Seems like MCPS is a mess
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Anonymous
This. Consider the schools once you narrow it down to what else works. Don't depend on the schools being exactly as advertised, either to the good or the bad. Almost all area school systems end up with better performance in wealthier areas; some of that is peer cohort, both influence on a student and logistics of teaching/administering at a particular school. Long ago, MCPS was the best in the area, but was eclipsed by FCPS back in the 80s, if not the 70s. It still maintained at a reasonably high level, but demographic and political changes have had impacts, and there's a lot of discontent from the now much greater heterogeneity (coming from all angles). Still considered very good when viewed nationally. FCPS, itself, has changed, but perhaps not as much. The counties that used to be considered exurban (Loudoun, Howard) have in the past 3 decades attracted much more UMC development than was the case for them earlier, not entirely unlike MoCo in the 50s-70s and Fairfax in the 60s-80s, each corresponding with an unsurprising rise in education standard. DC, which was a disaster, got better with gentrification over the past 20 years or so, but still isn't where the suburban counties are, as a whole. Arlington, which hollowed out in the 70s/80s from a quality of education perspective, rebounded afterwards with similar gentrification. To some degree, the same goes for Alexandria city. (Note, as a good amount termed Alexandria is in Fairfax County instead of Alexandria City, and there are variations, there.) PG, which was terrible, has improved considerably. I'm not as familiar with Anne Arundel or Frederick, but I would imagine something of the same developing exurban paradigm. The only one that may not have developed that way is Prince William, and I can't claim familiarity, there, but I would guess the quality of education is still considerably dependent on economic status, and there are UMC communities there, as well. |
Anonymous
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I agree that you'll want to talk to real people, but if that's not one of your choices, just use your judgement in terms of who you listen to online.
I'm a long-time MCPS parent, and think I'm pretty clear-eyed about the school system. The big downsides are the current chaos in the Central Office, and a regrettable move away from student discipline. The upsides are that the day-to-day experience as a student and parent is still very good. My children have received an outstanding education, and have gone into each next level well-prepared. Yes, it has required some hands-on parenting in terms of encouraging them to apply to specific programs, or getting involved if there were peer or teacher challenges, but nothing insurmountable. Overall, it's still a very strong system, and it's hard to beat the commute and other quality of life indicators in close-in MoCo. |
Anonymous
This is a perfectly good choice, and one that many, many people make every year. Don't let the DCUM trolls dissuade you. There are of course differences from school to school, and they are unfortunately largely dependent on your housing budget. |
Anonymous
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Like most of the internet, this place attracts people who are unhappy with things. No one starts a conversation to say "hey my school is fine, and my kid is learning and happy" and when we point it out in the threads full of malcontents we get shouted down so what's the point?
Our experience is that it's a perfectly fine school system. The education my kid is getting is probably better than the one I got as a kid, it's definitely not worse. We're happy here. |
Anonymous
| I live in Rockville and it takes an hour to get to downtown DC by metro. When I lived in Arlington it took 20 min. Both counties have good schools and not so good schools. I agree with a previous poster who said to narrow down the areas you are interested in living and then decide on the school district. |
Anonymous
Choose Virginia, that's a no brainer. Look at all the businesses (Amazon...), they go to Virginia (Tysons, Dulles, Loundoun...), not Maryland. Your house will appreciate more in Virginia. There are two parties in Virginia, and that is much better than a one-party state like Maryland. Montgomery used to be good because of highly educated government employees, but now with remote work, many of those people choose to live farther away. |
Anonymous
Just look at the Beidleman debacle. No modern organization would tolerate a serial sexual abuser for that many years. MCPS is a dysfunctional organization, and no one is taking charge. When you have a choice, why would you choose to join a dysfunctional organization with no turnaround in sight? |
Anonymous
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OP, I live in MD (not MoCo) and think you should consider elsewhere if you want public school. Other counties in MD would be better but VA is probably your best bet.
What specific concerns do you have? |
Anonymous
I think it's really difficult for anyone, especially kids, to go from not caring about school, not being held accountable during covid, to caring about school and being held accountable. I think the middle schoolers during covid had it the hardest because they had to transition to HS, where it's a lot harder. Having stated that, NoVa school forum is full of complaints, too. |
Anonymous
W area schools are "good", but then there's the whole pressure cooker thing in those schools. |
Anonymous
Why do these big companies choose Virginia not Maryland? Here are the companies in the D.C. region on the 2022 Fortune 500 list and their annual revenue: The District: No. 33: Fannie Mae, $101.5 billion No. 118: Danaher Corp, $29.5 billion No. 398: The Carlyle Group, $8.8 billion Suburban Maryland: No. 55: Lockheed Martin (Bethesda), $67 billion No. 270: Marriott International (Bethesda), $13.9 billion Northern Virginia: No. 56: Freddie Mac (McLean), $65.9 billion No. 94: General Dynamics (Reston), $38.5 billion No. 101: Northrop Grumman (Falls Church), $33.7 billion No. 108: Capital One Financial (Tysons), $32 billion No. 207: DXC Technology (Ashburn), $17.7 billion No. 274: Leidos (Reston), $13.7 billion No. 333: AES Corp. (Arlington), $11.1 billion No. 359: NVR (Reston), $8.9 billion No. 436: Booz Allen Hamilton (McLean), $7.9 billion No. 456: SAIC (Reston), $7.4 billion No. 478: Beacon Hill Roofing Supply (Herndon), $6.8 billion |
Anonymous
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^ big business likes to be near big airports. It's why Amazon initially chose NYC for HQ2, as well. Surely, you don't think NYC has low taxes, do you?
-signed a former Bay Area resident. |
Anonymous
| The problem is education in America. It's not a dc/md/va thing. It's not a private/ public/ charter thing. It's a countrywide issue. |
Anonymous
The OP is not choosing between NYC, the Bay Area, and MD/VA. The OP is choosing between MD and VA. Businesses are moving out of MD and moving into VA. The choice cannot be clearer. |
Anonymous
| OP also said that this was a short term posting (a few years). In that case, buying in VA wouldn't make sense and overpaying in rent for a potential marginal difference is schools also does not make sense. |