Rockville Living - Neighborhood by Beall Elementary

[Anonymous]

Which roads in the West End near Beall ES don't have sidewalks?

http://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/BeallES.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The schools are very diverse which is a positive but the middle school is kinda rough. There were a good amount of fights, two pregnancies in 8th grade last year, bullying etc... Not horrible but not a great middle school.

RM is average. The IB program brings the level up a few notches but there is a good amount of lower SES kids and hispanics in the school. They don't seem to have the gang issues that Rockville and Gaithersburg High has been seeing. No major violence besides some fights. Nice new school, starting to get overcrowded. Already looking to add an addition but they are in a tight location.

Rose Hill is a good neighborhood also in walking distance to the town center. We also really like some of the College Gardens neighborhoods. They have sidewalks, more/better playgrounds, walking distance to a few stores/ice cream. Most of the homes have garages. Some places aren't true walking distance to the Town Center though but easy biking distance. Rockville does have great biking paths.

What MS is not "rough" or not have any bullying? So, there are some MS kids at JW that are having sex. I'm willing to bet that there are MSers in *every* MS that are having sex, and probably getting pregnant, but mommy is making it all go away before people talk. JW is rated a 9. Normally, I don't really put too much stock in school ratings, but this alone should tell you that it's not "rough".

There are 150 IB kids at RM out of over 2200. Not sure less than 10% of the school population can make/break a HS. You realize that JW/RM is made up of kids from College Gardens, Beall, RP, and Twinbrook ESs, right? Twinbrook is probably the weakest of the ESs, but it's also the smallest in terms of student size. The rest of the ESs (again, much larger than Twinbrook) feed from middle/upper class areas. In spite of the fact it has a much higher FARMS rate than the W schools, the test scores for the Hispanic/Black kids are pretty good. That tells me a lot of positives about that school.

[Anonymous]

I think that the underlying philosophy in the "JW is rough" PP is, "For as much as I spent buying a house in the West End, my kid shouldn't have to go to school with poor kids."

[Anonymous]

Just a correction from an RM parent (who is happy with the cluster)..there are about 125 IB kids per year. Of course some of them come from the RM neighborhood as there is some home school preference. Yes they boost the scores but the school is solid on its own. I know many strong kids who do not apply to IB preferring the flexibility of AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The schools are very diverse which is a positive but the middle school is kinda rough. There were a good amount of fights, two pregnancies in 8th grade last year, bullying etc... Not horrible but not a great middle school.

RM is average. The IB program brings the level up a few notches but there is a good amount of lower SES kids and hispanics in the school. They don't seem to have the gang issues that Rockville and Gaithersburg High has been seeing. No major violence besides some fights. Nice new school, starting to get overcrowded. Already looking to add an addition but they are in a tight location.

Rose Hill is a good neighborhood also in walking distance to the town center. We also really like some of the College Gardens neighborhoods. They have sidewalks, more/better playgrounds, walking distance to a few stores/ice cream. Most of the homes have garages. Some places aren't true walking distance to the Town Center though but easy biking distance. Rockville does have great biking paths.

What MS is not "rough" or not have any bullying? So, there are some MS kids at JW that are having sex. I'm willing to bet that there are MSers in *every* MS that are having sex, and probably getting pregnant, but mommy is making it all go away before people talk. JW is rated a 9. Normally, I don't really put too much stock in school ratings, but this alone should tell you that it's not "rough".

There are 150 IB kids at RM out of over 2200. Not sure less than 10% of the school population can make/break a HS. You realize that JW/RM is made up of kids from College Gardens, Beall, RP, and Twinbrook ESs, right? Twinbrook is probably the weakest of the ESs, but it's also the smallest in terms of student size. The rest of the ESs (again, much larger than Twinbrook) feed from middle/upper class areas. In spite of the fact it has a much higher FARMS rate than the W schools, the test scores for the Hispanic/Black kids are pretty good. That tells me a lot of positives about that school.

Not the PP you are talking to but you are wrong. There are over 500 kids in IB at Richard Montgomery. It makes almost 20% of the school and they are the smartest in the entire county. It does indeed drive up the scores.

My kids are in Ritchie Park and it is just okay. We know many parents that pull out for private schools before middle school but we are still unsure at this time. This cluster is not something to seriously strive for. Some people make it out to be better than W schools and some people compare it to SE DC. It is average with overpriced housing. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Anonymous]

Yes it does drive up the scores..but JW's scores are still good and last year more than 20 of the IB freshman came right from JW.

[Anonymous]

9:50, you are flat-out wrong.

We've been very happy in the cluster. It's not the same neighborhoods that feed into Potomac ES or Somerset or Wyngate. Perhaps you should have moved to Bannockburn or the Whitman cluster. I have never, ever heard anyone compare the cluster to SE DC. You sound like an idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I don't like about West End is there are no sidewalks in most areas and you have to walk/bike on the streets. Also, there are hardly any houses with garages so there are many cars on the streets. If you live on one of the streets that runs parallel to 28, you get traffic driving thru during rush hours when it is backed up. There are also businesses, churches, and preschools that there overflow backs into the streets. When it snows, they are tough roads to plow.

Also, the schools are severely overcrowded and there is another elementary school projected to open up in 2018/19. This will affect some Beall neighborhoods and you may have to move schools. This is the same for College Gardens.

The Town Center is okay. We joke it is the worst town center for food. More bars and international dining. Not a lot of healthy options for kids. But the library is great. The City of Rockville has great activities year round and has wonderful services.

The schools are very diverse which is a positive but the middle school is kinda rough. There were a good amount of fights, two pregnancies in 8th grade last year, bullying etc... Not horrible but not a great middle school.

RM is average. The IB program brings the level up a few notches but there is a good amount of lower SES kids and hispanics in the school. They don't seem to have the gang issues that Rockville and Gaithersburg High has been seeing. No major violence besides some fights. Nice new school, starting to get overcrowded. Already looking to add an addition but they are in a tight location.

Rose Hill is a good neighborhood also in walking distance to the town center. We also really like some of the College Gardens neighborhoods. They have sidewalks, more/better playgrounds, walking distance to a few stores/ice cream. Most of the homes have garages. Some places aren't true walking distance to the Town Center though but easy biking distance. Rockville does have great biking paths.

By international dining, this person means there are a lot of Chinese and Asian restaurants.

[Anonymous]

Five Guys, for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The schools are very diverse which is a positive but the middle school is kinda rough. There were a good amount of fights, two pregnancies in 8th grade last year, bullying etc... Not horrible but not a great middle school.

RM is average. The IB program brings the level up a few notches but there is a good amount of lower SES kids and hispanics in the school. They don't seem to have the gang issues that Rockville and Gaithersburg High has been seeing. No major violence besides some fights. Nice new school, starting to get overcrowded. Already looking to add an addition but they are in a tight location.

Rose Hill is a good neighborhood also in walking distance to the town center. We also really like some of the College Gardens neighborhoods. They have sidewalks, more/better playgrounds, walking distance to a few stores/ice cream. Most of the homes have garages. Some places aren't true walking distance to the Town Center though but easy biking distance. Rockville does have great biking paths.

What MS is not "rough" or not have any bullying? So, there are some MS kids at JW that are having sex. I'm willing to bet that there are MSers in *every* MS that are having sex, and probably getting pregnant, but mommy is making it all go away before people talk. JW is rated a 9. Normally, I don't really put too much stock in school ratings, but this alone should tell you that it's not "rough".

There are 150 IB kids at RM out of over 2200. Not sure less than 10% of the school population can make/break a HS. You realize that JW/RM is made up of kids from College Gardens, Beall, RP, and Twinbrook ESs, right? Twinbrook is probably the weakest of the ESs, but it's also the smallest in terms of student size. The rest of the ESs (again, much larger than Twinbrook) feed from middle/upper class areas. In spite of the fact it has a much higher FARMS rate than the W schools, the test scores for the Hispanic/Black kids are pretty good. That tells me a lot of positives about that school.

Not the PP you are talking to but you are wrong. There are over 500 kids in IB at Richard Montgomery. It makes almost 20% of the school and they are the smartest in the entire county. It does indeed drive up the scores.

My kids are in Ritchie Park and it is just okay. We know many parents that pull out for private schools before middle school but we are still unsure at this time. This cluster is not something to seriously strive for. Some people make it out to be better than W schools and some people compare it to SE DC. It is average with overpriced housing. Nothing more, nothing less.

There are not 500 IB test-in kids. RM sets aside IB spots for inbound kids coming in from the MYP from JW. So, if there are 500 kids in the IB program, most are from the RM cluster.

http://mocostudent.org/2014/12/nearly-2000-applicants-vie-for-acceptance-into-blair-richard-montgomery-and-poolesville-magnet-programs/

"Despite the multitude of applicants, comprised of thousands of students all vying for admission, each of the three magnet high school programs accepts just under 150 candidates each year."

I don't make it out to be better than W schools, whatever "better" means. To me, it's an apples to oranges comparison since RM has *way* more FARMS kids and is much more diverse than W schools. The only reason Rockville is "overpriced" is because there are obviously lots of people who want to move there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The schools are very diverse which is a positive but the middle school is kinda rough. There were a good amount of fights, two pregnancies in 8th grade last year, bullying etc... Not horrible but not a great middle school.

RM is average. The IB program brings the level up a few notches but there is a good amount of lower SES kids and hispanics in the school. They don't seem to have the gang issues that Rockville and Gaithersburg High has been seeing. No major violence besides some fights. Nice new school, starting to get overcrowded. Already looking to add an addition but they are in a tight location.

Rose Hill is a good neighborhood also in walking distance to the town center. We also really like some of the College Gardens neighborhoods. They have sidewalks, more/better playgrounds, walking distance to a few stores/ice cream. Most of the homes have garages. Some places aren't true walking distance to the Town Center though but easy biking distance. Rockville does have great biking paths.

What MS is not "rough" or not have any bullying? So, there are some MS kids at JW that are having sex. I'm willing to bet that there are MSers in *every* MS that are having sex, and probably getting pregnant, but mommy is making it all go away before people talk. JW is rated a 9. Normally, I don't really put too much stock in school ratings, but this alone should tell you that it's not "rough".

There are 150 IB kids at RM out of over 2200. Not sure less than 10% of the school population can make/break a HS. You realize that JW/RM is made up of kids from College Gardens, Beall, RP, and Twinbrook ESs, right? Twinbrook is probably the weakest of the ESs, but it's also the smallest in terms of student size. The rest of the ESs (again, much larger than Twinbrook) feed from middle/upper class areas. In spite of the fact it has a much higher FARMS rate than the W schools, the test scores for the Hispanic/Black kids are pretty good. That tells me a lot of positives about that school.

Not the PP you are talking to but you are wrong. There are over 500 kids in IB at Richard Montgomery. It makes almost 20% of the school and they are the smartest in the entire county. It does indeed drive up the scores.

My kids are in Ritchie Park and it is just okay. We know many parents that pull out for private schools before middle school but we are still unsure at this time. This cluster is not something to seriously strive for. Some people make it out to be better than W schools and some people compare it to SE DC. It is average with overpriced housing. Nothing more, nothing less.

There are not 500 IB test-in kids. RM sets aside IB spots for inbound kids coming in from the MYP from JW. So, if there are 500 kids in the IB program, most are from the RM cluster.

http://mocostudent.org/2014/12/nearly-2000-applicants-vie-for-acceptance-into-blair-richard-montgomery-and-poolesville-magnet-programs/

"Despite the multitude of applicants, comprised of thousands of students all vying for admission, each of the three magnet high school programs accepts just under 150 candidates each year."

I don't make it out to be better than W schools, whatever "better" means. To me, it's an apples to oranges comparison since RM has *way* more FARMS kids and is much more diverse than W schools. The only reason Rockville is "overpriced" is because there are obviously lots of people who want to move there.

Einstein, how many grades are in high school? 150 kids are accepted EACH year entering Freshman year. What is 150x4??????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My kids are in Ritchie Park and it is just okay. We know many parents that pull out for private schools before middle school but we are still unsure at this time. This cluster is not something to seriously strive for. Some people make it out to be better than W schools and some people compare it to SE DC. It is average with overpriced housing. Nothing more, nothing less.

There are many parents from W clusters that send their kids to private school, too. Is it because the W schools are just meh? It's not an RM cluster thing. If the cluster is not something to strive for, then I don't understand why the housing prices are so high, and people are willing to pay for it. Weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My kids are in Ritchie Park and it is just okay. We know many parents that pull out for private schools before middle school but we are still unsure at this time. This cluster is not something to seriously strive for. Some people make it out to be better than W schools and some people compare it to SE DC. It is average with overpriced housing. Nothing more, nothing less.

There are many parents from W clusters that send their kids to private school, too. Is it because the W schools are just meh? It's not an RM cluster thing. If the cluster is not something to strive for, then I don't understand why the housing prices are so high, and people are willing to pay for it. Weird.

I don't think that the housing prices are so high just because of the schools. I don't think it's true in Bethesda either. The location has a lot to do with it also.

But yes, I'm always tickled by the "overpriced housing" argument. The housing prices are high because there are lots of people who are willing to pay that much. That's how pricing works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I don't like about West End is there are no sidewalks in most areas and you have to walk/bike on the streets. Also, there are hardly any houses with garages so there are many cars on the streets. If you live on one of the streets that runs parallel to 28, you get traffic driving thru during rush hours when it is backed up. There are also businesses, churches, and preschools that there overflow backs into the streets. When it snows, they are tough roads to plow.

Also, the schools are severely overcrowded and there is another elementary school projected to open up in 2018/19. This will affect some Beall neighborhoods and you may have to move schools. This is the same for College Gardens.

The Town Center is okay. We joke it is the worst town center for food. More bars and international dining. Not a lot of healthy options for kids. But the library is great. The City of Rockville has great activities year round and has wonderful services.

The schools are very diverse which is a positive but the middle school is kinda rough. There were a good amount of fights, two pregnancies in 8th grade last year, bullying etc... Not horrible but not a great middle school.

RM is average. The IB program brings the level up a few notches but there is a good amount of lower SES kids and hispanics in the school. They don't seem to have the gang issues that Rockville and Gaithersburg High has been seeing. No major violence besides some fights. Nice new school, starting to get overcrowded. Already looking to add an addition but they are in a tight location.

Rose Hill is a good neighborhood also in walking distance to the town center. We also really like some of the College Gardens neighborhoods. They have sidewalks, more/better playgrounds, walking distance to a few stores/ice cream. Most of the homes have garages. Some places aren't true walking distance to the Town Center though but easy biking distance. Rockville does have great biking paths.

To the PP regarding Rockville Town Square. There are actually some pretty healthy choices there. You should try Lebanese Taverna, La Tasca, Sushi Damo, and I can name a handful of other examples. In terms of gang activity in Rockville High- can you send over links for proof? I am very familiar with that school and that area and have not heard of these but I'm curious since I'm considering making a move there in a few years. From what I hear, it's a pretty good school with lots of programs (IB, a top journalism program,etc.) Smallest in MOCO which i think is a plus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in West End and routinely walk to town square. It is an awesome place to live. The school is excellent, my neighbors are great, and the city of Rockville services are AMAZING.

In terms or real estate, you will find a VERY wide array of housing. Million dollar expansive houses next door to really run-down ramblers. I like it because it creates diversity. But just know that you will not find any four houses in a row that look like they belong to the same era of HHI.

This one recently went on the market, just on the border of West End and Woodley Gardens. It is walkable to town square and zoned for Beall:

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Rockville/600-Nelson-St-20850/home/10516975

In addition, I think there's a house for sale by owner a few blocks from this one also in the Woodley Gardens neighborhood and on a much less busy street. I mention as it may not be on the BLS listings. I think it's on the corner of Goldsborough and Smallwood. Still a good walking area and easy access to Town Center and two parks/playgrounds. If you're in the area, check out the Woodley Gardens center on Nelson St. (off exit 6 off 270). Hard Times chili, Carmen's Italian Ice and Slice Pizza are popular neighborhood hangouts in the mall. Contrary to what a PP said, I think Town Center is great for kids. Ice skating rink in winter and free concerts in the summer. Lots of restaurant choices and most have kids menus. Probably not the healthiest for kids but kids menus generally aren't no matter where you go (with some exceptions).