Anonymous wrote:Just to provide a contrast, here is a thumbnail of our experience. We bought a house we loved with a neighborhood school that was not acceptable to us and figured that we would work it out when it happened. Here's where we wound up for PS-3.

Charter schools - applied to 14 different. The only ones we got into were Bethune and Appletree Oklahoma Ave. Best lottery number otherwise was 103.

DCPS - Applied to the second-tier CH schools, (didn't even try for Maury, Brent, Logan, or Tyler SI). The only one we got into was J.O. Wilson and our best lottery number was in the 30's at Miner. We are okay with sending our child to J.O. through PK-4 for sure, but will definitely be trying to lottery out ASAP. We also didn't max out our budget, so we can afford to go private or move if we need to.

So, yeah, if I was a planner and had $800K to spend, I would definitely try to get a house where I liked the in-bounds school. For every family that loves their charter or got lucky in the lottery, there are lots of families like us scrambling and patching stuff together.

Just another experience. Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For $800K you should be able to get into Maury boundary. I live in the Navy Yard/south cap Hill area and we are zone for Amidon but send our child to a sought after charter.

Thanks. That's very helpful too. I just don't have a great handle on charter school options because there is so much to research-- don't even know where to begin.

Anonymous wrote:I would move to the Navy yard area with an expectation of having kids. I like the amenities available to families - Yards (water) Park, Canal Park (skating), new homes, safe and walkable. The neighborhood school Van Ness ES is re-opening in 2015 and the Capitol Quarter community has broad enough shoulders for Van Ness to be successful. I would bank on Near S.E.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you should buy the house you love in the neighborhood you love and not worry too much about schools right now (you don't have kids yet, right?). There are just too many variables and too much time before you might need schools that I don't think it makes sense to make that your primary deciding factor.

You might not be able to have kids.

You might have kids with special needs and a regular public school would not be a good fit.

You or your spouse might be offered a dream job in another city and decide to move.

Your neighborhood school, even if it doesn't look good now, might make a transformation and you end up sending your kids there. (This is what happened to us when we bought in boundary for Maury in 2001.)

New charters schools are opening every year that you might be interested in.

There are several desirable charter schools already and your chance of getting in is as good as anyone else's.

You can start you own charter school!

I know plenty of parents (okay, almost every single parent on the Hill that I know) with school angst and everyone, I mean everyone, has found something that is at a bare minimum acceptable, and more likely something they are really happy with. It doesn't always shake out right after the lotteries and it sometimes takes a year or two or trying to get into the school you want, but I honestly can't think of anyone who has been totally shut out and without any acceptable options.

If you are considering two comparable houses, one in bounds for a "good" school and the other in bounds for "bad" school, then by all means, choose the one with the better school. I just don't think schools should be your primary factor if you don't have kids yet.

Good luck.