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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
buying a home in silver spring
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Anonymous
| We are looking at homes in silver spring and have one 2 year old and one on the way. Any advice on how to research schools? Are there "bad" areas within silver spring for schools or are they acceptable across the board? We want to have good public school options through high school wherever we move. Thanks! |
Anonymous
| Welcome to the neighborhood OP! We live in Takoma Park right on the border of SS and love it here. There are so many threads on this already but I'll try to be helpful. If you've been house searching you know that Silver Spring is a huge area. There are even parts of Silver Spring that feed into Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (thought by many to be one of the top HS in Mont County). I hear that most of the elementary schools in close-in SS are generally acceptable...Takoma Park ES, East Silver Spring ES, Oaklawn, Rolling Terrace, etc, etc. It is MS and HS that get a little tricky. I'm not familiar with the schools in further out SS but Takoma Park MS and Silver Spring International MS are both considered to be pretty good. I think Eastern MS has a bit worse of a repuation. Also there is consensus that Blair is the best HS in the Downcounty Consortium but this is disputed by some. It depends on your kid as there are great magnet programs at the other schools. |
Anonymous
| If you look, there is a great deal of discussion on this forum about SS schools that should be helpful to you, and you can look at Montgomery County's web page for school information. Everyone has a different idea of what a good vs. bad school is. And magnet and language immersion programs make it unclear whether your child would even go to your home school. Our neighborhood is "Woodmoor" in Four Corners and many people send their kids to the public schools (Montgomery Knolls K-2, Pine Crest 3-5, Eastern, and then Blair). It is a terrific neighborhood for families. You can also look for general info re neighborhoods on the Off-Topic forum. Good luck! |
Anonymous
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On the elementary school level, check out these neighborhoods - Woodmoor (montgomery Knolls/Pinecrest), south four Corners (Forest Knolls), Indian Spring/Seven Oaks (fabulous, under the radar school is Highland View), and Woodside (Woodlin). I hear good things about Oakland Terrace, but it is an enormous school. I hear lots of bad stuff about New Hampshire Estates, but it is all from people who chose not to send their kids to the school.
One thing to keep in mind if you have 2 kids is that New Hampshire Estates and Montgomery Knolls are primary schools - k-2 only. If your kids are more than 2 years apart, they won't go to the same school until they are seniors in high school. May not be a big deal overall, but it matters to some people. |
Anonymous
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http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/
use the school-o-dex to get information. Our local school is Forest Knolls, which is better than the schools in either Woodmore or Kemp Mill area. Both of those areas are nice to live it but many people send their children to private schools (Catholic or Jewish) and the public schools do not reflect the neighborhood that lives in the area. You need to print out all the schools info, like this: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02309.pdf and compare to other schools. That is one school, but each school has that information. If you don't know what the terms mean, call the school and ask. |
Anonymous
| We love Forest Estates. We are in Oakland Terrace. I wouldn't worry about the school being big since it won't affect you. A new school is opening in 2012. We are walking distance to the metro and the neighborhood is full of young children. In general, the housing prices in SS reflect perceptions of the middle and high school options. |
Anonymous
We are neighbors! Also love Forest Estates and being within walking distance of a metro. It's a great neighborhood for families. At first I was wary of the middle and high school we are slated for several years down the road, but things seem to be moving in a positive direction. I have heard these schools will be given extra funding and classes will be smaller, which I think is a huge plus. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
| Some of the elementary schools in SS receive TItle I funding, which allows them to have smaller class sizes. Some say Title I is good, because of the smaller class sizes, but others say TItle I is bad because it means there are more children from lower socio-economic classes and therefore more likely to need more attention from the teacher. (before you flame me, I'm just repeating what I've heard/read, not saying I agree with it). |
Anonymous
| Silver Spring is so ginormous that it's really tough to give you any helpful guidance without knowing which part of SS you are considering. There's downtown SS, there's the Woodside area, there's Forest Glen, there's the part that borders Kensington, there's the Colesville area, there's the 4 corners area, there's the Aspen Hill area (and parts in between) --- and they all have SS addresses, very different demographics, and different school situations. |
Anonymous
| We decided to move out of SS because the only neighborhood I was willing to invest in (Woodside with the Woodling ES, inside the Beltway) had no houses on the market that suited us. We are no fans of any of the MS or HS in Silver Spring. We also liked Takoma Park with its cool community and magnet program, but that was too far from DH's work. |
Anonymous
| To 9:46 poster, where did you end up moving to? How is it where you are now? |
Anonymous
| I'm 9:37. We left SS for Brookeville, MD (larger yet affordable homes on large lots in neighborhoods with walking trails and greenspace with great schools and a small-town, family-friendly feel; sure the commute isn't great, but it's a trade off we were willing to make for all the other benefits). Also FWIW, I'm a lifelong county resident who grew up in Silver Spring (20906). I used to think that Olney/Brookeville were the "country." Now that I live here, I appreciate the quasi-small town feel (we just celebrated Olney Days over the weekend) but realize it's definitely not the country. It's actually centrally located to most of the areas we frequent for shopping, dining, etc. |
Anonymous
| We also looked in Silver Spring/Bethesda and ended up in Olney. |