Our private commute is 5 minutes. You need to think about other issues like early closure due to snow or what happens when kid get sick and you get called to pick DC up. And then there are the parent conferences, school events etc that will mean you need to drive they distance to attend. You need to think about quality of life. Plenty of good schools out there for that grade level. Maybe save the commute for when the child is older.

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of things that contribute to your child’s quality of life and development, like time with family, free play, play dates, and extracurricular activities. No school, no matter how good, replaces those things. The long commute, particularly if it wears you down, isn’t worth it.

This. Being stuck in a car hours every week is terrible for your child. Better to go to a not as good school and live close to school.

Anonymous wrote:We took an apartment near school so they can walk. Go to our house on weekends.

I’m confused. Is your whole family in the apartment all week?!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How far is too far for a 2nd grader to commute to school ? Considering a school 25mi away - 35min if absolutely no traffic. Let’s say 45-50min w traffic. Big 3 type school.

It’s too far. There is no school that is worth this.

Agree. Very seldom is a long commute, even (perhaps especially) for HS worthwhile. The lost time is just nuts.

Now, if you have to drive 20 no matter what, then 30 is fine but I'm so glad my kids didn't/don't spend hours weekly in a vehicle.

Anonymous wrote:Op is talking about 25 MILES from GDS/NCS/STA/SFS. No way is that commute 35 minutes any time of day, especially during morning rush hour or after school.

My kid is at NCS and we live in AU Park—2.5 miles away and our door-to-door morning commute to school is 15 minutes. Often if I leave under 15 minutes (lets say 13) we’re late.

We live six miles from NCS in Chevy Chase, MD, and it takes us 20-25 minutes each morning to drive our DD, regardless of the route (we have many options). Every now and then traffic is light, so we can get there in just under 20. I add this only for clarity for the OP, not to encourage them to make a specific decision.

There are lots of things that contribute to your child’s quality of life and development, like time with family, free play, play dates, and extracurricular activities. No school, no matter how good, replaces those things. The long commute, particularly if it wears you down, isn’t worth it.

If you also have to make this commute to get downtown to work, then consider it time spent together. But definitely account for snow days, child sick days. Another factor as they get older is whether your child can work in the car....or figuring out how to effectively use commute time (or manage non-car time) when there is a lot of homework.

Avoid the wear and tear of the long commutes. When you live that far it becomes inconvenient for after school activities.

Anonymous wrote:How far is too far for a 2nd grader to commute to school ? Considering a school 25mi away - 35min if absolutely no traffic. Let’s say 45-50min w traffic. Big 3 type school.

It’s too far. There is no school that is worth this.

We took an apartment near school so they can walk. Go to our house on weekends.

If you work near there, fine but if not, no.

My daughter’s school is 20-25 minutes from home and my commute is an additional 35-40 minutes beyond that on most days. The time for her is fine (mostly she reads or we listen to audiobooks which count for assigned reading time - she’s in early elementary). But that’s 2 hours a day commuting total for me and I have to say that after 2.5 years i’m starting to get worn out.

If you will need to do the driving - i.e., there is no public or school-provided back-up - that's a lot and leaves precious little margin of error. That said, I was really surprised how far some kids traveled to the private schools in NW DC, and I admire that level of commitment and value placed on the school.

This debate rages every year on the MD School Forum (and I'm in others for similar situations) because of the long bus-rides for the MS magnets in MoCo; some kids have 90 minute "commutes" to school on the MCPS-provided buses. We're debating between one and (if our DC gets accepted) hopefully a much closer private school. I agree with an earlier poster who said it might seem bearable for a year or so, but 4+ years may be tough.

DH sometimes commutes from near these school to an office 15 miles away and even with so-called reverse commute you are looking at 40 minutes. Fridays coming home it is an hour and a half.

Add ten miles to that with normal commuting traffic and there is no way that is even remotely worth it.

Anonymous wrote:Op is talking about 25 MILES from GDS/NCS/STA/SFS. No way is that commute 35 minutes any time of day, especially during morning rush hour or after school.

My kid is at NCS and we live in AU Park—2.5 miles away and our door-to-door morning commute to school is 15 minutes. Often if I leave under 15 minutes (lets say 13) we’re late.

Op here - sorry, I should have been clearer. We live in a different part of the country but the school is similar to a big 3. Thanks for all the input !