Anonymous wrote:Op if you are still reading, Wootton is the right answer. No comparison between two unless your kid is accepted into IB.
please. The vast majority of kids at RM are not in IB, and they do fine.
But, yes, if you want a pressure cooker environment with no diversity, choose Wootton.
What does "they do fine" mean? I know we all have different expectations for our kids. At least "get accepted to UMCP" fine? Most non-IB kids have stats high enough for UMCP?
Yes. Believe it or not, there is a contingent of UMC kids (white and Asian too!) who opted not to do IB. They are taking AP classes and will do fine after graduation.
I believe it. I mean I'd not all that interested in IB courses and would also prefer to focus on STEM.
? What does that have to do with anything? Trust me - I know white, UMC kids from RM who have gone on to UMD and other good schools. The non-IB kids ARE NOT all gang members.
Real-estate agents try to spin this to inflate housing prices, but of course, RM is the same as any other MCPS HS. The same kid will do as well as they would anyplace else. The differences aren't the school but the home life and parents.
Op here. Thanks to everyone for their feedback. Lots to think about.
Good luck. Select wisely.
Yes, just read some of the stereotyping some anti-RM posters have of a diverse school. Too many of "those" kids.
That's the kind of folks your kids would be exposed to - people who stereotype an entire school and the families who go there based on what they hear about but probably have zero experience in.
No one said RM is perfect, but some anti-RM posters are seriously clueless about the student body at RM.
People are not anti-RM. What you are seeing is people pushing back on posts that make non-IB RM like it's something special. It's not. Non IB RM is no different than any other MCPS HS (except W schools and BCC). They are all pretty f'ed.
This is what I am reading also. Non-IB is nothing special.
No one said it was "special", just not the ganglandia that some are making it out to be.
True but Wootton test scores are the same if not better than RM with an IB department. An IB that takes the smartest kids from all over the county. Which shows you that scores without IB would probably be similar to schools like Rockville and QO. Not terrible, but I would prefer the Wootton area. I also think they are the least likely to get overhauled with the 2 new high schools being built and rezoned. Besides that Rio area, Wootton's neighborhoods are all petty much around the high school and far away from the other high schools. I feel like RM has a chance to move to Crown or Gaithersburg and I would be leery about buying in that area because of it.
The other perk is that Wootton projected growth is level for the next 6 years. RM projections are going up another 600 students over the next 6 years. So obviously that means redistricting or a ton more portables on what is a pretty new school.
If you have time and reasonable googling skills, you can estimate this. I have done it years ago (when SAT was based on 2400). It is not hard to calculate and it was not pretty.
? ok, how would you do this? You are making the assumption that the top scores are all for IB students, and I don't think that's true.
find out class size, number of kids who took SAT, avg SAT score, number of IB kids, IB avg SAT score (and assume of IB kids took the exam which is a reasonable assumption). after that it's just simple math
The issue with this is approach is there are 25% IB spots reserved for RM students, and more IB seats open up in 11/12 grade, excluding IB kids scores is like taking out all the top students from RM.
Yes, there are much better opportunities for an advanced learner at RM.
Only if you apply into IB. Wootton actually has more AP offerings than RM
Perhaps, but the W's also have a history of racially motivated hate incidents that recur regularly.
Can you please describe further? We aren't white and this is something we think about. -OP
NP here - we are not white from a biracial family and attend Wootton. I have family at RM and they are happy there as well. We chose Wootton because we wanted strong academics without the super wealth that happens at Churchill and Whitman. Can you get that at RM? Absolutely. For us we believed that from elementary to high school Wootton was the stronger cluster to be in so that is what we did. You get plenty of diversity both racially and socio economically at Wootton just like at RM. You also still see fights, drugs and vaping just like you do at RM. Again for us we decided Wootton was the better of the two options. Both give you the "real world".
wootton is only "plenty" diverse if you compare it to Whitman. In MCPS, neither schools are considered "diverse", either racially or SES. Just look at their stats compared to RM, QO, and county as a whole.
what's so f'king big deal about diversity? isn't your kid's learning more important? MoCo is one of the most diverse county in the country already. we cannot and should not trade good education with diversity crap. education should always come first.
1. I was responding to the ^^PPs point about diversity
2. Some people do care about diversity. Not all of us are white. Some people don't feel comfortable being one of only a handful of kids of a particular background. My nieces have gone through that. I would never do that to my kids.
3. Learning is important, but so is the social/emotional aspects of the learning environment. Kids spend six hours at school, and after school activities. Most of their friends are from school. Feeling included is important.
When I was in HS I did really well academically but not socially, and I was miserable. I don't want that for my kids.
My kids are at RM, and they like it.
No one is saying diversity is not important. My point is this entire area is already diverse enough. People tend to use diversity as an excuse to cover-up broken system. Gang issues? Well, but see how diverse we are. Low performance? Don't worry because we have one of the most diverse school systems...etc. I am glad you like RM. More power to you. But don't say RM is "better" because it's more diverse than other schools. I am not white either and I certainly do appreciate how it feels to be different. But, at the end of the day, kids need to learn.
1) There have been 0 gang incidents at any MCPS school in over a decade.
2) Some schools aren't all that diverse compared to the county.
3) Test score averages are simply a reflection of a school's overall SES but every MCPS school has rigorous course offerings.
1. They are ruling out gang issue in one of the latest incidents at RM right now. There are at least 2 confirmed at Gaithersburg High School and one at Magruder in the past decade.
2. True but that has more to do with the fact that many people of the same culture or race prefer to live near others - especially Asian and Hispanic. And others are just overpriced previous white areas and non-whites don't want to pay the price and send their kids to all-white schools. So they send them to secular privates which do a much better job with diversity and education.
3. MCPS absolutely does not have rigorous course offerings in every school. Certain high schools don't offer a lot of AP's. If kids are eligible, they have to take them online.
I'm confused by this post.
Not sure that it matters whether violence is gang related or not. Violence is violence. Plenty of non white people at Wootton. Can't compare a $40k per year school to public. They will obviously have the resources to do a "better" job at just about everything but some parents prefer the public school option even if they could afford private.
Can't speak to course offerings at all schools but again Wootton has more than enough AP courses to fill a schedule.
I think "there has been 0 gang violence in MCPS" poster is using very strict definition of "gang violence" (i.e., one must be organized and identified by police or something like that). Most reasonable people would define as any violence by thugs (with or without gang affirmation).
True, but there are a couple posters trying to hype these things in order to steer public opinion and fearmonger for their political ends.
Correct 0 gang incidents at MCPS in over a decade. END OF STORY
According to who? What do you count as ‘gang-related’? The recent incident at RMHS was gang related.
Do you think MCPS is going to make a report of all the gang-related incidents at school and send them out with the weekly ‘5 Things You Need to Know’ emails? Not a chance. MCPS much prefers to sweep any negative incidents way under the rug.
Yes, there have been kids in gangs at MCPS middle schools and high schools. And some of those kids have been involved in various incidents at those schools.
Right. The delusion it takes to believe there are 0 gang activities in MCPS is a sign of gross ignorance.
Gangs recruit and use children, typically those who come from broken homes or those who are highly rebellious, to engage in low-level activities, such as pill-pushing and weed dealing, gang initiations, which manifest in the form of jumping other kids who are weak, and so much more.
Gang activity is definitely a problem in MoCo and you are insane if you believe it doesn’t trickle down to the schools as well. Who the hell do you think is supplying these teens with Percocets and ghost guns? People need to get a grip.
Can you find any news stories that show there has been gang activity at any MCPS schools? MCPS states there's been 0 last time I checked in over a decade. I think these posters who are obsessed with gangs are unhinged.
A gang dispute set the stage for an altercation at Montgomery Blair High School that injured staff members and involved more than 100 students, Montgomery County Police say.
According to charging documents filed in Montgomery County District Court, on December 3, Malik Blythers, 18, picked a fight with a rival gang member in a second-floor hallway. It happened around 7:45 a.m., moments after the first period bell rang.
Are you done making up lies and insisting there aren’t gang-related incidents going with teens and within MCPS now? This is draining and pointless.
DP, but the best you can do is finding an article from 2015?
Jesus Christ.
First, the claim is made there have been zero gang related incidents at MCPS. I challenge that claim and then a poster says to post news articles proving my claim. I do. And now the goal post is moved to “but is a 2015 article the best you can do?”
Never mind that the first article is from 2017, which includes statements from the MCPS superintendent at the time and represented a state of emergency press event between MoCo PD, MCPS and the State’s Attorneys Office.
Just say you were wrong and shut up. Accountability and integrity would do you some good.
“We got 16-year-old kids ordering murders in Montgomery County. We got 15 and 16-year-old kids committing murders in Montgomery County, so I think we need to be more proactive,” McCarthy said.
The Montgomery County Police Department said there was credible information of possible retaliation by MS-13 gang members at Albert Einstein High School in North Kensington.
Officials said the possible retaliation was related to an “event” that happened last week. Authorities would not confirm where last week’s event occurred.
I should clarify that we thought about moving. But I am truly not sure that anywhere else in MCPS is necessarily ‘better’.
Nowhere is good. NoVa public schools are dealing with the issues as MCPS with regard to drugs, violence and disruptive behavior. You can try private school, if you can afford it.
So some posters arguing these events don't count since they are not "gang" related? Like guns only kill when fired by gang members??
Those are two separate issues.
I believe a few years ago a kid brought a gun to school in Clarksburg or Poolesville. No one assumed there that it was gang related. But some people insist that the incident at RM is gang related even though RPD has stated that it was not gang related.
yes, guns in school are scary. No one disputes that.
It has nothing to do with that it was just RM. It was that the first RM incident involved Gaithersburg High school students coming to the RM campus before the end of the school day and entering the building. Both schools have known gang members, so of course this is what some students are going to speculate.
Anonymous wrote:So other than guns and robbers, RM is okay?
Well there have been multiple events with staff and students over the years. A few staff arrests. The under the 2nd floor steps sex scene posted of facebook live by an 18yr old "freshman" immigrant and a 14yr old. Multiple sexual assaults, and few drug overdoses (at least 2 this year in school) and the drug sales and partaking in the bathrooms. The known avoidance of the 3rd floor bathroom. A lot of fights and bullying and yes, wonderful diversity but these kids rarely mix unless it is for sports. The IB kids mix with no one, so it is basically JW kids entering a slightly larger school. So if you hate JW, you will hate RM.
Anonymous wrote:So other than guns and robbers, RM is okay?
Well there have been multiple events with staff and students over the years. A few staff arrests. The under the 2nd floor steps sex scene posted of facebook live by an 18yr old "freshman" immigrant and a 14yr old. Multiple sexual assaults, and few drug overdoses (at least 2 this year in school) and the drug sales and partaking in the bathrooms. The known avoidance of the 3rd floor bathroom. A lot of fights and bullying and yes, wonderful diversity but these kids rarely mix unless it is for sports. The IB kids mix with no one, so it is basically JW kids entering a slightly larger school. So if you hate JW, you will hate RM.
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