom, while also shaping and supporting its rise by being involved. If you commute across town, those opportunities will diminish or even disappear, also the opportunities to make adult friends and rely on them for occasional late pick-ups or exchanging play dates, not to mention sharing time looking after the kids on those numerous days off.
Could be different for middle school, when you won't be doing the commuting; but for elementary school, I can't imagine almost any scenario where a far-away school would top the one next door, absent maybe some super-specialized offering that is very important to your family (such as language, a particular learning method, or special eduction needs).

It a commuter life v. a walking life. After 4th grade, DC walks to and from school with friends. Classmate friends' homes are in walking distance. At any given time, friends can be found at the playground. For parents, walking to school with kids means getting to actually see and talk to other parents, even if only for a few minutes before rushing off to work and getting a chance to have a quick exchange with teachers before and afer school. You could have some of the same with drive and park drop off. Drive by drop offs hinder informal interactions between parents-parents, and parents-school. More planning and effort is required to become a school community or to become a part of another neighborhood's community. You can do it though.

Class birthday parties are usually close by.

Seriously, though, it depends on what others in your neighborhood are doing. The primary benefit for us has been to rely on neighbors for carpools and emergency rides home.

We have also benefited from talking with the parents of older kids and learning which teachers to try to avoid, which extracurriculars are good, etc. I think you can find that sort of thing out during dropoffs and pickups, too, but it is easier doing it in front of the house as opposed to on the playground.

That said, you and your kids will meet people no matter where you want to attend. The OOB kids/parents at our school do fine.

Good luck.

We go to a neighborhood school and my daughter loves having her friends close by. Not only is walking to/from school easy, but it's nice to run into friends around the neighborhood and be able to walk around the corner for playdates and birthday parties.

Our rising neighborhood school in Petworth has been fantastic. My child is very happy and has learned more than I expected in PS3 (older sibling went to a fancy NW private nursery school for age 3 and didn't learn 1/10th of what our second child has at our local DCPS. And our PS3 child is also very well-adjusted, social and knows how to share, so no "trade-offs" in my opinion. It sure is nice walking to school. I understand the draw of other schools with great scores or new charters with lots of positives, so it is a tough choice. But logistics and quality of life do matter and shouldn't be a tossed aside as considerations, in my opinion. Good luck!

I will just say that my neighborhood school is not "rising" by any definition, and we really liked it and are going to rank it high (still don't know how high). The thought of commuting with my three-year-old to a school where I would have to take public transportation or drive by a very early hour is not appealing. I am also worried about not having friends who live nearby. I think in prior years, it was easier to apply to lots of charters and know that you could always fall back to schools near you since the DCPS lotteries were separate; this year, I am really carefully considering whether I want to be shut out of my close-by schools if I get into a top charter. Often, I find the answer is no. I have tried doing a driving commute and a public transit commute with my toddler and it did not go well either time.

Please tell me more about the quality of life benefits of choosing a walkable school. I need reassurance before I second guess myself and rank my "rising" nearby school too far below subjectively better but far less convenient options.