Trying to decide which school district to buy home in (i.e. our first, but forever home)

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone!
My husband and I have a 9 mos old and planning to expand our family. Having recently moved to the Maryland area, we are now looking at homes in the Rockville/Potomac/Bethesda area to settle down in. Many of these homes are a bit out of our price range, but since interest rates are at an all time low and homes in these areas are a bit cheaper than they have been, we would like to go ahead and purchase a home that we plan on staying in until our child graduates high school or possibly for the rest of our lives.

Since a lot of these homes are out of our price range, we would need to work extra, borrow from relatives etc. but feel it may be worth it in the long run, as interest rates and homes prices will most likely go up in the next 10 yrs or so, which would bring us to the same situation we are in now anyway.

What we are looking for is a top notch school, very strong focus on academics, but diverse as well. I had bad experiences being bullied as I am South asian and attended a very non-diverse high school and do not want my daughter to face what I did. Both of us are in science-related fields, but we want her to choose any field she wishes, but be the best in that field (as I'm sure most parents do). We don't know how our daughter will be academically, so I want a school that will motivate her to excel, but if she has struggles, will be willing to help her out and work with her (this goes for es, middle and high schools). I do not want her to go to a school where if she does struggles, she will be ignored or bullied.

So the following are my questions:
1) Which school district is the best for what we are looking for? Wooten, Winston Churchhill, Walter Johnson or Walt Whitman?
2)Do you think these school districts will change much in terms of rankings (as some school districts in Columbia, etc have) in the next 10 yrs or so?If so, it may not be worth it to purchase a home right now
3) Is it true that students graduating from these 4 schools have less of a chance getting into top notch/Ivy-league schools than schools that are ranked lower?
4)How does richard montomery compare to the above schools? we have found homes in that area to be a bit more affordable.

Any advice/feedback would be appreciated re: these schools and buyinhg homes in this area as we would like as much info as possible before making this huge financial decision for our family.Thank you all in advance!

[Anonymous]

All of the schools you listed are the best of the best and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Richard Montgomery is not terrible, but doesn't compare to the others. Perhaps also look in the Quince Orchard district. A slight step up from RM, but similar homes and in the same area. I think Wooten might end up being your best bet. there are pockets of homes in that district that are slightly more affordable, and it has a very high asian population, if you are looking for that.

[Anonymous]

I'd add BCC to the 4 Ws (and I'd put it ahead of RM in terms of reputation) - it also draws on some more affordable neighborhoods in addition to high-priced neighborhoods. Any kids applying to highly competitive colleges from this metropolitan area are at a disadvantage vs. much of the rest of the country, you can't really game that in this area (or in NYC, Boston or a lot of other major cities.) Bethesda magazine does publish annual listings of college acceptances for all the area schools, so if you're really interested you can get your hands on those back issues.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that there is only one "district" there and that is the Montgomery County Public School district.

What you are describing is boundaries for different high schools. I assume that those boundaries are pretty stable. However, boundaries can change in response to new demographics. So you should never assume that the high school your house is zoned for NOW will be the high school your child will attend in 8 years.

[Anonymous]

There is a large Asian population at Wootton, including South Asian. This is the cluster I live in. I'd rather be here than down county at the other Ws, but that's just a personal preference.

I'm not a huge fan of Wootton in general, unless your kid is best of the best. Otherwise there's not much room to fit in. I would prefer Quince Orchard. QO is a good school but seems more well-rounded.

Boundaries for schools can and do change every ten years after new census data come out. So nothing is guaranteed.

There are two STEM magnet schools in the County. Blair is down county and has a great reputation. Poolesville has the upcounty STEM magnet and gets good reviews, too.

I don't know if Howard County is too far away for you, but it seems to have more uniformly good schools. It's a much smaller county.

[Anonymous]

Hoover/Churchill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello everyone!
My husband and I have a 9 mos old and planning to expand our family. Having recently moved to the Maryland area, we are now looking at homes in the Rockville/Potomac/Bethesda area to settle down in. Many of these homes are a bit out of our price range, but since interest rates are at an all time low and homes in these areas are a bit cheaper than they have been, we would like to go ahead and purchase a home that we plan on staying in until our child graduates high school or possibly for the rest of our lives.

Since a lot of these homes are out of our price range, we would need to work extra, borrow from relatives etc. but feel it may be worth it in the long run, as interest rates and homes prices will most likely go up in the next 10 yrs or so, which would bring us to the same situation we are in now anyway.

What we are looking for is a top notch school, very strong focus on academics, but diverse as well. I had bad experiences being bullied as I am South asian and attended a very non-diverse high school and do not want my daughter to face what I did. Both of us are in science-related fields, but we want her to choose any field she wishes, but be the best in that field (as I'm sure most parents do). We don't know how our daughter will be academically, so I want a school that will motivate her to excel, but if she has struggles, will be willing to help her out and work with her (this goes for es, middle and high schools). I do not want her to go to a school where if she does struggles, she will be ignored or bullied.

So the following are my questions:
1) Which school district is the best for what we are looking for? Wooten, Winston Churchhill, Walter Johnson or Walt Whitman?
2)Do you think these school districts will change much in terms of rankings (as some school districts in Columbia, etc have) in the next 10 yrs or so?If so, it may not be worth it to purchase a home right now
3) Is it true that students graduating from these 4 schools have less of a chance getting into top notch/Ivy-league schools than schools that are ranked lower?
4)How does richard montomery compare to the above schools? we have found homes in that area to be a bit more affordable.

Any advice/feedback would be appreciated re: these schools and buyinhg homes in this area as we would like as much info as possible before making this huge financial decision for our family.Thank you all in advance!

Don't buy more home than you can afford right now.

RE your questions

They are all good schools, very competitive.
That will not change.
#3 is true because high-achieving students are a dime a dozen at all of these schools.
I don't know the answer to #4.

[Anonymous]

Don't bank on home prices rising in the next ten years.

[Anonymous]

Avoid pressure cookers. There is nothing good about stress. Go for affordable. You may decide public school isn't a good match and you will need financial flexibility to go private if needed. Go for diverse. Parts of Bethesda and Chevy Chase have zero diversity and little international presence.

[Anonymous]

I have one MS kid and another ES kid. I live in upper MoCo. My MSer goes to a magnet program and my ES is academically very advanced, however was not accepted into the ES magnet program. Based on several years of experience in school system if I had chance to do over, I will move to NoVA.

It seems like your child would be academically advanced (your profile makes me believe that) and magnet school is no gurantee. MoCo is in the decline path for advanced learners in general public school. If the path is not reversed, in 10 years things would be pretty bad.

So, if you can manage distance to your work, my suggestion would be to look for houses in VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have one MS kid and another ES kid. I live in upper MoCo. My MSer goes to a magnet program and my ES is academically very advanced, however was not accepted into the ES magnet program. Based on several years of experience in school system if I had chance to do over, I will move to NoVA.

It seems like your child would be academically advanced (your profile makes me believe that) and magnet school is no gurantee. MoCo is in the decline path for advanced learners in general public school. If the path is not reversed, in 10 years things would be pretty bad.

So, if you can manage distance to your work, my suggestion would be to look for houses in VA.

Thanks for your post: You bring up a good point, the reason I want to stay in MD is that I have family in NY, NJ and it's a bit closer. BUT, I feel like the homes in VA are nicer, bigger and you get a lot more home for your money. Are you suggesting No VA because of the school system?I'm not too familiar with their school system but if I find a school system that is really good, I would definitely consider it. Which school system would you recommend in VA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have one MS kid and another ES kid. I live in upper MoCo. My MSer goes to a magnet program and my ES is academically very advanced, however was not accepted into the ES magnet program. Based on several years of experience in school system if I had chance to do over, I will move to NoVA.

It seems like your child would be academically advanced (your profile makes me believe that) and magnet school is no gurantee. MoCo is in the decline path for advanced learners in general public school. If the path is not reversed, in 10 years things would be pretty bad.

So, if you can manage distance to your work, my suggestion would be to look for houses in VA.

Thanks for your post: You bring up a good point, the reason I want to stay in MD is that I have family in NY, NJ and it's a bit closer. BUT, I feel like the homes in VA are nicer, bigger and you get a lot more home for your money. Are you suggesting No VA because of the school system?I'm not too familiar with their school system but if I find a school system that is really good, I would definitely consider it. Which school system would you recommend in VA?

Not that poster, but Fairfax is great. And you have TJ Prep!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_High_School_for_Science_and_Technology

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have one MS kid and another ES kid. I live in upper MoCo. My MSer goes to a magnet program and my ES is academically very advanced, however was not accepted into the ES magnet program. Based on several years of experience in school system if I had chance to do over, I will move to NoVA.

It seems like your child would be academically advanced (your profile makes me believe that) and magnet school is no gurantee. MoCo is in the decline path for advanced learners in general public school. If the path is not reversed, in 10 years things would be pretty bad.

So, if you can manage distance to your work, my suggestion would be to look for houses in VA.

Thanks for your post: You bring up a good point, the reason I want to stay in MD is that I have family in NY, NJ and it's a bit closer. BUT, I feel like the homes in VA are nicer, bigger and you get a lot more home for your money. Are you suggesting No VA because of the school system?I'm not too familiar with their school system but if I find a school system that is really good, I would definitely consider it. Which school system would you recommend in VA?

Yes I am speaking about school system in VA. You get bigger house for the same price. However, that is an added advantage. Compare the services and policies for advanced learner in Maryland and VA and you will see that you would be better off there for your kids education, if you anticipate your kids may need acceleration. MoCo has a big political move to water down the acceleration for last several years. My suggestion is for new parents focus on education to look beyond MoCo. Check the VA Public School forum for suggestion to know areas. I am not one, so would not be able to tell. But I have experience in MoCo school system and I believe it is going downhill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have one MS kid and another ES kid. I live in upper MoCo. My MSer goes to a magnet program and my ES is academically very advanced, however was not accepted into the ES magnet program. Based on several years of experience in school system if I had chance to do over, I will move to NoVA.

It seems like your child would be academically advanced (your profile makes me believe that) and magnet school is no gurantee. MoCo is in the decline path for advanced learners in general public school. If the path is not reversed, in 10 years things would be pretty bad.

So, if you can manage distance to your work, my suggestion would be to look for houses in VA.

WTH?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like your child would be academically advanced (your profile makes me believe that) and magnet school is no gurantee. MoCo is in the decline path for advanced learners in general public school. If the path is not reversed, in 10 years things would be pretty bad.

WTH?

Do not take offense, but see what the OP wrote. I have highlighted the portion of the parent's profile (that I mentioned) which contributes to academic success of students in school. Most people get it wrong, when they think profile is tied to something other than parents availability and comittment.

My husband and I have a 9 mos old and planning to expand our family.

*************

What we are looking for is a top notch school, very strong focus on academics, but diverse as well. I had bad experiences being bullied as I am South asian and attended a very non-diverse high school and do not want my daughter to face what I did. Both of us are in science-related fields, but we want her to choose any field she wishes, but be the best in that field (as I'm sure most parents do). We don't know how our daughter will be academically, so I want a school that will motivate her to excel, but if she has struggles, will be willing to help her out and work with her (this goes for es, middle and high schools). I do not want her to go to a school where if she does struggles, she will be ignored or bullied.