Anonymous wrote:OP, another neighborhood family jumping in to add one more point. Odds are that you WILL get into all of Takoma, Whittier, and JL - if not this year, then by K or 1st at the latest. Lafayette and Shepherd overwhelmingly likely not. So I would urge you to think about your ranking order in terms of where you see your 10 year old thriving, not your 5 year old. What school has best retention in the higher graders? What school would have friends in a walkable radius? What school has the extra programming (activities and clubs, sports, musical, instrumental program, etc.) you think would be the best fit for your child when older?

I have to say, Ward 4 is in the unique and unfortunate position of having a bounty of strong DCPS elementary schools that don't have a "strong" feeder pattern. All three of your options are more similar than different, and I don't think you can go wrong at any. I'd probably just choose the school that your child could walk to on their own starting in third or fourth grade. Even if not your IB, a walkable neighborhood school is huge.

Anonymous wrote:Wells MS PTO here, and I just want to thank all the PPs singing our school's praises. If you are interested in getting involved even if you don't have a kid enrolled, reach out to us: idabwellsmspto@gmail.com

And as the Standing Ovation winners are being announced, Sheridan Street has been raking them in!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ideally you’d have great academics and great facilities, but I will say that we were at a school with pretty cruddy facilities and honestly as long as it’s functional and maintained, you get used to it quickly. Our incredibly old building wasn’t much to look at, but had a cafeteria, two gyms, and an auditorium. The school put all of that indoor space to good use!

I haven’t been inside Whittier, so maybe it’s worse than ours, but I wouldn’t necessarily prioritize the facilities over the academics, programs, and strength of admin. Particularly if you’re planning on staying through fifth.

The Whittier building isn't great, but they use the Coolidge auditorium right across the street for their play every year, have decent sized cafeteria, and do absolutely use their indoor space. The admin is incredible at doing the best with what DCPS is giving them.

It's also on track for a remodel so by second grade OP would be in a brand new facility and for K and 1st they'll be across the street in mods.

Anonymous wrote:Ideally you’d have great academics and great facilities, but I will say that we were at a school with pretty cruddy facilities and honestly as long as it’s functional and maintained, you get used to it quickly. Our incredibly old building wasn’t much to look at, but had a cafeteria, two gyms, and an auditorium. The school put all of that indoor space to good use!

I haven’t been inside Whittier, so maybe it’s worse than ours, but I wouldn’t necessarily prioritize the facilities over the academics, programs, and strength of admin. Particularly if you’re planning on staying through fifth.

Anonymous wrote:Ideally you’d have great academics and great facilities, but I will say that we were at a school with pretty cruddy facilities and honestly as long as it’s functional and maintained, you get used to it quickly. Our incredibly old building wasn’t much to look at, but had a cafeteria, two gyms, and an auditorium. The school put all of that indoor space to good use!

I haven’t been inside Whittier, so maybe it’s worse than ours, but I wouldn’t necessarily prioritize the facilities over the academics, programs, and strength of admin. Particularly if you’re planning on staying through fifth.