Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at Powell carefully first? What’s wrong with Powell other than the upper grades? That immediate neighborhood is gentrifying rapidly and Powell will only get better.

The Hill has been gentrifying a lot longer than Petworth and families still bail out of Brent in the upper grades. Powell's test scores are lower than Brent's (by a lot) and the feeder pattern is just as much of a problem.

Powell and Brent aren't reasonable analogies. MacFarland is largely a continuation of what Powell is like, and I say that as a positive. The amount of student and leadership staff overlap is hard to understate. And I expect that to continue. And further, Brent families are kajillion-dollar-house Hill families with sterling jobs and Ivy expectations for their kids (kidding, not really). Petworth yuppies mostly just didn't want to live in the suburbs, they aren't trying to get their kids calculus in 5th grade and math or lacrosse scholarships to Princeton.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, back to your question. If a bilingual program is your priority, then rent for a year IB at the one you think might be the best fit for long-term living.

Repeat after me: Do. Not. Buy. A. House. For. The. Schools.

A mortgage is a long-term commitment. But thanks to "school choice," education is a game of chance played every year. Even if you love the elementary school, middle school is a totally different challenge.

Renting for a school can be a good way to test drive before making a huge financial commitment.

While I agree, I'd say Powell in bounds is also probably a good real estate decision. I'd definitely buy there if this was my concern (bilingual school access). You'll get something, better than what's available in the other cachements mentioned. And it's a nice community.

Ugh I hate Crestwood. It is super overpriced and I would look at Powell carefully first.

Crestwood seems overpriced for what it offers, but it is at least nice the closer you get to the Park. Powell isn't special though and the MS feed is as exciting as Jefferson or Elliot-Hine.

Better like the park because that’s all there is to do. Agree about the terrible feeder pattern for powell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - use learndc.org to look for information you can compare against schools.

Houston Elementary has space available in its dual language program for next year. You could probably in via a post-lottery application without having to move.

Otherwise here are your options https://dcps.dc.gov/DL

Houston is in Anacostia, right? What's the feeder path?

Houston is not in Anacostia. It's in Deanwood. Some people use "Anacostia" as a shorthand for all of DC east of the Anacostia river but that is not accurate.

Houston feeds Kelly Miller. I'd also assume that they'll have a programmatic feeder path to MacFarland for the bilingual students. Kids who go to the bilingual program from out of bounds will also have a right to the middle school serving their address.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, back to your question. If a bilingual program is your priority, then rent for a year IB at the one you think might be the best fit for long-term living.

Repeat after me: Do. Not. Buy. A. House. For. The. Schools.

A mortgage is a long-term commitment. But thanks to "school choice," education is a game of chance played every year. Even if you love the elementary school, middle school is a totally different challenge.

Renting for a school can be a good way to test drive before making a huge financial commitment.

While I agree, I'd say Powell in bounds is also probably a good real estate decision. I'd definitely buy there if this was my concern (bilingual school access). You'll get something, better than what's available in the other cachements mentioned. And it's a nice community.

Ugh I hate Crestwood. It is super overpriced and I would look at Powell carefully first.

Crestwood seems overpriced for what it offers, but it is at least nice the closer you get to the Park. Powell isn't special though and the MS feed is as exciting as Jefferson or Elliot-Hine.

Anonymous wrote:We'd love to buy in-bounds for a bilingual Spanish elementary school (have failed at lottery-ing into charters twice) for kindergarten. As our house budget is max 725K, Oyster, etc. are probably out of our range - but the others schools with GreatSchools ratings under 5 give me pause. Anyone at these schools have recommendations for their school/thoughts? Thanks.

OP, your problem isn't so much a decent elementary (though that is part of your problem). What holds many schools back is a decent feeder school for middle. As long as you're fine with insecurity in the lower grades and mediocrity for middle then there are several DCPS choices for you. Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:Look at Powell carefully first? What’s wrong with Powell other than the upper grades? That immediate neighborhood is gentrifying rapidly and Powell will only get better.

The Hill has been gentrifying a lot longer than Petworth and families still bail out of Brent in the upper grades. Powell's test scores are lower than Brent's (by a lot) and the feeder pattern is just as much of a problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Greatschools ratings are apparently strongly tied to test score outcomes. You aren't going to have problems with your kids' test scores. So decide based on other factors.

Cleveland has great test scores, it's closer to downtown and has a lower percentage of native speakers. Tyler on the Hill has very few native speakers but Hill families and location.

Bancroft and Oyster are gentrified. Marie Reed not as much and it has some strong supporters.

Powell has been hot for a while but is filling up inbounds. Bruce-Monroe not so much but it has its supporters.

Houston's program is new and it doesn't have much in the way of native speakers.

In terms of real estate, it's a tough market in these areas, at least in my mind. Columbia Heights/Petworth/Park View are gentrified housing markets and you'll have a tough time finding a house under $600,000. Don't even think about the Hill. Someone better informed would have to tell you about Deanwood.

Bancroft is not gentrified. According to DCPS website it is still Title 1. The real draw is that it feeds to Deal.

The PP said it has a gentrified HOUSING MARKET. Not that it is a gentrified school. It's 40% OOB, many of those are the Spanish-dominant families.

This. And then look at the feeder pattern.

Let's just say there's a good reason the houses (close to amenities that people with disposable income care about) appreciate faster than the schools (because families with options bail when they see the test scores of their children's cohort = and they care more about schools then the newest Filipino restaurant or another fusion joint).

Anonymous wrote:OP - use learndc.org to look for information you can compare against schools.

Houston Elementary has space available in its dual language program for next year. You could probably in via a post-lottery application without having to move.

Otherwise here are your options https://dcps.dc.gov/DL

Houston is in Anacostia, right? What's the feeder path?

Anonymous wrote:
Shepherd elementary.

Not bilingual and not up-and-coming.

Shepherd elementary.

Anonymous wrote:The markets are only going up. Renting sounds nice, but given low inventory you might not get a chance to buy until there's significant appreciation in your intended school area. So that might affect decisions if you think you can buy at say $700K but not at $800K.

Good point. But if two years from now the "intended school" is not a great fit for the child (it happens), OP may want to play the lottery for the many other Spanish-English bilingual programs and different middle/high school options. From personal experience, bilingual families lottery just as much as others after 1st and 2nd. Yes, even Oyster. It's funny how often you run into the same bilingual families at open houses. It's also not unusual to find families with kids in more than one bilingual school. Nobody wants to go through the yearly temptation of greener grass via lottery, but that's the reality of the DC public education market.

Schools aside, the Latino population in DC will likely continue to be focused in Wards 1 and 4. The best long-term investment in bilingualism, IMHO, is living somewhere your family can use Spanish on the weekends. Not just in the classroom.

OP, wherever you end up, I hope you'll love living in the District as much as the rest of us on this forum!

Look at Powell carefully first? What’s wrong with Powell other than the upper grades? That immediate neighborhood is gentrifying rapidly and Powell will only get better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, back to your question. If a bilingual program is your priority, then rent for a year IB at the one you think might be the best fit for long-term living.

Repeat after me: Do. Not. Buy. A. House. For. The. Schools.

A mortgage is a long-term commitment. But thanks to "school choice," education is a game of chance played every year. Even if you love the elementary school, middle school is a totally different challenge.

Renting for a school can be a good way to test drive before making a huge financial commitment.

While I agree, I'd say Powell in bounds is also probably a good real estate decision. I'd definitely buy there if this was my concern (bilingual school access). You'll get something, better than what's available in the other cachements mentioned. And it's a nice community.

Ugh I hate Crestwood. It is super overpriced and I would look at Powell carefully first.

If I were you, I'd do as a few others have suggested and try to buy IB for Bancroft, given the middle school feed to Deal. Not sure how often things come up in your price range, but especially if you can move your limit up to $750-775K, you might find something you like. Here are a couple of cute listings in Mt. P that were sold within the past year at the top of your range:

https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1821-Newton-St-NW-20010/unit-4/home/113830866

https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1724-Park-Rd-NW-20010/unit-3/home/40501632

The markets are only going up. Renting sounds nice, but given low inventory you might not get a chance to buy until there's significant appreciation in your intended school area. So that might affect decisions if you think you can buy at say $700K but not at $800K.