Lakewood elementary school vs Farmland elementary school

[Anonymous]

We recently moved to MD from CA for a new job in NIH. My DC is in kindergarten age and we happen to choose between Lakewood elementary school and Farmland elementary school for his kindergarten year. Lakewood is considered to be a "top" school but very far from metro. I have to commute at least 2 hours each day and I feel I won't be able to spend enough time with him. Farmland is not performing as good as Lakewook in test scores but close to metro. My DC has already started in Lakewood and seems like it. It is so hard to switch him just for my commute, which makes me feel guilty. I would like to hear about your opinions/experience about the schools. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

OP, do you mean that you would move to be in the Farmland school area? Are you currently renting and are deciding where to buy? You are not able to just switch schools unless you move, apply for a special program. I'm sure there are others that can elaborate on that.

[Anonymous]

You can't go wrong with Farmland. It is an exceptional school. But I don't see how living in that district vs. Lakewood will cut your commute time by that much. Can't you drive to a metro station from where you are living now, just as you would in 20852?

[Anonymous]

From Lakewood area your closest Metro station is Rockville I assume. From Farmland area you can get to Rockville, Twinbrook, Grovesnor. I lived near lakewood and used the Rockville station. I now live near twinbrook and I have never parked or used that station (I will still go to Rockville or Grovesnor). I really think it doesn't matter b/c there are a number of stations you can get to (from Lakewood you could also do the Shady Grove Station).

[Anonymous]

We live near Lakewood (Fallsmead) and my DH takes the Twinbrook Metro. He could take the Rockville Metro, but for whatever reason he prefers to park at Twinbrook. It is approx a 10 minute drive to the metro each morning for him.

[Anonymous]

For person who lives in Fallsmead, could you tell me if there's a difference between the 2 sections of Fallsmead? Seems one section is off of Greenplace, and the other is off of Fallsmead Way? Are they considered the same community? Thanks. (We're in Bethesda and thinking of moving there for more space.)

Are you happy with the sense of community? Is it very family friendly? Do the kids easily play together in the neighborhood?

How is the diversity? I've heard Wootton district described as "half Jewish and half Asian". Would we (in neither of those groups) feel left out?

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP in Fallsmead. The communities that feed into Fallsmead ES / Robert Frost / T Wootton are Fallsmead and Rockshire. The only difference I see between the 2 communities are the amount of HOA fees and the pools as each has it's own pool. I believe the Fallsmead HOA is higher than Rockshire. Re: the communty feeling, it has a real neighborhood feeling. We have 2 young children in ES and they have multiple friends in the neighborhood - as a matter of fact, our bus stop has 14 kids. Our block does block parties in the summer as well as other types of parites, such as we are planning a Halloween party where everyone in the neighborhood is invited. Re: the diversity - there is a true mix of all races, not just Asian and Jewish. We are white anglo saxon and my children's friends are a mixture of asian, indian, caucasion, african american etc. I am really happy with the school as well as the before / after care program they have on site. This neighborhood also seems to attract people who grew up here and have come back to raise their families. We moved here 2 years ago and are extremely happy with the move. The only downside is that the houses are older (1970's) so they aren't as large and spacious as the newer builds. However, I like the older center hall colonials as they remind me of the house I grew up in.