Rosemary Hills ES vs Kensington Parkwood?

[Anonymous]

Funny how this went way off OP's questions... My ds attended an reputable area private school until this year. Due to finances, we opted to try out local public school: Kensington Parkwood. We made an excellent decision. Feel very different from this 'reputable' (and costly) private school we attended. Clean, updated facilities, very involved parent community, excellent teaching and admin staffing, lots of resources. My dh and I said the other night, 'why didn't we do this sooner' Seriously, go KP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kp to Einstein actually makes sense. Luxmanor to Rockville makes no sense so I don't think it's a good comparison. And the kp thing has actually been raised by moco officials- it is not a rumor pulled out of thin air. Rsearch it.

I don't know the veracity of this. However, my daughter went to an Einstein cluster elementary school and took the bus every day past houses in the KP/Walter Johnson cluster. Same thing happens for middle school. The boundaries are so gerrymandered. Adding the KP kids to Einstein would certainly help increase diversity there, but I have a feeling that the residents now in the KP area have enough political and economic clout to ensure this won't ever happen.

[Anonymous]

I think it would be good for Einstein and Kensington but it won't happen.

[Anonymous]

I think it would be good for Einstein and Kensington but it won't happen.

It might be good for Einstein but how would it help Kensington? The properties in the KP district would lose 20-50% of their value! I imagine you don't live in the area so it's easy for you to make such a statement.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, the Parkwood neighborhood listserv today had a message forwarded from Bruce Crispell, Director, Division of Long-range Planning, Montgomery County Public Schools. It says:

"I have been attempting to track down and dispel a rumor in some Kensington communities that there are plans to change the boundaries of the Walter Johnson cluster.…I don’t know what listserv or e-mails this rumor is being spread on, but there is absolutely no truth to this rumor.…If you have any questions about this please feel free to contact me, and thank you for any assistance you can provide in squashing this rumor."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think it would be good for Einstein and Kensington but it won't happen.

It might be good for Einstein but how would it help Kensington? The properties in the KP district would lose 20-50% of their value! I imagine you don't live in the area so it's easy for you to make such a statement.

It makes more sense to unite Kensington in a local school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think it would be good for Einstein and Kensington but it won't happen.


It might be good for Einstein but how would it help Kensington? The properties in the KP district would lose 20-50% of their value! I imagine you don't live in the area so it's easy for you to make such a statement.


It makes more sense to unite Kensington in a local school.

Kensington is split between 3 HS-WJ, BCC (Chevy Chase View) and Einstein. Moving KP to Einstein would not "unite" Kensington. Plus KP includes Kensington and Bethesda residents.

[Anonymous]

Just to put an end to the KP reassignment rumor, please see below (received today):

Liz,

I have been attempting to track down and dispel a rumor in some Kensington communities that there are plans to change the boundaries of the Walter Johnson cluster. It appears this rumor is most virulent in the Town of Kensington communities where there are concerns that new development from the White Flint Sector Plan could lead to reassignment of communities out of the WJ cluster schools. The ongoing work on the Kensington Sector Plan, where some additional residential units are being planned, may also be exacerbating the rumor.

I was apprised of this rumor at a meeting with Walter Johnson cluster coordinators Barbara Ferry and Jennifer Cope last week. I don't know what listserv or e-mails this rumor is being spread on, but there is absolutely no truth to this rumor.

The White Flint Sector plan is many years from full implementation. An elementary school site is identified in the plan to support full build-out of all of the potential units provided in the plan. Full build-out is expected to take up to 20+ years and significant infrastructure investments must be made to allow stages of the plan to go forward. The Kensington Sector Plan is not yet adopted by the County Council, but there are much fewer residential units being contemplated in this plan. Again, full build out of the Kensington plan could take many years to accomplish.

Beyond the long timeframe of master planned developments, almost all schools surrounding the WJ cluster are either at full capacity, or expected to exceed capacity in the near future. Boundary changes are considered when there is available space in a school that can relieve an overutilized school nearby. This is simply not the situation at any schools surrounding the WJ cluster schools.

If you have any questions about this please feel free to contact me, and thank you for any assistance you can provide in squashing this rumor.


Bruce Crispell

Director, Division of Long-range Planning
Montgomery County Public Schools
[phone] (office)
[phone] (fax)

2096 Gaither Road - Suite 201
Rockville, Maryland 20850
[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

KP residents will fight tooth and nail to prevent 'uniting' w/Einstein. Makes no sense at all.

[Anonymous]

There are comments on Rosemary Hills in other threads, so do search for them.

When considering RHPS, you should also think about what the next elementary school will be since RH is only K-2.

If the school is really your deciding factor between homes, then by all means go and talk to the principal and spend some time touring around (I bet you could even volunteer) and get a sense for how the schools really work.

The other thing I'd advise is finding out whether your potential neighbors send their kids to the local public school. We used to live in the Westbrook catchment in Bethesda, and Westbrook is a fine school, yet the neighbors mainly sent their kids to private school. Now, we're in the RHPS cathcment, and the vast majority of the kids on the street go there. That's made for a very nice sense of community.

[Anonymous]

There is information on every school (size, test scores) in the "at a glance" summaries under schools at the MCPS website. For RH:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02794.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:KP residents will fight tooth and nail to prevent 'uniting' w/Einstein. Makes no sense at all.

I agree that they will fight tooth and nail. But why doesn't it make sense?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The other thing I'd advise is finding out whether your potential neighbors send their kids to the local public school. We used to live in the Westbrook catchment in Bethesda, and Westbrook is a fine school, yet the neighbors mainly sent their kids to private school. Now, we're in the RHPS cathcment, and the vast majority of the kids on the street go there. That's made for a very nice sense of community.

This is interesting because I am looking at a Chevy Chase neighborhood in RHPS area where all of the neighbors seem to send their children to private school. I think this is a shame because I would much rather have that community feel. What neighborhoods are pro Rosemary Hills?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I think there are a smattering of families that go private no matter what their catchment for a variety of reasons. That's certainly true with RHPS, and I'd guess with KP too (particularly with Holy Redeemer nearby.) But what surprised me frankly is the number of my childrens' classmates who live in houses that would obviously support private school tuitions. It's boosted my confidence in the school that parents that at least appear to have more alternatives than I do continue to choose RH (and also intimidated me a bit about hosting playdates at our dumpy little house.) My kids have friends from all around the CC / East Bethesda neighborhoods, as well as a few in Kensington and SS. I don't get the sense that there are any neighborhoods where *most* kids opt private over MCPS, although I do see a lot of CC, MD kids at Blessed Sacrament, possibly because of the proximity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are a smattering of families that go private no matter what their catchment for a variety of reasons. That's certainly true with RHPS, and I'd guess with KP too (particularly with Holy Redeemer nearby.) But what surprised me frankly is the number of my childrens' classmates who live in houses that would obviously support private school tuitions. It's boosted my confidence in the school that parents that at least appear to have more alternatives than I do continue to choose RH (and also intimidated me a bit about hosting playdates at our dumpy little house.) My kids have friends from all around the CC / East Bethesda neighborhoods, as well as a few in Kensington and SS. I don't get the sense that there are any neighborhoods where *most* kids opt private over MCPS, although I do see a lot of CC, MD kids at Blessed Sacrament, possibly because of the proximity.

Another RHPS/CCES parent. Agree that Blessed Sacrament does get a lot of CC families, particularly in the earlier grades. Also do not have the sense that *most"* kids opt for private over MCPS in our neighborhood. Of the 8 families that live in our 1-2 block radius in CC, only 2 sent their kids to private, and 1 of those has just switched from private to public. This is from an elem. perspective.