I would be more inclined to pick the better school and make due with a lesser school but my husband and I recently have fallen in love with a neighborhood for things more than just the homes. The entire culture of the neighborhood is exactly the kind of community we'd like to raise our kids in and it would make it easier for us to raise a large family out here, by ourselves, away from our own families. The public schools aren't great, not good even, BUT there's an excellent church school we can afford and there are magnet programs within the school district that are quite good. So, we feel confident we can offer our kids a good education, either through the church school or the magnets if we win the lottery, in that neighborhood. So, we're going for it. If it turns out to be a disaster, we'll move to a better school district in a less perfect neighborhood once our kids are older.

If you get in your car and start driving towards the house you love.... in DC it may be a very long drive, with a commute to match.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

Using the population that is attending the school is a terrible way to judge the quality of the education.

Exactly why Great Schools isn't very useful.

Great Schools is TERRIBLE! If I toured a school, talked to other parents or students and didn't like the school, I would definitely NOT send my kid there, no matter how great the house is. However, if it's not super high ranked, but there are good programs, a good contingency of kids, a good reputation in the neighborhood, and I felt like it was a good environment for my kids, I would not worry about the ranking and would by the house.

How does that make Great Schools terrible?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

Using the population that is attending the school is a terrible way to judge the quality of the education.

It is, but there is NO objective way to measure quality teaching. And let's face it, kids from poor families generally have lower educational aspirations. Go to a school with a low GreatSchools.com rating and those kids will be your child's peers. They will be soaking up a culture of low expectations. I lived in a poor neighborhood in Alabama as a kid. My parents were great and always encouraged education. But at age 11, I literally believed that most people had sex by age 13. Why? Because that is what my neighborhood friends said. And did. And my school friends didn't talk about sex so they never told me any different. For the record, I didn't have sex until late teens. And I have a Ph.D.

Point taken, but let's keep in mind that your kids are most likely to be friends with the kids they have the most in common with--generally, the ones in their same classes. If your child is smart and motivated, he or she will be in AP and honors classes with the other smart and motivated kids.

Hah, spoken like someone from a wealthy suburban school.

I was a high performing student from a rural southern school (we had *1* AP course, poorly taught -- no one ever got over a 3). You underestimate the small social circle you child will have and basically are setting them up to be ostracized at the school. I'd much rather my kids are smart and par for the course and take advantage of all the education opportunities of large school system.

Not to mention, even if you kid does awesome at high school with low GS, when they go to their top university -- you are then trying to keep up with kids from private academies in the North East and the top public high schools that dominate the population there.

I'm sure much of this is true for a small, rural school in the South but OP is comparing two school districts in Fairfax County. With the possible exception of DCPS or maybe PGCS (neither of which I know well enough to speak to) all schools in this area are going to offer a decent selection of challenging coursework for those who seek it. Certainly there is nowhere in Fairfax County that a smart, motivated kid would need to worry about being ostracized, having a tiny social circle or not getting a quality education.

And I am not from a wealthy suburban school, BTW. I grew up attending solidly middle class schools in the small-town Midwest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The more DC gentrifies, the more the demographics of DCPS will change. Also, there will be many more tax dollars flowing in. The "crappy school system" WILL get better, because bad school systems are typically not bad, they just have low SES students. All these students are being pushed out into certain suburbs and east of the river.

DCPS is ranked low in the country. There is a direct correlation between ses, teacher quality and education. Where do you think the best teachers want to teach? Which school is going to focus on advanced education, the one where majority can't speak English or where the parents tutor and support there kids outside of school? If a parent can't feed their kids do you think they are going to worry more about getting food on the table or advanced algebra? In fact they may even urge their kids to work asap instead of spending extra time studying.

PP here. I realize that, which is why I said "as DC gentrifies". There are huge Swaths of the city that poor people can't afford to live in and it's continuing to spread. The schools on Capitol Hill improved because the demographics of the area changed. This is happening in the entire city. The low SES students are getting pushed out.
The district is transforming to one of the wealthiest areas in the country. The schools are going to
Improve.

Georgetown has been wealthy forever, why do the schools there suck?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

Using the population that is attending the school is a terrible way to judge the quality of the education.

Exactly why Great Schools isn't very useful.

Great Schools is TERRIBLE! If I toured a school, talked to other parents or students and didn't like the school, I would definitely NOT send my kid there, no matter how great the house is. However, if it's not super high ranked, but there are good programs, a good contingency of kids, a good reputation in the neighborhood, and I felt like it was a good environment for my kids, I would not worry about the ranking and would by the house.

Anonymous wrote:It depends. I would rather be in a lesser school pyramid such as Herndon or South Lakes in Fairfax County in a nicer house than a small crappy house in the Langley district, because the FX County district overall is pretty good. But if I were in DC, I'd go for the better school district because there is more disparity between good and bad schools and I don't want my snowflake in a truly bad school environment.

Another thing to consider is commute, South Lakes is much further out than other school pyramids like McLean.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The more DC gentrifies, the more the demographics of DCPS will change. Also, there will be many more tax dollars flowing in. The "crappy school system" WILL get better, because bad school systems are typically not bad, they just have low SES students. All these students are being pushed out into certain suburbs and east of the river.

DCPS is ranked low in the country. There is a direct correlation between ses, teacher quality and education. Where do you think the best teachers want to teach? Which school is going to focus on advanced education, the one where majority can't speak English or where the parents tutor and support there kids outside of school? If a parent can't feed their kids do you think they are going to worry more about getting food on the table or advanced algebra? In fact they may even urge their kids to work asap instead of spending extra time studying.

PP here. I realize that, which is why I said "as DC gentrifies". There are huge Swaths of the city that poor people can't afford to live in and it's continuing to spread. The schools on Capitol Hill improved because the demographics of the area changed. This is happening in the entire city. The low SES students are getting pushed out.
The district is transforming to one of the wealthiest areas in the country. The schools are going to
Improve.

Capital hill is not ready yet but I can imagine it may be on par with fairfax county in about 10-15 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The more DC gentrifies, the more the demographics of DCPS will change. Also, there will be many more tax dollars flowing in. The "crappy school system" WILL get better, because bad school systems are typically not bad, they just have low SES students. All these students are being pushed out into certain suburbs and east of the river.

DCPS is ranked low in the country. There is a direct correlation between ses, teacher quality and education. Where do you think the best teachers want to teach? Which school is going to focus on advanced education, the one where majority can't speak English or where the parents tutor and support there kids outside of school? If a parent can't feed their kids do you think they are going to worry more about getting food on the table or advanced algebra? In fact they may even urge their kids to work asap instead of spending extra time studying.

PP here. I realize that, which is why I said "as DC gentrifies". There are huge Swaths of the city that poor people can't afford to live in and it's continuing to spread. The schools on Capitol Hill improved because the demographics of the area changed. This is happening in the entire city. The low SES students are getting pushed out.
The district is transforming to one of the wealthiest areas in the country. The schools are going to
Improve.

It depends. I would rather be in a lesser school pyramid such as Herndon or South Lakes in Fairfax County in a nicer house than a small crappy house in the Langley district, because the FX County district overall is pretty good. But if I were in DC, I'd go for the better school district because there is more disparity between good and bad schools and I don't want my snowflake in a truly bad school environment.

Anonymous wrote:The more DC gentrifies, the more the demographics of DCPS will change. Also, there will be many more tax dollars flowing in. The "crappy school system" WILL get better, because bad school systems are typically not bad, they just have low SES students. All these students are being pushed out into certain suburbs and east of the river.

DCPS is ranked low in the country. There is a direct correlation between ses, teacher quality and education. Where do you think the best teachers want to teach? Which school is going to focus on advanced education, the one where majority can't speak English or where the parents tutor and support there kids outside of school? If a parent can't feed their kids do you think they are going to worry more about getting food on the table or advanced algebra? In fact they may even urge their kids to work asap instead of spending extra time studying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

Using the population that is attending the school is a terrible way to judge the quality of the education.

It is, but there is NO objective way to measure quality teaching. And let's face it, kids from poor families generally have lower educational aspirations. Go to a school with a low GreatSchools.com rating and those kids will be your child's peers. They will be soaking up a culture of low expectations. I lived in a poor neighborhood in Alabama as a kid. My parents were great and always encouraged education. But at age 11, I literally believed that most people had sex by age 13. Why? Because that is what my neighborhood friends said. And did. And my school friends didn't talk about sex so they never told me any different. For the record, I didn't have sex until late teens. And I have a Ph.D.

Point taken, but let's keep in mind that your kids are most likely to be friends with the kids they have the most in common with--generally, the ones in their same classes. If your child is smart and motivated, he or she will be in AP and honors classes with the other smart and motivated kids.

Hah, spoken like someone from a wealthy suburban school.

I was a high performing student from a rural southern school (we had *1* AP course, poorly taught -- no one ever got over a 3). You underestimate the small social circle you child will have and basically are setting them up to be ostracized at the school. I'd much rather my kids are smart and par for the course and take advantage of all the education opportunities of large school system.

Not to mention, even if you kid does awesome at high school with low GS, when they go to their top university -- you are then trying to keep up with kids from private academies in the North East and the top public high schools that dominate the population there.

Your kid may get into a great college but will be ill prepared

The more DC gentrifies, the more the demographics of DCPS will change. Also, there will be many more tax dollars flowing in. The "crappy school system" WILL get better, because bad school systems are typically not bad, they just have low SES students. All these students are being pushed out into certain suburbs and east of the river.

Schools. You can work on an ugly house over time. You cannot change a crappy school system.

I write this from my ugly house in arlington that is slowly transforming into a home I love.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how you define school quality. Did you actually research whether people are happy with the school or just go by Great Schools?

Using the population that is attending the school is a terrible way to judge the quality of the education.

It is, but there is NO objective way to measure quality teaching. And let's face it, kids from poor families generally have lower educational aspirations. Go to a school with a low GreatSchools.com rating and those kids will be your child's peers. They will be soaking up a culture of low expectations. I lived in a poor neighborhood in Alabama as a kid. My parents were great and always encouraged education. But at age 11, I literally believed that most people had sex by age 13. Why? Because that is what my neighborhood friends said. And did. And my school friends didn't talk about sex so they never told me any different. For the record, I didn't have sex until late teens. And I have a Ph.D.

Point taken, but let's keep in mind that your kids are most likely to be friends with the kids they have the most in common with--generally, the ones in their same classes. If your child is smart and motivated, he or she will be in AP and honors classes with the other smart and motivated kids.

Hah, spoken like someone from a wealthy suburban school.

I was a high performing student from a rural southern school (we had *1* AP course, poorly taught -- no one ever got over a 3). You underestimate the small social circle you child will have and basically are setting them up to be ostracized at the school. I'd much rather my kids are smart and par for the course and take advantage of all the education opportunities of large school system.

Not to mention, even if you kid does awesome at high school with low GS, when they go to their top university -- you are then trying to keep up with kids from private academies in the North East and the top public high schools that dominate the population there.