Anonymous wrote:Howard county or Crofton

Such a hard commute from HoCo to DuPont circle

Hands down — Wheaton. Incredible opportunity to get into high ranked colleges. The school is great (magnet bio/engineering) and their matriculation list is unbelievable (MIT, Stanford, Duke, Ivy’s — they are all there).

If they are very motivated and you are willing to help them do activities outside of school, stay in your current home until both kids are in at Hardy, then move near the Stadium-Armory metro. The kids can take the D6 bus to Hardy (it's a long ride but that's ok...you can drive them part or all of the way sometimes). For high school, they could apply to MacArthur with a transfer preference (if that's still offered), selective high schools, or do IB at Eastern. A hotshot from a Title I school will stand out more than a kid in the top 10% of the class at Blair or Einstein or even one of the W schools. Or stay where you are until you see how the first kid does in the high school lottery and then move to MD or VA the summer before 9th grade. Also, did you look into BASIS?

Anonymous wrote:If you plan to take metro, I would focus on the red line..probably the silver spring side but maybe rockville too.

+1 Richard Montgomery or Rockville districts

Can it be an apartment or condo? Can your kids share a bedroom? If so, there are lots of possibilities. Since you need to get to Dupont, I would look at buildings near the red line, ideally where they can apply to the Montgomery Blair magnet https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/high/magnet-science

Your options are wider if your kids are the type who will focus and not be overly influenced by their classmates' bad behavior--then you just need a school that has some percentage of high-performing and motivated students. If instead you have the type of kids who gravitate towards their worst-behaved or laziest classmates, then you need to find a district that has very few of those kids, and those places tend to be very expensive, especially if they are within an easy commute from central DC.

cadbury3107 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You want to get into ivys and live in an affordable house? Leave the DC area. Otherwise dream on.

TBF if OP picks a low income area, their kids will have a better chance. But, then, most schools in low income areas are not good. But then, Op's kids have a better chance to be a big fish in a small pond.

My kid went to a magnet program, super high stats (straight As, high SAT score); rejected from T20. We live in an UMC area with lots of kids like them.

OP is looking for a unicorn, just like everyone else.

I'm in FCPS, even the lowest income schools have cohorts of kids from upper middle class families who value education and preform very well in school. A kid would still have to be exceptional to stand out enough to get into an ivy. The only Ivy kids that I've heard of kids from dd's school attending is Cornell. A great student is most likely to end up at UVA

which FCPS area are you at?

"are you at?" Oh yeah, this mom's kids are getting into Ivies.

Burke.

As others have noted, area around FG metro.

Easy red line commute. If you really are thinking Ivies, the kids need to do a lot of extra-curricular activities and the area is convenient to 495 and 16th so you can get to places around the DMV. If your kids are smart enough, they might get into Blair magnet (with the benefit of an easy commute) and have a non-zero chance of an Ivy or equivalent. If not, you end up with a good cohort at Einstein where you can standout and be competitive.

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a brick colonial single family home within your budget in Arlington’s Westover neighborhood. Swanson middle school and Yorktown HS. A small commercial street of shops and cafes is walkable. Decent driving commute for you or Orange Line Metro to Farragut West (near Dupont Circle).

https://www.homes.com/homes-for-sale/?bb=02y2zt-90H7s5rlE&sv=1&ugl=1

I posted the wrong link above. Here’s the correct link for the above house in Arlington/Westover: https://www.homes.com/property/5852-14th-rd-n-arlington-va/f7bjq01lyevzd/

Here’s a brick colonial single family home within your budget in Arlington’s Westover neighborhood. Swanson middle school and Yorktown HS. A small commercial street of shops and cafes is walkable. Decent driving commute for you or Orange Line Metro to Farragut West (near Dupont Circle).

https://www.homes.com/homes-for-sale/?bb=02y2zt-90H7s5rlE&sv=1&ugl=1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

cadbury3107 wrote:We are almost towards finishing elementary school in DC. Both my boys go to Key ES. I'm planning to get a home in VA or MD and move to a good school district where the boys have opportunities to shine and get into ivy's. I'm a single mom (also paying alimony to their father) and all I want is to fuel their passions. Which areas are good areas without breaking my bank? I also work in DC and I m okay to drive 30 mins or so everyday to and fro.

Silver Spring around Forest Glen metro.

will tour the area today, thank you

These are more specific areas, the Northwood, Blair and Einstein clusters. You can see what suits your budget and commute.
https://www.redfin.com/school/109390/MD/Silver-Spring/Northwood-High-School/filter/property-type=house

https://www.redfin.com/school/145157/MD/Silver-Spring/Montgomery-Blair-High-School/filter/property-type=house

https://www.redfin.com/school/134958/MD/Kensington/Albert-Einstein-High-School/filter/property-type=house

Anonymous wrote:

cadbury3107 wrote:We are almost towards finishing elementary school in DC. Both my boys go to Key ES. I'm planning to get a home in VA or MD and move to a good school district where the boys have opportunities to shine and get into ivy's. I'm a single mom (also paying alimony to their father) and all I want is to fuel their passions. Which areas are good areas without breaking my bank? I also work in DC and I m okay to drive 30 mins or so everyday to and fro.

Silver Spring around Forest Glen metro.

will tour the area today, thank you

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you plan to take metro, I would focus on the red line..probably the silver spring side but maybe rockville too.

This would actually be very convenient and which areas are good for both middle and high schools in MD?

I would look at houses zoned for Takoma Park MS/Montgomery Blair HS. Some availability in that price range.

Also Julius West/Richard Montgomery and Rockville HS (can't recall the name of the feeder MS) on the Rockville side.. RM is big and Rockville is small depending on your preferences.

will do!

cadbury3107 wrote:We are almost towards finishing elementary school in DC. Both my boys go to Key ES. I'm planning to get a home in VA or MD and move to a good school district where the boys have opportunities to shine and get into ivy's. I'm a single mom (also paying alimony to their father) and all I want is to fuel their passions. Which areas are good areas without breaking my bank? I also work in DC and I m okay to drive 30 mins or so everyday to and fro.

Silver Spring around Forest Glen metro.

Mixed quality areas like silver spring, Takoma and Springfield are your best bet. GL providing an avg existence and expecting elite results