Crofton/Bowie vs. West Springfield/Burke
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Anonymous
| Love Burke. Yes schools are great. Parents are down to earth. I think there are lots of families where one of the parents carries a (high) security clearance. |
Anonymous
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If you are willing to pay for private HS (and possibly MS) I would choose Bowie. I graduated from Bowie HS a little over 10 years ago. I would not send a child there now, but would send a child to a number of Bowie elementary options and would possibly consider middle school. A PP noted earlier that there is a serious VA/MoCo slant to this board and you won't find very many parents who actually live in PG or AA Co, they just speak about it in horrified tones like you are asking them to live in a 3rd world country. My parents still live in Bowie in a neighborhood that is somewhat diverse, safe, friendly, and accessible. I loved that when I lived on Capitol Hill I could get to their house in 20 min when it wasn't rush hour.
Anne Arundel schools are not that great. Especially for middle and high school. They get a better rap than PG because they are frankly, more white, but I doubt that many of the parents on these boards have real experiences with the schools. |
Anonymous
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Not sure why 23:01 is putting down Anne Arundel schools. Why are they "not that great"? The district gets a 7 on Greatschools.
Crofton is served by Arundel and South River HS, both get 9's on Greatschools, compared to Bowie's 4. Remember private will be 10k a year and up, per child, for 13 years. |
Anonymous
| If you consider Greatschools to be a be all and end all measure of good schools, sure, AA schools are unequivocally better. I wouldn't choose a PG Co HS for a number of reasons, but I would also not choose Arundel or South River HS for a number of reasons as well. #1 reason - too many rednecks. There is a whole lot of PWT in those schools and that is just as scary to many DCUMs than the black population at PG Co. high schools. |
Anonymous
It does seem the rednecks score better on Maryland standardized tests than the folks in PGC. Also, free/reduced lunch percentages at both schools are under 15%, so I'd classify these folks are redneck as opposed to white trash. (Also, let's face it, MD rednecks just can't get as redneck as WV/VA rednecks.) I'll also posit that rednecks are less frightening to most upper-income whites -- at least everyone's white. Blacks who share neither a skin color nor a general set of values are even more frightening. |
Anonymous
I feel similarly about AA Co. Bowie is more progressive and more democratic, which is important to us. South River, while improving, has a redneck reputation that is not undeserved. There are other high schools in AA -- Severna Park -- which have good reputations as well. But others that rival PG (Meade, Arundel). And frankly, I'd rather have my children go to school with the children of professionals (whatever color) than a bunch of rednecks. Bowie High's summit program and Eleanor Roosevelt's science and tech program are well-regarded. We looked in AA and ultimately chose Bowie. Never looked back. But the large African-American population make some white people jumpy and if that's the way you feel, you won't be happy here. |
Anonymous
What private schools do you use? |
Anonymous
What does this even mean? 
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Anonymous
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First off I am Black and between this thread and the one on someone's Ikea visit I am just mortified. I have spent my whole life developing into a black woman who is the opposite of every Black stereotype and have achieved that (excluding being overweight) and to read such broadbrushed commentary is disheartening. Yes there are Black people who are violent, have attitudes, devalue education, etc. yet what is disheartening is the "that is just how they all are" perception. I thought when I moved here from the midwest long ago that I was moving to be around a more enlightened and accepting populous.
We reside in PG currently in our starter home that we got before we had a child and before we became a $370k+ HHI but are now looking for a new place to live...either upgrading to a better home in PG or moving to another county for better public schools and a better quality of life. Is it any wonder that some of us that do share your socioeconomic status and values about education and social behavior etc. choose to stay amongst others that "share our skin color" but also share all the above qualities also? These stereotypes are one of the concerns we have about moving to a community where we will be a rare sight in the neighborhood or where my son will be one of 1 to 8% of the public school population. I moved to the DC area from the midwest mainly because I liked that there seemed to be less prejudice here. People here were not shocked that families like the Cosby show exist or that a black man or woman could be a doctor, lawyer (like myself), scientist, engineer, and MBA (like my husband) etc. and that was not shocking. I could shop in high end stores and be treated as a serious customer instead of side-eyed as a potential shoplifter. That there seemed to be less of an assumption that I was a single mom, thief, violent, poor, didn't read books, uneducated etc. I loved that about this area. But these threads lately have me questioning that perception. As we consider dropping close to a million on our next place, yes we too want people who share our values. Our values are anti-crime, anti-violence, pro-education, being a person of high morals, integrity and character and a good neighbor/citizen. Our values are also that we treat everyone else the way that we would like to be treated and to not stereotype people who may be different than us in skin color, where they went to school or if they went at all, net worth, weight, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc. We want to live around people who also embrace those values. Yes, there are some (not all) people who share solely my skin color (and little else) that reside in PG (and are in every county though to a smaller %) who do not share my values about how you raise your kids or live your life...that is one of the reasons we consider moving. Yet for every one of those people, there are wonderful diverse neighbors I meet who share our values and it makes me want to stay as they are a great social circle to raise my child around. Some of these wonderful families couldn't afford a condo let alone a home similar to what they own in PG in the often mentioned preferred locations on this forum and some can but choose to stay. Those that choose to stay but have the means to move do so despite the nonstop bashing by others who live outside of PG, despite the other "element" that chooses to live near them and brings the quality of life down for everyone else, despite the fact that they have to pay for private school, and despite the fact that they have to drive to other counties for all their upscale needs and things that people of their socioeconomic status prefer to buy. I know many wonder why a family would choose to live in PG when they can clearly afford to live anywhere in this area. Just look at the commentary on this thread and the one about Ikea (I am sure there are many others) and you will see why some minorities hesitate to leave. We may get less crime, better schools and a higher % of neighbors that we have more in common with with respect to socioeconomic class...but what worries me is the prejudice and stereotyping as shown here that would come with moving to such a neighborhood where people who look like me, my husband and my toddler son are less than 10% of the community. I have been in PG 7 years now (after 10 years in Arlington and Tysons Corner as a renter) and I have not seen crime in my PG subdivision so I feel perfectly safe here and I can afford to pay for a great school for my child as yes my neighborhood school sucks (and a school that is 95% Black is not my view of exposing my child to reality) as the parents who all share my values that live here all have their kids in private or parochial schools...so after reading comments on this forum, online comments to local news articles, CityData local forums, etc. I wonder if living amongst the negative set of values held by some in the more elite neighborhoods with better schools and less crime is worth it. There may be negatives about living in PG but there are also negatives (which are in some ways worse) about living as a minority amongst racist people in "better?" neighborhoods also. We have a couple of years to decide but it is truely a dilemma. We can spend a mint to buy into a non-diverse public school and community or spend a comparable amount of money to stay in diverse PG and buy a more diverse private school. Getting to know different types of people in person and not from afar and based on stereotypes is important, especially after reading these threads. |
Anonymous
This is part of our dilemma currently. Even if we buy into a neighborhood with the greatest public schools...I am not sure if I like the increasing class sizes, less diversity which is partially behind those schools high ranking, having no clue what the school may be like by the time my toddler gets to middle school/high school due to redistricting amongst other things, the teach to the test focus or focus on the lowest achievers while others languish, the prospect of our jobs moving to a less convenient commute to the home we bought...etc. In some ways I feel I should just stay in PG, upgrade to a nice waterfront home for the cost of a lesser home in a better district and pay for private school. |
Anonymous
My guess it means something bad I would love to meet one of them |
Anonymous
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I would strongly prefer w springfield/burke to bowie/crofton.
But just want to point out commuting from springfield/burke to bowie/crofton would be nothing short of horrific. If he could leave early enough, the morning commute would not be quite as bad, but the afternoon commute would easily fall in the 90-120 minute range. With 120 min probably pretty routine. |