DCPS v Rosemary Hills
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Anonymous
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Longtime reader, first time poster. Full disclaimer- I know there are Rosemary Hill threads already.
My family is looking at a house on Woodbine St. Even if we don't get that house- there are likely others that will appear in the RH school district. We are currently in DC and their are DC houses are also high on our list. We have not yet decided to "cross the border" -- and to give you an idea we are in Petworth. Diversity is not a concern. How does a Rosemary Hills compare to a Lafayette? Janney? Garrison or Barnard? This forum does not seem to be fond of Rosemary Hills but hopeful someone can give some insight when comparing it to DCPS. What about Chevy Chase Elementary once 3rd grade starts? Really trying to get an idea if the school for this region should be why we continue to focus our search on DCPS or another part of MoCo. |
Anonymous
I know people who like Lafayette and Janney, but many of the kids peel off for private or MD by middle school and more for high school. If you start in CCMD you can proceed all the way through unless there’s a specific reason for your child or family not to. The only people typically “not fond” of Rosemary Hills are people who decided to go private without trying public, and need to justify their decision to themselves. RHES and CCES are not perfect but they are great (as are Lafayette and Janney). Most people who sent their kids are pretty satisfied. Just like some people are happy with a reliable Honda that drives well, and others feel they’d prefer a Mercedes for personal reasons. |
Anonymous
This is correct, I think. If you were only choosing for K-4, there are arguments for Janney and Lafayette because they are densely walkable, have strong parent communities, etc. But by MS and HS the Maryland by-right zoned options are much better, and there is something to be said for moving up with a stable group of kids. |
Anonymous
| Loved RHES, but wish we'd moved to Petworth or DC instead. |
Anonymous
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Woodbine St. is in a hugely private school neighborhood. You can literally be on the same streets with multiple families and never meet anyone. It's a perfect place if your family goes to Blessed Sacrament (a great community fwiw) or if you are multigenerational country club and that's your happy place.
That said, grass is always greener I guess. |
Anonymous
| CCES is a CES (very large magnet) focused place in 4th and 5th and the two programs are highly segregated. |
Anonymous
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It should be noted that DCPS that attempt to be completive put huge asks on their parents with PTAs asking for around 1000$ per kid. Some a little more some a little less. RMHS PTA is thrilled if you contribute 20$
Its the worst of the Bethesda linked schools but thats still a fairly high bar. |
Anonymous
| RMHS is a different type of diversity dynamic than you might be used in Petworth. There you are the middle class people in a mixed area. In RMHS you are the poor people being mixed into a resentful wealthier area at the next level. |
Anonymous
We chose private over Rosemary Hills (and would have chosen Rosemary Hills over Lafayette). It’s perfectly fair to say we preferred the Mercedes school for our kids over the Honda version. Both Rosemary Hills and Lafayette would have been fine, but we wanted the bells and whistles. |
Anonymous
We moved to the RHES/CCES catchment from DC. We had two years in DCPS — one in our neighborhood DCOS for PK3 and one in a WOTP DCPS as an out of boundary student (back when that was possible). We have been through RHES, CCES, and are now in SCMS for our older one, and our younger one is at RHES now. We have had a generally positive experience. RHES in particular is nice because there is no high-stakes testing (MCAP). It’s also going to have smaller classes next year due to focus status. We were told class sizes will be 19, definitely no more than 20. There is no question to me that this area is better than Garrison and Barnard. Those are schools that have difficulty retaining upper ES kids because people want to get to a better feeder pattern. I think for ES, Lafayette and Janney will be better because both schools have PTAs throat pay for extra staff. That is not allowed in MCPS. We know friends with kids at Deal who like it, so I’m sure that is fine. Silver Creek has been great for my kid. I do think people are happier at B-CC than at J-R. You asked about CCES. It’s a great school. My favorite so far. |
Anonymous
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I've had kids at Lafayette, RHPS and CCES, though I will admit that our Lafayette days were a while ago!
We found that there were a lot of similarities between Lafayette and RHPS. Some good teachers, some bad. Some great administrators, others not so much. The PP who pointed out that the Lafayette PTA can fund a lot more is right on, although much of the music/specials education is funded by MCPS. You're missing out on a teacher's aid in the younger grades or Spanish (not sure if that's still there). I do think that CCES was very strong, while our DCPS friends found Lafayette to be a lot weaker at the upper elementary levels. I had one kid do the magnet program, but the other two were in the regular program. They make efforts to socialize the two groups from year to year, but both programs are strong for their different groups of students. What you get at CCES gen ed is the same program you find at other MCPS schools. Many of our Lafayette friends bailed in 4th grade and even more after 5th. I've only had one kid go through Silver Creek and it is as well organized as a middle school can be! That's a tough age. My contacts in DCPS have dwindled, so our comparisons are lower at that level, but I think we are happier with Silver Creek than our DC friends are with Deal (and definitely better than those we know at Hardy). All of that is a long way to say that the schools here are good, at least at the elementary level. If you like the house, they're worth a try! |
Anonymous
What part of Woodbine St? We have multiple Woodbine families in a single block of Chevy Chase at Silver Creek. |
Anonymous
?? OP would be zoned for B-CC. RHES is K-2 |
Anonymous
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I also live in that neighborhood. Neighborhood is WONDERFUL. My favorite place I’ve lived of many in 20 years in this area. There is a mix of private and public school kids - that’s going to be true anywhere in NW DC and anywhere in the wealthier suburbs of MD (same across CCMD, Bethesda, Potomac…) - my public school kids have mainly friends they go to school with but also have a handful of neighborhood friends they have met through the community pool (which is really very very nice and most families belong) or sports (club and travel sports are also popular). The reality on the neighborhood is that it is a standard UMC suburb. Some really wealthy families, some not so much. Some public school, some private. Mostly dual income families with 2-4 kids trying to make everything work.
Rosemary Hills is fine. It’s not the greatest school ever, mostly just because it’s big and lots of K-2 kids = chaos. But the administration is good - hands-on, caring, thoughtful. And the teachers are mostly excellent. I personally love the K-2/3-5 split because each school feels more age appropriate and intimate. It’s hard for kids to split from some friends in 3rd, but mine kept in touch with playdates, playing on the same teams, etc. and they come back together in 6th. But Chevy Chase ES is the jewel in the crown of this system. Small, friendly, excellent teachers across the board, great community. I’ve had kids in CES and the normal program - both are fantastic. And the insulation is vastly improved under the new principal. I truly can’t say enough good things about CCES. We’re at SCMS and it’s also good. No complaints. I had heard a lot of criticism and was worried, especially after the experience of CCES, but I’ve found it to be great. I mean, it’s middle school - let’s set expectations accordingly. But the teachers are good, my student is challenged and has lots of opportunities for enrichment, and it’s nice to be back with the larger cohort. In short, OP, whatever you do will be great… but don’t be afraid of moving to MD. |
Anonymous
| PP again… one more note: the only house for sale on Woodbine is in Rollingwood, which makes my above opinion even stronger. Rollingwood is FILLED with kids, most of whom go to public school. There is an active community board and a parent listserv that keeps everyone connected. And that house has amazing access to the park and is an easy commute downtown. Win win, OP. |