How to identify good schools

[Anonymous]

Nag. That’s 90s thinking. Do NOT correlate housing to schools. Pick the CHEAPEST and SAFEST neighborhood and go private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These are a few years out of date due to the pandemic, but take a look at the school survey results here:

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

The staff surveys are often more informative than the parents'.

Never rely on a MCPS survey.

If you care about academics, just use the official school profiles (the PDF ones). They'll tell you which schools have high truancy or which meet UofMD college standards. Also compare the U.S. News school rankings, since that's the one most often used by admissions counselors.

OP specifically said they were looking for information on ES and MS. None of that is captured in UMD college standards or U.S. News School Rankings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only Takoma Park MS has 25 seats set aside for local kids.

ONLY!

[Anonymous]

OP, your request is too vague.

What is "good" in your opinion? Do you want high stats, and pressure cooker is fine? Are you fine with your kids surrounded by wealthy kids? Do you want to avoid poor kids?

All of the schools use the same curriculum, so you can't base "good" on the curriculum. So, what is "good" to you?

I look at programs offered by the schools.

There are some language immersion ES schools; MS generally suck eveywhere.

[Anonymous]

All good schools, regardless of race or SES or anything else will have low Mobility Rates. Pick a school with a Mobility Rate below 10% and ideally 5% or below and you should be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These are a few years out of date due to the pandemic, but take a look at the school survey results here:

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

The staff surveys are often more informative than the parents'.

Never rely on a MCPS survey.

If you care about academics, just use the official school profiles (the PDF ones). They'll tell you which schools have high truancy or which meet UofMD college standards. Also compare the U.S. News school rankings, since that's the one most often used by admissions counselors.

Or DCUM!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking to move within Montgomery County and have two daycare age children. I understand that Great Schools ratings are not actually that informative. How does one figure out the quality of the schools? We hope to end up around North Bethesda / North Potomac / Rockville. I am most concerned about Elementary and Middle given our kids are young.

If you're looking in North Bethesda / North Potomac / Rockville you'll be fine with any of them. Find the neighborhood you like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking to move within Montgomery County and have two daycare age children. I understand that Great Schools ratings are not actually that informative. How does one figure out the quality of the schools? We hope to end up around North Bethesda / North Potomac / Rockville. I am most concerned about Elementary and Middle given our kids are young.

Boy did you pick the wrong place to ask! According to DCUM, MCPS has been worse than awful for the last decade or two!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking to move within Montgomery County and have two daycare age children. I understand that Great Schools ratings are not actually that informative. How does one figure out the quality of the schools? We hope to end up around North Bethesda / North Potomac / Rockville. I am most concerned about Elementary and Middle given our kids are young.

If you're looking in North Bethesda / North Potomac / Rockville you'll be fine with any of them. Find the neighborhood you like.

+1 But be aware that some clusters will have their boundaries redrawn in the not too distant future. Probably won't impact ES/MS too much, but it will impact HS.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/planning/boundary.aspx

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/planning/cipmaster.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nag. That’s 90s thinking. Do NOT correlate housing to schools. Pick the CHEAPEST and SAFEST neighborhood and go private.

Why waste money on an inferior product?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking to move within Montgomery County and have two daycare age children. I understand that Great Schools ratings are not actually that informative. How does one figure out the quality of the schools? We hope to end up around North Bethesda / North Potomac / Rockville. I am most concerned about Elementary and Middle given our kids are young.

Boy did you pick the wrong place to ask! According to DCUM, MCPS has been worse than awful for the last decade or two!

Yep and Curriculum 2.0 did it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nag. That’s 90s thinking. Do NOT correlate housing to schools. Pick the CHEAPEST and SAFEST neighborhood and go private.

Why waste money on an inferior product?

LOL you wish. Time to work a little harder for tuition!

[Anonymous]

Good schools have million dollar houses. It’s about wealth, not quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, if you like the neighborhood, you’ll like the school. The demographics, the feel, and the emphasis on community are all important. Join neighborhood Facebook groups and see what sort of concerns are shared, how neighbors interact and respond to questions, appeals for help, attempts to organize events, etc.

Also, how would parents’ commute be affected if you choose a specific neighborhood? Maximizing time at home with family will help ensure you can actually take advantage of everything a school and community have to offer.

This approach is probably not quite as applicable at the high school level because those draw from a wider number of neighborhoods, but for elementary school, I think it’s a good way to evaluate. Well-supported, well-resourced kids can do well in most MCPS schools, but you want to be sure you’re comfortable and happy in the neighborhood and in the school community.

+1. The smartest thing we ever did was move to a wonderful neighborhood. The schools aren’t always perfect, but the neighborhood and neighbors and friendships are so valuable.

Also, high school comes fast. Don’t buy without considering high school.

[Anonymous]

Wait. How can you now argue public schools are better when they closed or did virtual school for nearly TWO years. Even the worst private school stayed open….cue panic from MCPS teachers about their pensions now commenting below. And you weren’t very good pre-pandemic to begin with…