Diversity is pretty important yes. Maybe very important, although I feel strange being as white as I am and saying it. The geography of shepherd appeals more too--the murch house is between two metro stops and on a small street that's off two very busy ones. Downtown commute would be bus to Cleveland heights metro and then more walking on the other side. It's close to some cute retail, but nothing practical. I'm trying to get a better feel for the area to understand it more--but the walk to school looks longer.

P.S. SP via CA again--for my husband, education was the most important value, and so he wanted to look primarily at west of the park neighborhoods for the schools. For me, diversity was also pretty important (we also happen to be a racially/ethnically diverse family). We find Shepherd Park to be a good compromise. Had my husband prevailed, we'd be somewhere west of the park--I'm glad he didn't! (And he now concedes that he really likes the neighborhood.)

Just do the Murch house.

Shepherd Park via CA poster here. It really depends on what you value as a family, and how risk-averse you are. For me, the choice would be between the Murch and Shepherd Park-zoned homes. Neither are necessarily very walkable, though, relative to the other neighborhoods you looked at (although again, depends on exact location of homes).

If I wanted more of a sure thing in terms of school quality, safety of neighborhood, etc., I'd pick the Murch rental. If racial/ethnic/socio-economic diversity was super important to me and I was willing to make a go with an east of the park to achieve that in school and neighborhood, then Shepherd's a pretty decent choice.

So, it really depends on what floats your boat. I don't think either of those choices is better than the other--they're both pretty good, for different reasons. It also helps that you're renting for now, so these are not permanent choices.

From famine to feast! Wow, thanks all.

Okay we loved the shepherd house. It is not without issues... it needs to pass an inspection before being rented--but it is fantastic. Neighbors were nice, wandered into the school and liked it too. They we re closed of course--but we saw some of the facilities.

Then we saw several places in petworth, all presumably zoned for powell. They were all cute but I got very confused about where we were in relation to stores and shopping and powell.

Then we saw a place zoned for Murch that was adorable. And that's sort of problematic. I loved the house--not as much as shepherd but it was nice--smaller, probably a better house for our family in some ways. I haven't read much about the wotp schools. I know they are supposed to be great, of course, but I wanted diverse and murch looks like it would be not.

We also saw a rental on n street I think zoned for both Thomson and Francis Stevens.

We saw nothing in Capitol Hill because there was nothing to see....

So that is where we are at opinions welcome!

Anonymous wrote:Capitol Park has some designated affordable units but many are market rate (there are also several Capitol Park properties--the apartments don't all have the same owners and the townhouses are 2 different condo properties). I love living in SW and you could definitely get a nice place that allows dogs for $3k a month. It's convenient to transit, the Mall, baseball, and has a grocery store and library right in the neighborhood.

Also, walking distance to some kid's summer activities, I think. There's sailing camp on the marina and swim lessons at the Randall rec center. A little more upscale, many Smithsonian museums do summer camps, too, and they'd be walkable.

Capitol Park has some designated affordable units but many are market rate (there are also several Capitol Park properties--the apartments don't all have the same owners and the townhouses are 2 different condo properties). I love living in SW and you could definitely get a nice place that allows dogs for $3k a month. It's convenient to transit, the Mall, baseball, and has a grocery store and library right in the neighborhood.

This is a newer condo building with an outdoor swimming pool, basically across the street from Amidon: https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/apa/4414868148.html

Amidon's test scores are going up but it isn't like Brent, Maury, or places in upper NW in terms of average academic achievement, the financial resources of the families, or the number of parents who are actively involved. I know you're only planning to stay a couple years, but it feeds to Jefferson, which seems to have a very good principal and big improvements in test scores. Right now, SW is zoned for Wilson, but the boundary and feeder pattern rules are being reconsidered and it doesn't sound like you'll be here through high school anyway.

I think you should make sure to get opinions from people whose kids are in the upper grades at the schools you're considering and visit those classrooms. Since DC currently has a rule that if you get into a school out of bounds you can go to its destination middle school a lot of kids leave schools with less desirable feeder patterns in grades 4 and 5. There is also a big exodus of 5th graders to charters that start in that grade. So PK looks different from 2nd grade looks different from 5th in the number and demographics of its students at various schools.

Anonymous wrote:

I have this weird fascination with those 60s building in the SW. They are also relatively cheap.

If you'd consider parochial, you could aways see if St Peter's has spots for 3rd grade. That would be pretty convenient for both the Hill and SW since it's very near a metro station. FYI several of the buildings in SW that allow pets only allow owners to have them, not renters (Harbour Square, for instance.) I forget whether you had dogs but one building in SW you might want to look at if you just have cats and want to rent is Waterside Towers - they have rent control and rather large units. One in SW that looks inexpensive is Capitol Park - it, however, is means tested and may not be exactly what you have in mind.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shepherd Park via CA poster here. It really depends on where the house is in SP, in terms of whether walkable to Silver Spring. Depends on your comfort level too. I'd probably be comfortable walking there during the day (I walk my dog on Georgia sometimes), just not late at night. There's probably a bus that'd take you up Georgia Ave. to Silver Spring metro.

We have two cars so not sure about the bus situation. Sorry, we're new here in DC too so don't yet have a great handle on public transit, etc.!

Hi, I was the earlier poster who mentioned walking to SS metro. We do live at the end of the neighborhood that is very close to the metro and more walkable. We just had 1 car our first two years here. I either took 16th street bus or walked to SS metro (5 min. for me) and took metro to the hill. Nice commute if you are on the union station side as it's just about 5 or 6 stops on red line, no transfer needed. We moved here from having lived in both Dupont Circle and U Street area. So, it was a bit of a change. But since then a lot more has come in.

There are some great restaurants that have opened near East-west highway & Blair mill rd. (about 2 blocks from me). Scion, NaiNai dumplings and noodles just opened this week, Ikko sushi is great. This summer a coffee place/wi-fi/vinyl record shop (yes all in one) will open on that corner as well. Also, Denzen's micro brew place also serving food will open in that block. Walking distance in SS is Jackies and Jackies side bar, Urban Buther, 8407, Olazzo plus the DTSS stuff.
So, lot's to walk to from this end of the 'hood. Hope that helps.

I think OP might really like downtown Silver Spring - in truth, many of the DC area suburbs have more diversity, more ethnic restaurants, etc that the rather expensive DC proper. I live in DC and drive out to the Thai grocer in Silver Spring all the time. The elementary schools aren't the most desirable in Montgomery Co. but I feel like they are probably quite comparable to the EOTP ones people keep naming here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are great with the questions, I really appreciate it.

So... would it be possible to get OOB for brent, maury or Watkins or Ludlow? Wondering about living in SW and getting into a Hill school. Not my first choice, but another option.

If you value a neighborhood school within reasonable proximity, you could swing the Hill from SW but it's not a great commute to get downtown even if you got a spot OOB (upper grades doable, not lower). Van Ness on M St SE will eventually be in play but maybe not soon enough (and SW may only have proximity). Amidon Bowden is just as good as Ludlow Taylor fwiw.

You know, that's probably true. And the PTA president's a really involved guy, with several kids enrolled in the school.
http://dme.dc.gov/biography/martin-welles

Anonymous wrote:Please do. I have a rising third grader. Honestly, if the school offers extracurricular or cluster stuff and if the classes are small enough for them to notice her.... I'm really leaning towards thinking that those are my main concerns.

I have heard that the school is very good at differentiation because it uses the IB curriculum. I have also heard that kids who are intrinsically motivated do particularly well there. We have no idea how our toddler, who is not even three, will do, but I'm hopeful that the school is on the upswing.

Also, we have a dog and the neighborhood is super dog friendly. The Cooke kids in particular LOVE my dog and always ask about her. (She has been in our lives longer than our toddler!) When I moved to Adams-Morgan a decade ago, I never thought I would want to raise a family here. But there are now tons of families and it has a real sense of community.

When I went to visit Cooke last week, everyone--from the kids to the administrators to the teachers--was excited to see us and meet our toddler. The PK kids all hugged her and told her that she would really like it. I got the sense that it is a warm, loving school with a good amount of parent involvement. (There were parents/grandparents volunteering in all the rooms I toured--though that was in PK/K wing).

Please do. I have a rising third grader. Honestly, if the school offers extracurricular or cluster stuff and if the classes are small enough for them to notice her.... I'm really leaning towards thinking that those are my main concerns.

We are going to Cooke next year. There is a nice group of neighborhood parents going for PK3 and PK4 next year. The teachers and administrative staff I have met are great, and the facilities are among the best in the city. I also like the IB curriculum. The challenge with Cooke and most other schools near it is in getting people to stay in the upper grades. If you are looking to rent then I think it's fine, and I love the neighborhood. I think there is going to be an upcoming open house (after the break)--I will try to remember to post it here when I get details.

Good to hear good things about shepherd. We are supposed to see the rental tomorrow. I am worried it's so far out... and also hoping it is the one.

Today we found an apt I'd happily move into in the Mt pleasant Adams Morgan zone. Inbound for cooke. I need to tour cooke. Everything else about this place seemed pretty good... and I really liked the neighborhood-- large numbers of college students aside.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shepherd Park via CA poster here. It really depends on where the house is in SP, in terms of whether walkable to Silver Spring. Depends on your comfort level too. I'd probably be comfortable walking there during the day (I walk my dog on Georgia sometimes), just not late at night. There's probably a bus that'd take you up Georgia Ave. to Silver Spring metro.

We have two cars so not sure about the bus situation. Sorry, we're new here in DC too so don't yet have a great handle on public transit, etc.!

Hi, I was the earlier poster who mentioned walking to SS metro. We do live at the end of the neighborhood that is very close to the metro and more walkable. We just had 1 car our first two years here. I either took 16th street bus or walked to SS metro (5 min. for me) and took metro to the hill. Nice commute if you are on the union station side as it's just about 5 or 6 stops on red line, no transfer needed. We moved here from having lived in both Dupont Circle and U Street area. So, it was a bit of a change. But since then a lot more has come in.

There are some great restaurants that have opened near East-west highway & Blair mill rd. (about 2 blocks from me). Scion, NaiNai dumplings and noodles just opened this week, Ikko sushi is great. This summer a coffee place/wi-fi/vinyl record shop (yes all in one) will open on that corner as well. Also, Denzen's micro brew place also serving food will open in that block. Walking distance in SS is Jackies and Jackies side bar, Urban Buther, 8407, Olazzo plus the DTSS stuff.
So, lot's to walk to from this end of the 'hood. Hope that helps.

I'm the Shepherd Park via CA poster quoted above. I'm a few blocks south of Kalmia, so not as walkable to SS. As for 8407, I just heard of that restaurant for the first time on Kodjo Nnamdi last week--someone named Carla Hall, a celebrity chef, said that 8407 was one of her favorite restaurants in the DC area right now. Good to know so much is nearby!--and the original poster will appreciate this too if she goes w/the Shepherd Park rental.