Our commute is 35-40 from NoVA to NWDC for HS. It's not awesome. There is a bus in the morning that's less than 10 minutes from our house, but DC still has the commute time. The afternoon bus doesn't work most days due to extracurricular activities. Carpools and buses are helpful but they only save the wear and tear on the parents, not the students. The day-to-day isn't so bad, but the random evening parent meetings (where DC ends up having to stay at school until the meeting has ended because we live too far away to take them home), student events with undefined end times, etc. are more challenging than expected. Social opportunities with friends are also far away. The school is 100% worth it, and while we did fully considered the everyday travel, we didn't fully understand how challenging some parts of the distance would be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course not one person can know all of this, but what is an average commute time for private school in this area? Is 25 minutes too long? At what range do kids risk burn out?

They get used to whatever it is. Ours is about 45 mins. The car time turns into family time and we sing together, talk, go through the days checklist.

How old are your kids? “Sing together” 😂

Anonymous wrote:If one school is 15-20 min away and the other school (that we like a little better) is 25-30 min away, what would you do? This is for K and we'd be at the school through 6/8 grade.

Go with the school that's best for your kid, knowing that it will impact your family.

An increase of 10m doesn't seem that bad to me, if you are already planning on 15-20. But it depends how much better you like the school. Shorter is always going to be easier.

It generally takes 30 minutes to get from anywhere to anywhere in DC, so 30 minutes is my answer. More if it is really worth it for you kid.

Ours is 4 miles but can take 20-30 minutes with traffic. I would not go any further. Kids are in 7th and 12th

Under 30 minutes is ideal.

Anonymous wrote:If one school is 15-20 min away and the other school (that we like a little better) is 25-30 min away, what would you do? This is for K and we'd be at the school through 6/8 grade.

Assume it's 10 extra minutes each way so 20 minutes a day. It doesn't seem like a deal breaker to me but it does add up over the year so that may be another way to look at it. It it's measurably better and you are confident that it will stay better then maybe would be worth it. What gives me pause is that you say it's just a "little" better.... if it were me and it was just a "little" I'd probably opt for the shorter commute.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have the luxury of choice, I think 20 minutes or less is ideal. I have done 30 each way and for some reason the 20 minute mark is where it started to feel long. I know that sounds crazily precise, but for me there is just something about 20 minutes I guess!

+1. Our commute is 15-17 mins and it would be torture after the 20 min mark. DC to DC.

+1

Arlington to DC. Drive commute (w/ multiple routes in) 15-17 min. Home and school are also walkable to Metro- 2 blocks for both.

If kids stay later for practice and don't come home right after school--drive home can be closer to 30min some times. They will often Metro home anyways.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have the luxury of choice, I think 20 minutes or less is ideal. I have done 30 each way and for some reason the 20 minute mark is where it started to feel long. I know that sounds crazily precise, but for me there is just something about 20 minutes I guess!

+1. Our commute is 15-17 mins and it would be torture after the 20 min mark. DC to DC.

+1

Arlington to DC. Drive commute (w/ multiple routes in) 15-17 min. Home and school are also walkable to Metro- 2 blocks for both.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those with with 20+ min commutes, I assume you all are SAHPs, right? DH and I both work full time and I don't know how either of us would add an extra 1.5 hours (when you consider the back and forth) of commuting a day for school.

if both can work from home, it becomes pretty managable.

We are going from a 10 minute commute to a 25-30 minute commute. One parent works near the school, so morning commute isn't that much of an extra burden. Kid is old enough to take metro/bus home after school.

If one school is 15-20 min away and the other school (that we like a little better) is 25-30 min away, what would you do? This is for K and we'd be at the school through 6/8 grade.

Anonymous wrote:For those with with 20+ min commutes, I assume you all are SAHPs, right? DH and I both work full time and I don't know how either of us would add an extra 1.5 hours (when you consider the back and forth) of commuting a day for school.

if both can work from home, it becomes pretty managable.

Anonymous wrote:For those with with 20+ min commutes, I assume you all are SAHPs, right? DH and I both work full time and I don't know how either of us would add an extra 1.5 hours (when you consider the back and forth) of commuting a day for school.

Car pool and bus make this kind of a non issue

For those with with 20+ min commutes, I assume you all are SAHPs, right? DH and I both work full time and I don't know how either of us would add an extra 1.5 hours (when you consider the back and forth) of commuting a day for school.

Anonymous wrote:Of course not one person can know all of this, but what is an average commute time for private school in this area? Is 25 minutes too long? At what range do kids risk burn out?

I'd say that is fine. Anything around 40 plus minutes starts to get to be too much imo.