How to identify good schools

[Anonymous]

We are looking to move within Montgomery County and have two daycare age children. I understand that Great Schools ratings are not actually that informative. How does one figure out the quality of the schools? We hope to end up around North Bethesda / North Potomac / Rockville. I am most concerned about Elementary and Middle given our kids are young.

[Anonymous]

These are a few years out of date due to the pandemic, but take a look at the school survey results here:

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

The staff surveys are often more informative than the parents'.

[Anonymous]

Look at staff turnover. If you can, go visit the school, not sure if this is possible the Covid but we did this for K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These are a few years out of date due to the pandemic, but take a look at the school survey results here:

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

The staff surveys are often more informative than the parents'.

Never rely on a MCPS survey.

If you care about academics, just use the official school profiles (the PDF ones). They'll tell you which schools have high truancy or which meet UofMD college standards. Also compare the U.S. News school rankings, since that's the one most often used by admissions counselors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These are a few years out of date due to the pandemic, but take a look at the school survey results here:

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

The staff surveys are often more informative than the parents'.

Never rely on a MCPS survey.

If you care about academics, just use the official school profiles (the PDF ones). They'll tell you which schools have high truancy or which meet UofMD college standards. Also compare the U.S. News school rankings, since that's the one most often used by admissions counselors.

The survey results are much more illuminating than anything you'd find on US News.

[Anonymous]

Wootton cluster, Churchill cluster, Walter Johnson cluster, Churchill cluster, Whitman cluster are all excellent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wootton cluster, Churchill cluster, Walter Johnson cluster, Churchill cluster, Whitman cluster are all excellent.

For this poster, it’s “avoid black and brown people.” YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Ask people who actually use the schools - on here (but grain of salt), list serve, etc. They know what the children’s experience is like and have actually met the teachers/principal.

[Anonymous]

Only Takoma Park MS has 25 seats set aside for local kids.

[Anonymous]

Go on a tour where you get to meet the Principal and the teachers. That will tell you volumes - how they interact with each other, with the kids, with you, your kids. Volumes.

[Anonymous]

In my experience, if you like the neighborhood, you’ll like the school. The demographics, the feel, and the emphasis on community are all important. Join neighborhood Facebook groups and see what sort of concerns are shared, how neighbors interact and respond to questions, appeals for help, attempts to organize events, etc.

Also, how would parents’ commute be affected if you choose a specific neighborhood? Maximizing time at home with family will help ensure you can actually take advantage of everything a school and community have to offer.

This approach is probably not quite as applicable at the high school level because those draw from a wider number of neighborhoods, but for elementary school, I think it’s a good way to evaluate. Well-supported, well-resourced kids can do well in most MCPS schools, but you want to be sure you’re comfortable and happy in the neighborhood and in the school community.

[Anonymous]

I've found that Great Schools is really useful. Just avoid the "equity" ranking. Equity penalizes schools that are more diverse because it compares test scores of other races to whites. Maybe in some areas that's beneficial, but in my school it's not. Comparing UMC whites/Asians to under the poverty line Hispanics doesn't work. You're not really comparing races, you're comparing kids from vastly different income levels. Whereas where I grew up, there wasn't this disparity in wealth that fell along racial lines.

[Anonymous]

Yeah but great schools never gets culture down. We picked a school with high test scores and later learned it was all through first generation cram school. No kids were just kids. After school they all went to their Hagwons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wootton cluster, Churchill cluster, Walter Johnson cluster, Churchill cluster, Whitman cluster are all excellent.

For this poster, it’s “avoid black and brown people.” YMMV.

Such a terrible take. Plenty of black and brown people in these schools that moved here for the schools. Maybe not Whitman but the rest are plenty diverse. Signed - Wootton parent

[Anonymous]

I would recommend picking a high school based on what you can afford and then narrowing down to elementary based on neighborhood walkability etc. Schools within neighborhoods with good walkability are great for playing with friends, Halloween etc. Look at Fallsmead, Stone Mill, Beall....all great schools in a walkable neighborhood.