Is Richard Montgomery HS and Rockville the best choice for our family?

[Anonymous]

Our family moved to Rockville this past summer. We have one child who just started at Julius West and a 11th grader at RM. We didn't know much about the DC area and ended up here because the schools seem good (we want safe and good learning environments, but don't feel compelled to go to the best of the best) and we all enjoy diversity. Some schools have a higher white population and this in and of itself isn't a plus for us. We also want to be close to a metro stop. We are currently renting and looking for a TH in the 500K-600K range. We aren't in a rush about buying as it looks like IR and home prices won't be going up for a while.

Neither of my kids are high achievers, but are doing fine in their schools. JW is great, but classes are overcrowded. Although there are many great things about RMHS, my child has started to mention that there are a lot of rougher and immature kids. Some of his courses are not AP/IB and he said those types of classes often seem to be out of control. We're starting to wonder if RMHS (as a magnet school) makes it difficult for an average student to get a decent education. Also, will the school continue to attract more and more disruptive students. My middle-schooler is also an average achiever and I wonder if we won't have the same issues at RMHS - where if your child isn't taking all AP courses, classes are chaotic and they might be influenced more by what they call the rougher kids.

We really like everything else about Rockville and would love to commit to finding a TH here but have become concerned about the HS situation. For the most part, both my kids seem happy and are doing fine where they are. Mostly because of moving, this will be the 3rd HS for my 11th grader - so I am very reluctant to pull him out again (although he probably wouldn't mind too much).

My choices seem to be:
1. Commit to these schools and buy here in the next six months.
2. Start looking in the WJ school area south of here and move in the next six month.
3. Rent for another year to year and a half when my oldest will be finished with HS and then decide where to buy. We are fine with renting but it's not the most pleasant of apartments as we had to make a quick decision and didn't really plan to be here for more than 6 months. We also worry that prices and interest rates might go up in the next few years.

Any thoughts or insights would be much appreciated.

[Anonymous]

If you think RM is tough, I doubt you'll be happy anywhere really.

[Anonymous]

My eldest is at RM, and I can't say she's seen any problem. Not that there aren't any problems, because of course no school is perfect, and I'm sure there are some rough kids. That hasn't been our experience, though.

If I were you, I'd stay, at least until the older child has graduated. Junior year is a really rough time to move.

[Anonymous]

What does your kid say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you think RM is tough, I doubt you'll be happy anywhere really.

That's not true. I went to RM--granted it was a decade ago. I was in the IB and that was full of rich kids, but in whatever classes I had with non-IB kids, like ceramics and PE, some of my classmates were pretty scary. RM draws from some high-crime areas of Rockville. There was one sort of normal girl in my ceramics class...she turned out to be pregnant.

[Anonymous]

Your kids need to be in honors classes in order to avoid being in class with thugs. Seriously. This is pretty much the case at ANY mcps HS. Sad, but true.

[Anonymous]

High Crime areas of Rockville is still far away from Inner City Detroit. I have kids at Both JW and RM (non-magnet) and they are fine. My kids both have really great friends and it is generally a good experience for them. I am sure WJ would be fine too...but we like our Rockville neighborhood so we have never looked to move (though we could).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think RM is tough, I doubt you'll be happy anywhere really.

That's not true. I went to RM--granted it was a decade ago. I was in the IB and that was full of rich kids, but in whatever classes I had with non-IB kids, like ceramics and PE, some of my classmates were pretty scary. RM draws from some high-crime areas of Rockville. There was one sort of normal girl in my ceramics class...she turned out to be pregnant.

I'm willing to bet that almost all HSs, including the W ones, have at least one pregnancy, but in those schools, it's very hushed and "taken care of" rather quickly.

[Anonymous]

I know a good mix of people that went to RM. Like others on DCUM, I think that RM's ratings are really padded by the IB program.

But it's up to you to decide what it's worth OP. Your kids don't necessarily need to hang out with the "bad" crowd in school.

Kind of like you mentioned the location is pretty convenient.

For what it's worth though, sometimes I think that Walter Johnson would be my top W school. Part of the reason why I like it is because it borders some non W schools, specifically the Kensington area. So I think there should be a good mix of students there. But that's in terms of socially and income wise. But you mentioned diversity being a factor to you and one of my concerns is that WJ doesn't seem that diverse racially. Then I also know my fair share people from there that might be considered as not doing so well in life. So going to a WJ or any other W school wouldn't necessarily guarantee success in life but there probably are more positive peer groups to choose from.

But you do have the advantage of just renting. So you can try out another area for your kids. Some people think that moving around a lot is rough on the kids too though.

[Anonymous]

I'm waiting for that poster who always mentions the "sex in the hallways" at RM.

[Anonymous]

I know some former teacher from RM. There are definitely some disruptive and pretty bad kids there. One of these teachers was really afraid of several of her students that had made some not so veiled threats.

All in all, it's a good school and most of the kids are great. I think WJ might be better, but it's not going to be night and day different. Rich kids can be disruptive and dangerous, too. I'd talk to your teen more seriously about his thoughts on changing schools and whether he'd want his sibling to go there in a few years.

I do think Rockville is a great area and it seems to be heating up in terms of real estate values and cache.

[Anonymous]

If not in magnet, I like "W" school option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your kids need to be in honors classes in order to avoid being in class with thugs. Seriously. This is pretty much the case at ANY mcps HS. Sad, but true.

I'm not sure I'd use the word "thug", but in general, you will probably find more disruptive behavior in any non-honor/AP type classes no matter what school.

Diversity, both race and SES, is important to my family, too. Unfortunately, all of the W schools lack them.

What type of behavior are we talking about here? Just clowning around? Threats to the teacher, other kids?

I have a few neighbors whose kids go to RM, non IB, and they seemed to think it's fine.

[Anonymous]

Try WJ. You too could get stabbed in the hall with scissors.

There is stuff everywhere (except Churchill, which from what I hear is perfect)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try WJ. You too could get stabbed in the hall with scissors.

There is stuff everywhere (except Churchill, which from what I hear is perfect)

At Churchill you get strangled with $200 designed jeans. At least, that's what I heard.