Moving to MoCo from out of state — W schools are not an option
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Anonymous
| Which of the other high schools are the best? I recently heard about gang problems at some of them, which is alarming. We obviously want to avoid those. Which ones are experiencing gang violence? Are any of the ones that are not W schools and not filled with gangs better or worse for kids on an IEP? |
Anonymous
| MCPS’s website has loads of information on each school, including a survey of students and staff about how safe they feel at the schools. |
Anonymous
| Why MoCo specifically? |
Anonymous
| I would look at Richard Montgomery. |
Anonymous
| The W schools have issues too. There are gangs/violence at every school. |
Anonymous
| A lot depends on your budget and commute. |
Anonymous
|
Where will you be commuting to? MoCo is pretty big and traffic is bad, so unless you work at home, you should narrow your search area based on commute first, schools second.
Overall - Richard Montgomery, Quince Orchard, Poolesville and Sherwood all have good reputations in their respective areas of the county. |
Anonymous
| I would prioritize by where I want to live. I live in RM area, which I love. If I couldn’t be here, I’d consider the neighborhoods next best suited for my lifestyle, which would be those that feed into Rockville or Quince Orchard. |
Anonymous
|
It's so hard to judge this year. The schools have more violence than usual. It's not really gang-related, though. There are gangs. But the violence right now is just inter-personal disputes that kids can't seem to solve without using their hands or weapons. This has been the reality since coming back from COVID. I hope it calms down as we move into next school year.
I'd focus more on the IEP. My son goes to Magruder and has a 504, and I don't feel they are very good about following it. His experience in middle school was much different. Very supported learning. |
Anonymous
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Why’s aren’t the W schools an option? Cost of housing? commute? How old are your kids? Do you care about split articulation on elementary school? You have not given us enough info to give you any advice.
But, you probably know that because this seems like lazy trolling. |
Anonymous
| We really like Blake HS, which is in North Silver Spring, sort of on the way to Ashton/Olney. It's a small school with lots of excellent teachers who have been there for a very long time. The principal is so well-loved that, at football games, kids run around the field with flags with his face on them. They just love him, and he's so supportive, attending all kinds of school events and just generally pumping the kids up at every turn. Blake has a very diverse community, and my son has loved his experience there. I would call it off the beaten path, kind of out of the fray so to speak. The other thing that's nice is that the area is so much less congested than other parts of the county. There are many communities with quite large lots and the cost of a home is generally quite a bit less than Bethesda or even downtown Silver Spring. |
Anonymous
+1 Think of it this way. The W schools have wealthier parents who can afford to hire lawyers and get their kids out of jams which don’t end up making news. What is your house budget? Do you have a community to consider? All of these will help you narrow down the school clusters. |
Anonymous
| Avoid MCPS if you can…seriously suboptimal. I would pick the cheapest house and go private. |
Anonymous
| Also, there is affordable housing in the Ws if one of the areas is actually better for your work life. |
Anonymous
Bad advice. We left mcps to go one of the top privates in DC and has been a waste of money. |