Woodlin/Sligo vs Sligo Creek/SSIM
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Anonymous
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House shopping and hoping for some insight or perspective on long term planning - we have a 1 and a 4 year old and looking for a house that potentially could work through high school.
I've been focused on high schools but with the DCC, I wondering if I should focus more on the middle schools. I've read good things about SSIM - is that preferred over Sligo Middle? Also is Woodlin and Sligo Creek comparable with happy families? Or would it be smart to go to Woodlin so that we're in zone for AE instead of Northwood even if middle school may not be as strong? Due to commutes, these are about as far out as we are comfortable going. Thanks! |
Anonymous
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I don't have school advice other than Einstein is a wonderful school and community (I know nothing about Northwood, it's probably wonderful too.).
One thing I wish Id been more focused on when we were buying our house in an unwalkable area of Kensington, was how important it would be for my middle and high school kids to be able to walk places on their own. I'd factor walkability into your house search. |
Anonymous
Yes, walking/biking/transit. So that they can get themselves places, rather than relying on you to drive them everywhere. |
Anonymous
| PP - that's great to hear about AE, it seems to be a common theme. And great point about walkability once they are older - I've been keeping that in mind for my own preference, but definitely important to consider for when they kids are old enough to walk places on their own (which seems lightyears away, but I know it isn't!) |
Anonymous
| OP, with the downcounty consortium and magnet programs, your kids may not even be going to AE or Northwood. Pick the house you want and the location you want. |
Anonymous
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A couple of notes (I live in that area and have kids in elementary)
1. It's helpful to get feedback from people with kids actually in the schools (including middle schools) but keep in mind that all of the DCC schools are constantly changing (for the most part, getting better and better as demographic changes) so by the time your kiddos are there, these schools should be at least as good as they are now, but likely even better. 2. From personal experience at both Woodlin and Sligo Creek (and many friends at both), FWIW the PTA at Woodlin is much more organized and high-functioning... you'll likely have a better experience there with after school clubs, events, and other types of support. I'm not sure the entire reason why - perhaps because Woodlin is overall higher SES, or because the SCES principal is not well-liked (and therefore people shy away from volunteering for the PTA and working with her), or because SCES has an immersion program so is "split" in that way... 3. If you do SCES/SSIMS, they are right next to each other so if you're in SCES district you'll end up living pretty close to middle school too. If you're in Woodlin district, Sligo MS is a bit up Georgia so not as convenient. And Einstein is way the heck up in Wheaton. |
Anonymous
Einstein is actually in Kensington. |
Anonymous
| I don’t know anything about Sligo MS, but SSIMS has far surpassed our expectations. The administration is heat. The 8 period block schedule allowed DD to choose from a wide variety of electives that are not available at most mcps middle schools. It is an IB middle years program school. All 8th graders do a community service project which is good experience in long term planning and goal setting. |
Anonymous
Well, if you're going to be that precise, it's actually North Kensington, not Kensington. Check Google Maps. |
Anonymous
Very true that the schools keep changing, so current elementary is probably most relevant since we are a year out from it. I hope the upward trend continues! Interesting point about the PTA, Woodlin sounds more my speed. Thank you for your insight! |
Anonymous
I think of it as being in Wheaton too, because it's closer to the Wheaton Metro station and the Wheaton mall than the Kensington train station. It's the same reason I think of Wheaton HS (and Thomas Edison) as being in Glenmont, not Wheaton - and Kennedy HS too. But that's my personal mental geography, not USPS zip codes! |
Anonymous
Proximity to the Silver Spring library and downtown Silver Spring is a big benefit for kids at SSIMS. |
Anonymous
I don't know why you are deliberately being obtuse, but it's in Kensington. It's not in Wheaton. The official address is: 11135 Newport Mill Rd. Kensington, MD 20895 You don't need to say, North Kensington. You just need to say Kensington. Saying Wheaton however, is wrong. I get that it's close to Wheaton. I was actually just correcting the Wheaton poster in case they were getting the high school confused with Wheaton High School. On a message board where people aren't talking to each other in person, you have to be clear. |
Anonymous
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Lots of things to consider. I know families zoned for both schools and many are happy, some have used the DCC choice process to get their kids into Blair and some have opted for private schools
I suggest you spend a little time driving around the neighborhoods feeding into each high school to find areas you would enjoy living in. There are for instance parts of Kensington (Homewood) where you can easily walk into old town Kensington which has a library, bakery, gym, gardening store and a few cafes and restaurants. I also suggest you spend ten minutes poring through this report on MCPS SAT scores broken down by school which also provides very detailed SAT participation rates and SAT scores by race and socioeconomic status. The average score for a school might be low but you can see how kids in different demographics perform. It is a long report but worth going through in its entirety especially since you are only considering two high schools https://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2017/1771102HS%20Princ_SAT%20Partic_Perf%20Class%20of%202017.pdf Another data point is the schools at a glance report which is a brief report which gives a nice overview but is not as useful as the above report on SAT scores https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04789.pdf https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04796.pdf |
Anonymous
| You want the zone for wj, not these |