Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading your story, I'm wondering why you didn't see the writing on the wall for MS somewhere between 2014 and the present.

Our situation wasn't all that different from yours in 2014. We had bought a place IB for JO Wilson, before kids. We worked hard to spruce the house up, sold up, and bought a bigger fixer upper IB for Maury in 2014, now with 2 toddlers. We bought house #2 after sitting in on Brent, Maury, Watkins/Cluster and Ludlow PTA meetings, to get a feel for the lay of the land where rising Hill elementary schools were concerned. We attended open houses at Eliot-Hine and Stuart Hobson before we bought house #2. We started looking at PARCC scores for EH and SH and asking about advanced classes.

Several years ago, upon discovering that some Hill families were not getting off the BASIS 5th grade WL, and that Latin 1 was becoming very difficult to access, we started saving for parochial MS. We researched parochial school options as Plan B in case lottery luck wasn't in the cards, which was time consuming. We didn't get into BASIS, Latin 1 or Inspired Teaching last year, so returned to Maury for 5th. Our only option for 6th grade in the public system this past spring was DCI. We decided against the long, complicated commute and studying a random language. Our oldest will start at a parochial MS in VA in the fall, which we can afford.

It sounds like you didn't dig deep enough, you didn't look far enough ahead, took too much well-intentioned advice at face value.

I'm kinda stunned that you didn't get into ITS. I thought it was pretty much a lock for 5th, they make so many offers.

Same this year. We are WL 230 for Latin but got offers at TR and ITS. Turned them both down because I’m iffy about their academics and they don’t have a HS path. I may feel differently next April but right now MCPS looking better than those options.

If you are considering MCPS then that’s definately what I would go with over TR and ITS.

You have tracking, lots of kids to find their friend group and fit in, nice facilities, lots of sports and extracurriculars, and a neighborhood school. Extra points for bus service.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading your story, I'm wondering why you didn't see the writing on the wall for MS somewhere between 2014 and the present.

Our situation wasn't all that different from yours in 2014. We had bought a place IB for JO Wilson, before kids. We worked hard to spruce the house up, sold up, and bought a bigger fixer upper IB for Maury in 2014, now with 2 toddlers. We bought house #2 after sitting in on Brent, Maury, Watkins/Cluster and Ludlow PTA meetings, to get a feel for the lay of the land where rising Hill elementary schools were concerned. We attended open houses at Eliot-Hine and Stuart Hobson before we bought house #2. We started looking at PARCC scores for EH and SH and asking about advanced classes.

Several years ago, upon discovering that some Hill families were not getting off the BASIS 5th grade WL, and that Latin 1 was becoming very difficult to access, we started saving for parochial MS. We researched parochial school options as Plan B in case lottery luck wasn't in the cards, which was time consuming. We didn't get into BASIS, Latin 1 or Inspired Teaching last year, so returned to Maury for 5th. Our only option for 6th grade in the public system this past spring was DCI. We decided against the long, complicated commute and studying a random language. Our oldest will start at a parochial MS in VA in the fall, which we can afford.

It sounds like you didn't dig deep enough, you didn't look far enough ahead, took too much well-intentioned advice at face value.

I'm kinda stunned that you didn't get into ITS. I thought it was pretty much a lock for 5th, they make so many offers.

Same this year. We are WL 230 for Latin but got offers at TR and ITS. Turned them both down because I’m iffy about their academics and they don’t have a HS path. I may feel differently next April but right now MCPS looking better than those options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading your story, I'm wondering why you didn't see the writing on the wall for MS somewhere between 2014 and the present.

Our situation wasn't all that different from yours in 2014. We had bought a place IB for JO Wilson, before kids. We worked hard to spruce the house up, sold up, and bought a bigger fixer upper IB for Maury in 2014, now with 2 toddlers. We bought house #2 after sitting in on Brent, Maury, Watkins/Cluster and Ludlow PTA meetings, to get a feel for the lay of the land where rising Hill elementary schools were concerned. We attended open houses at Eliot-Hine and Stuart Hobson before we bought house #2. We started looking at PARCC scores for EH and SH and asking about advanced classes.

Several years ago, upon discovering that some Hill families were not getting off the BASIS 5th grade WL, and that Latin 1 was becoming very difficult to access, we started saving for parochial MS. We researched parochial school options as Plan B in case lottery luck wasn't in the cards, which was time consuming. We didn't get into BASIS, Latin 1 or Inspired Teaching last year, so returned to Maury for 5th. Our only option for 6th grade in the public system this past spring was DCI. We decided against the long, complicated commute and studying a random language. Our oldest will start at a parochial MS in VA in the fall, which we can afford.

It sounds like you didn't dig deep enough, you didn't look far enough ahead, took too much well-intentioned advice at face value.

Timing is the difference. You bought a place off H Street 10 (or more) years ago. Prices skyrocketed. You were then able to trade in for a house IB for Maury right before the modernization (so before prices skyrocketed for houses IB for Maury). Thus you were never in the same position as a person buying their first home in the area in 2014, before having kids. You benefitted from two fortuitous things that you had limited control over.

It sounds like you got lucky but chalked it up to attending PTO meetings for multiple elementaries before you had kids at school age, which is weird. You were fortunate to be the right age and in the right point in your career, and married, and with access to the right amount of capital in order to by 2012 or earlier. You aren’t a genius.

Good luck with the MS lottery next year. I’m sure you’ll find something.

Not weird, shrewd given that PP was about to sink her savings into a property. Kudos to her for scoping out the elementary school landscape as she was able. PTO meetings are generally open to the public, and you get a good feel for a school community by attending one, for free. More prospective DCPS parents should do that.

Maybe under some circumstances, but in 2014, the Maury PTO was about to go through a bunch of arguments about swing space for the renovation. Maybe the PP has an unusual ability to discern the future of a school from those meetings, but my experience on two different PTOs is that most of those meetings don't give you a great feel for the school. You can find out how involved parents are, but the truth is that most Hill elementaries have a pretty active core parent group. The meetings will give you a sense of the personalities on the current PTO, but those will change as people's kids age out and new people join the school. I guess the biggest piece of information would be that you can find out how much money the PTO has, what their big fundraisers bring in, and how they spend that money. But this can seem opaque to someone who has never had kids in school. Schools have different enrollments, Title 1 schools get different sources of funding that can impact programs, and so on. Plus it can change so much from year to year. Do you really think a PTO meeting in 2014 will give you a sense of a school's quality in 2022? Come on.

I personally think this strategy makes total sense if you already have school age kids and are deciding where to move, but if you are looking at schools your kid(s) might attend in a few years, it might help you avoid a school with a crappy culture but it's not going to tell you much beyond that (and you might actually overlook a school that could be great due to one awful person on the PTO who won't even be there when your kids go).

Also, just selfishly, I would really no enjoy a situation where every PTO meeting is full of prospective parents (who may not even have kids yet) auditioning our school to decide if they want to buy the house up the street. I'm all for doing your research but that would get extremely old very fast. Please don't do this. Just tour the school and talk to people in the neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading your story, I'm wondering why you didn't see the writing on the wall for MS somewhere between 2014 and the present.

Our situation wasn't all that different from yours in 2014. We had bought a place IB for JO Wilson, before kids. We worked hard to spruce the house up, sold up, and bought a bigger fixer upper IB for Maury in 2014, now with 2 toddlers. We bought house #2 after sitting in on Brent, Maury, Watkins/Cluster and Ludlow PTA meetings, to get a feel for the lay of the land where rising Hill elementary schools were concerned. We attended open houses at Eliot-Hine and Stuart Hobson before we bought house #2. We started looking at PARCC scores for EH and SH and asking about advanced classes.

Several years ago, upon discovering that some Hill families were not getting off the BASIS 5th grade WL, and that Latin 1 was becoming very difficult to access, we started saving for parochial MS. We researched parochial school options as Plan B in case lottery luck wasn't in the cards, which was time consuming. We didn't get into BASIS, Latin 1 or Inspired Teaching last year, so returned to Maury for 5th. Our only option for 6th grade in the public system this past spring was DCI. We decided against the long, complicated commute and studying a random language. Our oldest will start at a parochial MS in VA in the fall, which we can afford.

It sounds like you didn't dig deep enough, you didn't look far enough ahead, took too much well-intentioned advice at face value.

Timing is the difference. You bought a place off H Street 10 (or more) years ago. Prices skyrocketed. You were then able to trade in for a house IB for Maury right before the modernization (so before prices skyrocketed for houses IB for Maury). Thus you were never in the same position as a person buying their first home in the area in 2014, before having kids. You benefitted from two fortuitous things that you had limited control over.

It sounds like you got lucky but chalked it up to attending PTO meetings for multiple elementaries before you had kids at school age, which is weird. You were fortunate to be the right age and in the right point in your career, and married, and with access to the right amount of capital in order to by 2012 or earlier. You aren’t a genius.

Good luck with the MS lottery next year. I’m sure you’ll find something.

Not weird, shrewd given that PP was about to sink her savings into a property. Kudos to her for scoping out the elementary school landscape as she was able. PTO meetings are generally open to the public, and you get a good feel for a school community by attending one, for free. More prospective DCPS parents should do that.

Shaed-zoned PP here, or it can be a giant waste of time! Hard to know.

This. We have 9-10 PTO meetings a year. Maybe 2 of them would give you a great sense of the PTO, the school, fundraising, etc. (the first meeting of the year and then the one after our biggest fundraiser). The others might have weird attendance, might just be a check in on small ongoing projects, etc.

Like how many PTO meetings are you going to attend? I'd much rather just go to the school and tour while school is in session -- you'll get a sense of the facility, the teachers, what the kids are like, etc. It's really the best way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading your story, I'm wondering why you didn't see the writing on the wall for MS somewhere between 2014 and the present.

Our situation wasn't all that different from yours in 2014. We had bought a place IB for JO Wilson, before kids. We worked hard to spruce the house up, sold up, and bought a bigger fixer upper IB for Maury in 2014, now with 2 toddlers. We bought house #2 after sitting in on Brent, Maury, Watkins/Cluster and Ludlow PTA meetings, to get a feel for the lay of the land where rising Hill elementary schools were concerned. We attended open houses at Eliot-Hine and Stuart Hobson before we bought house #2. We started looking at PARCC scores for EH and SH and asking about advanced classes.

Several years ago, upon discovering that some Hill families were not getting off the BASIS 5th grade WL, and that Latin 1 was becoming very difficult to access, we started saving for parochial MS. We researched parochial school options as Plan B in case lottery luck wasn't in the cards, which was time consuming. We didn't get into BASIS, Latin 1 or Inspired Teaching last year, so returned to Maury for 5th. Our only option for 6th grade in the public system this past spring was DCI. We decided against the long, complicated commute and studying a random language. Our oldest will start at a parochial MS in VA in the fall, which we can afford.

It sounds like you didn't dig deep enough, you didn't look far enough ahead, took too much well-intentioned advice at face value.

Timing is the difference. You bought a place off H Street 10 (or more) years ago. Prices skyrocketed. You were then able to trade in for a house IB for Maury right before the modernization (so before prices skyrocketed for houses IB for Maury). Thus you were never in the same position as a person buying their first home in the area in 2014, before having kids. You benefitted from two fortuitous things that you had limited control over.

It sounds like you got lucky but chalked it up to attending PTO meetings for multiple elementaries before you had kids at school age, which is weird. You were fortunate to be the right age and in the right point in your career, and married, and with access to the right amount of capital in order to by 2012 or earlier. You aren’t a genius.

Good luck with the MS lottery next year. I’m sure you’ll find something.

Not weird, shrewd given that PP was about to sink her savings into a property. Kudos to her for scoping out the elementary school landscape as she was able. PTO meetings are generally open to the public, and you get a good feel for a school community by attending one, for free. More prospective DCPS parents should do that.

Shaed-zoned PP here, or it can be a giant waste of time! Hard to know.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading your story, I'm wondering why you didn't see the writing on the wall for MS somewhere between 2014 and the present.

Our situation wasn't all that different from yours in 2014. We had bought a place IB for JO Wilson, before kids. We worked hard to spruce the house up, sold up, and bought a bigger fixer upper IB for Maury in 2014, now with 2 toddlers. We bought house #2 after sitting in on Brent, Maury, Watkins/Cluster and Ludlow PTA meetings, to get a feel for the lay of the land where rising Hill elementary schools were concerned. We attended open houses at Eliot-Hine and Stuart Hobson before we bought house #2. We started looking at PARCC scores for EH and SH and asking about advanced classes.

Several years ago, upon discovering that some Hill families were not getting off the BASIS 5th grade WL, and that Latin 1 was becoming very difficult to access, we started saving for parochial MS. We researched parochial school options as Plan B in case lottery luck wasn't in the cards, which was time consuming. We didn't get into BASIS, Latin 1 or Inspired Teaching last year, so returned to Maury for 5th. Our only option for 6th grade in the public system this past spring was DCI. We decided against the long, complicated commute and studying a random language. Our oldest will start at a parochial MS in VA in the fall, which we can afford.

It sounds like you didn't dig deep enough, you didn't look far enough ahead, took too much well-intentioned advice at face value.

Timing is the difference. You bought a place off H Street 10 (or more) years ago. Prices skyrocketed. You were then able to trade in for a house IB for Maury right before the modernization (so before prices skyrocketed for houses IB for Maury). Thus you were never in the same position as a person buying their first home in the area in 2014, before having kids. You benefitted from two fortuitous things that you had limited control over.

It sounds like you got lucky but chalked it up to attending PTO meetings for multiple elementaries before you had kids at school age, which is weird. You were fortunate to be the right age and in the right point in your career, and married, and with access to the right amount of capital in order to by 2012 or earlier. You aren’t a genius.

Good luck with the MS lottery next year. I’m sure you’ll find something.

Not weird, shrewd given that PP was about to sink her savings into a property. Kudos to her for scoping out the elementary school landscape as she was able. PTO meetings are generally open to the public, and you get a good feel for a school community by attending one, for free. More prospective DCPS parents should do that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading your story, I'm wondering why you didn't see the writing on the wall for MS somewhere between 2014 and the present.

Our situation wasn't all that different from yours in 2014. We had bought a place IB for JO Wilson, before kids. We worked hard to spruce the house up, sold up, and bought a bigger fixer upper IB for Maury in 2014, now with 2 toddlers. We bought house #2 after sitting in on Brent, Maury, Watkins/Cluster and Ludlow PTA meetings, to get a feel for the lay of the land where rising Hill elementary schools were concerned. We attended open houses at Eliot-Hine and Stuart Hobson before we bought house #2. We started looking at PARCC scores for EH and SH and asking about advanced classes.

Several years ago, upon discovering that some Hill families were not getting off the BASIS 5th grade WL, and that Latin 1 was becoming very difficult to access, we started saving for parochial MS. We researched parochial school options as Plan B in case lottery luck wasn't in the cards, which was time consuming. We didn't get into BASIS, Latin 1 or Inspired Teaching last year, so returned to Maury for 5th. Our only option for 6th grade in the public system this past spring was DCI. We decided against the long, complicated commute and studying a random language. Our oldest will start at a parochial MS in VA in the fall, which we can afford.

It sounds like you didn't dig deep enough, you didn't look far enough ahead, took too much well-intentioned advice at face value.

Timing is the difference. You bought a place off H Street 10 (or more) years ago. Prices skyrocketed. You were then able to trade in for a house IB for Maury right before the modernization (so before prices skyrocketed for houses IB for Maury). Thus you were never in the same position as a person buying their first home in the area in 2014, before having kids. You benefitted from two fortuitous things that you had limited control over.

It sounds like you got lucky but chalked it up to attending PTO meetings for multiple elementaries before you had kids at school age, which is weird. You were fortunate to be the right age and in the right point in your career, and married, and with access to the right amount of capital in order to by 2012 or earlier. You aren’t a genius.

Good luck with the MS lottery next year. I’m sure you’ll find something.

Not weird, shrewd given that PP was about to sink her savings into a property. Kudos to her for scoping out the elementary school landscape as she was able. PTO meetings are generally open to the public, and you get a good feel for a school community by attending one, for free. More prospective DCPS parents should do that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading your story, I'm wondering why you didn't see the writing on the wall for MS somewhere between 2014 and the present.

Our situation wasn't all that different from yours in 2014. We had bought a place IB for JO Wilson, before kids. We worked hard to spruce the house up, sold up, and bought a bigger fixer upper IB for Maury in 2014, now with 2 toddlers. We bought house #2 after sitting in on Brent, Maury, Watkins/Cluster and Ludlow PTA meetings, to get a feel for the lay of the land where rising Hill elementary schools were concerned. We attended open houses at Eliot-Hine and Stuart Hobson before we bought house #2. We started looking at PARCC scores for EH and SH and asking about advanced classes.

Several years ago, upon discovering that some Hill families were not getting off the BASIS 5th grade WL, and that Latin 1 was becoming very difficult to access, we started saving for parochial MS. We researched parochial school options as Plan B in case lottery luck wasn't in the cards, which was time consuming. We didn't get into BASIS, Latin 1 or Inspired Teaching last year, so returned to Maury for 5th. Our only option for 6th grade in the public system this past spring was DCI. We decided against the long, complicated commute and studying a random language. Our oldest will start at a parochial MS in VA in the fall, which we can afford.

It sounds like you didn't dig deep enough, you didn't look far enough ahead, took too much well-intentioned advice at face value.

Timing is the difference. You bought a place off H Street 10 (or more) years ago. Prices skyrocketed. You were then able to trade in for a house IB for Maury right before the modernization (so before prices skyrocketed for houses IB for Maury). Thus you were never in the same position as a person buying their first home in the area in 2014, before having kids. You benefitted from two fortuitous things that you had limited control over.

It sounds like you got lucky but chalked it up to attending PTO meetings for multiple elementaries before you had kids at school age, which is weird. You were fortunate to be the right age and in the right point in your career, and married, and with access to the right amount of capital in order to by 2012 or earlier. You aren’t a genius.

Good luck with the MS lottery next year. I’m sure you’ll find something.

Anonymous wrote:If you have an academically minded kid and can lottery into Basis Dc, that is clearly the best option.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading your story, I'm wondering why you didn't see the writing on the wall for MS somewhere between 2014 and the present.

Our situation wasn't all that different from yours in 2014. We had bought a place IB for JO Wilson, before kids. We worked hard to spruce the house up, sold up, and bought a bigger fixer upper IB for Maury in 2014, now with 2 toddlers. We bought house #2 after sitting in on Brent, Maury, Watkins/Cluster and Ludlow PTA meetings, to get a feel for the lay of the land where rising Hill elementary schools were concerned. We attended open houses at Eliot-Hine and Stuart Hobson before we bought house #2. We started looking at PARCC scores for EH and SH and asking about advanced classes.

Several years ago, upon discovering that some Hill families were not getting off the BASIS 5th grade WL, and that Latin 1 was becoming very difficult to access, we started saving for parochial MS. We researched parochial school options as Plan B in case lottery luck wasn't in the cards, which was time consuming. We didn't get into BASIS, Latin 1 or Inspired Teaching last year, so returned to Maury for 5th. Our only option for 6th grade in the public system this past spring was DCI. We decided against the long, complicated commute and studying a random language. Our oldest will start at a parochial MS in VA in the fall, which we can afford.

It sounds like you didn't dig deep enough, you didn't look far enough ahead, took too much well-intentioned advice at face value.

I'm kinda stunned that you didn't get into ITS. I thought it was pretty much a lock for 5th, they make so many offers.

Anonymous wrote:After reading your story, I'm wondering why you didn't see the writing on the wall for MS somewhere between 2014 and the present.

Our situation wasn't all that different from yours in 2014. We had bought a place IB for JO Wilson, before kids. We worked hard to spruce the house up, sold up, and bought a bigger fixer upper IB for Maury in 2014, now with 2 toddlers. We bought house #2 after sitting in on Brent, Maury, Watkins/Cluster and Ludlow PTA meetings, to get a feel for the lay of the land where rising Hill elementary schools were concerned. We attended open houses at Eliot-Hine and Stuart Hobson before we bought house #2. We started looking at PARCC scores for EH and SH and asking about advanced classes.

Several years ago, upon discovering that some Hill families were not getting off the BASIS 5th grade WL, and that Latin 1 was becoming very difficult to access, we started saving for parochial MS. We researched parochial school options as Plan B in case lottery luck wasn't in the cards, which was time consuming. We didn't get into BASIS, Latin 1 or Inspired Teaching last year, so returned to Maury for 5th. Our only option for 6th grade in the public system this past spring was DCI. We decided against the long, complicated commute and studying a random language. Our oldest will start at a parochial MS in VA in the fall, which we can afford.

It sounds like you didn't dig deep enough, you didn't look far enough ahead, took too much well-intentioned advice at face value.

Anonymous wrote:After reading your story, I'm wondering why you didn't see the writing on the wall for MS somewhere between 2014 and the present.

Our situation wasn't all that different from yours in 2014. We had bought a place IB for JO Wilson, before kids. We worked hard to spruce the house up, sold up, and bought a bigger fixer upper IB for Maury in 2014, now with 2 toddlers. We bought house #2 after sitting in on Brent, Maury, Watkins/Cluster and Ludlow PTA meetings, to get a feel for the lay of the land where rising Hill elementary schools were concerned. We attended open houses at Eliot-Hine and Stuart Hobson before we bought house #2. We started looking at PARCC scores for EH and SH and asking about advanced classes.

Several years ago, upon discovering that some Hill families were not getting off the BASIS 5th grade WL, and that Latin 1 was becoming very difficult to access, we started saving for parochial MS. We researched parochial school options as Plan B in case lottery luck wasn't in the cards, which was time consuming. We didn't get into BASIS, Latin 1 or Inspired Teaching last year, so returned to Maury for 5th. Our only option for 6th grade in the public system this past spring was DCI. We decided against the long, complicated commute and studying a random language. Our oldest will start at a parochial MS in VA in the fall, which we can afford.

It sounds like you didn't dig deep enough, you didn't look far enough ahead, took too much well-intentioned advice at face value.