PG County Parents, where are you sending your kids to school?

[Anonymous]

I am looking at schools, & don't know where to begin. Let's admit it, PG county public schools, does not have a good rep., but I know very little about the private schools in PG county. I'm also thinking of using my ex's address in DC, & just send our DS to school in DC, either charter or private. So, what are the good school options to look into, beginning with elementary?

[Anonymous]

For high school, look at the science and technology program at Eleanor Roosevelt in Greenbelt. Absolutely amazing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For high school, look at the science and technology program at Eleanor Roosevelt in Greenbelt. Absolutely amazing!

OP here. I did hear that. But, right now, I'm 7 yrs away from that. We're entering 2nd grade next year.

[Anonymous]

My DS will be going to Mount Rainier Elementary, which apparently had a decent reputation. However, if I could afford it I would definitely rather go the private route...but there's no way I could.

PG Co is big, where are you located? A lot of parents I know send their kids to St. Jerome's in Hyattsville.

[Anonymous]

St Jermone's in Hyattsville has a great reputation and is very affordable. Same for Christian Family Montessori in Petworth. What's your in-bounds elementary?

[Anonymous]

OP here. We're in Cheverly, so I think Spelman is our inbound school

[Anonymous]

I hear good things about Spelman. Definitely check them out!

[Anonymous]

We have had good experiences at Spellman so far. There are several families with rising second graders on the GNS Family's list serve. Or you could post on one of the Cheverly list serves and ask the question there.
Or just wander down to Cheese park on a lovely day after school. There are usually a slew of kids and parents there around 4 pm.
As for middle and high school, I'm hopeful that the new charter school College Park Academy will be an option for our kids.

[Anonymous]

I think I did myself a disservice by touring schools like Maret, Sidwell, & WIS, & comparing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I did myself a disservice by touring schools like Maret, Sidwell, & WIS, & comparing

The biggest benefit to sending your child to the in bounds elementary school is the experience of being in a local, community school. My daughter does scouts, sports, art classes, swims at the pool, and plays at the parks with the kids she sees at school. She can walk around the block and run into her best friends. I know a dozen parents I can call if I can't make it to pick up in time or if I need to know what time ride your bike to school starts etc.
She is also being exposed to the reality that the majority of people in this country don't live as well as we do. I went to public school with a student body that was largely working class and even at a young age I realized that my family had a much easier life than some of my classmates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I did myself a disservice by touring schools like Maret, Sidwell, & WIS, & comparing

OP, if that's what you are looking for and you can afford that kind of tuition, take a look at Friends Community, Sandy Springs Friends, Paint Branch Montessori.

[Anonymous]

We are in PG and our kid goes to Sandy Spring Friends, where there a number of other PG county families as well. It is a really wonderful school, and my son is very happy there. That said...the picture the PP paints of a neighborhood school is wonderful, too, and I wish we could have the best of both worlds. Unfortunately our neighborhood school is not Spellman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think I did myself a disservice by touring schools like Maret, Sidwell, & WIS, & comparing

The biggest benefit to sending your child to the in bounds elementary school is the experience of being in a local, community school. My daughter does scouts, sports, art classes, swims at the pool, and plays at the parks with the kids she sees at school. She can walk around the block and run into her best friends. I know a dozen parents I can call if I can't make it to pick up in time or if I need to know what time ride your bike to school starts etc.
She is also being exposed to the reality that the majority of people in this country don't live as well as we do. I went to public school with a student body that was largely working class and even at a young age I realized that my family had a much easier life than some of my classmates.

I have to agree with this. I am moving from montgomery county to pg county and will be enrolling our child in the public school in pg county. I think there are many benefits in going the public school right, even for pg county. The only problem I have with the pg county school system, is that their schools are very much less diverse than montgomery county. No fault of the schools.

[Anonymous]

I live in north PG county and our elementary school is fine (as are a number of PG county elementary schools). I plan to send our twins (entering K next year) to the public school for grade school. However, we are zoned for a mediocre middle school and a bad high school, so we'll probably try to get into one of the charter middle schools or go private when we get to middle school. But I agree with the PP for many reasons why at least at the grade school level, going to the local public school is a plus.

[Anonymous]

DCPS! "Ward 9" has its privileges.