Wootton HS Modernization or redistricting? What have you heard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in the RM cluster and would love for my child to go to Frost/Wootton, so I get your concern. Also, Fallsmead is so close to the school so walking is a huge asset when purchasing there. The homes prices would go down for sure. So no need to make the OP feel bad. I agree, you don't want to go here. Lots of um, not so desirables at JW. Our child is in 6th grade and we are so not impressed with kids or the curriculum.

When they redistricted Ritchie Park to RM, the neighborhoods fought like crazy and still talk about how disappointing it is.

Once the new HS is built my guess is Fallsgrove (pulled out of Ritchie Park) Fields Elementary, some of Fallsmead (near Rio) and parts of King Farm will be going there.

I live in Potomac Woods, the neighborhood where Ritchie Parks is. I don't ANYONE who still talks about this. Ritchie Park has a ton of problems, namely the principal, but no one talks about "when Ritchie Park was moved to RM."

[Anonymous]

I went to Wootton and hated every, single, minute of it. I though it was overrated in 1990 and think it is over rated now.

[Anonymous]

I am trying to compare the different staffs at the different MCPS schools at which I have worked (three over many years). The way recruiting works, you apply to job openings that interest you. But, at any given time, even if you hypothetically wanted a "w" school, there might only be openings at other schools. You only can transfer during a very small window, when you have been teaching for a certain amount of time. Ultimately, I chose to move to a school with a shorter commute. That was how I chose my school. Others might want to teach in a needy population, or a high SES population. Perhaps teachers would do better during an interview if the administrator thought their background matched the surrounding community, and so teachers with more advanced degrees might end up in a higher performing school. I doubt that happens very often though. My point is that I don't think there are significant differences in teaching between schools in MCPS. I agree with the earlier posters who say the parents' backgrounds explain differing test scores among schools.

[Anonymous]

I live in Potomac Woods, the neighborhood where Ritchie Parks is. I don't ANYONE who still talks about this. Ritchie Park has a ton of problems, namely the principal, but no one talks about "when Ritchie Park was moved to RM."

...since it was in the 80's very few people bought before the switch and if they did they are not likely to be sending kids to elementary school. We bought knowing our kids would go to RM almost 20 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Potomac Woods, the neighborhood where Ritchie Parks is. I don't ANYONE who still talks about this. Ritchie Park has a ton of problems, namely the principal, but no one talks about "when Ritchie Park was moved to RM."

...since it was in the 80's very few people bought before the switch and if they did they are not likely to be sending kids to elementary school. We bought knowing our kids would go to RM almost 20 years ago.

I was in high school at Wootton when MCPS decided to redistrict Ritchie Park. I remember parents picketing up and down Wootton Pkwy. in protest. There was intense opposition to the move to RM but it was a very long time ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Potomac Woods, the neighborhood where Ritchie Parks is. I don't ANYONE who still talks about this. Ritchie Park has a ton of problems, namely the principal, but no one talks about "when Ritchie Park was moved to RM."

...since it was in the 80's very few people bought before the switch and if they did they are not likely to be sending kids to elementary school. We bought knowing our kids would go to RM almost 20 years ago.

I was in high school at Wootton when MCPS decided to redistrict Ritchie Park. I remember parents picketing up and down Wootton Pkwy. in protest. There was intense opposition to the move to RM but it was a very long time ago.

Me too. My child goes to ritchie park now and when I mention this people look at me like I'm crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Potomac Woods, the neighborhood where Ritchie Parks is. I don't ANYONE who still talks about this. Ritchie Park has a ton of problems, namely the principal, but no one talks about "when Ritchie Park was moved to RM."

...since it was in the 80's very few people bought before the switch and if they did they are not likely to be sending kids to elementary school. We bought knowing our kids would go to RM almost 20 years ago.

I was in high school at Wootton when MCPS decided to redistrict Ritchie Park. I remember parents picketing up and down Wootton Pkwy. in protest. There was intense opposition to the move to RM but it was a very long time ago.

Me too. My child goes to ritchie park now and when I mention this people look at me like I'm crazy.

But they would all take Frost and Wootton over JW and RM if given the chance.

[Anonymous]

Uh..no.. Wootton has it own reputation problem despite higher schores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh..no.. Wootton has it own reputation problem despite higher schores.

Please enlighten us

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But they would all take Frost and Wootton over JW and RM if given the chance.

Is it typical for people in the W-school zones to think that people in the non-W-school zones think, "Oh, if only we could send our children to the W schools!"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But they would all take Frost and Wootton over JW and RM if given the chance.

Is it typical for people in the W-school zones to think that people in the non-W-school zones think, "Oh, if only we could send our children to the W schools!"?

Not me. I don't want my kids to go to a W school where they'll be surrounded by a bunch of rich kids. I would rather send them to a school like QO or RM where there's a bit more diversity. Still a good school, but represents the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But they would all take Frost and Wootton over JW and RM if given the chance.

Is it typical for people in the W-school zones to think that people in the non-W-school zones think, "Oh, if only we could send our children to the W schools!"?

Not me. We are in a W-zone. People choose to live here or elsewhere for lots of reasons. I really like our W school but I know that others look down on it or have no interest in sending their kids there. Plus a number of people here choose to send their children to private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Potomac Woods, the neighborhood where Ritchie Parks is. I don't ANYONE who still talks about this. Ritchie Park has a ton of problems, namely the principal, but no one talks about "when Ritchie Park was moved to RM."

...since it was in the 80's very few people bought before the switch and if they did they are not likely to be sending kids to elementary school. We bought knowing our kids would go to RM almost 20 years ago.

I was in high school at Wootton when MCPS decided to redistrict Ritchie Park. I remember parents picketing up and down Wootton Pkwy. in protest. There was intense opposition to the move to RM but it was a very long time ago.

Me too. My child goes to ritchie park now and when I mention this people look at me like I'm crazy.

But they would all take Frost and Wootton over JW and RM if given the chance.

Not me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh..no.. Wootton has it own reputation problem despite higher schores.

What reputation problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So with this reasoning if I send my kid to a school with many economically disadvantaged students with low parent involvement, my kid should be able to perform very well academically, because the competition is not strong.

But then he or she will get to college and fail.

That's not true....I went to Kennedy and we had a huge variety of students from different backgrounds and with different abilities. There was a core group of students who did really well - most likely due to our parents' education and background. We had each other as competition but very little competition from a large portion of the school. Yet we all managed to be successful in college and graduate school. Many doctors, Ph.D's, lawyers... Like previous poster said about selection bias - this was because of our parents' characteristics, not the schools'.

As a parent you don't get to choose whether your child ends up in that "core group" or the potheads. You do get to choose what school they go to. How can lack of competition be viewed as a good thing? The value of an education is not class placement it is preparation for life. What good is graduating top of your class if your cohort is full of morons? I'm the first to admit unchecked capitalism is not the best way to run an economy, but without competition you have communism.