I think the ability to walk to school is huge:

- For mental health (of you and the kids) in terms of ease of getting to/from school (including the ability to call a neighbor at the last minute and ask them to walk your kid home),

- For a connected and engaged school community, where it is easy for families to volunteer, stay for PTA meetings, etc. It is much harder to generate that sort of community if people have a 30 minute drive to get there.

- To help the surrounding neighborhood (including neighbors and businesses) feel invested and engaged with the school

- For a stable student population that (generally) would stay in the school for the full time

I hope DCPS considers these sorts of intangibles in the current discussions about boundaries and school assignments.

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.

I'm not so sure about that at all. If it were true, then Brent and Maury would be able to maintain their student populations as they age. The unfortunate reality is that they can't. The result is losing kids as soon as parents have a better option.

The completed renovations are awesome, and the renovations already underway will be completed in a year or so. It will be a gorgeous facility and is adjacent to a park. We can walk there and are very excited. It was a weird setup with the school only going to 2nd and then rapidly expanding before the facilities were there, but the current principal is very motivated and has created a great culture. Our neighbors send their kids and so will we.

Anonymous wrote:Ironic. EOTP no one wants to go to the neighborhood schools because of their high inbound population.

it is actually really crazy that Hearst is overlooked. But it did used to stop at 2nd or 3rd and b/c of the rich kids in the area going to Sidwell (the schools face each other), it just has never had much hype. It's always the "crappy" little forgotten school WoTP. But we really were impressed. And while some view OOB as bad, in our opinion, if a parent is willing to drive their kid across the city to get to our school, that parent and child is more than welcome and in many cases is very active. Go owls!

Ironic. EOTP no one wants to go to the neighborhood schools because of their high inbound population.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to be ignorant but isn't Hearst on 37th st NW? How could it possibly be not good (signed a curious Petworth parent).

+1

Hearst is a great school, but due to its history as a PK-2 school and its very small boundary population, the IB percentage has been low. To some people, high OOB percentage means a less desirable school. Those of us who attend the school know the reality and although we'd love to see more neighbors be part of the school community, we value all of the OOB families that travel from all parts of the city to come to our school.

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to be ignorant but isn't Hearst on 37th st NW? How could it possibly be not good (signed a curious Petworth parent).

+1

Sorry to be ignorant but isn't Hearst on 37th st NW? How could it possibly be not good (signed a curious Petworth parent).

Hearst IB family in the pipeline! Went to an open house and met several IB parents from the PTA and prospective parents touring the school. Definitely kids in the area.

Agree with 13:40. Who knows what the situation will be in a few years. Reminds me of something one of my colleagues said to me: Man plans. God laughs.

Our IB school is Hearst. We are headed there in the fall and are really excited about it, even if we'll be one of only a handful of neighborhood kids there ( Ok, I know it's more that than, but everyone on here always talks about how it's just OOB kids). After 4 years of driving to daycare and negotiating Conn Ave, we are excited for a neighborhood school and for one that we feel is on the rise.

Also consider the probability of whether you will still be in your current house and/or DC area by 3rd grade. I am ranking my neighborhood school high in part because we still live in a pre-kid tiny place and will have to move by 2nd grade no matter what.

Anonymous wrote: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.

It's very beneficial to...

1) walk to and from school every day, for your kid/s and yourself. Look up the brain benefits of walk

2) count on an active community of invested neighborhhod parents who care about and participate in the school.

3) have many of your kid's friends nearby, making playdates and social life in general much easier and fuller

Re middle school choice: As sore as that topic may be for some, it's totally absurd to let that factor into what school your 3 year old should attend. Just think about it: Eight years of your child's school would be affected by three years of what you'll be looking at almost a decade from now. Not to mention, that at the current rate, you'll have about ten new middle schools to chose from then. Don't let the fear mongering and election rhetoric get the better of you!

And just for context: I do have a middle schooler.

Charters are expanding, but not fast enough to keep up with DC's (cough) high SES baby boom. Neighborhood schools are going to change for the better because a lot of parents won't have the option to leave them.