Back to DC

[ohyouknow]

We are headed back to the NCR. We were there for 4 years from 2011-2015, now in Germany for the past 2.5 and it’s been amazing. I love my job, Europe, and our childcare situation.
It’s DH’s assignment that is forcing this location. The NCR isn’t good for my next career move. He didn’t have any control over it but I’m still bummed. It’s great for his career but I’m feeling a little left behind.

[NomadicMama]

That’s tough, I’m sorry that your return isn’t under more favorable conditions. We moved back to the NCR after three years in Germany. We’ve been back for three years and I still miss living in our little wine village. Good luck with the move.

[morecoffeeplease]

I'm sorry :-(

We are here right now and really like living on jbab if you're looking to live on base.

[ohyouknow]

What are the school options on JBAB? For some reason I thought there wasn’t an on-base school and the off-base options weren’t good. My husband went to NIU there but we didn’t live on JBAB. He will be at Ft McNair so JBAB probably would be a really good commute for him.

[morecoffeeplease]

ohyouknow what grade?

My son goes to the school right off base. A lot of parents of older kids send their kids to Hyde Addison for elementary, deal for middle and Wilson for high school. Jbab has buses that go to a bunch of dc schools.

[ohyouknow]

morecoffeeplease My kids will be in 6th, 3rd (or maybe 2nd again if she is held back), and kindergarten. We also will have one in daycare. That is great about buses to different schools- I wasn’t aware of that! I’ll check out those schools. Once we get hard copy orders in March we will get our name on the housing list. Is housing nice? I was in an E-9s house there once and it was a row house but literally looked out into the Potomac, which was amazing.

[morecoffeeplease]

ohyouknow People here either love housing or hate housing. I personally love it. My husband is an E7 (PDQ) and we chose to live in the older neighborhood. It's under BAH so we get money back every month and the utilities aren't monitored so we never have to worry about going over. We have a 4 bedroom townhouse with a fenced in yard and formal dining room that we use as a play room. The other neighborhoods are really nice, IMO. The base is so small that you can walk to the potomac from any housing. I walk to the running trail a ton.

If you google JBAB school liaison, the website and e-mail will pop up and you can get a list of schools that JBAB buses to. I know a ton of kids on base go to Hardy or Deal for middle school and Hyde Addison and Brent for elementary. There is a clause in the school policy here that if you are a military family and they have an open spot in a class, you can have that spot. It's harder to get a spot in the younger grades but when you get to 2nd-5th and above, spots at the schools I listed open up and there are a decent amount of military families that go there. My son will be in K next year and we are going to stay at Leckie Education Campus (PDQ) which is right off of base. He has been there since prek3 and it just isn't worth moving him or a bus ride because we are only here for one more school year.

If you have any more questions let me know. I'm a huge cheerleader for JBAB. It's our first time living on base and I absolutely love it.

[morecoffeeplease]

Oh and we use the CDC on base for my youngest and I love it.

[ohyouknow]

Thank you for all the info! Based on what you told me I think JBAB is a strong contender for where we live. We’ve lived on base twice and off base twice and I prefer living on base. With kids and commutes it’s just easier and that is what I need in life right now.

[gerder3]

I'm late to this but many of the folks I work with live at Andrews and Fort Belvoir. The community at Belvoir is super nice and the CDC is supposed to be amazing! I'm sorry it's not what you hoped for. We live in Montgomery County because I'm just not in love with the Capitol like I'd hoped I would be.