Moving to MoCo from out of state — W schools are not an option

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid MCPS if you can…seriously suboptimal. I would pick the cheapest house and go private.

Bad advice. We left mcps to go one of the top privates in DC and has been a waste of money.

Why do parents like you keep lurking and posting in MCPS forum, yet when a public school parent posts negative things about private schools in the private school forum you all get so bent out of shape?

To OP, if your kid has an IEP I would focus your search on schools with the best IEP. I don't know what that is. Maybe try the SN parent forum, too?

MCPS is a very large school district, and there are several good school clusters to choose from other than W cluster. Poolesville is excellent, though I don't know what their IEP program is like.

Generally, the west side of 270 and north of ICC are less dense in terms of housing.

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/glance/index.aspx

The at a glance won't tell you *that* much about a school other than its demographics and programs in the school (though it doesn't tell you how good those programs are), but it's a good place to start.

GL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why’s aren’t the W schools an option? Cost of housing? commute? How old are your kids? Do you care about split articulation on elementary school? You have not given us enough info to give you any advice.

But, you probably know that because this seems like lazy trolling.

It does feel like trolling. Someone is new to the area, not even moved here yet, but somehow knows the phrase "W School" and some lazy rumors about ganglandia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why’s aren’t the W schools an option? Cost of housing? commute? How old are your kids? Do you care about split articulation on elementary school? You have not given us enough info to give you any advice.

But, you probably know that because this seems like lazy trolling.

It does feel like trolling. Someone is new to the area, not even moved here yet, but somehow knows the phrase "W School" and some lazy rumors about ganglandia.

This. It's a troll

[Anonymous]

Try BCC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why’s aren’t the W schools an option? Cost of housing? commute? How old are your kids? Do you care about split articulation on elementary school? You have not given us enough info to give you any advice.

But, you probably know that because this seems like lazy trolling.

It does feel like trolling. Someone is new to the area, not even moved here yet, but somehow knows the phrase "W School" and some lazy rumors about ganglandia.

This. It's a troll

+1. "Filled with gangs". GTFO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We really like Blake HS, which is in North Silver Spring, sort of on the way to Ashton/Olney. It's a small school with lots of excellent teachers who have been there for a very long time. The principal is so well-loved that, at football games, kids run around the field with flags with his face on them. They just love him, and he's so supportive, attending all kinds of school events and just generally pumping the kids up at every turn. Blake has a very diverse community, and my son has loved his experience there. I would call it off the beaten path, kind of out of the fray so to speak. The other thing that's nice is that the area is so much less congested than other parts of the county. There are many communities with quite large lots and the cost of a home is generally quite a bit less than Bethesda or even downtown Silver Spring.

We’re at Blake too and i also love it. Two of my kids had IEPs and I thought they were well supported. One eventually had to leave for a non mainstreamed program and the school was really supportive and helpful in making that happen.

The principal is excellent and PP is right that the kids love him. He attends most events. I saw him at every single football and basketball game, the county poms competition and every other event I went to. The Bobby flag cracks me up.

As to gangs, PPs are right on that that every single MCPS high school. You can’t avoid them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why’s aren’t the W schools an option? Cost of housing? commute? How old are your kids? Do you care about split articulation on elementary school? You have not given us enough info to give you any advice.

But, you probably know that because this seems like lazy trolling.

It does feel like trolling. Someone is new to the area, not even moved here yet, but somehow knows the phrase "W School" and some lazy rumors about ganglandia.

This. It's a troll

There have been too many threads W versus Poolesville, W vs Watkins Mill IB. Don’t know why someone is obsessed with the W schools. I agree troll.

[Anonymous]

I'll try to post later OP - I am too busy defending my home from gangs - it's nonstop.....don't move near me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid MCPS if you can…seriously suboptimal. I would pick the cheapest house and go private.

Bad advice. We left mcps to go one of the top privates in DC and has been a waste of money.

Why do parents like you keep lurking and posting in MCPS forum, yet when a public school parent posts negative things about private schools in the private school forum you all get so bent out of shape?

To OP, if your kid has an IEP I would focus your search on schools with the best IEP. I don't know what that is. Maybe try the SN parent forum, too?

MCPS is a very large school district, and there are several good school clusters to choose from other than W cluster. Poolesville is excellent, though I don't know what their IEP program is like.

Generally, the west side of 270 and north of ICC are less dense in terms of housing.

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/glance/index.aspx

The at a glance won't tell you *that* much about a school other than its demographics and programs in the school (though it doesn't tell you how good those programs are), but it's a good place to start.

GL

Can you comprehend? The post is saying that the private is not better. You agree with the post but got mad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The W schools have issues too. There are gangs/violence at every school.

There are no gangs at W schools. Privilege and spoiled children are the issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We really like Blake HS, which is in North Silver Spring, sort of on the way to Ashton/Olney. It's a small school with lots of excellent teachers who have been there for a very long time. The principal is so well-loved that, at football games, kids run around the field with flags with his face on them. They just love him, and he's so supportive, attending all kinds of school events and just generally pumping the kids up at every turn. Blake has a very diverse community, and my son has loved his experience there. I would call it off the beaten path, kind of out of the fray so to speak. The other thing that's nice is that the area is so much less congested than other parts of the county. There are many communities with quite large lots and the cost of a home is generally quite a bit less than Bethesda or even downtown Silver Spring.

Not OP but this school sounds great! You are lucky.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. I want a house with a yard, which I can’t afford on the west side of the county where the W schools are. I like the feel of Rockville a lot but I don’t think the large elementary schools would be ideal for my elementary school child. I work from home, so commute isn’t a factor right now but could be in a future job. If there really are gangs at all of the high schools, that is very different from when I was in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid MCPS if you can…seriously suboptimal. I would pick the cheapest house and go private.

Bad advice. We left mcps to go one of the top privates in DC and has been a waste of money.

We did too and are returning to MCPS this Fall. Don’t let people sell you on privates. You don’t want to pay extra to have the same or in our case, more problems than you would have in public school. And there are fewer social/friendship options in private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid MCPS if you can…seriously suboptimal. I would pick the cheapest house and go private.

Bad advice. We left mcps to go one of the top privates in DC and has been a waste of money.

We did too and are returning to MCPS this Fall. Don’t let people sell you on privates. You don’t want to pay extra to have the same or in our case, more problems than you would have in public school. And there are fewer social/friendship options in private.

Depends on the kid, depends on the school. I would choose Silver Spring and Grace Episcopal if I could do it all over again. - parent who moved from SS to W district and then left DMV. Glad you all are happy in MCPS! Just wasn’t our experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which of the other high schools are the best? I recently heard about gang problems at some of them, which is alarming. We obviously want to avoid those. Which ones are experiencing gang violence? Are any of the ones that are not W schools and not filled with gangs better or worse for kids on an IEP?

OMG OMG yes there was a gang incident back in the early 2000s at some school in MCPS I still have nightmares!