Moving from Montgomery County to Prince Georges County, MD (Baltimore: apartment, to rent)
Washington, DC suburbs in MarylandCalvert County, Charles County, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County
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i'm glad it is working out for you. There's a lot to be said for seeing things for yourself and making up your own mind rather than just listening to the conventional wisdom.
I found out recently that my wife is expecting (01/2013). Now I have to face the dilemma. Do I stay in PG for 5 more years, sell my house and move back to MC just in time for my kid to go to school? Or do I stay in PG and deal with PG county schools? How are PG county schools now? All I have to go by is the bad stories I heard over 10 years ago growing up in MC. I like my home and my neighborhood is ok. I settled in nicely, but still am uneasy about many parts around PG. I think my future child will go to Magnolia Elementary, Greenbelt Middle, and Roosevelt High. I also would like my future child to have the same opportunity I had growing up in Silver Spring of going to very diverse schools. I haven't seen much diversity in the Greenbelt/Lanham area.
I found out recently that my wife is expecting (01/2013). Now I have to face the dilemma. Do I stay in PG for 5 more years, sell my house and move back to MC just in time for my kid to go to school? Or do I stay in PG and deal with PG county schools? How are PG county schools now? All I have to go by is the bad stories I heard over 10 years ago growing up in MC. I like my home and my neighborhood is ok. I settled in nicely, but still am uneasy about many parts around PG. I think my future child will go to Magnolia Elementary, Greenbelt Middle, and Roosevelt High. I also would like my future child to have the same opportunity I had growing up in Silver Spring of going to very diverse schools. I haven't seen much diversity in the Greenbelt/Lanham area.
Congrats, the PGPS issue has been beaten to death on here. I'm not a fan but I don't think it's so bad that you have to flee once your kid enters kindergarden. The real problems begin at the middle school level IMHO.
Have you spoken to any neighbors to see what they think of Magnolia? You can also tour the school.
Definitely. Visit the school, meet the principal, attend a PTA meeting and then talk with the officers/parents afterwards (often the PTA meetings, at least at my daughters' school, focus a lot problems and upcoming events, but chatting afterwards you can find out the counterbalancing good things going on).
I found out recently that my wife is expecting (01/2013). Now I have to face the dilemma. Do I stay in PG for 5 more years, sell my house and move back to MC just in time for my kid to go to school? Or do I stay in PG and deal with PG county schools? How are PG county schools now? All I have to go by is the bad stories I heard over 10 years ago growing up in MC. I like my home and my neighborhood is ok. I settled in nicely, but still am uneasy about many parts around PG. I think my future child will go to Magnolia Elementary, Greenbelt Middle, and Roosevelt High. I also would like my future child to have the same opportunity I had growing up in Silver Spring of going to very diverse schools. I haven't seen much diversity in the Greenbelt/Lanham area.
If you are otherwise happy where you're living, my advice is not to worry too much about schools at this point. You've got five years, and schools can improve or decline in that kind of time.
Also, think hard about how much that "free" public school is going to cost you. If you live in a $350,000 house and sell it to move to MC, the commissions and fees alone will be over $20,000 for the sale of the old house and you'll also have to pay your share of closing costs on both transactions, which might be another $5,000 or so. It is a good bet that the house in MC will cost you substantially more than the house in PG County, especially if you're looking at the best school districts. For the sake of discussion, if the house costs you another $150,000 you're looking at another $6,750 per year in interest charges alone. Property tax and insurance will also go up.
It seems to me that paying $150,000 more for the house, $25,000 in closing costs, $6,750 more per year for most of a 30 year mortgage loan, and higher property tax and insurance could also pay for a lot of private school education. Personally, I'd look at the additional costs of the kind of house you might buy in MC and I'd start saving that money now. If you put away $25,000 now and add $6,750 per year, you'll have over $60K when your child is ready to start kindergarten. At that point, you might find that your local elementary school meets your needs. If it doesn't, you have the option of using the money you've saved for private school tuition or as a downpayment on a house in a better school district.
Obviously, these numbers are just examples, and "your mileage may vary." But why pay the higher costs of housing in a good school district in MC now when you won't need the schools for at least 5 years? If there's any possibility that your career might have you move in the next 5 years, that's another good reason not to make any decisions too early.
BTW, I concede that moving to a better school district might make good financial sense if you plan to have several children, but I do want to make the point that there are costs associated with the move that should be considered.
Location: Ft. Washington/Oxon Hill border, MD (Prince George's County)
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In the same situation kind of, we have a 2 yr old now and are expecting twins. My personal decision was that I am not worrying about incurring the higher expense of moving to a better district until I need it. It is a long way off when just expecting. In addition, we have a strong support system of family nearby where we live now in PG and will definitely need that with 3 infants/toddlers. My advice would be if you or your wife have a strong support system of friends/neighbors/family nearby you now or a short commute...stay put. The support in those early years and ability to have more time at home trumps schools you are not yet using. The savings in childcare costs alone (which would be at least $3k-4k a month) make it clear we need to stay put until schools are an immediate issue. The current mortgage rates are tempting but we will wait. There is even an affordable private kindergarten option nearby us now that was highly recommended by many parents if we need stay through kindergarten. In the interim we will be saving. I tend to be more pro-private than public no matter how fabulous the public school system is so if we can swing that for three (even if it makes more financial sense to buy in a better district with 3 kids), we just may stay here through the elementary school years.
I found out recently that my wife is expecting (01/2013). Now I have to face the dilemma. Do I stay in PG for 5 more years, sell my house and move back to MC just in time for my kid to go to school? Or do I stay in PG and deal with PG county schools? How are PG county schools now? All I have to go by is the bad stories I heard over 10 years ago growing up in MC. I like my home and my neighborhood is ok. I settled in nicely, but still am uneasy about many parts around PG. I think my future child will go to Magnolia Elementary, Greenbelt Middle, and Roosevelt High. I also would like my future child to have the same opportunity I had growing up in Silver Spring of going to very diverse schools. I haven't seen much diversity in the Greenbelt/Lanham area.
Maybe you can stay put for now and in the meantime, research and monitor some other nearby public and private options. Look at Goodard for Montessori and French immersion for elementary through middle (yes, your child would need to enter via lottery, but it could happen), charter schools (monitor test scores and new schools opening) and private options (there's a Greenbelt Friends school on or near Rt. 193 in Greenbelt or College Park, St. Mathias Roman Catholic on Rt. 450 in Lanham, New Hope Academy off of 450 in the Landover Hills area, Lanham Christian, and Ascension Lutheran off 450 in Landover Hills or thereabouts). You can send your child to a private school through first grade, and in first, have him or her tested for the county's TAG program (yes, getting into the TAG schools requires a lottery once your child passes the TAG test, but hey).
Well about one year into living here and I think it is time to start preparing to move back to Montgomery County. My house was broken into about a month ago and since then, I am really uneasy. I guess all the things people told me about PG was true. I thought I moved into a nice and safe neighborhood. There are several white families with children living here, but I guess I was wrong. I lived in the same house over in Montgomery country for 26 years before moving to PG and never had a break-in. I lived in PG for 10 months and my house is broken into. When PG police showed up and asked me where I lived before I moved, I told the officer Silver Spring… His response was “Why did you move here”?
I feel very embarrassed because I told all my friends and family how safe PG was and how all the stereotypes about this county was not true. I sure feel like
Well about one year into living here and I think it is time to start preparing to move back to Montgomery County. My house was broken into about a month ago and since then, I am really uneasy. I guess all the things people told me about PG was true. I thought I moved into a nice and safe neighborhood. There are several white families with children living here, but I guess I was wrong. I lived in the same house over in Montgomery country for 26 years before moving to PG and never had a break-in. I lived in PG for 10 months and my house is broken into. When PG police showed up and asked me where I lived before I moved, I told the officer Silver Spring… His response was “Why did you move here”?
I feel very embarrassed because I told all my friends and family how safe PG was and how all the stereotypes about this county was not true. I sure feel like
Oh no! How terrible. I'm so sorry. This post makes me very nervous as we are in the process of moving to Lanham from Silver Spring. Whatever you do, don't blame yourself. There is nothing unreasonable about expecting that your home would not be broken into. And Silver Spring is not some sort of utopia, no matter what some (insensitive!) police officer in PG county says.
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I guess I was wrong
How terrible. I'm so sorry. This post makes me very nervous as we are in the process of moving to Lanham from Silver Spring. Whatever you do, don't blame yourself. There is nothing unreasonable about expecting that your home would not be broken into. And Silver Spring is not some sort of utopia, no matter what some (insensitive!) police officer in PG county says.
