Poolesville High School
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Anonymous
| Can any parents please talk to me about what it's like for kids at Poolesville if you don't get into any of the magnets? We are new to the area, but looking to buy here in the next few months. We are thinking of Poolesville because the schools are rated well and we like how it's less developed/more woodsy. We work from home so commute not relevant. The houses are also not as outrageously priced as in the W school districts either. Our kids are good students, GT, high MAPS, yada yada but that's like everyone around here and now there's a huge element of chance as I understand it also to the magnets since it's lottery. So how is it if you don't get into any of the 3 magnets? Are you allowed to take any of the magnet courses if you are not in the magnet? One of our kids is dreaming about becoming an environmental engineer. |
Anonymous
Yes, ISP kids can take magnet classes. There are also special programs just for ISP (like Ambassadors). |
Anonymous
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A co-worker's kids are at Poolesville (mine are further South). Out in the boondocks they don't seem to have much of the mid- and down-county politics. He raves about the school constantly and I don't think his kids are Magnet.
From a purely academic perspective, the school overall rivals Churchill in terms of non-Magnet performance and is consistently rated as one of the top HS in the county. Can't go wrong with Poolesville, imho. |
Anonymous
| Just know that there are a lot of complaints about the age of the building. |
Anonymous
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Kid is in SMCS magnet and we commute to Poolesville for school for an hour each way, every day. It is an excellent and caring school. Mostly middle class and people are not terrible like W school crowd. Supportive environment.
Non-magnet kids in ISP are also a bunch of really good, academically strong and well rounded kids and many of them cherry pick the magnet classes too. Some choose not to be in magnet programs because they excel in their EC activities and are competing at really high levels. So it is intense on some level for everyone. If you like the woodsy and remote feel of Poolesville, I would buy a house in a heartbeat there. It is a very small and quite community. Remain involved with the school and make sure that you touch base with counselors throughout the year. They are excellent resource for your kid to customize the best path for them because they are seeing all kinds of pathways in SMCS, Humanities and Global kids and so they are very well aware of many options. Caveat - it is a really old and sucky building. They are not getting a new build because this is upcounty and not Bethesda and that is really sad. They will get renovation only and that is very disappointing. Front office staff is really nice, friendly and welcoming. It is a town and school out of 1950s. Principal seems to be good too but COVID handling was an issue recently because of weird MCPS policies. |
Anonymous
#1 school in MD. In one of the past years, the ranking slipped because there was no records for kids doing grade level English and Math (Magnet and non-magnet both are usually accelerated) and only kids at grade level Math and English were SN kids in special programs, so US News assumed that majority of kids had not reached grade-level algebra and english. Watch out for this because this can happen again. School and MCPS need to proactively tell US News that the students in school are accelerated and have reached the milestones in middle school. |
Anonymous
No. The buildings are really sad. Even MCPS found it to be in a terrible state in its SIP reports. Then they decided to build a new HS in Crown. Bastards!! |
Anonymous
| Just don’t drink the water. |
Anonymous
They are doing improvements to the school that should be done in 2023 or 2024 |
Anonymous
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The school building is ancient -- the oldest part dates from 1911! The rest is from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s -- some of the ceilings have asbestos warnings posted on them. A separate science building was built in 2009. In spite of the physical deficiencies, staff and students form a welcoming school community here. My ninth grade Humanities child loves it. Construction starts in late January with the office and bus circle temporarily relocating to the north side of the building so that construction fencing can go up on the west side. We were told disruptions for students would be kept to a minimum. Fingers crossed. There are no plans in the current proposal to expand the gym to a full-size one -- we were told construction costs have gone up substantially. Move in to the new space is scheduled for Fall/Dec 2024. POOLESVILLE HIGH SCHOOL MAJOR CAPITAL PROJECT There is a presentation scheduled for the upcoming January 28th BOE meeting and a vote on approval. At the link below, under Meeting Information, there are the most recent PowerPoint presentations. https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/facilities/construction/project/poolesvillehs.aspx Also, the construction company Dustin Construction who is managing the project gives updates at each PHS PTSA meeting -- recordings of the whole PTSA meetings are viewable on the PHS PTSA website. |
Anonymous
| My DD is in SMCS at PHS and absolutely loves her school, teachers, friends and the opportunities that come through her school, such as summer programs and lectures. |
Anonymous
| Old schools breath better so they have more natural ventilation. |
Anonymous
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OP again. Thanks all. I'm new here. Can you please tell me what is ISP and Ambassadors? I'd like if the kids got into one of the magnets, of course, but I really cannot assume that, and they still need to be able to get a good education without us having to buy a house for 1.2 million. Hoping Poolesville is that sweet spot.
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Anonymous
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Correct me if I am wrong, but don't the Poolesville in-school-zone kids have certain seats in each magnet reserved? So that will be to your advantage if you live in Poolesville and have a much better chance of getting into the magnets.
My kid goes to the global ecology and raves about that program. She is very happy with the school as well as the program. |
Anonymous
| My understanding is that magnet seats are no longer reserved for Poolesville kids. |