What's the Word on Gaithersburg?

[Anonymous]

What is it known for? What kind of reputation does it have? What words would you use to describe it? How are the schools? My husband and I were there this weekend and wondered if it would be a good place to raise a family.

[Anonymous]

Parts of Old Town and Montgomery Village have a pretty bad gang problem (and resulting crime). There are lovely parts as well, but you should search neighborhood by neighborhood. I live right in the corner of North Potomac/Gaithersburg/Rockville, with a Rockville address, and honestly prefer Gaithersburg for most things.

In general, Watkins Mill High has some crime and education issues. Gaithersburg High is a mixed bag. Quince Orchard High is pretty good. There are several lower-cost privates around the area -- secular and religious. There's a great little music school called the Academy of Music, too.

I like shopping at the Kentlands and King Farm (part of King Farm is in Gaithersburg). I like the Rio at Washingtonian for shopping and movies as well. The movie theater there plays Hindi movies, which is a secret vice of mine. The lake and little playground there are fabulous, especially for smaller kids.

I like a lot of events they have in Gaithersburg -- like the book festival that's coming up this weekend. Bohrer Park is really cool, and it's close to the Germantown Splash Park.

With the ICC opening, it's really a fast trip to a lot of places now. But commuting into DC for work still takes a long time.

[Anonymous]

GAG! I drove up there this weekend to bring my kids to a birthday party and it's my version of the seventh circle of hell.

[Anonymous]

PP was a little over the top, but I do agree that G'Burg does not have a good rep at all.
Lots of gang activity, low achieving schools. Used to be a nice place actually....then something happened about 10 years ago - and it all went south. or as the PP put it - the seventh circle of hell :O

[Anonymous]

Gaithersburg is huge. It is the suburbs no doubt about that but IMO suburbs are good for kids. We drive into DC at least one or two weekend days a month, more in the spring and summer but most of the people that we know don't go in that often.

20878 is called North Potomac and zones for either Wootten or Quince Orchard. Wootten is ranked very high but even though QO is not everyone I know with kids really likes it. NP is great for families. Its very kid centric with every activity and sport you can think to do. NP has the highest concentration of Phds in the country so there are a bunch of researchy types. The non research types seem to be mid level govt or business. Most people are down to earth. I have not seen any flashy jewelry or jogging suits out here. There is a large Chinese and Indian community in the area. Many of my kid's friends are bi-lingual. Most people use the public schools and moved to the area for the schools. The lots are great with lots of mature trees. The older homes are good sized colonials from the 70s or 80s. The newer homes are either large on large lots or large on small lots in denser developments. Many of the developments have pools and community centers. The houses on big lots all tend to have their own swimming pool. Swimming is big out here.

The western areas to the south on the edge of Potomac are more rural/suburb with big 2-3 acre lots and big houses. There are townhouses connected to SFH developments off Travilah, Muddy Branch, and Seneca. Everything else seems to be 2000-3000 ft SFH. The only walkable community with enough variety so that you really could avoid your car would be the Kentlands or Lakelands. There are other developments behind or next to small shopping areas with a grocery store and a few small restaurants so you could find something where you could walk somewhere. The big downside is driving everywhere. There is no traffic which is great.

There is very little crime in 20878 or at least anywhere near where we live. There is more crime if you go farther north into Gaithersburg across 270 or in Montgomery Village. There is more low income housing near Montgomery Village.

[Anonymous]

Isn't King Farm Rockville? I think the businesses carry Rockville addresses. No idea what school cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't King Farm Rockville? I think the businesses carry Rockville addresses. No idea what school cluster.

King Farm is all Rockville. As far as schools it was split between RM and Rockville HS(yuck).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't King Farm Rockville? I think the businesses carry Rockville addresses. No idea what school cluster.

King Farm is all Rockville. As far as schools it was split between RM and Rockville HS(yuck).

I thought the split was RM and Gaithersburg High.

Anyway, as someone who lives right in the thick of it, Gaithersburg has a bad reputation, and some of it is deserved. There is some violent crime. As there is everywhere (murders in Bethesda recently, for instance).

It is not the 7th circle of hell, and it is, in fact, quite a lovely place to raise a family. There are tons of parks and playgrounds, all manner of kids' activities, and lots of families with little kids around. The schools aren't great, we're going private (at least for now), but we probably would have done that anyway, since I'm not a fan of the way MoCo schools are run in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't King Farm Rockville? I think the businesses carry Rockville addresses. No idea what school cluster.

King Farm is all Rockville. As far as schools it was split between RM and Rockville HS(yuck).

No, part of it goes to Gaithersburg High. Type 305 King Farm Blvd. into the MoCo school locator. Gaithersburg cluster. None of it goes to Rockville High.

[Anonymous]

Gaithersburg is very highly ranked by Money or one of those "best medium sized towns" pubs. It's funny because, well, it's Gaithersburg. It's ok but it's nothing special. PP mentioned the gang issue. As an aside, for a bit of weird DC history, google "mother of god" and "montgomery village."

[Anonymous]

It is a pretty nasty and sad place to live and always has been (and yes, I lived there for many years). Seems more reports of gang-style violence more recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gaithersburg is huge. It is the suburbs no doubt about that but IMO suburbs are good for kids. We drive into DC at least one or two weekend days a month, more in the spring and summer but most of the people that we know don't go in that often.

20878 is called North Potomac and zones for either Wootten or Quince Orchard. Wootten is ranked very high but even though QO is not everyone I know with kids really likes it. NP is great for families. Its very kid centric with every activity and sport you can think to do. NP has the highest concentration of Phds in the country so there are a bunch of researchy types. The non research types seem to be mid level govt or business. Most people are down to earth. I have not seen any flashy jewelry or jogging suits out here. There is a large Chinese and Indian community in the area. Many of my kid's friends are bi-lingual. Most people use the public schools and moved to the area for the schools. The lots are great with lots of mature trees. The older homes are good sized colonials from the 70s or 80s. The newer homes are either large on large lots or large on small lots in denser developments. Many of the developments have pools and community centers. The houses on big lots all tend to have their own swimming pool. Swimming is big out here.

The western areas to the south on the edge of Potomac are more rural/suburb with big 2-3 acre lots and big houses. There are townhouses connected to SFH developments off Travilah, Muddy Branch, and Seneca. Everything else seems to be 2000-3000 ft SFH. The only walkable community with enough variety so that you really could avoid your car would be the Kentlands or Lakelands. There are other developments behind or next to small shopping areas with a grocery store and a few small restaurants so you could find something where you could walk somewhere. The big downside is driving everywhere. There is no traffic which is great.

There is very little crime in 20878 or at least anywhere near where we live. There is more crime if you go farther north into Gaithersburg across 270 or in Montgomery Village. There is more low income housing near Montgomery Village.

Quince Orchard is ranked very high, what are you talking about?

It's ranked very high nationally and a top county school as well...

To be eligible for the list, at least half of the students at a school must take the AP or IB classes in their junior or senior year. The 1,622 high schools to qualify represent about 6 percent of the nation's public schools, according to the Newsweek website.

The other local schools on the list were:

-Montgomery Blair, which ranked 139th;

-Quince Orchard, 218th;

-Paint Branch, 263rd;

-Rockville, 299th;

-Albert Einstein, 361st;

-Sherwood, 364th;

-James Hubert Blake, 433rd;

-Northwest, 439th;

-Col. Zadok Magruder, 481st;

-Gaithersburg, 521st;

-John F. Kennedy, 538th;

-Wheaton, 541st;

-Springbrook, 546th;

-Damascus, 553rd;

-Clarksburg, 656th;

-Seneca Valley, 723rd;

-Watkins Mill, 741st;

-Northwood, 752nd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GAG! I drove up there this weekend to bring my kids to a birthday party and it's my version of the seventh circle of hell.

Gaithersburg is fairly larger. Saying this is like driving to the Four Corners area of Silver Spring and declaring you hate all of Silver Spring. I really doubt you can judge the ENTIRE Gaithersburg area based on your one time drive to a birthday party. It's RiDONKulous you'd even make that statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't King Farm Rockville? I think the businesses carry Rockville addresses. No idea what school cluster.

King Farm is all Rockville. As far as schools it was split between RM and Rockville HS(yuck).

No, part of it goes to Gaithersburg High. Type 305 King Farm Blvd. into the MoCo school locator. Gaithersburg cluster. None of it goes to Rockville High.

Ahh...good to know! Just looked at the map and you're right. I would be pretty pissed if I lived there and paid all that money for a house for my kids to go to Gaithersburg.

[Anonymous]

I teach at one of the elementary schools that feeds into one of the Gaithersburg high schools mentioned here. While we do have our share of poverty (mostly seen in our FARMS rate, and school supplies provided to students), we also have an amazing amount of diversity, and the hardest working staff I have ever seen. The teachers at my school know all about family histories, hold before and after school tutoring-for free-for students who need it, have been all over the state of Maryland to watch karate belt tests, swim meets, gymnastic meets, basketball/soccer/you name it games, and are very invested in each child being a success. Because it is a title 1 school, class sizes are smaller, and we have several focus teachers to help with that. At least one high school in the "7th circle of hell" offers the same IB program that Richard Montgomery offers, and all offer accelerated honors classes. Of course we have struggles, and kids who don't make it, just like any other school. And yes, some of our numbers on MSA/SAT/HSA aren't as pretty as in Bethesda, but if you are a family that is invested in your child, makes sure they do homework, know there friends, and teach them the importance of school, they'll do just as well in Gaithersburg as anywhere else. And for what its worth, many of my students are taller then I am and outweigh me, and a few have anger issues, but I have never worried for the safety of myself or any of the rest of my students.

If you're possibly interested, the best thing you can do is check out the schools for yourself. Most schools in the area (including middle and high) will allow you into the building to take a tour, and observe classes as they are taught. Check it out, see what you like and what you don't. Just don't rely on opinions a website where most people have never seen the inside of a Gaithersburg school!