Bethesda vs Kensington

[Anonymous]

Open up your search to include the rosemary hills/north Chevy Chase elementary cluster (BCC high school.) More house for your money and better neighborhoods. With an 800K budget in places you're looking at you’ll also be competing with builders. These are great schools and good mix of people in community. Of the places you mentioned I find Garrett Park the most insular.

[Anonymous]

BCC is outstanding. I wouldn’t consider any school district except it or the “W’s”)—Whitman, Wootton and Winston Churchill). They’re the best by every metric. You can find a modest home in your budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BCC is outstanding. I wouldn’t consider any school district except it or the “W’s”)—Whitman, Wootton and Winston Churchill). They’re the best by every metric. You can find a modest home in your budget.

The school district is Montgomery County Public Schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

Thanks for your reply. I also posted the similar thing in the real estate forum as I thought the housing-related questions may be more relevant there.

We're moving from Seattle and comfortable to spend $150-$200K on downpayment and were looking for sub or low $800K houses. minimum 3br. Anything that doesn't need major renovation is fine. So basically we're ok with a 3br 1.5bth and old interior as we can move in there but improve it over years.

Looking at Kensington, I read that a new HS may open and may not be as good. I know we have many years and a lot of things may change, but in general, I want to get a feeling of the community and neighborhood. As I think if other like-minded people live in the neighborhood they may have this as their priority and somehow keep the school quality high.

A former high school, Woodward, will be reopening in several years. The boundaries aren't known yet. But there's no reason to think it won't be as good. Parkwood and Garrett Park are great neighborhoods.

And the community for Woodward will be just as strong - considering that it will likely be drawing from already strong communities like Garrett Park and K-P.

Garrett Park is highly international - some years at least 50 different countries are represented on international night. It is an incredibly welcoming, diverse, community. The school is almost brand new. The downside is that it is already busting at the seams because everyone wants to move to this area and it is one of the few places with good schools, good commute, diverse community that has brand new development.

[Anonymous]

BCC vs Woodward & Einstein sums it up best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BCC is outstanding. I wouldn’t consider any school district except it or the “W’s”)—Whitman, Wootton and Winston Churchill). They’re the best by every metric. You can find a modest home in your budget.

The school district is Montgomery County Public Schools.

B-CC academically is a GS 7. It's hardly stellar but seems like a fine school. Overall it's comparable to most other MCPS high-schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BCC is outstanding. I wouldn’t consider any school district except it or the “W’s”)—Whitman, Wootton and Winston Churchill). They’re the best by every metric. You can find a modest home in your budget.

Agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BCC is outstanding. I wouldn’t consider any school district except it or the “W’s”)—Whitman, Wootton and Winston Churchill). They’re the best by every metric. You can find a modest home in your budget.

The school district is Montgomery County Public Schools.

B-CC academically is a GS 7. It's hardly stellar but seems like a fine school. Overall it's comparable to most other MCPS high-schools.

It's a bit overrated, but you can get a solid education there like any school in this county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BCC is outstanding. I wouldn’t consider any school district except it or the “W’s”)—Whitman, Wootton and Winston Churchill). They’re the best by every metric. You can find a modest home in your budget.

The school district is Montgomery County Public Schools.

B-CC academically is a GS 7. It's hardly stellar but seems like a fine school. Overall it's comparable to most other MCPS high-schools.

Whitman academically is a GS 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BCC is outstanding. I wouldn’t consider any school district except it or the “W’s”)—Whitman, Wootton and Winston Churchill). They’re the best by every metric. You can find a modest home in your budget.

Agree.

Back in 1970 TIME magazine ranked B-CC as the best high school in America, but over the past 50 years, the times have changed. It's still a fine school but definitely not in the top 5 MCPS high schools for academics or college readiness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BCC is outstanding. I wouldn’t consider any school district except it or the “W’s”)—Whitman, Wootton and Winston Churchill). They’re the best by every metric. You can find a modest home in your budget.

The school district is Montgomery County Public Schools.

B-CC academically is a GS 7. It's hardly stellar but seems like a fine school. Overall it's comparable to most other MCPS high-schools.

Whitman academically is a GS 4.

Churchill's math program was recently cited on this board as subpar. W's are also just coasting on past glory.

[Anonymous]

OP, the schools in Bethesda and Kensington are all good. Woodward will be good too. I would find a neighborhood and a house you like. MCPS is going through a lot of change, but it's one of the best public school systems in the US.

[Anonymous]

It's admirable for the OP to be looking far ahead re. schools (and they do influence home prices), but with 12-year horizon before daughter starts high school, I'd focus on other things because a lot can happen. We've lived in both Kensington (pre-kids) and Bethesda (post-kids, BCC cluster) and loved both neighborhoods. Both have great elementary schools (we heard great things about Kensington Parkwood ES), and I'd focus on the next 8 years were I in the OP's shoes. Things I didn't realize when I moved - ability to walk to ES, in neighborhoods with lots of kids within walking distance, neighborhood pool, etc. - where things that made the most difference to our kids. Again, assuming that the ES is good. In Kensington, we found ourselves spending much more time in Wheaton (has a great county partk/facilities, much more diverse) than Bethesda; opposite now is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, the schools in Bethesda and Kensington are all good. Woodward will be good too. I would find a neighborhood and a house you like. MCPS is going through a lot of change, but it's one of the best public school systems in the US.

Although there are demographic differences between the various schools in MCPS that will impact their test averages, the quality of education is remarkably consistent. You can't go wrong with any of these schools.

[Anonymous]

I will not even look at Great Schools' rating. Someone mentioned Whitman's GS rating is 4. I don't think the poster knows anything about Whitman other than the GS rating. My DC currently goes to Whitman and it is a top flight High School. Its feeder middle school and the feeder elementary schools are also excellent. We are very happy with the education, extra curricular activities, and friends our DC has through Whitman. We are naturalized US citizens from Asia. There are many international families at Whitman and I describe the school as a mini-United Nations.