Option H is permanent and the old Wootton HS campus will be closed for good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I come and go from this thread and have not kept up but just want to say again - I AM A WOOTTON PARENT THAT IS FOR OPTION H - it makes the most fiscal sense. New building and we do not need two big schools. Wootton can sit as did Northwood and Woodward till a need comes for it to reopen.

Also, the current Wootton population has space in the old building for more students let alone the new building so we welcome with open arms Jones Lane elementary and/or whoever else puts us at or near capacity.

Looking forward to the change and getting out of that old building!

This is why we have problems with who gets elected in this area-it’s because of uninformed people like you who don’t even know what the actual options are. Jones Lane Elementary? That’s not even a hypothetical proposed elementary to be added. Not now or down the line. You clearly don’t even know what’s going on. Maybe you should attend the meeting today so you can at least familiarize yourself with the actual information.

Sorry me again I meant Fields Road not Jones Lane my bad!!!

The point still stands though. We welcome any schools that get us to capacity, not over crowded but capacity. We close Wootton and wait till it is necessary to reopen. Again, as has been done many times before, Northwood, Woodward etc.

And for those wondering we are a Cold Spring, Cabin John, Wootton family.

Okay just remember that Option H may not be implemented as is.

And any changes they do decide to make, may end up squeezing out a current school, which is one of the reasons a lot of families are concerned and skeptical.

Being in Cold Spring, which I think is 20854, your area is a prime candidate to get squeezed out. Due to proximity to the Crown HS location and your small school size.

So your area could end up getting rezoned to RM or Churchill. Both are great schools and isn't a bad situation.

But is a possibility you need to be aware of.

MCPS should add Fields Road ES to Crown HS or at least send it to QO. Definitely not to Gaithersburg HS, which already has capacity issues and a relatively high FARMS rate. And they can probably add more areas in the Gaithersburg area, which Crown was originally intended for. So with these addiions, some current Wootton areas may not fit in.

I think RM or Churchill is highly unlikely but would make total sense if they did so. I would be okay with either option. As I have said throughout the years, the whole elementary school would go together, not just your kid. They will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait, why would Jones Lane go to Crown? That's a hike for them. I have not seen that suggested anywhere.

I think the idea of moving Wootton en masse is stupid. Some of the Wootton neighborhoods are genuinely pretty far from Crown. It's not as simple as saying a couple miles. We all know how long it can take to travel a couple miles in this area. And there are lots of neighborhoods closer to Crown that would benefit from attending that school, and that have been looking forward to it.

MCPS should do what it originally set out to do - create zones that alleviate overcrowding and make sense geographically. Yes, that would probably move some Wootton neighborhoods to Crown, along with QO and GHS neighborhoods, and some Churchill and RM neighborhoods to Wootton. But that is the best way to achieve the best outcome for the largest number of people. If Wootton has to be closed for some reason (personally, I suspect the condition isn't that bad or it wouldn't have been passed over so often for reno), then at least rezone the Wootton neighborhoods in a way that makes geographic sense. The southern Wootton neighborhoods should go to RM and Churchill, the northern to Crown, not that that helps with overcrowding.

I understand why Wootton families in the southern neighborhoods are ticked - could be a 40 minute roundtrip to school for them. That's kind of ridiculous.when there are 3 high schools in more reasonable proximity to them. I think we'd all be pissed off in the same situation if we're honest with ourselves and put down our swords. A 30-45 minute roundtrip could be genuinely problematic if your kid misses the bus, stays late for an activity or to watch a game, needs to be picked up for a doctor's appointment, etc. This would be a real burden on lots of families.

Just want to note here that Stone Mill families have been making this trek in the direction of traffic for years to get to Cabin John. Now they get relief and someone else makes the drive in the other direction. That is the way the cookie crumbles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I come and go from this thread and have not kept up but just want to say again - I AM A WOOTTON PARENT THAT IS FOR OPTION H - it makes the most fiscal sense. New building and we do not need two big schools. Wootton can sit as did Northwood and Woodward till a need comes for it to reopen.

Also, the current Wootton population has space in the old building for more students let alone the new building so we welcome with open arms Jones Lane elementary and/or whoever else puts us at or near capacity.

Looking forward to the change and getting out of that old building!

Can you qualify this is what elementary school you're zoned for?

Because remember everything is still under discussion and review and new proposals may also come out in the next several weeks.

So maybe if MCPS sees that there is a good faction of families willing to go to Crown, they can come up with something to make everyone happy.

ie draw in your elementary school, Jones Lane ES (don't know how this school got drawn in the conversation), Fields Road ES and Rosemont to Crown HS.

This frees up Wootton to take in portions of Churchill, helping it with it's overcrowding issues and maybe have Horizon Hill returned to it, making some of the older Horizon Hills residents happy.

The Crown location is going to open either way but it's not hard to fill it with the immediate surrounding areas without closing Wootton.

Having to close Wootton is questionable. Where one would hope/think that MCPS had the budget to keep it open and running down the road, even if it's held together by ducttape. Unless there really had been a plan for a while to close it and is why they never devoted funds to it.

Most of HH don't want to go to Wootton. Most of the ones who want HH to go back to Wootton don't even have kids in school anymore.

-signed HH parent

Exactly! +1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, why would Jones Lane go to Crown? That's a hike for them. I have not seen that suggested anywhere.

I think the idea of moving Wootton en masse is stupid. Some of the Wootton neighborhoods are genuinely pretty far from Crown. It's not as simple as saying a couple miles. We all know how long it can take to travel a couple miles in this area. And there are lots of neighborhoods closer to Crown that would benefit from attending that school, and that have been looking forward to it.

MCPS should do what it originally set out to do - create zones that alleviate overcrowding and make sense geographically. Yes, that would probably move some Wootton neighborhoods to Crown, along with QO and GHS neighborhoods, and some Churchill and RM neighborhoods to Wootton. But that is the best way to achieve the best outcome for the largest number of people. If Wootton has to be closed for some reason (personally, I suspect the condition isn't that bad or it wouldn't have been passed over so often for reno), then at least rezone the Wootton neighborhoods in a way that makes geographic sense. The southern Wootton neighborhoods should go to RM and Churchill, the northern to Crown, not that that helps with overcrowding.

I understand why Wootton families in the southern neighborhoods are ticked - could be a 40 minute roundtrip to school for them. That's kind of ridiculous.when there are 3 high schools in more reasonable proximity to them. I think we'd all be pissed off in the same situation if we're honest with ourselves and put down our swords. A 30-45 minute roundtrip could be genuinely problematic if your kid misses the bus, stays late for an activity or to watch a game, needs to be picked up for a doctor's appointment, etc. This would be a real burden on lots of families.

Just want to note here that Stone Mill families have been making this trek in the direction of traffic for years to get to Cabin John. Now they get relief and someone else makes the drive in the other direction. That is the way the cookie crumbles.

The whole Stone Mill to Cabin John thing never made sense to me and why we didn't really consider that area. In hindsight it's a great community and elementary school, so was our loss.

But it's an example of how MCPS comes up with crazy things and leads to weird boundary issues like they have now.

The developers must've really been in MCPS's pockets to have areas in North Potomac zoned for anything other than QO at the time. And all of this new construction around the North Potomac area going on now with billboards saying how the developments are zoned for Wootton.

But if MCPS zoned everything by closest school and no situation where anyone has to drive by several schools to get to their local schools, makes the most sense from a logistic standpoint.

There are some equity issues and why they do some of these things. Previous poster clarified they mixed up Fields Road and Jones Lane. But Jones Lane does have an island off of Muddy Branch that goes there. That island could potentially go to the new Crown HS location but it would make Jones Lane even less diverse then it is. Also QO after these proposed changes if it drops off the Brown Station and Fields Road areas.

[Anonymous]

I think the point here is that this is EXACTLY why a county wide boundary study would have been the right thing to do but many families did not want it.

At the end of the day crazy boundaries have always been there. Some people "benefit", some don't - will never make everyone happy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, why would Jones Lane go to Crown? That's a hike for them. I have not seen that suggested anywhere.

I think the idea of moving Wootton en masse is stupid. Some of the Wootton neighborhoods are genuinely pretty far from Crown. It's not as simple as saying a couple miles. We all know how long it can take to travel a couple miles in this area. And there are lots of neighborhoods closer to Crown that would benefit from attending that school, and that have been looking forward to it.

MCPS should do what it originally set out to do - create zones that alleviate overcrowding and make sense geographically. Yes, that would probably move some Wootton neighborhoods to Crown, along with QO and GHS neighborhoods, and some Churchill and RM neighborhoods to Wootton. But that is the best way to achieve the best outcome for the largest number of people. If Wootton has to be closed for some reason (personally, I suspect the condition isn't that bad or it wouldn't have been passed over so often for reno), then at least rezone the Wootton neighborhoods in a way that makes geographic sense. The southern Wootton neighborhoods should go to RM and Churchill, the northern to Crown, not that that helps with overcrowding.

I understand why Wootton families in the southern neighborhoods are ticked - could be a 40 minute roundtrip to school for them. That's kind of ridiculous.when there are 3 high schools in more reasonable proximity to them. I think we'd all be pissed off in the same situation if we're honest with ourselves and put down our swords. A 30-45 minute roundtrip could be genuinely problematic if your kid misses the bus, stays late for an activity or to watch a game, needs to be picked up for a doctor's appointment, etc. This would be a real burden on lots of families.

Just want to note here that Stone Mill families have been making this trek in the direction of traffic for years to get to Cabin John. Now they get relief and someone else makes the drive in the other direction. That is the way the cookie crumbles.

I just want to note here that Stone Mill families knew the trek when they bought their house. Now they get relief at the expense of others?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The big winner in this situation will be private schools. Parents who are unhappy with the new school boundaries, and are affluent enough to do so, will simply send their kids to private schools. Unfortunately not everyone can afford that. Some families will end up in a less desirable academic situation with no ability to buy their way out. Montgomery county will have one less top rated school.

It’s so interesting cus they want to destroy it but they also love to publish it as a top rated school. Make it make sense.

Yawn.

This PP doesn’t care about the loss of a top school because s/he doesn’t live in Wootton.

MCPS wants to lift and shift Wootton kids to Crown, then change the name of Crown to Wootton in order to continue to trade on its reputation as a top school. This is what the developers around Crown want too because they can sell their townhomes at top dollar to gullible buyers. Why do you think the land for Crown (prime real estate) was given to MCPS for free?

Seems like the seeds for Option H were planted years ago, coupled with removing Wootton from the CIP and building neglect to encourage Wootton families to accept Crown. This would move the “Wootton” boundaries to where MCPS wanted them years ago through boundary studies but which Wootton parents strongly opposed. It would also cover up the risk of under enrollment at Crown and save $100M+ in renovation costs for the current Wootton building (which could be funneled into other pet projects).

MCPS doesn’t see Option H as a loss of a top school. It’s a win for them on multiple fronts.

Not the referenced pp. But when you put it this way, I'm sold! MCPS is completely unfair with some kids getting "top" schools and other kids getting, what, "bottom" schools? Step back and think of this in terms of morality and public policy rather than your own kid. If you were behind a veil of ignorance (you didn't know which school your own kid was in) would you intentionally design a system where there are "top" and "bottom" schools?

The bolded bit is the best argument I've seen in favor of Option H!

Your bias is showing. You know exactly what the PP meant. Care to explain how Wootton became a top performing school?

Hint: it wasn’t because MCPS funneled resources to Wootton at the expense of other schools.

Write it yourself. I dare you.

My question was to you because you claimed “MCPS is completely unfair with some kids getting "top" schools and other kids getting, what, "bottom" schools? … intentionally design a system where there are "top" and "bottom" schools?“

You clearly think MCPS is behind Wootton’s success and that it did so by taking away from other schools. Alternatively, you think Wootton is unfair by succeeding where other schools are failing, and you want to redistribute that success. Back up your argument or back away from it.

Your move.

So you don't want to share why you think that Wootton became a top performing school? Clearly you have a theory, given you gave a "hint."

Smart people can figure it out. You must need the, "explain it to me like I am a 5-year-old" version. Clearly not in the Wootton catchment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The big winner in this situation will be private schools. Parents who are unhappy with the new school boundaries, and are affluent enough to do so, will simply send their kids to private schools. Unfortunately not everyone can afford that. Some families will end up in a less desirable academic situation with no ability to buy their way out. Montgomery county will have one less top rated school.

It’s so interesting cus they want to destroy it but they also love to publish it as a top rated school. Make it make sense.

Yawn.

This PP doesn’t care about the loss of a top school because s/he doesn’t live in Wootton.

MCPS wants to lift and shift Wootton kids to Crown, then change the name of Crown to Wootton in order to continue to trade on its reputation as a top school. This is what the developers around Crown want too because they can sell their townhomes at top dollar to gullible buyers. Why do you think the land for Crown (prime real estate) was given to MCPS for free?

Seems like the seeds for Option H were planted years ago, coupled with removing Wootton from the CIP and building neglect to encourage Wootton families to accept Crown. This would move the “Wootton” boundaries to where MCPS wanted them years ago through boundary studies but which Wootton parents strongly opposed. It would also cover up the risk of under enrollment at Crown and save $100M+ in renovation costs for the current Wootton building (which could be funneled into other pet projects).

MCPS doesn’t see Option H as a loss of a top school. It’s a win for them on multiple fronts.

Not the referenced pp. But when you put it this way, I'm sold! MCPS is completely unfair with some kids getting "top" schools and other kids getting, what, "bottom" schools? Step back and think of this in terms of morality and public policy rather than your own kid. If you were behind a veil of ignorance (you didn't know which school your own kid was in) would you intentionally design a system where there are "top" and "bottom" schools?

The bolded bit is the best argument I've seen in favor of Option H!

Your bias is showing. You know exactly what the PP meant. Care to explain how Wootton became a top performing school?

Hint: it wasn’t because MCPS funneled resources to Wootton at the expense of other schools.

Write it yourself. I dare you.

My question was to you because you claimed “MCPS is completely unfair with some kids getting "top" schools and other kids getting, what, "bottom" schools? … intentionally design a system where there are "top" and "bottom" schools?“

You clearly think MCPS is behind Wootton’s success and that it did so by taking away from other schools. Alternatively, you think Wootton is unfair by succeeding where other schools are failing, and you want to redistribute that success. Back up your argument or back away from it.

Your move.

So you don't want to share why you think that Wootton became a top performing school? Clearly you have a theory, given you gave a "hint."

Smart people can figure it out. You must need the, "explain it to me like I am a 5-year-old" version. Clearly not in the Wootton catchment.

Yes, I need the explain it to me like I am five version. I am not in the Wootton cachement. Will you share?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The big winner in this situation will be private schools. Parents who are unhappy with the new school boundaries, and are affluent enough to do so, will simply send their kids to private schools. Unfortunately not everyone can afford that. Some families will end up in a less desirable academic situation with no ability to buy their way out. Montgomery county will have one less top rated school.

It’s so interesting cus they want to destroy it but they also love to publish it as a top rated school. Make it make sense.

Yawn.

This PP doesn’t care about the loss of a top school because s/he doesn’t live in Wootton.

MCPS wants to lift and shift Wootton kids to Crown, then change the name of Crown to Wootton in order to continue to trade on its reputation as a top school. This is what the developers around Crown want too because they can sell their townhomes at top dollar to gullible buyers. Why do you think the land for Crown (prime real estate) was given to MCPS for free?

Seems like the seeds for Option H were planted years ago, coupled with removing Wootton from the CIP and building neglect to encourage Wootton families to accept Crown. This would move the “Wootton” boundaries to where MCPS wanted them years ago through boundary studies but which Wootton parents strongly opposed. It would also cover up the risk of under enrollment at Crown and save $100M+ in renovation costs for the current Wootton building (which could be funneled into other pet projects).

MCPS doesn’t see Option H as a loss of a top school. It’s a win for them on multiple fronts.

Not the referenced pp. But when you put it this way, I'm sold! MCPS is completely unfair with some kids getting "top" schools and other kids getting, what, "bottom" schools? Step back and think of this in terms of morality and public policy rather than your own kid. If you were behind a veil of ignorance (you didn't know which school your own kid was in) would you intentionally design a system where there are "top" and "bottom" schools?

The bolded bit is the best argument I've seen in favor of Option H!

Your bias is showing. You know exactly what the PP meant. Care to explain how Wootton became a top performing school?

Hint: it wasn’t because MCPS funneled resources to Wootton at the expense of other schools.

Write it yourself. I dare you.

My question was to you because you claimed “MCPS is completely unfair with some kids getting "top" schools and other kids getting, what, "bottom" schools? … intentionally design a system where there are "top" and "bottom" schools?“

You clearly think MCPS is behind Wootton’s success and that it did so by taking away from other schools. Alternatively, you think Wootton is unfair by succeeding where other schools are failing, and you want to redistribute that success. Back up your argument or back away from it.

Your move.

So you don't want to share why you think that Wootton became a top performing school? Clearly you have a theory, given you gave a "hint."

DP, but i’ll take a crack at it. It’s a strong PTA. I have never seen a top school that doesn’t have a strong PTA-yet the very low performing schools almost all have non existent or incredibly inactive PTA’s. There seems to be a direct correlation between that and student success.

No, it’s the strength of the principal and offerings. Our school could have a strong pts but it’s the same parents who are set in their ways doing the minimum who run things.

[Anonymous]

I just hear that Damascus HS construction fund is not even approved to be funded yet for it to be completed by 2031. Not sure if it is true statement or not. If it is true, I wonder if Wootton families would give it a second thought about their current aging school buidling situation anf option H.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just hear that Damascus HS construction fund is not even approved to be funded yet for it to be completed by 2031. Not sure if it is true statement or not. If it is true, I wonder if Wootton families would give it a second thought about their current aging school buidling situation anf option H.

Wootton families don't care that other schools may be in worse condition. Its all about their wants. They also leave out the part that their school has had regular updates.

[Anonymous]

We just watched Wootton families act like the gangsters they think my kids are as they bullied the board. Ballsy move that would only be made by highly entitled individuals that think they are untouchable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just watched Wootton families act like the gangsters they think my kids are as they bullied the board. Ballsy move that would only be made by highly entitled individuals that think they are untouchable.

They funny thing is they are the bullies as one went to the BOE asking that they not remodel a Silver Spring Elementary school in worse condition than theirs and use that funding to fix Wooton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just watched Wootton families act like the gangsters they think my kids are as they bullied the board. Ballsy move that would only be made by highly entitled individuals that think they are untouchable.

I’m glad that board member Rita Montoya mentioned that it’s okay to be passionate but that our children are listening. The one Wootton man who said “over my dead body” was very poor taste. I don’t think he meant it but it came off as not appropriate or respectful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just watched Wootton families act like the gangsters they think my kids are as they bullied the board. Ballsy move that would only be made by highly entitled individuals that think they are untouchable.

What exactly did they do to bully the board? Most of them spoke within their allotted time, one of them might have gone slightly over their time, and one of them may have been a bit overzealous.

But is it any different then when other community members come to speak and have support in the background? Like the Crown and Fields Road families from a couple of weeks ago and they had everyone wearing the yellow vests and there were some today too.

How is one group different then the other? Or were they both trying to bully the board?