Does anyone's kid actually go to Northwood HS?

[Anonymous]

We are considering a move to DCC and I have been browsing this forum to get an idea of which schools and neighborhoods would fit our family. I see people talk about Blair and Einstein, and Wheaton with it's Engineering program, but I haven't seen a single "My kid goes to Northwood and...." comment. We will be coming from a neighborhood that has a strong community and kids always outside playing in the street, etc. and would like to find something similar along with a strong elementary school.

We are interested in Blair because we are a STEM oriented household, but would like to consider cheaper neighborhood options since we don't have a huge budget.

I've seen some positive comments about Forest Knolls elementary and it looks like some of the neighborhoods zoned for Northwood are really cute. Does anyone have actual children that go to Northwood that could provide some experiences/feedback?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are considering a move to DCC and I have been browsing this forum to get an idea of which schools and neighborhoods would fit our family. I see people talk about Blair and Einstein, and Wheaton with it's Engineering program, but I haven't seen a single "My kid goes to Northwood and...." comment. We will be coming from a neighborhood that has a strong community and kids always outside playing in the street, etc. and would like to find something similar along with a strong elementary school.

We are interested in Blair because we are a STEM oriented household, but would like to consider cheaper neighborhood options since we don't have a huge budget.

I've seen some positive comments about Forest Knolls elementary and it looks like some of the neighborhoods zoned for Northwood are really cute. Does anyone have actual children that go to Northwood that could provide some experiences/feedback?

It's a fine school and offers the same opportunities and even teachers that are at every MCPS HS.

[Anonymous]

They're about to have a much bigger, shiny new school.

[Anonymous]

That's what I hear. But do anyone's kids currently attend the school?

[Anonymous]

No only orphans attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's what I hear. But do anyone's kids currently attend the school?

No. The ~1,800 students who attend Northwood are biological abnormalities who were born without parents. Or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's what I hear. But do anyone's kids currently attend the school?

I don't really understand what you're asking, but I live in the Northwood zone, and several kids in our neighborhood attend Northwood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's what I hear. But do anyone's kids currently attend the school?

I don't really understand what you're asking, but I live in the Northwood zone, and several kids in our neighborhood attend Northwood.

OP is asking "does anyone HERE have a kid at Northwood, and if so, what are you experiences." Is this really hard to understand? We're zoned for Northwood, but not at high school yet, so I was curious, but it really does seem like the answer is "no, no one here has a kid at Northwood."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's what I hear. But do anyone's kids currently attend the school?

No. The ~1,800 students who attend Northwood are biological abnormalities who were born without parents. Or something.

Thank you, PP. I was going to type a similar response.

My kid attends Northwood. I can assure OP that I am indeed his parent. And there are hundreds of us who actually, really, 100% honestly send our kids to Northwood! And they even go to college!

Now to be serious....Going into the DCC choice process, we felt good about all the options. Northwood is our home school. Lots of kids in the neighborhood attend. I was happy with the choice, but really impressed by the teachers and staff at BTSN a couple weeks ago. DS and his friends are happy. Most of them from our neighborhood and surrounding areas take Ride On buses to/from school. They are becoming quite savvy at navigating the transit system, which I appreciate as a parent because they don't need rides everywhere!

OP - if you are looking for overwhelming positive reviews of any DCC school other than Blair/Blair Magnets, you are in the wrong place. This is not the audience for that.

[Anonymous]

Northwood has great academies, but they aren't the competitive magnets, so this board won't rave about it. The principal is great. It will be in a brand new building in 2026, at which time it will probably be more sought after in the DCC choice process. For 2 years it will be in the Rebuilt Woodward HS while they build the new Northwood, so some families don't want the disruption.

DCC choice info https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/downcounty/
NHS https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/northwoodhs/
construction update https://apps.montgomerycountymd.gov/BASISCAPITAL/Common/Project.aspx?ID=P651907#:~:text=Therefore%2C%20the%20school%20will%20be,to%20be%20completed%20August%202026.
Detailed construction info https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/facilities/construction/project/northwoodhs.aspx

In short, I would purchase a home where you think you like the neighborhood. Depending on the timing for HS for your kids and their preferences in the DCC choice process, they may or may not end up at Northwood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's what I hear. But do anyone's kids currently attend the school?

No. The ~1,800 students who attend Northwood are biological abnormalities who were born without parents. Or something.

Thank you, PP. I was going to type a similar response.

My kid attends Northwood. I can assure OP that I am indeed his parent. And there are hundreds of us who actually, really, 100% honestly send our kids to Northwood! And they even go to college!

Now to be serious....Going into the DCC choice process, we felt good about all the options. Northwood is our home school. Lots of kids in the neighborhood attend. I was happy with the choice, but really impressed by the teachers and staff at BTSN a couple weeks ago. DS and his friends are happy. Most of them from our neighborhood and surrounding areas take Ride On buses to/from school. They are becoming quite savvy at navigating the transit system, which I appreciate as a parent because they don't need rides everywhere!

OP - if you are looking for overwhelming positive reviews of any DCC school other than Blair/Blair Magnets, you are in the wrong place. This is not the audience for that.

I don't know, the Einstein reviews from parents who actually have kids there are pretty overwhelmingly positive.

[Anonymous]

My kid attends Northwood! The teachers are kind and caring. The previous principal kept class sizes relatively small. DD is in the MC2 program and I'm pretty impressed with the amount of college prep and SAT prep they do through the program (on top of actually taking college classes). I think people love places like Blair because they have a lot to offer simply because they are such a large school. There are classes at Blair that you couldn't take at Northwood (electives). But I like the slightly smaller size of Northwood. I think each school in the DCC has something unique to offer so it's just whatever is most appealing to your child or to you as a family. Do some of the schools have higher test scores? Yes. But all of the schools in the DCC are diverse, all have something unique that makes them special, and I'm sure there are areas for improvement for all of them too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid attends Northwood! The teachers are kind and caring. The previous principal kept class sizes relatively small. DD is in the MC2 program and I'm pretty impressed with the amount of college prep and SAT prep they do through the program (on top of actually taking college classes). I think people love places like Blair because they have a lot to offer simply because they are such a large school. There are classes at Blair that you couldn't take at Northwood (electives). But I like the slightly smaller size of Northwood. I think each school in the DCC has something unique to offer so it's just whatever is most appealing to your child or to you as a family. Do some of the schools have higher test scores? Yes. But all of the schools in the DCC are diverse, all have something unique that makes them special, and I'm sure there are areas for improvement for all of them too.

Forgot to add that we were also a Forest Knolls family - great school and awesome community! They have a new principal this year but I think a lot of the other staff members stayed. Very active PTA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid attends Northwood! The teachers are kind and caring. The previous principal kept class sizes relatively small. DD is in the MC2 program and I'm pretty impressed with the amount of college prep and SAT prep they do through the program (on top of actually taking college classes). I think people love places like Blair because they have a lot to offer simply because they are such a large school. There are classes at Blair that you couldn't take at Northwood (electives). But I like the slightly smaller size of Northwood. I think each school in the DCC has something unique to offer so it's just whatever is most appealing to your child or to you as a family. Do some of the schools have higher test scores? Yes. But all of the schools in the DCC are diverse, all have something unique that makes them special, and I'm sure there are areas for improvement for all of them too.

This is one of things I like about the DCC and MCPS in general

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's what I hear. But do anyone's kids currently attend the school?

No. The ~1,800 students who attend Northwood are biological abnormalities who were born without parents. Or something.

Thank you, PP. I was going to type a similar response.

My kid attends Northwood. I can assure OP that I am indeed his parent. And there are hundreds of us who actually, really, 100% honestly send our kids to Northwood! And they even go to college!

Now to be serious....Going into the DCC choice process, we felt good about all the options. Northwood is our home school. Lots of kids in the neighborhood attend. I was happy with the choice, but really impressed by the teachers and staff at BTSN a couple weeks ago. DS and his friends are happy. Most of them from our neighborhood and surrounding areas take Ride On buses to/from school. They are becoming quite savvy at navigating the transit system, which I appreciate as a parent because they don't need rides everywhere!

OP - if you are looking for overwhelming positive reviews of any DCC school other than Blair/Blair Magnets, you are in the wrong place. This is not the audience for that.

Fellow Northwood parent. Agree with the above poster. We have been happy at this school. However, this forum will only give you a skewed view. Kids are off to a wide variety of colleges throughout the country.