Gaithersburg ES #8 boundary recommendation

[Anonymous]

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/boundarystudypdfs/GaithersburgES8_SupplementA.pdf

Option 4 recommended:

To Gaithersburg Elementary School #8
• Reassign Zones GA1b, GA2, GA3, GA4, and GA5 from Gaithersburg Elementary School
• Reassign Zones R3, R5, R6, and R7 from Rosemont Elementary School
• Reassign Zone W2 from Washington Grove Elementary School

To Gaithersburg Elementary School
• Reassign Zones SK2 and SK3 from Strawberry Knoll Elementary School

To Rosemont Elementary School
• Reassign SU2, SU3, SU4, and SU5 from Summit Hall Elementary School

To Washington Grove Elementary School
• Reassign Zones R2, R4, and R9 from Rosemont Elementary School

To Forest Oak Middle School
• Assign Gaithersburg Elementary School #8

To Gaithersburg Middle School
• Reassign Washington Grove Elementary School from Forest Oak Middle School

[Anonymous]

I didn't expect it to be perfect or even make sense, but many of the SK2 kids live within the walking boundaries of SKES. But they're being reassigned to GES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't expect it to be perfect or even make sense, but many of the SK2 kids live within the walking boundaries of SKES. But they're being reassigned to GES?

According to MCPS, the walk zone is indicated by SK1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't expect it to be perfect or even make sense, but many of the SK2 kids live within the walking boundaries of SKES. But they're being reassigned to GES?

SK2 is on the other side of Midcounty Highway from Strawberry Knoll ES. That's not the walk zone for Strawberry Knoll ES; they're on bus route 4108. However, it would be the walk zone for GES#8.

[Anonymous]

This is my HS cluster and I live in the area. Overall it looks pretty good to me. However, I think they should switch SK2 and Ga1b. SK2 has Forest Oak MS in the middle of it. SK2 should be assigned to Gaithersburg ES #8, which then articulates to Forest Oak. Ga1b has Gaithersburg MS in the middle of it. It should remain assigned to Gaithersburg ES and articulate to Gaithersburg MS. It seems odd that the houses across the street from the school don't attend the school. However, if that's intentional so that you don't have interactions with the school kids in the neighborhood immediately adjacent, then they should say that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is my HS cluster and I live in the area. Overall it looks pretty good to me. However, I think they should switch SK2 and Ga1b. SK2 has Forest Oak MS in the middle of it. SK2 should be assigned to Gaithersburg ES #8, which then articulates to Forest Oak. Ga1b has Gaithersburg MS in the middle of it. It should remain assigned to Gaithersburg ES and articulate to Gaithersburg MS. It seems odd that the houses across the street from the school don't attend the school. However, if that's intentional so that you don't have interactions with the school kids in the neighborhood immediately adjacent, then they should say that.

I don't know if it's intentional; more like a consequence. But the BOE doesn't really prioritize keeping neighboring kids together so it's not surprising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is my HS cluster and I live in the area. Overall it looks pretty good to me. However, I think they should switch SK2 and Ga1b. SK2 has Forest Oak MS in the middle of it. SK2 should be assigned to Gaithersburg ES #8, which then articulates to Forest Oak. Ga1b has Gaithersburg MS in the middle of it. It should remain assigned to Gaithersburg ES and articulate to Gaithersburg MS. It seems odd that the houses across the street from the school don't attend the school. However, if that's intentional so that you don't have interactions with the school kids in the neighborhood immediately adjacent, then they should say that.

I don't know if it's intentional; more like a consequence. But the BOE doesn't really prioritize keeping neighboring kids together so it's not surprising.

This would be difficult to do, given that there has to be a boundary somewhere. By definition, wherever there's a boundary, kids on one side will go to a different school from kids on the other side.

[Anonymous]

Look at the maps. It’s not that the kids are being split up it’s that the entire neighborhood around Forest Oak MS goes to Gaithersburg MS, and the entire neighborhood around Gaithersburg MS goes to Forest Oak MS. The schools are close enough to each other that they overlap walk zones, but it’s still odd that you wouldn’t walk to the closer MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at the maps. It’s not that the kids are being split up it’s that the entire neighborhood around Forest Oak MS goes to Gaithersburg MS, and the entire neighborhood around Gaithersburg MS goes to Forest Oak MS. The schools are close enough to each other that they overlap walk zones, but it’s still odd that you wouldn’t walk to the closer MS.

This is the root of the issue. I think they were also trying to avoid split articulations at the elementary school level, otherwise they could have had those two zones assigned the other way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the maps. It’s not that the kids are being split up it’s that the entire neighborhood around Forest Oak MS goes to Gaithersburg MS, and the entire neighborhood around Gaithersburg MS goes to Forest Oak MS. The schools are close enough to each other that they overlap walk zones, but it’s still odd that you wouldn’t walk to the closer MS.

This is the root of the issue. I think they were also trying to avoid split articulations at the elementary school level, otherwise they could have had those two zones assigned the other way.

And any board member is still free to pose this or any other option for consideration before the boundary is finalized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at the maps. It’s not that the kids are being split up it’s that the entire neighborhood around Forest Oak MS goes to Gaithersburg MS, and the entire neighborhood around Gaithersburg MS goes to Forest Oak MS. The schools are close enough to each other that they overlap walk zones, but it’s still odd that you wouldn’t walk to the closer MS.

Maybe if they were to do it that way, the FARMS rate between the 2 middle schools would be off-balanced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't expect it to be perfect or even make sense, but many of the SK2 kids live within the walking boundaries of SKES. But they're being reassigned to GES?

SK2 is on the other side of Midcounty Highway from Strawberry Knoll ES. That's not the walk zone for Strawberry Knoll ES; they're on bus route 4108. However, it would be the walk zone for GES#8.

I misread the map--it's SK3 that includes homes literally on Strawberry Knoll Rd, not across Midcounty. Some of them don't even cross Emory Grove. But SK3 is also being reassigned to GES.

[Anonymous]

It looks mcps used common sense to select option 4. All the color are continuous in option 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't expect it to be perfect or even make sense, but many of the SK2 kids live within the walking boundaries of SKES. But they're being reassigned to GES?

SK2 is on the other side of Midcounty Highway from Strawberry Knoll ES. That's not the walk zone for Strawberry Knoll ES; they're on bus route 4108. However, it would be the walk zone for GES#8.

I misread the map--it's SK3 that includes homes literally on Strawberry Knoll Rd, not across Midcounty. Some of them don't even cross Emory Grove. But SK3 is also being reassigned to GES.

SK3 is not in the walk zone for Strawberry Knoll ES, because they would all have to walk on Strawberry Knoll Road where there's no sidewalk, and some of them would have to walk on Emory Grove Road where there's no sidewalk. So instead they're on bus route 4113.

One of the lessons from this boundary study recommendation is that people who are in the bus zone of a school they're in walking distance of (1.0 miles for ES, 1.5 miles for MS, 2.0 miles for HS), and who don't want to potentially get reassigned to a different school, should push for a safe walking route, so that they can be in the walk zone instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the maps. It’s not that the kids are being split up it’s that the entire neighborhood around Forest Oak MS goes to Gaithersburg MS, and the entire neighborhood around Gaithersburg MS goes to Forest Oak MS. The schools are close enough to each other that they overlap walk zones, but it’s still odd that you wouldn’t walk to the closer MS.

Maybe if they were to do it that way, the FARMS rate between the 2 middle schools would be off-balanced.

Bingo!