Childcare in DC (capitol hill) (transplants, insurance, crime)
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We're planning a move to DC in september, and are thinking about living in the capitol hill area. A preliminary search of daycare places is shocking and frustrating: they're all full for the forseable future. How can this be? Every place we contact has a wait list and doesn't give us good odds of getting in for many months and often more than a year.
What do people do for childcare in the district? Besides a nanny (which would work in a pinch, but my son seems to get a lot out of daycare), are there any other options? For instance, are there in-home daycares? If so, how do we find them? We couldn't find any online, but maybe we weren't looking in the right place?
We're actually getting worried that the 5 months between now and September may not be enough to secure a place. Any tips, hints, and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Capital Hill isn't very good for daycares. I think there are a few private ones and a few church ones. There is some sort of nearby in Judiary Square/Union Station at Georgetown law school, the Marshall Judiciary Building, one of the senate buildings, the FTC, the SEC, Dept. of Labor, FERC, the GAO, but they all give preferences to fed. gov't employees. You can put your same on those lists and they might have an opening pop up. If you child is 3 or older, you have a better shot.
I think most families opt for nannies, a nanny share, or a home daycare [usually older women in NE or SE DC that will watch about 4 kids in their house, a DC agency maintains a list but I wasn't impressed with the few I checked out] until a daycare spot opens up. There is a lottery for a DC public preschool for 3 year olds. More info on these options are at dcurbanmom.com.
I got on 7 waitlists and was eventually offered a spot at 4 of them within 6 months for my 1 year old. I never heard from a couple like the GAO or the FTC. One place told me I was like #65 on the list, but then offered me a spot in 2 months.
It is hard. Put your name on all the lists. It costs about $100 a pop and most will go nowhere. None will leave you comfortable that you will get a spot until the last minute, and you may have to pay for an extra month if a spot becomes available earlier than you want. Follow-up and go in person to discuss - yesterday, a friend secured a June spot at a downtown daycare after being told over the phone that it wouldn't open until January by just going down. A month before I had to go back to work, I couldn't wait anymore, so I found a nanny-share - you only need a 2-3 weeks to get that set up. When the nanny quit unexpectedly right after the kid turned one, I was told that there was a six-month wait at my building's daycare. I broke down in tears, and my kid was in the next day. Everyone that I know with kids in the city has a similar story, but in the end, they all got good care for their kids. It is tough, but you will find something. I don't know of anyone who was not able to get into a good daycare within a few months if that is what they wanted (you may have to take a second choice while you wait and work on the first).
Welcome. We paid probably close to $800 in various fees to various daycares, only to discover after we applied that the waitlists were in some cases 2 YEARS LONG. A few places straight up told us that we had no chance (kindly, AFTER they accepted our application with check). After a month or so of calling around and getting no real clarity on when, if ever, we would get into something, we just ended up getting a nanny. I have heard that persistence is key and that people who hound them (without beign a pest) get off the list.
We're transplants to DC with a young toddler. I'll echo what everyone else has said. Frankly, I'm a little disgusted by the expectation here that you have to "work the list" rather than it just being first-come-first-serve (which was how it was where we came from). We put in deposits for 5 or 6 centers and were only called by one (after about 4 months) and in the end we didn't like that center enough to enroll her. I'm sure we won't hear from the others since it's been over a year.
We opted for a nanny share for 25-30 hrs per week and work staggered work hours so that our child can be with one of us the rest of the time. This arrangement has worked well. Nannies are really common here. If you decide to hire a nanny, just make sure to interview thoroughly and check references (quality varies widely!), and then ask advice from other families on how to set up payroll, taxes & insurance.
There is crime in this neighborhood, so you have to be street smart and protect your valuables. I've been a little surprised to see how common theft is here, and we've seen prostitution in the alley next to our house. I've lived in rougher neighborhoods in other cities, so I know how to cope -- but it just didn't look like the kind of neighborhood where you'd see as much crime as we have.
Despite my frustrations with daycare, the Hill is a great place to be with a baby/young children. There are many families here, it's a very walkable neighborhood, and there are rec centers, parks, libraries, pools, free museums, the arboretum, the Capitol and the Mall -- all so close by. We've made new friends here and our daughter has thrived. I've found many people here to be friendly and welcoming. There are a lot of people who are transplants and are also looking to make new friends.
I know there's a daycare center in Georgetown Law Center -- I'm not sure if they accept families not affiliated with the Law School, but I'd check them out. They seem pretty good.
Try dc craigslist - I'm sure you should find something there. That's where I searched just recently and I found a great in-home daycare not too far from the hill - and they offer potty training which was the main focus of my search. Best of luck. I know it can be hard because I had a rough time when I started searching ... some daycare centers around the hill charge a whole lot too.
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