Potomac/Hoover/Churchill v. Travilah/Frost/Wootton

[Anonymous]

Looking to buy in one of these clusters and wondering if it makes a difference. Middle income white family who would like a little diversity in a school system (but who are still moving to Potomac, so I get that that sounds pretty weak).

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Both districts have very good schools and diversity despite what some on this site claim. You are obviously looking at these districts because you want the best for your kids so don't be apologetic about that. Depending upon the age of your kids, you may want to look closely at the schools. If elementary schools are important as they were for my family, do a drive-by. A few have high tension power lines either over the fields or close to them that will result in increased radiation levels which was concern for us.

Find the home that is best for you regardless of the district as they are both very good.

[Anonymous]

Churchill will likely get you better resale, but otherwise those are two great schools and communities. There's no bad decision here.

[Anonymous]

Potomac will be less likely to ever experience a home value-compromise boundary change. Travilah is closer to what will likely be a new high school eventually, so more at risk for that. We just moved from that area actually to be closer in and it was definitely a topic that came up a lot. Happy to not have that concern anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both districts have very good schools and diversity despite what some on this site claim. You are obviously looking at these districts because you want the best for your kids so don't be apologetic about that. Depending upon the age of your kids, you may want to look closely at the schools. If elementary schools are important as they were for my family, do a drive-by. A few have high tension power lines either over the fields or close to them that will result in increased radiation levels which was concern for us.

Find the home that is best for you regardless of the district as they are both very good.

Although there are certainly other measures of diversity, neither the economic diversity nor the racial diversity (by MCPS category) is "very good" at Potomac/Hoover/Churchill nor Travilah/Frost/Wootton. In fact they're both very un-diverse.

Potomac: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02601.pdf
Hoover: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/03228.pdf
Churchill: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04602.pdf

Travilah: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02216.pdf
Frost: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/03237.pdf
Wootton: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04234.pdf

Also, they are not school districts. They are school clusters, or school boundary areas. The school district is Montgomery County. Why is this important? Because there might be a boundary change.

[Anonymous]

If you were truly middle income, I would choose Wootton over Churchill. Way more money in Churchill. Your kids might feel more left out at Churchill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you were truly middle income, I would choose Wootton over Churchill. Way more money in Churchill. Your kids might feel more left out at Churchill.

+1

[Anonymous]

Yes, Churchill cluster is very very wealthy. Drive down near Potomac ES. Look across the street.

[Anonymous]

Buy where you have a shorter commute...also the only "diversity" in either of these clusters is that they are 40% Asian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy where you have a shorter commute...also the only "diversity" in either of these clusters is that they are 40% Asian.

Churchill HS is not 40% Asian; Wootton, however, is close to 40% Asian. But yea, that is the extent to the diversity in those schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy where you have a shorter commute...also the only "diversity" in either of these clusters is that they are 40% Asian.

Why do you put diversity in quotes here? To me, Asian diversity is the most important of all. I want my kids to become citizens of the world. With 1.3 billion people in China, and 1.2 billion people in India, (not to mention Japan, Indonesia, southeast Asia, the Phillipines) Asia dominates the world population. Of course, there is tremendous diversity within Asia in customs, religions, and language. But it is important to me to have my kids grow up with Asian friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buy where you have a shorter commute...also the only "diversity" in either of these clusters is that they are 40% Asian.

Why do you put diversity in quotes here? To me, Asian diversity is the most important of all. I want my kids to become citizens of the world. With 1.3 billion people in China, and 1.2 billion people in India, (not to mention Japan, Indonesia, southeast Asia, the Phillipines) Asia dominates the world population. Of course, there is tremendous diversity within Asia in customs, religions, and language. But it is important to me to have my kids grow up with Asian friends.

No one is saying that Asians are not part of a diverse population, but that a school made up of mostly asian/white is not diverse given the makeup of the population of this country and MCPS. Hint: asians aren't 40% of either the US or MCPS.

[Anonymous]

So what you are saying is that the school population does not mirror the US population? This is different than saying the school is not diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what you are saying is that the school population does not mirror the US population? This is different than saying the school is not diverse.

But Wootton actually is not diverse, in the ways that MCPS measures diversity. Of course these are not the only possible measures of diversity. But they are a good first step.

[Anonymous]

What's wrong with white people? Why is it bad to be with white people?