Randolph Hills in Rockville?

[Anonymous]

Moving to Maryland from Richmond. We started looking in North Bethesda (proximity to my job) and there are houses in a part of Rockville called "Randolph Hills" that are what we are looking for (an older, smaller brick house). Anyone know anything about that neighborhood? The elementary school it is zone to is Viers Mill ES, know anything about that school? The test scores look GREAT, which seems unusual because the school is high FARMS/ESOL.

[Anonymous]

Viers Mill is a blue ribbon school and gets a lot of attention for that (such as the President visiting), but it is still in a low-SES area with mostly latino and African American students. (I don't care about this one way or another, but some people might). If you're white, your child(ren) will not have many peers in this neighborhood at all. Also, not 100% sure what high school Viers Mill feeds into (Wheaton?) but the high schools in that area are really not great.

I would not live there, but that's just me.

[Anonymous]

And, just because the test scores look great doesn't really mean anything. It more likely means that they drill and teach the kids how to do well on the tests.

[Anonymous]

I live in Randolph Hills. The comment about not having white peers in the neighborhood is just wrong. Its definitely a diverse neighborhood, vastly white and hispanic. The last five years I think the majority of new residents have been white -- younger families taking advantage of the proximity to a Metro and lower prices.
Schools: Viers Mill is the elementary. As you and others noted, it has great scores and gets a lot of attention for that. I can't offer first hand insight; my son will start Kindergarten in the fall. I have some reservations, but everyone I talk to with children there say they are pleased. It does feed into Wheaton HS, which is the worst in the county on many measures. Its part of the "Downcounty Consortium" which means you can probably get into another HS in the cluster, but it is something to consider.
As far the neighborhood goes, I like it because it adjoins Rock Creek Park -- very easy access to trails and parks. It is also close to the metro, and close to tons of shopping.
I definitely think its one of the best values in Montgomery County in terms of proximity to metro/DC compared with price.