Raising kids in the city (Philadelphia, Washington: fit in, renting, crime)

[freeazabird]

Can you tell me what it's like to raise kids in the city? Is private school viewed as a must for families that can afford it? If you have a family in the city what made you decide to raise your children there? What neighborhoods are family friendly? Thanks.

[MKE8244]

We are currently in East Falls (and previously Mt Airy) with our son, but as a caveat to this post we are in the process of moving to the suburbs bc we are choosing not to stay in the city. However, lots of people do and are very happy. I don't think there is one answer to this question bc a lot will depend on your location within Philadelphia and your finances.

By and large I would say private school is 'a must for families that can afford it'. The exceptions being a handful of good public elementary schools such as Meredith (Queen Village), Greenfield (Rittenhouse Sq), Penn Alexander (Univ City), McCall (Washington Sq), Jenks (Chestnut Hill) and I am sure several others but I don't know all. In NW Philly I feel many of the elementary schools are solid and would be absolutely fine...its the older grades where things get trickier, at least in the NW (Mt Airy/Roxbourgh, etc). I know less about other areas of the city but I'd suspect there is a decent elementary schools in Fairmount, Northern Liberties and maybe even Passyunk Sq. Be careful about any catchment boundaries though before renting/buying...not every house in Queen Village feeds into Meredith for example. For elem school you could also try to get into a charter but this is done on a lottery system. For high school the exceptions would be the special admit schools such as Masterman. If you can get into a top one, they are quite excellent.

Personally I think the most family friendly area of Philadelphia is the NW...Mt Airy, East Falls, Roxborough, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill. It has a more suburban feel (and longer commute to CC) and really caters to families in terms of recreation, dining, activities. It is also far more affordable than CC. If we were financally able to live closer to CC we'd probably opt to live in Queen Village or Society Hill. Again, the biggest reason would be bc there are so many families already there and a large # of child-centered activities. However, so many neighborhoods would be lovely to live in such as Grad Hospital, Rittenhouse, Fairmount, Northern Liberties. Its more about your preferences and budget.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by MKE8244

We are currently in East Falls (and previously Mt Airy) with our son, but as a caveat to this post we are in the process of moving to the suburbs bc we are choosing not to stay in the city. However, lots of people do and are very happy. I don't think there is one answer to this question bc a lot will depend on your location within Philadelphia and your finances.

By and large I would say private school is 'a must for families that can afford it'. The exceptions being a handful of good public elementary schools such as Meredith (Queen Village), Greenfield (Rittenhouse Sq), Penn Alexander (Univ City), McCall (Washington Sq), Jenks (Chestnut Hill) and I am sure several others but I don't know all. In NW Philly I feel many of the elementary schools are solid and would be absolutely fine...its the older grades where things get trickier, at least in the NW (Mt Airy/Roxbourgh, etc). I know less about other areas of the city but I'd suspect there is a decent elementary schools in Fairmount, Northern Liberties and maybe even Passyunk Sq. Be careful about any catchment boundaries though before renting/buying...not every house in Queen Village feeds into Meredith for example. For elem school you could also try to get into a charter but this is done on a lottery system. For high school the exceptions would be the special admit schools such as Masterman. If you can get into a top one, they are quite excellent.

The elementary school of note in Fairmount is Bache-Martin. Also gentrification has greatly expanded beyond Fairmount to neighboring, Spring Garden and lower Francisville. That has increased the number of pre-school and school age kids in all three neighborhoods.

Masterman, which is in Spring Garden, seems to have mostly middle school aged students, btw.

[rotodome]

Masterman is a middle school that goes from 5th-8th grade, and a much smaller high school that goes from 9th-12th grade.
Getting into the middle school does not guarantee a student a spot in the high school.

[AgelessStranger]

Raised all three of my boys here. I was born and raised here myself. As soon as we could afford it, we put them in Catholic school since I am not a big fan of the public school system here. Especially the high schools. You get a better education in the Catholic school system. Family friendly neighborhoods? I'm going to say you mean areas with lower crime as the two would go hand in hand. IMO, the better areas would be in the NW or NE sections of the city. I.E. Roxborough, Chestnut Hill, Mt Airy, Somerton, Parkwood, etc.

[pookybean]

I will start out by saying that we just moved to the suburbs. I have 3 kids; my son is 20 and he opted to remain in the city and lives with friends in South Philly. My daughters are 15 and 7. We lived in the lower NE, so I don't know as much about the NW areas that others have mentioned. I spent much of our time in the far NE and in the suburbs. We lived in our house for 13 yrs and the neighborhood drastically declined. We did not feel safe there and my kids did not play outside, we had quite the rotation of playgrounds and many organized activities! Basically we went home to sleep.

As for schools my son did 4 yrs in the neighborhood elem. school and had a very difficult time until he went to conwell magnet for middle school and then CAPA for high school. He is an eclectic kid and just didnt fit in well. I dont think that would have been different at any neighborhood elem. though. My older daughter has been in a highly rated charter school since kindergarten and my younger daughter started there as well. Even if you move into a great neighborhood with a top notch elem. school you need to think about middle school and high school. It is not a guarantee that your kid will get into Central, Masterman or one of the others. What then? As it ended up my older daughter has some learning disabilities, yes Central must take some kids with those but it was a long shot. I couldn't afford a private high school and I didnt care for the charter high school she got into. We are now in Montco looking forward to a new school district that so far appears to have many supports for her. Hopefully the foundations my younger daughter will get from this school system will benefit her as well.

I would also like to say that if I could afford to live there and I could afford all the learning supports my kids might need I would LOVE to live in Center City! There is so much to do...as long as money isnt a factor. Even after having moved we spend a lot of time in Center City at the festivals and different things they have going on. I dont think we will be one of those families that never go into the city, we do enjoy it.

Watch the neighborhood you may choose closely and then watch the neighboring communities....yours may look nice now, but what could it be in 5 or 10 years?