School Boundary Change-Woodward HS
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Anonymous
This thread is in the real estate forum and is literally about property values. That’s why I said “purely from a property values perspective.” Not saying anything about the benefit of attending one school over the other. |
Anonymous
I doubt it will impact that much. People who overpaid are worried. Or, need to sell. |
Anonymous
Yes this is 100% true. Also VM will see property value increase (switching from Wheaton full of FARMS kids to brand new Woodward where they will be joined by wealthy Luxmanor and Farmland kids). Will not be as major of a jump as Einstein to BCC but I'd still expect a jump |
Anonymous
| I think you'll see generally see a price gradient among similar houses going from say Bradley Hills through Wyngate, Ashburton, and further down old Georgetown. This probably already exists just from remembering my house hunting years ago but now. Maybe. More pronounced. The BH houses were maybe 10% more than similar Wyngate houses just across boundary line of Greentree. Same between Wyngate and Ashburton etc etc. My guess is WJ just got smaller/less overcrowded with a way lower Farms rate vs Woodward, so more desirable for your average Bethesda house hunter, and Woodward--which I think will be a perfectly fine school and better diversity IMO--will be relatively less desirable. |
Anonymous
| Tilden/Luxmanor/North Farm area should take a massive hit in few years when everyone will know that school is not WJ and not even slightly worse but with FARMS rate in 35-40%. |
Anonymous
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Free and Reduced-price Meals System (FARMS) data for Montgomery County high schools reflects student eligibility based on household income. According to the 2024–2025 MCPS Annual Report, approximately 44.2% of all students in the district are eligible for FARMS. The following list sorts high schools by their FARMS percentages based on the most recent available official data (FY24 and FY25 projections): John F. Kennedy: 80.6% Wheaton: 75.3% Gaithersburg: 70.5% Watkins Mill: 67.8% Albert Einstein: 65.6% Northwood: 60.1% (Projected to decrease to 39.8% in 2025–2026 due to boundary changes) Seneca Valley: 58.4% James Hubert Blake: 56.7% Paint Branch: 56.2% Springbrook: 55.8% Col. Zadok Magruder: 55.5% Montgomery Blair: 53.5% Clarksburg: 51.6% Rockville: 42.4% Richard Montgomery: 37.4% Quince Orchard: 35.1% Northwest: 33.2% Sherwood: 29.6% Damascus: 29.0% Bethesda-Chevy Chase: 20.8% Walter Johnson: 17.8% (Projected to decrease to 15.3% by 2025–2026) Poolesville: 10.4% Winston Churchill: 8.8% Thomas S. Wootton: 8.5% Walt Whitman: 6.4% |
Anonymous
For the Class of 2024, the average SAT score in Montgomery County was 1063, reflecting a district-wide participation rate of 78.6%. The following list combines official FARMS percentages (2024–2025) with the most recent average SAT scores (Class of 2023 and 2024 data) reported by Bethesda Magazine and MCPS annual reports. High School FARMS % (2024–25) Avg. SAT Score Walt Whitman 6.4% 1285 Thomas S. Wootton 8.5% 1271 Winston Churchill 8.8% 1275 Poolesville 10.4% 1280 Walter Johnson 17.8% 1170 Bethesda-Chevy Chase 20.8% 1164 Damascus 29.0% 1050 Northwest 33.2% 1063 Richard Montgomery 37.4% 1169 Rockville 42.4% 988 Clarksburg 51.6% 1044 Montgomery Blair 53.5% 1110 Col. Zadok Magruder 55.5% 1004 Springbrook 55.8% 942 Paint Branch 56.2% 937 James Hubert Blake 56.7% 1019 (Class of 2022) Seneca Valley 58.4% 934 Northwood 60.1% 935 Albert Einstein 65.6% 1009 Watkins Mill 67.8% 864 Gaithersburg 70.5% 904 (Class of 2022) Wheaton 75.3% 961 John F. Kennedy 80.6% 883 |
Anonymous
| It’s outrageous that MCPS and local politicians are social engineering WJ and Woodward, two schools about a mile a part, into vastly different environments that will result in different outcomes for its students; and (since this is the Real Estate thread) the unfair effect it has on neighborhoods like Old Farm and Lux Manor. The school board and superintendent could easily equalize the FARMS distribution to make both schools better for all students, but they DIDN’T. They chose to concentrate FARMS kids in Woodward instead of a more even distribution with WJ. It makes no sense, so the question is WHY? Where do these decision makers or their love ones live? Did someone get a kickback? |
Anonymous
Likely case |
Anonymous
This. Also FARMS likely to be even higher, since wealthier Tilden/Luxmanor/North Farm families will opt out for privates. |
Anonymous
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Luxmanor. One word.
Tell me you don’t live in N. Bethesda without telling me you don’t live in N. Bethesda. SMH. |
Anonymous
| This recommendation very intentionally concentrates poverty at Woodward to boost property values in the rest of the WJ zone. It's disgusting and shameful and what is worse is the media won't cover it at all unless we give them no choice. This is something a lot of communities could get behind to organize against - progressives and middle class families. |
Anonymous
| Is anyone investing in the Viers Mill and Wheaton Woods cachements? Or is it too late? |
Anonymous
The naivete is this thread is pretty stunning. Going back decades, this is always how MCPS does it. MCPS wants some very high performing schools because it doesn't want high-income taxpayers to move to neighboring jurisdictions. It also helps with the ranking of the school system as a whole -- better to have one high performing school and one low performing school than two mediocre schools. If this is all news to you, you're either new to the area or haven't been paying attention to boundary issues going back decades. |
Anonymous
And smart kids will opt out for magnets. |