Good school district in MoCo that is affordable for parents working for federal gov

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a single mother eager to live near Somerset Elementary School. I was thinking of moving to one of those Soviet-style condominiums right near the Friendship Heights Metro--the Willoughby is the cheapest, I think (2 bedrooms for about $450,000); there's also the Elizabeth and the Irene.
Two problems (at least):
1. I don't see a lot of kids or kid-friendly things (playgrounds) in the vicinity or in those buildings. I could be wrong--I'm just starting my search.
2. It's LONG walking distance to Somerset for little legs. I do believe in walking to elementary school, but where can we live that's near Somerset? I can't afford the lovely homes near the school.

Any guidance appreciated. I don't mind condo living (I lived in NYC for many years), but we need a few kids to play with!

The townhomes on the S. side of Bradley Blvd. , west of Wisc. until Arlington Blvd., are also in boundaries for Somerset. There are also some rental apartments in that area too. You might have to drive the neighborhood to get the names of the buildings and follow up later. This area backs up onto a huge park -- Norwood Park.

[Anonymous]

We live off Montrose Rd in Rockville (some like to call it N. Bethesda, but it's Rockville) in the North Farm development (not many people know it's here).

We feed into WJ cluster, with Farmland ES and Tilden MS. I have heard nothing but good things about our district. Our DC will start kindergarten at Farmland this fall.

4 BR homes in our neighborhood (very much down from peak $$) are 650-750K. It is convenient to 270, 495, Rockville Pike. City of Rockville utilities and services are EXCELLENT! (We were plowed 5x during the big snowstorms before my friends in Potomac were plowed even once!) We have sidewalks and tree-lined streets, and a new playground.

No, I'm not a realtor. Far from it. I just love where I live! There is a mix of older and younger families, and we're always excited to see more young families move in!

[Anonymous]

OP, I know you specifically asked about MoCo, but I just thought I'd mention Prince George's County anyhow. We live in Cheverly and LOVE it here. A lot of federal government workers live here and commute by Metro. Other towns people mention a lot on this forum are Greenbelt, University Park, and College Park. I have been very pleased with our experiences with the public school system. I know PG County isn't considered a "great" school system, but I feel our experiences have rivaled those of friends with kids in schools in Silver SPring and Potomac, to be perfectly honest. And the houses are so much cheaper!

[Anonymous]

Four Corners/Woodmore in Silver Spring. It's great and there is such a baby boom right now. We have 6 families within a 2 block radius with children the same age as ours. The schools are lovely. The commute to downtown is really so much easier than neighboring communities and it's right on the beltway.

The homes in my neighborhood are going from $400 to $500K at the moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We couldn't afford to live in Bethesda, but is there a good school district somewhere that is convenient enough to commute to DC?

There are houses in CC for sale righ now that are listed for less than $900k.

If Bethesda is too expensive, I'm guessing OP is looking for something priced lower than $900k!

Less than $900k is lower than $900k.

Yeah, probably not by much though.....that is a very affluent community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I know you specifically asked about MoCo, but I just thought I'd mention Prince George's County anyhow. We live in Cheverly and LOVE it here. A lot of federal government workers live here and commute by Metro. Other towns people mention a lot on this forum are Greenbelt, University Park, and College Park. I have been very pleased with our experiences with the public school system. I know PG County isn't considered a "great" school system, but I feel our experiences have rivaled those of friends with kids in schools in Silver SPring and Potomac, to be perfectly honest. And the houses are so much cheaper!

Not OP but my main concern about PG County isn't the schools (because we're doing private), but I do worry about other municipal services: fire department response, police response, garbage pickup, snow removal, street repair, etc. How do you feel about those things?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a single mother eager to live near Somerset Elementary School. I was thinking of moving to one of those Soviet-style condominiums right near the Friendship Heights Metro--the Willoughby is the cheapest, I think (2 bedrooms for about $450,000); there's also the Elizabeth and the Irene.
Two problems (at least):
1. I don't see a lot of kids or kid-friendly things (playgrounds) in the vicinity or in those buildings. I could be wrong--I'm just starting my search.
2. It's LONG walking distance to Somerset for little legs. I do believe in walking to elementary school, but where can we live that's near Somerset? I can't afford the lovely homes near the school.

Any guidance appreciated. I don't mind condo living (I lived in NYC for many years), but we need a few kids to play with!

There are also condo apartments and condo townhouses on the other side of Somerset in back of Norwood Park. The townhouses are called Kenwood Townhouse Condos. I think. The roads are Hillandale and Chevy Chase Boulevard, among others. Those feed into Somerset Elem.

The townhomes are called Kenwood Forest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not OP but my main concern about PG County isn't the schools (because we're doing private), but I do worry about other municipal services: fire department response, police response, garbage pickup, snow removal, street repair, etc. How do you feel about those things?

Well, I live in Cheverly. It's an incorporated town so we have our own police and public works (garbage pick up 2x week including "Large Trash Day", recycling pick up 1x per week, AWESOME snowplowing, and I suppose they fix potholes in town; I'm not really sure who does that!) I've never lived in a town that had such great services, to be honest. I know that there are several other incorporated towns in PG County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Four Corners/Woodmore in Silver Spring. It's great and there is such a baby boom right now. We have 6 families within a 2 block radius with children the same age as ours. The schools are lovely. The commute to downtown is really so much easier than neighboring communities and it's right on the beltway.

The homes in my neighborhood are going from $400 to $500K at the moment.

Woodmore is very family friendly, but the schools are not as good as the schools in other Silver Spring neighborhoods. The schools in Northwood are better than Woodmoor. Preschools in silver spring there are many. Silver Spring Day School, Silver Spring Nursery School, St. Lukes Christian Day School,
check out aparentinsilverspring.com She has a list.

[Anonymous]

There is a part of Silver Spring that feeds into the BCC cluster -- the western part of Silver Spring, along East-West highway. The houses there are cheaper than the Chevy Chase, MD, houses that also feed into BCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not OP but my main concern about PG County isn't the schools (because we're doing private), but I do worry about other municipal services: fire department response, police response, garbage pickup, snow removal, street repair, etc. How do you feel about those things?

Well, I live in Cheverly. It's an incorporated town so we have our own police and public works (garbage pick up 2x week including "Large Trash Day", recycling pick up 1x per week, AWESOME snowplowing, and I suppose they fix potholes in town; I'm not really sure who does that!) I've never lived in a town that had such great services, to be honest. I know that there are several other incorporated towns in PG County.

Thanks. I didn't think about whether a city was incorporated or not and therefore provided their own services. Good to know.

[Anonymous]

Somerset-seeking mom, the apt buildings you mention house a bunch of children currently at Somerset. They a)take the bus and b)have lots of classmates and sense of community within their apt bldgs. Don't discount that you'd be walkable to metro, movies, stores, restaurants, grocery store. Also, there is a new indoor play rec center (MoCo) just behind Bloomingdales that is beautiful. Outdoor playground you'd head up to Norwood Park or Somerset ES itself.

[Anonymous]

I love Kensington and we're in Chevy Chase View which is BCC cluster. Houses vary, but are cheaper than CC and it's a great neighborhood. Rock Creek Hills is also the BCC cluster. You can take a bus to FH, NIH or walk up to the MARC train for commuting options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Four Corners/Woodmore in Silver Spring. It's great and there is such a baby boom right now. We have 6 families within a 2 block radius with children the same age as ours. The schools are lovely. The commute to downtown is really so much easier than neighboring communities and it's right on the beltway.

The homes in my neighborhood are going from $400 to $500K at the moment.

Woodmore is very family friendly, but the schools are not as good as the schools in other Silver Spring neighborhoods. The schools in Northwood are better than Woodmoor. Preschools in silver spring there are many. Silver Spring Day School, Silver Spring Nursery School, St. Lukes Christian Day School,
check out aparentinsilverspring.com She has a list.

I live in this neighborhood and we are zoned for a Northwood school.

[Anonymous]

A bit further out, but worth considering: the Olney/Brookeville area (20832/20833). Olney is essentially Family Town, USA. Great schools, affordable homes, nice neighborhoods with lots of housing options. If you can afford the upper $500s through 600s then you should check out Manor Oaks (20833)(a neighborhood with nice mcmansions and literally tons of kids everywhere). The elementary school is Greenwood (with stats comparable to Kensington Parkwood Elem). MS is Rosa Parks; HS is Sherwood. Other neighborhoods that feed into that district: Brookeville Knolls and Tanterra. Olney Mill is another nice neighborhood (older homes on huge lots). Most of the neighborhoods in the area are built with walking paths/trails to area parks/playgrounds and neighborhood swim clubs. The closest metro is Glenmont. They are talking about building a rapid busline from the new Olney Town Center (which is currently being built and will include a Harris Teeter) directly to the Glenmont Metro.