ESS/TPMS/Blair vs Sligo Creek/SSIMS/Northwood
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Anonymous
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We are currently zoned into ESS/TPMS/Blair but are considering a move to a bigger home in another neighborhood in Silver Spring that would likely put us in the Sligo Creek/SSIMS/Northwood pyramid.
Older kid won’t start kindergarten until 2023, younger one in 2026. So we know the boundary map could change our schools by then anyway. But assuming that it doesn’t, any thoughts on how these school pyramids compare to one another? I’m not crazy about giving up on our chance for TPMS/Blair but admittedly don’t know a lot about the other schools in the area. |
Anonymous
| We've been very pleased with 2 kids at SSIMS. It's a large school, so they have a lot of elective offerings. And the block schedule of 8 classes gives most kids room to take 2 electives each year. The default is that kids take world language classes all 3 years. PTSA is very active. Sorry, no SCES or Northwood experience. |
Anonymous
| We have one kid in SCES (French immersion) and another at TPMS (in the magnet there, after doing French at SCES). Experiences with both schools have been positive, though both have gone through principal transitions but hopefully on solid ground with that for awhile now. I would just say that when we moved 4 years ago and I was stressing about houses and schools someone gave me some good advice and said "First and foremost, find a house/neighborhood that works for your family." I think this was ultimately good advice (assuming you're looking in the same general area - e.g., close-in Silver Spring/Takoma Park). We don't have HS experience yet but knowing many families in the area with kids of various ages at various schools, the experiences are ultimately similar and if anything, the negatives are around the particular principal at the time, and that is not something you can really predict too far out. Some schools have more active/organized PTAs but that is also hard to predict, because it's often just a function of whether there are parents that particular year who are able and willing to lead. There are also a lot of programs (immersion, magnets, Down County Consortium) such that your kid may end up going to a different school than you thought he/she would. So my reaction to your question would be - between the two areas you are considering, I wouldn't think the differences between the schools are meaningful enough (and you can't predict with certainty where your kids will go) that you should let it dictate your housing decisions. |
Anonymous
| OP in case you don’t know Northwood High School soon have a new building, too |
Anonymous
| The same kid will do the same at any of these schools since they have the same curriculum and teachers. The differences are more about their home life and parental education level. |
Anonymous
| For high school regardless of where you are, you are part of the DCC consortium so you get some school choice. |
Anonymous
And when Northwood's new building opens (planned for fall 2025) it is likely some areas currently zoned to Blair will be rezoned to Northwood to relieve some of Blair's overcrowding. |
Anonymous
Yeah but not including Takoma Park. |
Anonymous
ESS is two blocks from the Blair/Northwood boundary line. It could very easily be rezoned. |
Anonymous
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We are in the SCES/SSIMS/Northwood pyramid. Didn't see any logic in trying to bet on high school boundaries with a kid this age (6). Great neighborhood.
My only dissatisfaction w/it is that SCES is MUCH more affluent than ESS and has issues typical of undiversified affluence. |
Anonymous
This is a good point. SCES has a much lower FARMS rate than any school surrounding it: Sligo Creek: 9.9% East Silver Spring: 52.2% Oak View: 69.0% Highland View: 48.4% Pine Crest: 49.1% Flora Singer: 43.1% Woodlin: 29.5% |
Anonymous
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The DCC allows you to lottery into a choice of high school among the 5 schools, regardlessof which is your "home" school. That being said, if you're not zoned for Blair, it's almost impossible to get that choice in the lottery, while if you put Northwood as your first choice, it's almost guaranteed. Blair is far superior to Northwood, especially because of its size, because there are many more options for electives, sports, and extracurricular activities than any other DCC school. Also, the science program at Northwood is sub-par, although they're working on improving it, and it may be fine by the time your kids are old enough.
There's also lots of high school magnets and academies which mean there's a good chance of not going to the home high school anyway. As for middle school, if you're at ESS, there's a chance of getting into a "local" seat at the TPMS magnet. My oldest is in 8th grade at the TPMS magnet and loves it. My younger child is crushed that they did not get selected in the lottery for next year. |
Anonymous
ESS is also about 5 blocks from TPMS. Every elementary in the DTSS area *except ESS* has weird skinny boundaries, apparently in order to mix DTSS kids with kids closer to the Beltway (whiter and wealthier). So they're all within a few blocks of the boundary for some other school. ESS is the only school with more natural boundaries. Except for the sliver across Georgia Ave, almost all the kids live within a 1/3 mile neighborhood walk, if not next door, and the same average distance to TPMS. I'm mixing a couple of issues together here, but this is a big reason we chose ESS. |
Anonymous
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I've had kids at both ESS/TMPS and SCES/SSIMS, and can attest that they are more alike than they are different. The differences are pretty small when you come down to it, just in terms of where the focus is and what extracurriculars are offered.
ESS is small, offers individualized attention, and has a focus on community building. Fun events include International Night, a robust STEM Fair, and the Talent Show. They were also an early pilot for the Enriched Literacy Curriculum, so have good options for advanced kids. SCES is larger but very well-run and the new administrators seem great. The French Immersion kids are kind of segregated from the rest of the school, but everyone has access to activities the Outdoor Classroom and the GeoBowl contest. The presence of the French program means they don't have access to the Enriched Literacy Curriculum, which is a shame. TPMS benefits from the STEM magnet and offers three years of Computer Science for all kids. It also has a strong competition math team and the best MS orchestra in MCPS. SSIMS has the IB program for middle school, and a closer-knit student community because a lot of the kids move over from the immersion program. The fact that the buliding is an old high school makes it interesting and they have an upcoming renovation to the gymnasiaum that will be great. |
Anonymous
Sligo Creek ES is less diverse than neighboring schools, but a lot of that is due to the immersion program. About 40% of the kids in the school are in French Immersion, and the program skews whiter and wealthier than the norm for eastern MoCo. Remove the French kids, and Sligo Creek looks more like the neighborhood. It would still be white than ESS and Oak View, but it would look more like Woodlin. |