Need opinions (good/bad) on Ritchie Park/Julius West/Richard Montgomery Cluster

[Anonymous]

Thanks--we are looking at possibly moving to that cluster and need honest opinions as we are not from this area originally and have no idea if this is a good school zone. I am concerned about gangs, violence and crime. In addition to any other comments regarding academics too.

[Anonymous]

Have you looked at parent reviews at www.greatschools.org? Also surveys at http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schoolodex/schooloverview.aspx?s=02227

[Anonymous]

Rockville is not exactly a hub of gang violence. Your kid will be fine.

[Anonymous]

My son starts K at Ritchie Park in the fall. We are in a neighborhood that walks to Ritchie Park. Everyone in our neighborhood loves the school. It got a new principal this year and no one knows anything about her. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about the school and we have lived in this neighborhood for years.

[Anonymous]

I went there as a child (when it fed into Frost and Wootton). I can not speak about the school now because the principle is not the same, however the neighborhood is very nice (lived there until 6 yrs ago). People have told me Ritchie Park is a decent MOCO school (but again, no real experience in that statement).

[Anonymous]

We have a child at Ritchie Park and live in the surrounding neighborhood. I have no concerns about safety or violence at that school. It is a nice school in a welcoming community. The school is over-capacity right now (as are almost all the elementary schools in MoCo). There are 5 portable classrooms this year, but the school will likely get an addition sometime in the near future to accomodate the growing enrollment. There was a feasibility study last year for the addition. Most parents I talk to are very happy with the school. Personally, I have had concerns with a lack of enrichment and or excelleration for high achieving students in the early grades. I believe that the Language Arts curriculum is watered down to the lowest common denominator...but that is also a MoCo issue and not just relevant to this school. I have great hopes for this year with a new principal and assistant principal.

I don't know anything about the middle or high school, except that academically, they are both highly ranked in various rankings - for whatever that is worth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a child at Ritchie Park and live in the surrounding neighborhood. I have no concerns about safety or violence at that school. It is a nice school in a welcoming community. The school is over-capacity right now (as are almost all the elementary schools in MoCo). There are 5 portable classrooms this year, but the school will likely get an addition sometime in the near future to accomodate the growing enrollment. There was a feasibility study last year for the addition. Most parents I talk to are very happy with the school. Personally, I have had concerns with a lack of enrichment and or excelleration for high achieving students in the early grades. I believe that the Language Arts curriculum is watered down to the lowest common denominator...but that is also a MoCo issue and not just relevant to this school. I have great hopes for this year with a new principal and assistant principal.

I don't know anything about the middle or high school, except that academically, they are both highly ranked in various rankings - for whatever that is worth.

Obviously, my child doesn't get his smarts from me .... misspelled acceleration above. Embarrassing!

[Anonymous]

I have heard that some students fear RM because of "violence".