Thanks PP.

Hi, OP. My circumstances are very similar to yours, including living in Petworth and commuting the opposite direction. I drive right down my block after driving 15 minutes the other way to drop the kids off.

It is 100% worth it for our family, but it only works by having the kids in Before Care. At first I felt guilty about giving them such a long day, but they love the programming and don't want to leave at pick-up.

Anonymous wrote:All I can say is that I have been shut out of the lottery for two years in a row. I cannot imagine what it would be like to get into my number 1 choice and then be contemplating not using it. I'd think hard about what you would do if you give up this chance and then you get in nowhere the next year, and the year after that. Getting in is harder after PK3 because PK3 is when they have the most open slots.

This! I would call the school to see if they can get you access to the listserve and then I would post asking current parents about carpooling. I'm at my no. 1 charter (not MV) and we get posts all of the time from parents asking about who wants to carpool, etc...

Anonymous wrote:We will pass on BASIS partially because of the commute (40%?). Would add an easy 40 minutes to my morning because I work in the opposite direction.

DS could certainly get himself there on metro at some point, but again that is the difference between a <10 minute walk (deal) or 30 minute walk+ride. IMO not worth it because alternative is Deal, not hellhole

We didn't even apply for the same reasons.

Anonymous wrote:All I can say is that I have been shut out of the lottery for two years in a row. I cannot imagine what it would be like to get into my number 1 choice and then be contemplating not using it. I'd think hard about what you would do if you give up this chance and then you get in nowhere the next year, and the year after that. Getting in is harder after PK3 because PK3 is when they have the most open slots.

+1

We got into our first choice, and I have a 25 minute commute. I live walking distance from my office, so any commute would be bad except my neighborhood school.

We love our school. My daughter loves our school and we are following it to an even worse commute. We use the car ride to have mother/daughter chats in the car where she tells me about her friends, her day and just general fun things she thinks about in her 4 year old little mind.

Sometimes, like today - that commute can be 45 minutes (because of cherryblossoms and traffic) - but when she jumps out of the car and runs in to school without even looking back - I know I made the right choice for our family.

You got into an amazing school (we are not MV family) - and your child will love it. It will suck for you - but everyone I know at MV has loved the school and makes it work.

Good luck in your decision.

Not for preschool or elementary kids. Makes for too long of a day for them (often extra time in before care or aftercare) and a longer day for everyone.

High school sure.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, we live in Petworth near E.L. Haynes and got matched with MV for PS3. I work in Silver Spring while DH works in Rockville. If we sign up for beforecare, we may beat the traffic, but we will have to have an earlier start.

Honestly, your problem is that you picked petworth -- which is not in the city core -- and work in SS and Rockville. If your IB truly will not work for you when K allows you in as a matter of right -- why not try grace episcopal school, Lowell, Christ episcopal or one of the many Montessori / day schools near downtown SS?

All depends on what your alternative option is. Short commute is always preferable for parent and child, but you need a viable option closer to home to pull it off. I'd choose good/getting better closer to home over great long commute for my family every time. Kids can go further from home when they're old enough to commute on their own and when they stay up late enough that we'll still have time to have dinner together and enjoy some family time before they go to bed.

All I can say is that I have been shut out of the lottery for two years in a row. I cannot imagine what it would be like to get into my number 1 choice and then be contemplating not using it. I'd think hard about what you would do if you give up this chance and then you get in nowhere the next year, and the year after that. Getting in is harder after PK3 because PK3 is when they have the most open slots.

OP here, we live in Petworth near E.L. Haynes and got matched with MV for PS3. I work in Silver Spring while DH works in Rockville. If we sign up for beforecare, we may beat the traffic, but we will have to have an earlier start.

Anonymous wrote:Think hard about the stress on your children and family life. We did it for a short time and while the education was better it was not sustainable. The traffic in DC gets worse over time not better. The families who lived closer to school had a better time socially and excluded others who didn't live near them.

we did not have that problem because we live in a snooty neighborhood so friends are from church and scouts. My two!!!! (and two to go) kids will be commuting home for over an hour next year, taking two metro buses and then a hefty walk, but BASIS is SO worth it. Kind of sad neither of us can pick them up and use that time to talk, but older one used to talk to friends now I hope the sibs will bond...............

if the education is better I think it depends on what level you are at. Educated families can compensate for a crappy ES by supplementing, and can even provide language immersion. But once you have kids in physics, bio, chem, world history, Chinese and precalculus there is NO WAY we could provide all that and we are not a peer group of kids where it is cool to be smart, especially when it will take you all the way to college............

Think hard about the stress on your children and family life. We did it for a short time and while the education was better it was not sustainable. The traffic in DC gets worse over time not better. The families who lived closer to school had a better time socially and excluded others who didn't live near them.

We've done all manner of those kinds of commutes for our now high school aged kids. You will survive. A good school is worth it and you might find others eventually to car pool with etc. It's one aspect of life in DC. Think of all the kids who commute over an hour on public transport to get to their schools all over town. If it's time with your kids in the car..you can talk, listen to music etc. Especially at the end of the day (when I had the presence of mind to appreciate it) I found it was a great way to connect with my kids and download before we got home.

Do it for a week at the times that you'll be doing it next year.
This is a major pain but INVALUABLE for deciding this kind of thing. You'll thank yourself later.