Moving to Howard County

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thunder Hill ES is a fantastic school in a great neighborhood full of your families with an arts integration program. When we were looking, I had narrowed it down to either Thunder Hill or Clemens Crossing, and I liked the location and prices of homes in Thunder Hill more.

But doesn't Thunder Hill feed into Oakland Mills Middle and High Schools? What's the buzz there?

You want to avoid Oakland Mills and Long Reach HS. I would look into schools that feed into River Hill and Centennial. Next choices would be Mt Hebron and Howard.

Concur on OM and LR - Re: Mt. Hebron, I think its way too far north to be a practical suggestion.

+1


Exactly!

Mt. Hebron borders West Baltimore County. If the OP is working in Baltimore, then Ellicott City will be fine. However, I will rule out Centennial, Howard, Mt Hebron, and the schools in the western and northern parts of Howard County because they're just too far to commute to DC. Whomever suggested Mt. Hebron is out of their minds. Mt. Hebron High School is north of I-70. A commute to DC from I-70 will be Hellish.

OP, I will advise you to look at the current information on the school's profiles and websites as well. You will be able to see state test scores, PTA pages, grade level pages, and detail information that you will not be able to get from this forum. The Howard County School website http://www.hcpss.org and each elementary school website has the information that you're looking for. If you need any additional help, then contact the school's counselors or PTA (through e-mail and telephone). Tell them that you're a new parent of the county and you will like to have some information about the school or to schedule a tour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is great about Clemens crossing?

Low ratios
Engaged students
Great for academics and arts
There is a GT specialist on-site (like with all HCPS). So, GT students can receive services at their neighborhood schools instead of being shift to another school for services.
Active PTA
Wonderful teachers
Supportive Administration
Involved parents
Diverse Student Body
Great Maryland State test scores
Great community type of school and it's very family friendly.
It's not too far from I-29 which makes it a great commute to DC or you can catch the MARC (near Laurel) train to Union Station
It's zone to a great high school.



However, Clemens Crossing isn't the only great elementary in Howard County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is great about Clemens crossing?

Its a great school (as are many Howard County Schools) - I would argue one of its finer features is...it is located south (well technically just north) of Route 32 - you do not want to go further north than this unless you like brake lights a lot.

There are other ES in this range, but they feed into Reservoir, which sometimes is viewed as less desirable. But a lot can change in that amount of time, so not sure that is necessarily an issue.

[Anonymous]

thanks for all your help!
-OP

[Anonymous]

We are also planning on moving to Howard County soon and commute to DC. I've been looking at schools that feed into Hammond MS/HS. Both are in the 95/32 area, have good test scores and wouldn't be too bad of a commute. The other cluster is around 216/95 (Fulton area) for Lime Kiln MS and Atholton HS.