Quince Orchard HS vs. Wootton

[Anonymous]

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

All my neighbors' kids go to QO and my 2 nephews recently graduated from Wottoon. We're looking to move and trying to decide if it's worth more $$$ to move to the Wootton cluster or stay in the more-affordable QO. Here's what I've been told: QO is "good", while Wootton is "great" academically. Wootton has much more focus on academics, academic clubs, and there's a lot of pressure to do well & get good grades. One-third of the population is Asian and 50% are white. Very little representation of other minorities. QO is more well-rounded; there are still a lot of "smart kids", but much more emphasis on sports, arts, etc. than at Wootton. QO is more racially mixed.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the Wootton cluster and would prefer that my kids go to Quince Orchard. (My kids are in middle and elementary right now.) But I'm not super-competitive in nature, so that might have something to do with it.

If you are not in the top classes at Wootton and competitive about grades, I think you risk getting "lost" at that school. It doesn't have much depth in its offerings. There are several teens in my neighborhood who have had a rough time at Wootton, don't fit in, get in trouble a lot. Consequently, they have skipped school a lot and gotten in trouble with the police over drugs, DUI, etc. I think a more well-rounded school like Q.O. would offer more opportunities to kids to find a productive niche, even if it's not top of the class AP stuff.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for the input. On one hand, I worry about over-emphasis on grades and heavy competition. On the other, based on these replies, I worry the academics aren't as rigorous at QO?

For anyone with elem. age kids, how do the elem schools compare in these areas? I've heard things about possible classroom overcrowding.

[Anonymous]

Yes, the classrooms are crowded. If it's not a Title 1 school with the extra federal funds, you inevitably have larger class sizes.

[Anonymous]

We recently moved and were deciding between homes in QO and Wootton school districts.
We chose QO. My son will be entering Kindergarten in the fall and after looking into elementary schools in
both areas we decided that although my son is bright we weren't looking for such a competitive school system.
The principal at one of the schools mentioned that in K they start preparing the children for college.
Academics is still very strong in QO, but it much more well rounded.

[Anonymous]

I think there are some elementary schools in both the QO cluster and Wootton cluster that are overcrowded.

I hear that Rachel Carson ES in the Quince Orchard district is particularly overcrowed.

[Anonymous]

My son just graduated from Wootton and he absolutely hated it. He couldn't be more happy that he is done with that high school. He was one of 50 black students in the 12th grade, actually he is mixed black/white, but he always felt like he stuck out. The focus is all on academics, which is not a bad thing, but you do get lost at the school if you're not one of the high achieving Asian/White students. I would choose Quince Orchard over Wootton because I think it represents Montgomery County better with the diversity and it's still a good school. My other children are white hispanic and when my son started school at Stone Mill I thought I was sending him to some school for robots. I couldn't believe what they expected out of them at 5 years old in Kindergarten and I was more than happy to move away from that area and school.

[Anonymous]

If academics, access to more higher level classes and a social environment that is supportive of higher achievement at all levels are in your plans then Wootton would probably be a better choice. More family involvement, the struggling kids ALL get faculty mentors, lunch-time tutors in nearly every subject, a really strong arts department (visual + performing) are all strong supplements. It is 20% over capacity and I'm guessing the feeder schools are loaded, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son just graduated from Wootton and he absolutely hated it. He couldn't be more happy that he is done with that high school. He was one of 50 black students in the 12th grade, actually he is mixed black/white, but he always felt like he stuck out. The focus is all on academics, which is not a bad thing, but you do get lost at the school if you're not one of the high achieving Asian/White students. I would choose Quince Orchard over Wootton because I think it represents Montgomery County better with the diversity and it's still a good school. My other children are white hispanic and when my son started school at Stone Mill I thought I was sending him to some school for robots. I couldn't believe what they expected out of them at 5 years old in Kindergarten and I was more than happy to move away from that area and school.

Yup, we are going private for this reason. Small private school, not what everyone on here talks about, but I'm not putting my child there. I'm sure it's wonderful for many kids. But not mine.

[Anonymous]

We are in Wootton area but don't have children in system. Next door neighbor is happy with the schools for kindergarten daughter but feels high school daughters are falling through the cracks. She says she has tried to talk to counselors etc with her concerns but no action. For what its worth, her DDs are not part of any racial minority and are not gifted and aren't failing any classes.

[Anonymous]

Bumping to see if anyone else has feedback. We are currently looking at houses in the area and are finding we like houses in the Rachel Carson/Lakelands Park/Quince Orchard district better (more for your money!), but are feeling pressure to choose a school in Wootton because of the higher rankings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bumping to see if anyone else has feedback. We are currently looking at houses in the area and are finding we like houses in the Rachel Carson/Lakelands Park/Quince Orchard district better (more for your money!), but are feeling pressure to choose a school in Wootton because of the higher rankings.

I already posted and my opinion hasn't changed. But I wanted to add you can't really go wrong with either school. Plus there are high school magnet programs available like Poolesville STEM or the RM IB program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bumping to see if anyone else has feedback. We are currently looking at houses in the area and are finding we like houses in the Rachel Carson/Lakelands Park/Quince Orchard district better (more for your money!), but are feeling pressure to choose a school in Wootton because of the higher rankings.

Don't be fooled by "higher ranking". Those rankings are bogus. They are determined by the percentage of students who take AP classes. It has nothing to do with how good the school is. Wootton's numbers are always helped by the large number of Asian students enrolled there.