Family friendly DC, public schools.... (house, neighborhoods, elementary schools)

[njmom8]

We are relocating to DC from NJ this summer.
I am looking for a family friendly area that is urban/suburban with great elementery schools. I have narrowed down to a few elementary schools in DC: Lafayette, Janney, Mann and Key. Does anyone have feedback on these schools or the areas that feed them? Thank you!!!!

[mayjormom]

Yes, these neighborhoods are very exclusive and upper class. The schools are parent-driven (unfortunately as a teacher I know schools like that can be a teacher's nightmare). All of those schools have always had good reputations, and from what I heard are drastically different from most DC Public Schools.

[dullnboring]

I agree. While they have a horrible reputation, at an elementary school level, there are actually a number of good public schools in DC. Once you get beyond that however into middle and high schools, it's when quality begins to seriously deteriorate.

[njmom8]

Thanks for the info. Does anyone know if there are any private or nice public outdoor swimming pools? (I have two kids who are used to a really clean and nice town pool in NJ).

[teleblazer]

We used two when I lived in Southern Maryland. There was one open as an outdoor pool during the normal swim seasons which was at King's Landing in Huntingtown, MD. about

The other was an indoor olympic sized swimming pool in Annapolis where we had our son continue his swimming lessons after the weather got a little more chilly for our tastes. This was at the Arundel Olympic Swim Center if I recall. It was about an hour from our house in Calvert County.

I hear there's a brand new one even further south in Lusby, MD which is a public pool. That would be about a 20 minute drive south from Huntingtown, MD. I also understand this spring the local community college (CSM - College of Southern Maryland) is finishing an indoor swim center in Prince Frederick (about 9 miles south of Huntingtown, MD).

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by njmom8

Thanks for the info. Does anyone know if there are any private or nice public outdoor swimming pools? (I have two kids who are used to a really clean and nice town pool in NJ).

[dchopeful]

This may be a stupid question, but once you figure out which schools are good (e.g. Lafayette, Key, etc.), how do you figure out which neighborhoods they cover? Is there a web site that will give you a map of the school's "territory"?
Thanks!

[njmom8]

to DC hopeful:

Check out school stats on www.greatschools.com, then for DC look at the District of Columbial Public schools website (google it, I forget the address), they have a section where you can download boundary maps for whatever schools you are interested in.

Good luck!