Please explain how Silver Spring high school assignments work

[Anonymous]

I'm looking at houses in Silver Spring. I have a memory that your kids don't actually go to the high school that you're zoned for. Is that right? Do they go to the elementary and middle school that you're zoned for (unless you apply to a lottery or something)?

[Anonymous]

They go to the neighborhood school unless you lottery/apply for something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They go to the neighborhood school unless you lottery/apply for something else.

Ah, ok. In that case, can someone please give me a quick tutorial on what I need to know about the various high schools that serve Silver Spring, for purposes of choosing a house? My daughter is a third grader now, so I don't have a good sense of what she will want or need in a high school, honestly. She's gifted but has some special needs. Gravitating toward math (and Lego -- haha) right now but she's so young, so who knows. Not super sporty. No idea if she will be into theater or band or any other particular activity.

[Anonymous]

If you are in the DCC, which I think all of Silver Spring is, you have the right to go to your in bounds high school if you list it first. But you can also list other DCC schools and try to go there.

On top of that, there are a few DCC high school magnets you can apply for as well as some county wide magnets.

[Anonymous]

what are her special needs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what are her special needs?

She has autism and ADHD. She's doing really well in school right now, though, so I'm not sure how much support she will need. I do understand that things can change, though.

[Anonymous]

It depends where you are in silver spring. Certain areas are in consortiums and certain have assigned schools. For consortiums areas you can go to your home school or apply to the others in the consortium. If there is space they try to give your kid their top choice.

If you want to know exactly which schools you’ll be zoned for, go to the MCPS school assignment tool and enter the street address of the house you want to buy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are in the DCC, which I think all of Silver Spring is, you have the right to go to your in bounds high school if you list it first. But you can also list other DCC schools and try to go there.

On top of that, there are a few DCC high school magnets you can apply for as well as some county wide magnets.

Besides the DCC, some of Silver Spring is in the NEC, a different consortium that works the same way. There are also some Silver Spring addresses zoned for BCC and Rockville, and possibly Magruder.

[Anonymous]

There will also be new middle school and high school boundary lines/assignments starting in 2027 (your daughter's 6th grade year), by the way. So I wouldn't make any huge sacrifices for a given school because you never know if it will actually be the one she'll be assigned to by the time it's time for her to attend.

[Anonymous]

Call MCPS central office and make someone there walk thru this with you. I am not joking. They should be able to do this and wth else are they doing there?

[Anonymous]

The important info here is that everyone still has a home high school, and they are guaranteed that home school. If you’re looking at where to live, look at those. There are options to apply or lottery in to others, but that’s not what most people do. This is only for high school. Magnets for elementary and middle are a much smaller number of kids, and nearly everyone goes to their home school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There will also be new middle school and high school boundary lines/assignments starting in 2027 (your daughter's 6th grade year), by the way. So I wouldn't make any huge sacrifices for a given school because you never know if it will actually be the one she'll be assigned to by the time it's time for her to attend.

This. Just pick an elementary school you like, because no one knows what the MS or HS assignments will be.

[Anonymous]

I would rent to give you more options if you are not happy with the schools.

[Anonymous]

All of the DCC schools have strengths and weaknesses. But realistically, MCPS is doing a program analysis and I wouldn't be surprised if the choice consortia are on the chopping block after it as they haven't really achieved what they were designed to, and they are an expense (all the additional bus routes). I also suspect we will begin to see a decrease in the number of academy programs.

So it's pretty much impossible to try to figure out the best fit.

If the DCC choice stays, you may also be surprised by what your child decides to prioritize. After open houses and presentations, my child applied to a couple of programs I had no idea they'd be interested in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of the DCC schools have strengths and weaknesses. But realistically, MCPS is doing a program analysis and I wouldn't be surprised if the choice consortia are on the chopping block after it as they haven't really achieved what they were designed to, and they are an expense (all the additional bus routes). I also suspect we will begin to see a decrease in the number of academy programs.

So it's pretty much impossible to try to figure out the best fit.

If the DCC choice stays, you may also be surprised by what your child decides to prioritize. After open houses and presentations, my child applied to a couple of programs I had no idea they'd be interested in.

They have achieved what they were designed for.