I hate the pissing contests these posts become. There's really no need to tear down a school.

Your child will most likely thrive at any of the schools you list. They all have involved parent communities, extra curricular activities, dedicated teachers, etc.

Go visit. The facilities are different. If you need aftercare, that's a consideration, some limit enrollment.

We are at Eaton and very happy. (We are IB, if that even matters, but apparently it does to people here.)

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Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks everyone for your very useful feedback. So, it seems it will be either Eaton or Hearst. I actually was hoping for H. Mann, but that's probably not going to happen.
Other consideration is to move to Montgomery County by the time kid starts Kindergarten. Though I am getting conflicting feedback on Montgomery County schools now.

Hearst or Eaton are fantastic schools. I love the community vibes of the school. Id take either of those schools over any Montgomery county school. Class size in Montgomery are enough for me to not consider.

Decent schools, most times good ones? Sure. But "fantastic"? No.

--JE parent.

Troll! Hearst/Eaton > Janney any day.

Yeah, that's the reason why Janney has needed three renovations in a decade, just to keep up with neighborhood demand. And it's basically all IB enrollment. Many people move to AU Park specifically for Janney. What's the neighborhood take-up at Eaton, which is a much smaller school to fill? 40-45%? And has Hearst broken the 20% neighborhood barrier yet? I take nothing away from Hearst and Eaton, which must provide an adequate education in the view of the parents who send their kids there, but to describe them as "fantastic" is true only in the literal sense that it is fantasy to consider them in the top rung of DC public elementary schools.

You are a fool and I feel pathetic even responding to you. First, people IB for Eaton and Hearst tend to be better off financially and historically sent their kids private. Yes the demand is so high for Janney that there are about 200 kids per grade. Not exactly something I'd want for my kid but hey keep telling yourself that Janney is the best school if it makes you feel better. Fantastic and Best are not all about who has the richest and whitest population. Heck look at Ross. A diverse school with IB and OOB kids (btw, OOB doesn't mean bad, there are many kids EOTP that are smarter than your snowflake) and Ross is a nice small school that locked Janney's ass in scores last year. Get over yourself.

For too long Eaton and Hearst have rationalized that their IB areas are more economically disposed to go private. It's also whether the neighborhoods find their local public schools compelling. Houses in the Hearst district are no larger than those in the Janney district (in fact, many are row houses, which Janney tends to have more standalone SFHs). The Eaton district includes not just central Cleveland Park, but many apartment buildings plus basically all of McLean Gardens. And remember than Mann's IB area tends to have very high SES statistics, and yet Mann is a very heavily IB school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks everyone for your very useful feedback. So, it seems it will be either Eaton or Hearst. I actually was hoping for H. Mann, but that's probably not going to happen.
Other consideration is to move to Montgomery County by the time kid starts Kindergarten. Though I am getting conflicting feedback on Montgomery County schools now.

Hearst or Eaton are fantastic schools. I love the community vibes of the school. Id take either of those schools over any Montgomery county school. Class size in Montgomery are enough for me to not consider.

Decent schools, most times good ones? Sure. But "fantastic"? No.

--JE parent.

Troll! Hearst/Eaton > Janney any day.

Yeah, that's the reason why Janney has needed three renovations in a decade, just to keep up with neighborhood demand. And it's basically all IB enrollment. Many people move to AU Park specifically for Janney. What's the neighborhood take-up at Eaton, which is a much smaller school to fill? 40-45%? And has Hearst broken the 20% neighborhood barrier yet? I take nothing away from Hearst and Eaton, which must provide an adequate education in the view of the parents who send their kids there, but to describe them as "fantastic" is true only in the literal sense that it is fantasy to consider them in the top rung of DC public elementary schools.

You are a fool and I feel pathetic even responding to you. First, people IB for Eaton and Hearst tend to be better off financially and historically sent their kids private. Yes the demand is so high for Janney that there are about 200 kids per grade. Not exactly something I'd want for my kid but hey keep telling yourself that Janney is the best school if it makes you feel better. Fantastic and Best are not all about who has the richest and whitest population. Heck look at Ross. A diverse school with IB and OOB kids (btw, OOB doesn't mean bad, there are many kids EOTP that are smarter than your snowflake) and Ross is a nice small school that locked Janney's ass in scores last year. Get over yourself.

Go to the open houses & see which community you feel most comfortable with for whatever reason. They are all very good schools. As of now, Hearst is probably the only one you are likely to get into for PreK4 without concern - the others it's more of a coin toss with large IB #s and end up with waiting lists. Each has decent aftercare - but you do have to get on waiting lists for most but eventually pan out. Mann & Stoddert have higher scores now, but Eaton & Hearst also have strong academics and opportunities for students but also more socioeconomic diversity. Stoddert & Mann & increasingly Hearst have strong neighborhood feels - where families often walk to school, see each other on the playgrounds and around the community etc regularly - not as sure about the experience at Eaton. Stoddert & Mann (& most likely Eaton will still) feed to Hardy - which doesn't have as strong scores but is much smaller & is likely to be at 60% feeder enrollment (vs. 30% or so this year) (who came from the feeder schools - although maybe half aren't 'IB' but have come up through top elementaries) next year. I went to and know many who went Montgomery County elementaries - anyone who discounts them hasn't really been exposed to them and seems to be self rationalizing living in the district. Between specials and aides and other things - the class size issue for lower grades is pretty much moot & has become a DCUM boogeyman-- and they consistently have top national scores & MUCH higher college placement than NWDC and remain among the top publics in the country, along with many of the NW elems.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks everyone for your very useful feedback. So, it seems it will be either Eaton or Hearst. I actually was hoping for H. Mann, but that's probably not going to happen.
Other consideration is to move to Montgomery County by the time kid starts Kindergarten. Though I am getting conflicting feedback on Montgomery County schools now.

Hearst or Eaton are fantastic schools. I love the community vibes of the school. Id take either of those schools over any Montgomery county school. Class size in Montgomery are enough for me to not consider.

Decent schools, most times good ones? Sure. But "fantastic"? No.

--JE parent.

Troll! Hearst/Eaton > Janney any day.

Yeah, that's the reason why Janney has needed three renovations in a decade, just to keep up with neighborhood demand. And it's basically all IB enrollment. Many people move to AU Park specifically for Janney. What's the neighborhood take-up at Eaton, which is a much smaller school to fill? 40-45%? And has Hearst broken the 20% neighborhood barrier yet? I take nothing away from Hearst and Eaton, which must provide an adequate education in the view of the parents who send their kids there, but to describe them as "fantastic" is true only in the literal sense that it is fantasy to consider them in the top rung of DC public elementary schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks everyone for your very useful feedback. So, it seems it will be either Eaton or Hearst. I actually was hoping for H. Mann, but that's probably not going to happen.
Other consideration is to move to Montgomery County by the time kid starts Kindergarten. Though I am getting conflicting feedback on Montgomery County schools now.

Hearst or Eaton are fantastic schools. I love the community vibes of the school. Id take either of those schools over any Montgomery county school. Class size in Montgomery are enough for me to not consider.

Decent schools, most times good ones? Sure. But "fantastic"? No.

--JE parent.

Troll! Hearst/Eaton > Janney any day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks everyone for your very useful feedback. So, it seems it will be either Eaton or Hearst. I actually was hoping for H. Mann, but that's probably not going to happen.
Other consideration is to move to Montgomery County by the time kid starts Kindergarten. Though I am getting conflicting feedback on Montgomery County schools now.

Hearst or Eaton are fantastic schools. I love the community vibes of the school. Id take either of those schools over any Montgomery county school. Class size in Montgomery are enough for me to not consider.

Decent schools, most times good ones? Sure. But "fantastic"? No.

--JE parent.

NP and former Hearst parent here (we only left the school bc we moved across the city). I can't speak for Eaton, but yes, Hearst is a fantastic school. Great teachers and admin, a well-prepared student body, the most active PTA I've ever come across (I wish our current school had a PTA half as good), and a beautiful, newly renovated campus. There is no overcrowding, and the afterschool enrichment programming is top notch. It is absolutely a fantastic school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks everyone for your very useful feedback. So, it seems it will be either Eaton or Hearst. I actually was hoping for H. Mann, but that's probably not going to happen.
Other consideration is to move to Montgomery County by the time kid starts Kindergarten. Though I am getting conflicting feedback on Montgomery County schools now.

Hearst or Eaton are fantastic schools. I love the community vibes of the school. Id take either of those schools over any Montgomery county school. Class size in Montgomery are enough for me to not consider.

Decent schools, most times good ones? Sure. But "fantastic"? No.

--JE parent.

I am in one of the schools now. I think you can be happy at any of your choices. I suggest visiting each school during an open house and/or request a tour outside of the open house. You will get a really good feel for the school once you get in and walk around. Definitely ask the stats for PK4 (as previously noted not a given even if you are IB) and if you need it, ask about aftercare availability. I would caution that once you get to middle school years DCPS becomes more of a question mark. You may find yourself looking at charters, thinking about private, etc. Montgomery County may have a lot of kids in lower grades, but people really seem to like the middle and high schools. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks everyone for your very useful feedback. So, it seems it will be either Eaton or Hearst. I actually was hoping for H. Mann, but that's probably not going to happen.
Other consideration is to move to Montgomery County by the time kid starts Kindergarten. Though I am getting conflicting feedback on Montgomery County schools now.

Hearst or Eaton are fantastic schools. I love the community vibes of the school. Id take either of those schools over any Montgomery county school. Class size in Montgomery are enough for me to not consider.

A Hearst IB parent with friends at all of these schools. Quite frankly they are all great schools. In some sense you cannot go wrong. Visit them. Get a sense of which one feels right for your family. You can also let real estate be your guide to some degree, i.e. you go where you find a good place to live (the space that you like, convenient commute to work, school, etc.., in addition to going to a great school).

Neighborhood people do want to and are already going to Hearst. The lower grades are majority in boundary and many families have younger siblings.

OP here - thanks everyone for your very useful feedback. So, it seems it will be either Eaton or Hearst. I actually was hoping for H. Mann, but that's probably not going to happen.
Other consideration is to move to Montgomery County by the time kid starts Kindergarten. Though I am getting conflicting feedback on Montgomery County schools now.

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Anonymous wrote:Many of us at Hearst are happy with the school population as it is now. The racial and socioeconomic diversity if one of the reasons we purposely moved there as opposed to Janney or Lafayette.

Us too. The PP's "win-win" situation may be one to outsiders but not those of us actually at Hearst.

Your kids will probably be through Hearst by then anyway. But ultimately parents should be strengthening and embracing their neighborhood schools, rather than the very "un-green" east to west school daily school commute.

That may be true, but every time a change in boundaries is discussed and the Janney people act as if going to Hearst is some terrible punishment, it grows tiresome. We at Hearst are perfectly happy with our community as it is and if neighborhood people don't want to come, I consider that their loss.

I think Stoddert's aftercare situation may be difficult and many people may not be able to get in who need it. (nothing on quality, just sheer space)