Anonymous wrote:There are basically no 3 bedroom places (condos or rowhouses) for less than a million anywhere below Petworth/Park View- which I think mostly feeds into Bruce Monroe- which is bilingual I think

You could make do with a 2BR for a while, then trade up when you make a decision about middle school.

I know. We are looking at small 2bd/2ba that still have the city feel. Not that people point it out, not sure how Shepherd made my list. Sleep deprivation, probably.

oh, no I see budget is 700k- so even petworth is hard although there are a few (probably small sq ft). May need to go farther north- Brightwood

There are basically no 3 bedroom places (condos or rowhouses) for less than a million anywhere below Petworth/Park View- which I think mostly feeds into Bruce Monroe- which is bilingual I think

Anonymous wrote:I would consider Cleveland, but have not heard/seen anything particularly positive. Same as HD Cooke: good location, mixed reviews.

I'd take a closer look. Almost the same neighborhood you're currently in, has a well established immersion program, and offers PK3. Of course, with a $700k budget you couldn't buy much in that area.

Anonymous wrote:Around 700K, and we are willing to sacrifice space for location.

PP who asked--that's a tough budget for anything IB for Shepherd (which doesn't sound like the best option anyway since not a language immersion). Homes these days start at $850+ unless a complete fixer upper.

Around 700K, and we are willing to sacrifice space for location.

I would say high-tail it to Bruce-Monroe or Marie Reed zones right now. Both are good schools where you are almost certain to get in. Rent and bide your time, see how MacFarland goes for a few years before you decide where to buy.

I would consider Cleveland, but have not heard/seen anything particularly positive. Same as HD Cooke: good location, mixed reviews.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. To clarify, we have to move ASAP as we rent a one bedroom/den and we desperately need more space.
and luckily, they are Spanish dominant as my Salvadoran MIL is their main care taker and I am bilingual as well.

What is your budget roughly and are you looking for a rowhome, SFH, etc?

If you can afford IB Oyster Adams, I'd do that and send your kids to a charter for PK3. Plenty of Spanish immersion ones, but if you don't want to take the risk you could consider moving before PK3 and enrolling the kids in CentroNia (Spanish immersion private PK). CentroNia is a "community-based PK option" that is part of DC's PreK enhancement program, so PK3 would be free for you if you stayed - see https://www.myschooldc.org/find-schools/school-options-outside-my-school-dc for more details.

Any reason why you've eliminated Cleveland? It has an immersion program and also PK3.

Thanks. To clarify, we have to move ASAP as we rent a one bedroom/den and we desperately need more space.
and luckily, they are Spanish dominant as my Salvadoran MIL is their main care taker and I am bilingual as well.

With MacFarland I think it just depends on your tolerance for behaviors and low academic performance overall. It is really too far in the future to say, but I would not count it out.

I think you would be perfectly content at Garrison for a year or two while you save. A great number could get you in any number of places as Spanish-dominant. But do be aware it is the dominance that matters, not the Spanish speaking ability. If your child speaks only 10 words, but 6 are Spanish, that is dominant. Not if your child speaks 500 or 1000 words but the majority are English.

My children are fully bilingual in Spanish-English and we live in boundary for Garrison, but need to buy a bigger place. As much as I'd love to join the JKLMM bandwagon, we just can't afford that zip code and I don't want to lose out on my commute to 15th and K. I have my heart set on Oyster,-Adams but the lottery starts at PK4 and I need PK3. We have seen plenty of properties in boundary for all of these, and at this point I would choose by school and not by property.
since in-boundary doesnt start till Kindergarten, I need to rank in order of preference (without an awful commute), but also plan ahead to buy a place in the right boundary for later or in case we don't get in anywhere.
Any chance MacFarland will be better in 10 years? My other child will be also going into PK3 the following year. (Irish Twins)