Anonymous wrote:There's relatively cheap and decent housing and new development coming soon there too. That little corner of the world may actually become part of the map of DC for DCUMs. Good for them for getting a building adjacent to recreation space near the Metro and a library. Very good.

The rec center is 0.4 mile away. Takoma and the Lamond Riggs library are both 1.5 miles away. The new houses are starting in just below $800k

How did Sela get this space? IT families would have liked it.

Anonymous wrote:Really close to us. So that's something. But I just wish I could get enthused about the idea of having my child learn Hebrew. At least it's another option...and that thinking is one thing that I think is problematic about the DC situation...on one hand it's great to have so many options, but then the lottery mania makes families feel as if they must enter the lottery for every single school that "might" be good. And truth be told, I can say that I probably wouldn't be excited about Sela but would take the spot if it were my only option and then I'd bail as soon as I got a spot at somewhere else that I really wanted. I know, that stinks and contributes to the whole August/Sept/Oct shuffle. If I felt like I might actually have a shot at getting a spot at one of the schools I really want for my child I'd only apply to those schools...but that's not the current reality so I'll inevitably apply to every single decent school. But yay for choice!

I put my son in daycare at the JCC, even though we're not Jewish, and he had such a good time learning all of those songs. A good school is a good school, and if studies one language he'll study another one later on. I don't think the Hebrew is as a big a deal as people make it. If it's a bad school, Hebrew won't save it. If it's a good school, Hebrew can't possibly hurt. I live in Brookland and hoped Sela would come to our neighborhood where there are lots of young kids/families - but this location is perfect for us - and I think many of the underserved Ward 5 posters on DCUM.

Really close to us. So that's something. But I just wish I could get enthused about the idea of having my child learn Hebrew. At least it's another option...and that thinking is one thing that I think is problematic about the DC situation...on one hand it's great to have so many options, but then the lottery mania makes families feel as if they must enter the lottery for every single school that "might" be good. And truth be told, I can say that I probably wouldn't be excited about Sela but would take the spot if it were my only option and then I'd bail as soon as I got a spot at somewhere else that I really wanted. I know, that stinks and contributes to the whole August/Sept/Oct shuffle. If I felt like I might actually have a shot at getting a spot at one of the schools I really want for my child I'd only apply to those schools...but that's not the current reality so I'll inevitably apply to every single decent school. But yay for choice!

There's relatively cheap and decent housing and new development coming soon there too. That little corner of the world may actually become part of the map of DC for DCUMs. Good for them for getting a building adjacent to recreation space near the Metro and a library. Very good.

It's good to see Bowser and the ANC getting on board. These public officials need to realize that almost half our kids are studying in charters these days and these schools need good buildings and $$$ equal to DCPS to continue to thrive.

I drove by the building from my office at CU - 5 minutes. Close close close.

L'Chaim!!!! I can stop by Three Stars Brewery after dropping off my kid for school!

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Anonymous wrote:I filled out their location survey awhilw back (where they mentioned Takoma as a choice) -I seem to remember something about providing a shuttle. Hopefully that would be from FT metro. Otherwise I will probably park at the lot at FT and metro back downtown.

Takoma also has a lot - I think...

Takoma has metered parking and the hours are odd.

Anonymous wrote:I filled out their location survey awhilw back (where they mentioned Takoma as a choice) -I seem to remember something about providing a shuttle. Hopefully that would be from FT metro. Otherwise I will probably park at the lot at FT and metro back downtown.

Takoma also has a lot - I think...

I filled out their location survey awhilw back (where they mentioned Takoma as a choice) -I seem to remember something about providing a shuttle. Hopefully that would be from FT metro. Otherwise I will probably park at the lot at FT and metro back downtown.

hopefully between cap city & sela, they'll get the K-2 bus to run more frequently. This location is near the K-2, but it only runs every 20 minutes, and only during rush hour.

Anonymous wrote:Great....so now there will be 6 schools closely located (High Roads school right down the street, then Hope Community and Ideal Academy across from that, the Roots and a 10 minute walk to Cap City). Just Great.

I think there's a certain benefit to having several schools nearby, doesn't that mean the bus lines and local businesses will all be much more accustomed to having young people around. Kids are always safer when there are adults looking out for them.


In any event, Congratulations to Sela. That is no small feat getting a facility like that right out of the gate - actually designed for a school and getting to update and modernize it to suit themselves. Well done. I am very excited about the idea of this school and encouraged by how together their organization seems.


Now, I would really like it if they would make plans to join forces with the other Immersion charter schools and look at becoming part of the DCI at Walter Reed. I think a stand-alone immersion school is going to present enormous hurdles by the time they hit the MS/HS years, due to the necessarily small sizes of the grades at that point. Combining their resources with Yu Ying, LAMB, Stokes, and Mundo Verde, and bringing one more language option to the program seems like a big win for everyone. I hope that gets thought out sooner than later.


Regardless, Kudos to Sela.

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Anonymous wrote:It is good that the school has a semi-perm location. That does not take away the fact that Chillum Road and Kansas Ave traffic is already a mess. Not to mention the backups on NH Ave and the neighboring streets.

Traffic is one of the joys of living in DC, no matter where they would have located. North Capitol is pretty quick - for hill folks. I volunteer at the animal shelter near there - never takes me more than 15 minutes.

Have you tried going downtown from this area (Kansas Ave/Chillum Road/Blair and NC interesection..and I am not talking about starting on NC..I am talking about getting thru that bottle neck) between the hours of 7:50 and 8:40? Just curious?

I do it this commute - drive to SW. I leave between 8:00 and 8:05 daily and get to SW about 40 minutes later.

I can get to my office near Union Station is 15-20 minutes from Takoma - I leave at 7:30 via NC. Straight shot.

This is true for 7:30....try leaving at 8:05 and see the difference in your commute. It does take me forever to get onto Kansas and around the corner onto Blair/NC going downtown. Going to NH is even worst.

Well, since Sela is providing free before and after care - I will probably shoot to leave earlier...

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Anonymous wrote:It is good that the school has a semi-perm location. That does not take away the fact that Chillum Road and Kansas Ave traffic is already a mess. Not to mention the backups on NH Ave and the neighboring streets.

Traffic is one of the joys of living in DC, no matter where they would have located. North Capitol is pretty quick - for hill folks. I volunteer at the animal shelter near there - never takes me more than 15 minutes.

Have you tried going downtown from this area (Kansas Ave/Chillum Road/Blair and NC interesection..and I am not talking about starting on NC..I am talking about getting thru that bottle neck) between the hours of 7:50 and 8:40? Just curious?

I do it this commute - drive to SW. I leave between 8:00 and 8:05 daily and get to SW about 40 minutes later.

I can get to my office near Union Station is 15-20 minutes from Takoma - I leave at 7:30 via NC. Straight shot.

This is true for 7:30....try leaving at 8:05 and see the difference in your commute. It does take me forever to get onto Kansas and around the corner onto Blair/NC going downtown. Going to NH is even worst.