Best "overall" DCC trios?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:For middle I think most would agree TPMS and SSI and then on to Blair. I think there are a number of really great elementary schools.

Moved here a decade ago. Kids went to (are going) to these schools. Although funds weren't unlimited, our budget was in the $1.5M range so we could've lived mostly anywhere in the region, but opted for this trio. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't hesitate to make the same choice.

I call BS, a decade ago 1.5 would have bought the most elite house in the entire Blair zone. There might have been only half a dozen sales in at that level in the history of the zip codes up until very recently.

PP didn't say they maxed out their budget. The most desirable parts of TP have been expensive for a long time. We looked there for a while 10+ years ago and finally gave up, since we couldn't afford what we wanted there. We're very happy in-bounds for OTES, but yeah. Plenty of $1M homes in TP, and have been for a while.

1 mil isn't 1.5 and TP braking the 1mil barrier started about a decade ago and only for the special houses in the historic parts

It seems like your trying to put words in their mouth to desperately prove your point. What they stated was s

You’re being very concrete about what the PP said. She came back and clarified.

Also, *many* people think of TP as “the special houses in the historic parts.” That’s what makes it so great, right, you get an incredible house in a walkable, diverse, down to earth community. Most people aren’t clamoring to live just off New Hampshire.

Part of the reason the OP is BS is who claims a higher budget from a decade ago at a price point no where near where the purchased? I totally could have spent 4mil but I settled at 750k Most likely the poster is BS or even after a decade they’re still massively insecure living on the cheaper side of town despite cries to the contrary so they want everyone to know how noble they are for taking the discount. If they were insecure they would have spent the additional money and not lived there so I’m pretty certain it’s BS. Notice how quickly they back tracked and modified their story when called out, but some of you want to believe sooooo bad.

How do you know this was nowhere near their price point? They said "a bit" less. Frankly, your post reeks of desperation. Trying to discredit a person who simply doesn't value living in silly places like Potomac or Bethesda.

+1. I also don’t get the reaction to the post. We bought in TP a decade ago and we were well able to afford Bethesda / CC. TP just checked all the boxes for us. I too am glad we didn’t raise our kids in the materialism of those communities.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I love that this discussion is showcasing all these wonderful programs within the county. Many of which aren't especially obvious to an outsider and nobody is citing silly metrics but focusing on actual opportunities.

What this poster is saying is if you look at the academic track records of these schools for the average student, they may not be stellar. There is a big difference between being one of a few students in a special program (ex. magnet) versus the overall student body of the school. I think MCPS has to push the idea that the schools in Silver Spring are better than other parts of the county since they have a lot of political capital invested there and elections are coming up. Not the best endorsement, but it is what it is.

No that's not what I meant. I feel there is no such thing as the "average" student especially around here. These bulk averages aren't especially meaningful since they are simply a reflection of an area's overall SES, and at least where I live there is significant SES diversity. One poster keeps saying that the same kid will do the same at any school. Well, that rings true. My kids go to these schools and are in magnet programs, but they also always scored the 99% on all these metrics. Being at a school that was a GS 6 or 7 didn't actually matter. In fact, in early ES it helped because the higher FARMS rate just meant small class sizes. Sure, there were a few English language learners that struggled with reading but there was also a group of kids that read a year or two over grade level. My point is they always had a cohort of similar kids and amazing opportunities like the CES or magnets to help them grow and develop.

I've been thinking along these lines too. Since admissions to these special programs are also based on local norms, a student has better odds of being selected at these schools than being at a more homogenous school with a larger high-achieving cohort also.

The focus on magnets in these threads as having the only achieving students in the DCC is just wrong. If you look at the matriculation from these schools, a good number of elite admissions were of kids outside these programs. Further, as admission to magnets has changed and they are now determined by the Rockville office instead of the schools themselves, they now catch a wider net of kids, many deserving kids aren’t in them and they seem to have become less meaningful. There are truly impressive kids all over these schools.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:East Silver Spring elementary school also feeds to Takoma Park MS and Blair. It's a smaller school than TPES/PBES.

OP here. We haven't seen a single house in ESS elementary, so maybe that area is out of our budget?

How about this one? https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8407-Galveston-Rd-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37283393_zpid/?

OP AVOID East Silver Spring at ALL costs. A five year old was neglected by the school staff, managed to wander of campus, and then verbally berated by the principal and staff and tormented by the police. It was all over the news. Absolutely horrific incident. Do not send your children to this school.

That was indeed a horrible incident, but no, it was not the principal, it was an AP, and she no longer works there. The police officers involved were the worst offenders here, and their behavior is not the fault of the school. ESS is a great school and community despite this isolated, terrible incident.

+1 Having (sadly) watched the whole tape, the AP failed to protect the child from the verbal abuse by the police, but she did not herself engage in any abuse. Standing on the sidelines of police violence is inappropriate, but let's keep the discussion within the realm of facts.

The principal was offsite at a meeting. A child left campus and was followed the entire way by the assistant principal, who was mandated by MCPS policy to call the police rather than trying to physically apprehend the eloping child. Then, the police picked the child up down the road (again, with the AP right there) and the police verbally abused the child for more than an hour. For a lot of that time, the child's mother was in the room participating in the abuse.

The bad guys in this story are the police, who did not face repercussions for their actions. The AP and the mother were both bystanders, and again should have stepped in, but PP"s narrative is just not truthful.

The AP deserved to lose her job for standing by, even if the mother was on board, but that was the extent of it.

Funny. I saw the whole tape too. And saw ESS administrators standing by AND participating in the torment of a FIVE YEAR OLD. Also, how are you glossing over the fact that this child managed to walk off the school property?!? What kind of supervision - or lack there of - led to that? OP, so your research. Lots of great ES pyramids in the DCC - many of them already posted. Avoid ESS at all costs.

Kids walk off school property. It's a thing that can happen. They followed the kid and called police, which is the policy they're supposed to follow.

A five year old child walking off school property is unacceptable. Will say it again: UNACCEPTABLE.

OP, many awesome DCC schools - my kids have been very happy and successful at two ES that route to Einstein. Please, do not send your child to ESS. Do your research.

Yes, it's unacceptable. But staff isn't allowed to physically restrain a kid without special training (don't know if they had CPI staff available) and can't lock - or even block - the doors.

I've worked with several eloping K-3 kids. I'd run ahead of them when they got close to the property line to redirect them, and remind them that we'd have to call the police if they left. It always worked.

But if a kid slips out without being seen, that won't work. And if you think 2 or 3 staffers can keep an eye on each and every kid in a classroom you're dreaming. MCPS isn't running a prison system.

I’ve had three kids in MCPS from K on. Never an incident of a five year old running off property. And yes, I think 2-3 staffers (aka teachers and paras) should absolutely be able to watch their class (in K) and ensure no child is wandering off for the very reason that it’s their JOB.

DCUM maxim: what works for my kid works for everyone's kid!
And its corollary: what doesn't work for my kid doesn't work for anyone's kid!

PSA: Parents at East Silver Spring ES are totally ok with kindergartners being so unsupervised that they wander off campus and want you to think it's totally normal.

Also, PSA: If your school can't keep their youngest kids on campus, you're in trouble.

I'll agree this is an unfortunate isolated incident but pales to the systemic problems at schools like the W's where kids are running around in black face or handing out n*ward cards.

Oh geez, false equivalence much? Or maybe one horrible thing (racism among students) doesn’t negate another horrible thing (a child clearly neglected by school staff at ESS and then abused by police officers as the ESS school staff watched).

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:East Silver Spring elementary school also feeds to Takoma Park MS and Blair. It's a smaller school than TPES/PBES.

OP here. We haven't seen a single house in ESS elementary, so maybe that area is out of our budget?

How about this one? https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8407-Galveston-Rd-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37283393_zpid/?

OP AVOID East Silver Spring at ALL costs. A five year old was neglected by the school staff, managed to wander of campus, and then verbally berated by the principal and staff and tormented by the police. It was all over the news. Absolutely horrific incident. Do not send your children to this school.

That was indeed a horrible incident, but no, it was not the principal, it was an AP, and she no longer works there. The police officers involved were the worst offenders here, and their behavior is not the fault of the school. ESS is a great school and community despite this isolated, terrible incident.

+1 Having (sadly) watched the whole tape, the AP failed to protect the child from the verbal abuse by the police, but she did not herself engage in any abuse. Standing on the sidelines of police violence is inappropriate, but let's keep the discussion within the realm of facts.

The principal was offsite at a meeting. A child left campus and was followed the entire way by the assistant principal, who was mandated by MCPS policy to call the police rather than trying to physically apprehend the eloping child. Then, the police picked the child up down the road (again, with the AP right there) and the police verbally abused the child for more than an hour. For a lot of that time, the child's mother was in the room participating in the abuse.

The bad guys in this story are the police, who did not face repercussions for their actions. The AP and the mother were both bystanders, and again should have stepped in, but PP"s narrative is just not truthful.

The AP deserved to lose her job for standing by, even if the mother was on board, but that was the extent of it.

Funny. I saw the whole tape too. And saw ESS administrators standing by AND participating in the torment of a FIVE YEAR OLD. Also, how are you glossing over the fact that this child managed to walk off the school property?!? What kind of supervision - or lack there of - led to that? OP, so your research. Lots of great ES pyramids in the DCC - many of them already posted. Avoid ESS at all costs.

Kids walk off school property. It's a thing that can happen. They followed the kid and called police, which is the policy they're supposed to follow.

A five year old child walking off school property is unacceptable. Will say it again: UNACCEPTABLE.

OP, many awesome DCC schools - my kids have been very happy and successful at two ES that route to Einstein. Please, do not send your child to ESS. Do your research.

Yes, it's unacceptable. But staff isn't allowed to physically restrain a kid without special training (don't know if they had CPI staff available) and can't lock - or even block - the doors.

I've worked with several eloping K-3 kids. I'd run ahead of them when they got close to the property line to redirect them, and remind them that we'd have to call the police if they left. It always worked.

But if a kid slips out without being seen, that won't work. And if you think 2 or 3 staffers can keep an eye on each and every kid in a classroom you're dreaming. MCPS isn't running a prison system.

I’ve had three kids in MCPS from K on. Never an incident of a five year old running off property. And yes, I think 2-3 staffers (aka teachers and paras) should absolutely be able to watch their class (in K) and ensure no child is wandering off for the very reason that it’s their JOB.

DCUM maxim: what works for my kid works for everyone's kid!
And its corollary: what doesn't work for my kid doesn't work for anyone's kid!

PSA: Parents at East Silver Spring ES are totally ok with kindergartners being so unsupervised that they wander off campus and want you to think it's totally normal.

Also, PSA: If your school can't keep their youngest kids on campus, you're in trouble.

I think it's more like this. Parents at East Silver Spring ES are aware that this child had eloped multiple times already and each time was followed by an aide or the assistant principal herself. That happened again here. Every single ESS parent would also tell you that the police officers' behavior was sickening, and that the AP's failure to step in was outrageous.

However, the child was not unsupervised. He didn't "sneak away." He eloped, the AP followed, and called the police becuase that's protocol. The fact that the responding officers were abusive monsters was just bad luck.

I'd love to know how MCPS writ large deals with these sorts of things moving forward. What bystander training are they offering administrators for dealing with bad cops? What are they telling principals and APs to do when the police are behaving badly on school grounds? What if the parents are present and supportive of the way the police are behaving? What are the dynamics of stepping in as a white person when the cops and the parents are all Black and seemingly on one page about the "punishment?"

This isn't about one bad school or one bad administrator. It's about a system in which parents can block appropriate placements, where bad cops are left to roam the streets unimpeded, where administrators don't know how to advocate for the kids in their care when the bad actor is a police officer, and where young and inexperienced white administrators are given charge of global majority schools.

Thank you, PP. Very well said.

I honestly cannot believe people watched that video and thought the mom was in the right. She was disgusting herself. This kid was failed by the school, the police, AND his mom.

Where are you getting that from? Nobody said the mom was in the right.

She's literally the one suing...She clearly thinks shes in the right.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:East Silver Spring elementary school also feeds to Takoma Park MS and Blair. It's a smaller school than TPES/PBES.

OP here. We haven't seen a single house in ESS elementary, so maybe that area is out of our budget?

How about this one? https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8407-Galveston-Rd-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37283393_zpid/?

OP AVOID East Silver Spring at ALL costs. A five year old was neglected by the school staff, managed to wander of campus, and then verbally berated by the principal and staff and tormented by the police. It was all over the news. Absolutely horrific incident. Do not send your children to this school.

That was indeed a horrible incident, but no, it was not the principal, it was an AP, and she no longer works there. The police officers involved were the worst offenders here, and their behavior is not the fault of the school. ESS is a great school and community despite this isolated, terrible incident.

+1 Having (sadly) watched the whole tape, the AP failed to protect the child from the verbal abuse by the police, but she did not herself engage in any abuse. Standing on the sidelines of police violence is inappropriate, but let's keep the discussion within the realm of facts.

The principal was offsite at a meeting. A child left campus and was followed the entire way by the assistant principal, who was mandated by MCPS policy to call the police rather than trying to physically apprehend the eloping child. Then, the police picked the child up down the road (again, with the AP right there) and the police verbally abused the child for more than an hour. For a lot of that time, the child's mother was in the room participating in the abuse.

The bad guys in this story are the police, who did not face repercussions for their actions. The AP and the mother were both bystanders, and again should have stepped in, but PP"s narrative is just not truthful.

The AP deserved to lose her job for standing by, even if the mother was on board, but that was the extent of it.

Funny. I saw the whole tape too. And saw ESS administrators standing by AND participating in the torment of a FIVE YEAR OLD. Also, how are you glossing over the fact that this child managed to walk off the school property?!? What kind of supervision - or lack there of - led to that? OP, so your research. Lots of great ES pyramids in the DCC - many of them already posted. Avoid ESS at all costs.

Kids walk off school property. It's a thing that can happen. They followed the kid and called police, which is the policy they're supposed to follow.

A five year old child walking off school property is unacceptable. Will say it again: UNACCEPTABLE.

OP, many awesome DCC schools - my kids have been very happy and successful at two ES that route to Einstein. Please, do not send your child to ESS. Do your research.

Yes, it's unacceptable. But staff isn't allowed to physically restrain a kid without special training (don't know if they had CPI staff available) and can't lock - or even block - the doors.

I've worked with several eloping K-3 kids. I'd run ahead of them when they got close to the property line to redirect them, and remind them that we'd have to call the police if they left. It always worked.

But if a kid slips out without being seen, that won't work. And if you think 2 or 3 staffers can keep an eye on each and every kid in a classroom you're dreaming. MCPS isn't running a prison system.

I’ve had three kids in MCPS from K on. Never an incident of a five year old running off property. And yes, I think 2-3 staffers (aka teachers and paras) should absolutely be able to watch their class (in K) and ensure no child is wandering off for the very reason that it’s their JOB.

DCUM maxim: what works for my kid works for everyone's kid!
And its corollary: what doesn't work for my kid doesn't work for anyone's kid!

PSA: Parents at East Silver Spring ES are totally ok with kindergartners being so unsupervised that they wander off campus and want you to think it's totally normal.

Also, PSA: If your school can't keep their youngest kids on campus, you're in trouble.

I think it's more like this. Parents at East Silver Spring ES are aware that this child had eloped multiple times already and each time was followed by an aide or the assistant principal herself. That happened again here. Every single ESS parent would also tell you that the police officers' behavior was sickening, and that the AP's failure to step in was outrageous.

However, the child was not unsupervised. He didn't "sneak away." He eloped, the AP followed, and called the police becuase that's protocol. The fact that the responding officers were abusive monsters was just bad luck.

I'd love to know how MCPS writ large deals with these sorts of things moving forward. What bystander training are they offering administrators for dealing with bad cops? What are they telling principals and APs to do when the police are behaving badly on school grounds? What if the parents are present and supportive of the way the police are behaving? What are the dynamics of stepping in as a white person when the cops and the parents are all Black and seemingly on one page about the "punishment?"

This isn't about one bad school or one bad administrator. It's about a system in which parents can block appropriate placements, where bad cops are left to roam the streets unimpeded, where administrators don't know how to advocate for the kids in their care when the bad actor is a police officer, and where young and inexperienced white administrators are given charge of global majority schools.

Thank you, PP. Very well said.

I honestly cannot believe people watched that video and thought the mom was in the right. She was disgusting herself. This kid was failed by the school, the police, AND his mom.

Where are you getting that from? Nobody said the mom was in the right.

She's literally the one suing...She clearly thinks shes in the right.

But the PP said "I honestly cannot believe people watched that video and thought the mom was in the right." Who are these people she's referring to?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:East Silver Spring elementary school also feeds to Takoma Park MS and Blair. It's a smaller school than TPES/PBES.

OP here. We haven't seen a single house in ESS elementary, so maybe that area is out of our budget?

How about this one? https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8407-Galveston-Rd-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37283393_zpid/?

OP AVOID East Silver Spring at ALL costs. A five year old was neglected by the school staff, managed to wander of campus, and then verbally berated by the principal and staff and tormented by the police. It was all over the news. Absolutely horrific incident. Do not send your children to this school.

That was indeed a horrible incident, but no, it was not the principal, it was an AP, and she no longer works there. The police officers involved were the worst offenders here, and their behavior is not the fault of the school. ESS is a great school and community despite this isolated, terrible incident.

+1 Having (sadly) watched the whole tape, the AP failed to protect the child from the verbal abuse by the police, but she did not herself engage in any abuse. Standing on the sidelines of police violence is inappropriate, but let's keep the discussion within the realm of facts.

The principal was offsite at a meeting. A child left campus and was followed the entire way by the assistant principal, who was mandated by MCPS policy to call the police rather than trying to physically apprehend the eloping child. Then, the police picked the child up down the road (again, with the AP right there) and the police verbally abused the child for more than an hour. For a lot of that time, the child's mother was in the room participating in the abuse.

The bad guys in this story are the police, who did not face repercussions for their actions. The AP and the mother were both bystanders, and again should have stepped in, but PP"s narrative is just not truthful.

The AP deserved to lose her job for standing by, even if the mother was on board, but that was the extent of it.

Funny. I saw the whole tape too. And saw ESS administrators standing by AND participating in the torment of a FIVE YEAR OLD. Also, how are you glossing over the fact that this child managed to walk off the school property?!? What kind of supervision - or lack there of - led to that? OP, so your research. Lots of great ES pyramids in the DCC - many of them already posted. Avoid ESS at all costs.

Kids walk off school property. It's a thing that can happen. They followed the kid and called police, which is the policy they're supposed to follow.

A five year old child walking off school property is unacceptable. Will say it again: UNACCEPTABLE.

OP, many awesome DCC schools - my kids have been very happy and successful at two ES that route to Einstein. Please, do not send your child to ESS. Do your research.

Yes, it's unacceptable. But staff isn't allowed to physically restrain a kid without special training (don't know if they had CPI staff available) and can't lock - or even block - the doors.

I've worked with several eloping K-3 kids. I'd run ahead of them when they got close to the property line to redirect them, and remind them that we'd have to call the police if they left. It always worked.

But if a kid slips out without being seen, that won't work. And if you think 2 or 3 staffers can keep an eye on each and every kid in a classroom you're dreaming. MCPS isn't running a prison system.

I’ve had three kids in MCPS from K on. Never an incident of a five year old running off property. And yes, I think 2-3 staffers (aka teachers and paras) should absolutely be able to watch their class (in K) and ensure no child is wandering off for the very reason that it’s their JOB.

DCUM maxim: what works for my kid works for everyone's kid!
And its corollary: what doesn't work for my kid doesn't work for anyone's kid!

PSA: Parents at East Silver Spring ES are totally ok with kindergartners being so unsupervised that they wander off campus and want you to think it's totally normal.

Also, PSA: If your school can't keep their youngest kids on campus, you're in trouble.

I think it's more like this. Parents at East Silver Spring ES are aware that this child had eloped multiple times already and each time was followed by an aide or the assistant principal herself. That happened again here. Every single ESS parent would also tell you that the police officers' behavior was sickening, and that the AP's failure to step in was outrageous.

However, the child was not unsupervised. He didn't "sneak away." He eloped, the AP followed, and called the police becuase that's protocol. The fact that the responding officers were abusive monsters was just bad luck.

I'd love to know how MCPS writ large deals with these sorts of things moving forward. What bystander training are they offering administrators for dealing with bad cops? What are they telling principals and APs to do when the police are behaving badly on school grounds? What if the parents are present and supportive of the way the police are behaving? What are the dynamics of stepping in as a white person when the cops and the parents are all Black and seemingly on one page about the "punishment?"

This isn't about one bad school or one bad administrator. It's about a system in which parents can block appropriate placements, where bad cops are left to roam the streets unimpeded, where administrators don't know how to advocate for the kids in their care when the bad actor is a police officer, and where young and inexperienced white administrators are given charge of global majority schools.

Thank you, PP. Very well said.

I honestly cannot believe people watched that video and thought the mom was in the right. She was disgusting herself. This kid was failed by the school, the police, AND his mom.

Where are you getting that from? Nobody said the mom was in the right.

She's literally the one suing...She clearly thinks shes in the right.

But the PP said "I honestly cannot believe people watched that video and thought the mom was in the right." Who are these people she's referring to?

Why is it an automatic “she?” Not the pp,but the majority of the public backed up the mom if you bothered to pay attention.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:North Kensington is still mostly in the 550k range and you have the choice between Wheaton and Grosvenor metro stations. Schools are Rock View ES/Newport Mill MS/Einstein HS

I’d recommend broadening it out even more in Wheaton, accessible to the Wheaton metro. It’s easy to find parking at the Wheaton metro county garage. I live in the area and know people with kids at various schools, all happy (including us). I think anywhere in the Einstein cluster would be good. Some of the schools feed into Northwood, which I know less about other than it’s getting a new building sometime in the next few years. Wheaton HS has a biomedical magnet program. All good options.

The Wheaton parking garage is not a safe place, that’s why you are able to find so much parking there. As a female I would not park there if I had to return to my car alone. Drive the extra 5-10 minutes and go to Forest Glen or Grosvenor.

I know the Metro parking garage adjacent to Wheaton Mall has had some serious incidents in the past, but the garage adjacent to the Metro entrance near Veterans Square (other side of Georgia Ave) has been fine for me for 20yrs now.

That’s great for you. People have differing levels of comfort, it would be well worth it to me though to add a few extra minutes to my commute to feel safe. People, especially women, moving to the area and thinking about using public transportation to get to and from work should be aware of the safety of the hubs that they plan on using. Wheaton is probably the least safe hub in MoCo.

True there's crime near any urban area. Wheaton seems fine to me, but places like Bethesda row are a different story because of the lululemon murders.

Oh FFS, there have been random (meaning stranger on stranger violence) assaults, sexual assaults, carjackings, and shootings at the Wheaton metro parking garage. But yeah, the targeted murder committed by one store employee against another store employee at lululemon is certainly an equivalent safety risk to commuters.

I don’t know anything about the garage attached to the mall, but I was the person who said it’s easy to park at the county garage, meaning the one by the veteran’s plaza near Safeway.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:For middle I think most would agree TPMS and SSI and then on to Blair. I think there are a number of really great elementary schools.

Moved here a decade ago. Kids went to (are going) to these schools. Although funds weren't unlimited, our budget was in the $1.5M range so we could've lived mostly anywhere in the region, but opted for this trio. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't hesitate to make the same choice.

I call BS, a decade ago 1.5 would have bought the most elite house in the entire Blair zone. There might have been only half a dozen sales in at that level in the history of the zip codes up until very recently.

PP didn't say they maxed out their budget. The most desirable parts of TP have been expensive for a long time. We looked there for a while 10+ years ago and finally gave up, since we couldn't afford what we wanted there. We're very happy in-bounds for OTES, but yeah. Plenty of $1M homes in TP, and have been for a while.

1 mil isn't 1.5 and TP braking the 1mil barrier started about a decade ago and only for the special houses in the historic parts

It seems like your trying to put words in their mouth to desperately prove your point. What they stated was s

You’re being very concrete about what the PP said. She came back and clarified.

Also, *many* people think of TP as “the special houses in the historic parts.” That’s what makes it so great, right, you get an incredible house in a walkable, diverse, down to earth community. Most people aren’t clamoring to live just off New Hampshire.

Part of the reason the OP is BS is who claims a higher budget from a decade ago at a price point no where near where the purchased? I totally could have spent 4mil but I settled at 750k Most likely the poster is BS or even after a decade they’re still massively insecure living on the cheaper side of town despite cries to the contrary so they want everyone to know how noble they are for taking the discount. If they were insecure they would have spent the additional money and not lived there so I’m pretty certain it’s BS. Notice how quickly they back tracked and modified their story when called out, but some of you want to believe sooooo bad.

How do you know this was nowhere near their price point? They said "a bit" less. Frankly, your post reeks of desperation. Trying to discredit a person who simply doesn't value living in silly places like Potomac or Bethesda.

+1. I also don’t get the reaction to the post. We bought in TP a decade ago and we were well able to afford Bethesda / CC. TP just checked all the boxes for us. I too am glad we didn’t raise our kids in the materialism of those communities.

I wish we had. The non-stop racial incidents at the "good" schools near us are disturbing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I love that this discussion is showcasing all these wonderful programs within the county. Many of which aren't especially obvious to an outsider and nobody is citing silly metrics but focusing on actual opportunities.

What this poster is saying is if you look at the academic track records of these schools for the average student, they may not be stellar. There is a big difference between being one of a few students in a special program (ex. magnet) versus the overall student body of the school. I think MCPS has to push the idea that the schools in Silver Spring are better than other parts of the county since they have a lot of political capital invested there and elections are coming up. Not the best endorsement, but it is what it is.

No that's not what I meant. I feel there is no such thing as the "average" student especially around here. These bulk averages aren't especially meaningful since they are simply a reflection of an area's overall SES, and at least where I live there is significant SES diversity. One poster keeps saying that the same kid will do the same at any school. Well, that rings true. My kids go to these schools and are in magnet programs, but they also always scored the 99% on all these metrics. Being at a school that was a GS 6 or 7 didn't actually matter. In fact, in early ES it helped because the higher FARMS rate just meant small class sizes. Sure, there were a few English language learners that struggled with reading but there was also a group of kids that read a year or two over grade level. My point is they always had a cohort of similar kids and amazing opportunities like the CES or magnets to help them grow and develop.

I've been thinking along these lines too. Since admissions to these special programs are also based on local norms, a student has better odds of being selected at these schools than being at a more homogenous school with a larger high-achieving cohort also.

The focus on magnets in these threads as having the only achieving students in the DCC is just wrong. If you look at the matriculation from these schools, a good number of elite admissions were of kids outside these programs. Further, as admission to magnets has changed and they are now determined by the Rockville office instead of the schools themselves, they now catch a wider net of kids, many deserving kids aren’t in them and they seem to have become less meaningful. There are truly impressive kids all over these schools.

My kids were easily able to get into TPMS because we're in boundary and both ended up in SMCS. I suspect none of this would've happened if we weren't in boundary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:East Silver Spring elementary school also feeds to Takoma Park MS and Blair. It's a smaller school than TPES/PBES.

OP here. We haven't seen a single house in ESS elementary, so maybe that area is out of our budget?

How about this one? https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8407-Galveston-Rd-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37283393_zpid/?

OP AVOID East Silver Spring at ALL costs. A five year old was neglected by the school staff, managed to wander of campus, and then verbally berated by the principal and staff and tormented by the police. It was all over the news. Absolutely horrific incident. Do not send your children to this school.

That was indeed a horrible incident, but no, it was not the principal, it was an AP, and she no longer works there. The police officers involved were the worst offenders here, and their behavior is not the fault of the school. ESS is a great school and community despite this isolated, terrible incident.

It seems like someone's trying really hard to throw shade on these places, but yes unfortunately things like this happen at all schools. I heard about a knife fight in the parking lot of Churchill last year. It's sad but true.

These incidents aren't limited to just one area and do happen everywhere despite what some posters like to pretend.

I'll never forget this one where Whitman students were running around in blackface. It's so deplorable.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/blackface-photo-posted-by-whitman-students-prompts-police-hate-bias-investigation/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:East Silver Spring elementary school also feeds to Takoma Park MS and Blair. It's a smaller school than TPES/PBES.

OP here. We haven't seen a single house in ESS elementary, so maybe that area is out of our budget?

How about this one? https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8407-Galveston-Rd-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37283393_zpid/?

OP AVOID East Silver Spring at ALL costs. A five year old was neglected by the school staff, managed to wander of campus, and then verbally berated by the principal and staff and tormented by the police. It was all over the news. Absolutely horrific incident. Do not send your children to this school.

That was indeed a horrible incident, but no, it was not the principal, it was an AP, and she no longer works there. The police officers involved were the worst offenders here, and their behavior is not the fault of the school. ESS is a great school and community despite this isolated, terrible incident.

It seems like someone's trying really hard to throw shade on these places, but yes unfortunately things like this happen at all schools. I heard about a knife fight in the parking lot of Churchill last year. It's sad but true.

These incidents aren't limited to just one area and do happen everywhere despite what some posters like to pretend.

I'll never forget this one where Whitman students were running around in blackface. It's so deplorable.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/blackface-photo-posted-by-whitman-students-prompts-police-hate-bias-investigation/

Your drumbeat is getting tiresome. This is a discussion of the best DCC trio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:East Silver Spring elementary school also feeds to Takoma Park MS and Blair. It's a smaller school than TPES/PBES.

OP here. We haven't seen a single house in ESS elementary, so maybe that area is out of our budget?

How about this one? https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8407-Galveston-Rd-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37283393_zpid/?

OP AVOID East Silver Spring at ALL costs. A five year old was neglected by the school staff, managed to wander of campus, and then verbally berated by the principal and staff and tormented by the police. It was all over the news. Absolutely horrific incident. Do not send your children to this school.

That was indeed a horrible incident, but no, it was not the principal, it was an AP, and she no longer works there. The police officers involved were the worst offenders here, and their behavior is not the fault of the school. ESS is a great school and community despite this isolated, terrible incident.

It seems like someone's trying really hard to throw shade on these places, but yes unfortunately things like this happen at all schools. I heard about a knife fight in the parking lot of Churchill last year. It's sad but true.

These incidents aren't limited to just one area and do happen everywhere despite what some posters like to pretend.

I'll never forget this one where Whitman students were running around in blackface. It's so deplorable.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/blackface-photo-posted-by-whitman-students-prompts-police-hate-bias-investigation/

Your drumbeat is getting tiresome. This is a discussion of the best DCC trio.

I think their point was that things happen everywhere, but they could provide a better example like this one where W students got into a knife fight.

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/walt-whitman-student-attacked-churchill-student-then-pulled-knife-on-others-who-tried-to-intervene-cops

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you to all the very helpful posts, especially in the earlier pages of this thread.

The thing at ESS sounds like it was a horrible isolated incident, and I am well aware that violence can happen at any school. I am also always on high alert in ANY parking garage alone as a woman, but I will be extra careful if I ever park at Wheaton.

I am not well versed on all the different magnets, though I have heard some about the stem/Takoma Park magnet. The DCC processes and programs are not straightforward to an outsider so I will have to do some more reading. And although I would love for any of my children to be accepted into a magnet program, I am not counting on it. We are more just looking for a great community and schools my kids can thrive at (bonus of the have good stem or language programs).

The dual immersion program at Oakland Terrace is really appealing, so we are attending an open house in that zone this weekend. My kids can currently walk to their ES and we LOVE that, so we will also be going to an open house in Rockview ES as well.

Wheaton HS is sounding like it may also be a great option so we've got one at Viers Mill on our open house list as well. Hopefully we can get a good feel for the area and neighborhoods this weekend.

Thanks again to the helpful DCUMs, and thanks to the those who were a little off-topic for the eye-rolls.

[Anonymous]

Good luck, OP! I think all the schools you mentioned are good possibilities, and your attitude about the magnet programs is a healthy one.