How is Richard Montgomery if you're not in IB?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

RM is a dive. Academics outside of the IB are mediocre at best. Sports and extracurriculars are abysmal. The magnet is there to keep the school from collapsing. The problem with MoCo is that if you live outside of Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac, or Kensington, you are living in the hood or on a farm. I know kids who attended or are attending RM. Most of the kids are bright. Diversity is ok if you are comparing it to Wooton. Given that the school takes in suspect area, the school has disciplinary problems. In 2010, the school made the news for being put on lock down. But, like most schools, a dedicated student with supportive parents will do well.

My, my. What will this poster do when awakened to discover that America is one big "hood"? I guess hitch hike a ride on the Mayflower back to the prisons from whence they fled.

Rockville is one of the worst looking cities in the state. Rockville Pike is one disgustingly long strip mall. Outside of downtown Rockville and the homes on or off of Maryland Ave. and Montgomery Ave., the area is a dive or a poor man's version of suburbia.

To answer OP's question, I think all the schools outside of the Ws should be tiered to reflect the struggles with which each has to deal. RM is probably in the same Tier of its own because of the IB program. Magruder, Sherwood, Quince Orchard and Clarksburg would probably be the tier just below. RM has similar demographics as the other school and all provide strong academics but do not have the cachet of the Ws. If your kid is a stellar student and destined for the Ivies, then RM or the other schools will allow your kid to reach the Ivies. If your kid was G-burg, Kennedy or Blair (sans Magnet), I would be concerned. The one positive RM has over the other schools (no the Ws) is that you benefit from the IB program since the focus on academics will be a little higher. I believe that RM produced 20-30 NMSF this year. That strong of a showing breeds a culture of strong academic performance.

[Anonymous]

If you only live in the W district you end up with the bubble effect like PP.

[Anonymous]

The above is the reality, tool. You live in the bubble. Check the scores, ranking and any other criteria you care to use -- Ws produce better results. It could be due to the wealth factor or just longer academic traditions -- Remember that the demographics in neighborhoods have changed over the years. Springbrook and Blair used to be strong academically but that is no longer the case. Similarly, Rockville (RM) is not the same area it was 30 years ago. Also, check list of notable alumni. The Ws have produced more notables.

OP, Move to one of the W neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The above is the reality, tool. You live in the bubble. Check the scores, ranking and any other criteria you care to use -- Ws produce better results. It could be due to the wealth factor or just longer academic traditions -- Remember that the demographics in neighborhoods have changed over the years. Springbrook and Blair used to be strong academically but that is no longer the case. Similarly, Rockville (RM) is not the same area it was 30 years ago. Also, check list of notable alumni. The Ws have produced more notables.

OP, Move to one of the W neighborhoods.

Snort.

(But which do I live in? The hood, a farm, or a bubble? I wish somebody would clear this up for me.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
(But which do I live in? The hood, a farm, or a bubble? I wish somebody would clear this up for me.)

Hey, don't forget a poor man's suburbia! That one gets my vote.

[Anonymous]

You live outside of the beltway, which to those of us inside the beltway, means that you are irrelevant. BTW, It would probably be best for all if a separate site is created for you and yours named MoCoRuralMom. On that thread, you could spend as much time as you like trying to justify your decision to live in the backwoods of MoCo and send your DC to an inferior school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You live outside of the beltway, which to those of us inside the beltway, means that you are irrelevant. BTW, It would probably be best for all if a separate site is created for you and yours named MoCoRuralMom. On that thread, you could spend as much time as you like trying to justify your decision to live in the backwoods of MoCo and send your DC to an inferior school.

I don't suppose you're the person on the private school forum saying that Brown and Cornell are inferior Ivies?

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/345870.page

If so -- actually, even if not so -- I agree with the PP on that thread who's calling a Poe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The above is the reality, tool. You live in the bubble. Check the scores, ranking and any other criteria you care to use -- Ws produce better results. It could be due to the wealth factor or just longer academic traditions -- Remember that the demographics in neighborhoods have changed over the years. Springbrook and Blair used to be strong academically but that is no longer the case. Similarly, Rockville (RM) is not the same area it was 30 years ago. Also, check list of notable alumni. The Ws have produced more notables.

OP, Move to one of the W neighborhoods.

Stop doing your kid's coke and go to bed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Morons, There are million homes in Anacostia. You can try to make yourselves feel good all you like but the reality is that outside of the IB program, RM is just an average school for all the same reasons that many other school in the county are average. With the IB program, RM's average scores are the same or inferior to the 4 Ws. Without the IB, the scores are weak. Again, I am only trying the answer OP's question. To be honest, I would rather attend an average MCPS than a stellar school in most other school districts.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Morons, There are million homes in Anacostia. You can try to make yourselves feel good all you like but the reality is that outside of the IB program, RM is just an average school for all the same reasons that many other school in the county are average. With the IB program, RM's average scores are the same or inferior to the 4 Ws. Without the IB, the scores are weak. Again, I am only trying the answer OP's question. To be honest, I would rather attend an average MCPS than a stellar school in most other school districts.

+1

Yea, but without $250/hr for SAT tutoring, the W schools are weak too.

[Anonymous]

I once saw a study that came up with a way to adjust SAT scores based on the poverty rate. So for every one percentage more or less of FARMS, the SAT scores were expected to be affected by x points (sorry I can't recall the numbers). Anyways the formula was applied to MCPS high school to rate actual teaching/learning as opposed to comparing kids who come from very different backgrounds equally. The top rated school in MoCo was....Wheaton!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Morons, There are million homes in Anacostia. You can try to make yourselves feel good all you like but the reality is that outside of the IB program, RM is just an average school for all the same reasons that many other school in the county are average. With the IB program, RM's average scores are the same or inferior to the 4 Ws. Without the IB, the scores are weak. Again, I am only trying the answer OP's question. To be honest, I would rather attend an average MCPS than a stellar school in most other school districts.

In truth, RM's mean test scores (excluding the magnet kids) are weaker than the Ws because it's zoned to include Twinbrook ES, which contains a large area east of 355 that's fairly poor. If you stuck Twinbook ES into the Wootton or Churchill clusters, it would instantly look about the same demographically as RM does now. If you think that the rest of RM looks anything like Anacostia, you haven't spent much time in Anacostia. Zones like Ritchie Park are actually wealthier than some of the nearby zones in Wootton.

Wootton and Churchill are basically white/asian, upper class bubbles due to the fact that there are few poor or multifamily pockets zoned into them, whereas RM at the high school level is very diverse, with very wealthy and very poor areas both zoned in. Much of RM costs more per square foot to live in than Wootton and Churchill though.

[Anonymous]

I am Asian. My kids will do well no matter which school they go to, and regardless of what curriculum MCPS follows.

End. Of. Story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am Asian. My kids will do well no matter which school they go to, and regardless of what curriculum MCPS follows.

End. Of. Story.

+1(except the Asian part). My white, upper middle class children with parents who are about education are going to do fine regardless of where they are. And we are in the rm Costner. I'm not worried at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am Asian. My kids will do well no matter which school they go to, and regardless of what curriculum MCPS follows.

End. Of. Story.

Also, we are not in RM cluster but DC goes to RMIB magnet. So, I don't even care where we live as long as I like the neighborhood and the house. My kids go to magnet schools - it does not matter where we live. They do well - regardless of the curriculum, or the school, or the socio-economic-racial composition of the student body. They achieve and thrive - regardless of the challenges.