Is it worth it to move from NW DC to Montgomery County for Public Schools - for 5 year old?

[Anonymous]

Trying to decide if we should stay in NW DC (Eaton is IB School), or should we move so twins can start school in Montgomery County Public Schools once they are 5 years old....
We will try for Lottery for PK4 for next year, but trying to figure out what we should do next year, i.e. in 2017, once they turn 5.

Any suggestions, experiences? I am getting confusing feedback; some people swear on Montgomery County Public Schools, while others think DCPS are good now, especially in these early years, and not worth the move. We love our neighborhood and it is so convenient...close to work and everything...
Thanks for your feedback!

[Anonymous]

Wait, why aren't you happy with Eaton? Have you gone for a tour yet?

[Anonymous]

We did exactly this. I think the key things to consider are why and when. IMO, if you have a kid at Eaton who doesn't need anything special in terms of education, then staying at Eaton might be fine. On the other hand, if you have a kid who needs either accelerated learning opportunities or special education, then I would not stay in any DCPS school.

Both our children have unique educational needs. There is really nothing in the DCPS system that can compare with the accelerated learning opportunities MCPS provides through the Highly Gifted Centers, the middle school magnets like Eastern and Takoma, and the HS magnet programs like Blair Math/Science and RM IB. These programs are by application only and have a low admit rate. So, it's not really worth moving for them unless your child is so advanced that you are fairly sure they would be accepted. (We had a second grader reading at a MS level, so we knew there was nothing at Eaton and that acceptance to a magnet was highly likely.)

Also, special education in MCPS is better than DCPS. I'm not saying it's great; we still had to spend a lot of time and money to get appropriate services, but it is unlikely that our DC would have gotten anything useful at all in DCPS. For this child, we knew early on (like by age 4) that there was likely going to be a learning disability.

In terms of "when," I would say moving by K or 2nd would be the best depending on need. If you think admittance to an HGC is likely, I would recommend switching in 2nd or 3rd to have time to get adjusted and to be in the MCPS system to be eligible to apply in the 3rd grade year.

For special education needs, these typically emerge in K or sometimes as late as 3rd when academic demands increase. IME, I think it was a really good thing that our DC was already in MCPS by 1st grade. 3rd grade is late to begin trying to address a learning disability.

I should say that I had hoped to stay at Eaton when we began. I love the neighborhood. I love the families at the school. But, the education offered just didn't work for us. I was always sad about leaving because it struck me as a place that could have been a much better school, but because of obstruction by families, teachers and administrators, was just content with being OK. I hope that is changed, but even if it has, I doubt that DCPS has changed enough overall to offer the kind of systemic interventions to meet the needs of the kinds of learners I have described above.

[Anonymous]

I would suggest visiting the schools in MoCo that interest you. You'll see which ones have been refurbished and extended, and those which look like they need the work. You'll find out if your child will be entering school only to move to another site while building work takes place, or not.
And you get a really good sense of the school if you're taken into classrooms and meet the teachers and students.
We visited 6 Elementary schools and they really varied quite wildly in terms of how many students they had, what their special education provisions entailed (some had designated classrooms, some had recess time integration, some had full class integration and some had practically nothing).

In Bethesda where we live, all the schools work with the same syllabus and most of them are performing well across the board, so its these differences I mention above, and anything else which is particular to you, which will be the deciding factors.

The school we liked the best was beyond our budget for buying a house, and there was very little rental stock, but the second school out of 6 on our list had lots of housing stock and was a lot easier to find a place in. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would suggest visiting the schools in MoCo that interest you. You'll see which ones have been refurbished and extended, and those which look like they need the work. You'll find out if your child will be entering school only to move to another site while building work takes place, or not.
And you get a really good sense of the school if you're taken into classrooms and meet the teachers and students.
We visited 6 Elementary schools and they really varied quite wildly in terms of how many students they had, what their special education provisions entailed (some had designated classrooms, some had recess time integration, some had full class integration and some had practically nothing).

In Bethesda where we live, all the schools work with the same syllabus and most of them are performing well across the board, so its these differences I mention above, and anything else which is particular to you, which will be the deciding factors.

The school we liked the best was beyond our budget for buying a house, and there was very little rental stock, but the second school out of 6 on our list had lots of housing stock and was a lot easier to find a place in. Good luck.

Some MCPS ES discourage visits during school hours when it would actually be useful to come. We tried for a full year to schedule one at Wayside. Finally, just went with a private K.

[Anonymous]

We just did this for 1st. I was very nervous about it, but it's turned out to be wonderful so far. Our school wasn't as good as Eaton so I don't know what the resources you have are, but we're finding the community and the resources and the academic options to be stunningly different, in a positive way. And our class size is far smaller.

[Anonymous]

OP, if I were you, I would stay where you are until it stops working for you. And I'm a happy MCPS parent! I just don't think it's worth the move, if you're currently somewhere you like and there isn't a problem that you could fix by moving to Montgomery County.

[Anonymous]

Elementary school is not the problem with MCPS, it is middle school and high school which gives one pause. Schools are improving but in terms of admission to colleges, support, extra-curricular activities, MCPS is far ahead. Also what kind of child do you have, able to advocate for themselves/do not need a lot of support then perhaps staying in DC isn't horrible but if they are not self-sufficient then DCPS could be a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elementary school is not the problem with MCPS, it is middle school and high school which gives one pause. Schools are improving but in terms of admission to colleges, support, extra-curricular activities, MCPS is far ahead. Also what kind of child do you have, able to advocate for themselves/do not need a lot of support then perhaps staying in DC isn't horrible but if they are not self-sufficient then DCPS could be a problem.

This is absolutely the case for all DCPS neighborhood schools other than Wilson. However, Eaton is zoned for Wilson which has over 30 AP classes and the full complement of standard HS extra-curriculars (many of which are outstanding). Their college placement is also on par with MCPS. High SES kids do well at Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would suggest visiting the schools in MoCo that interest you. You'll see which ones have been refurbished and extended, and those which look like they need the work. You'll find out if your child will be entering school only to move to another site while building work takes place, or not.
And you get a really good sense of the school if you're taken into classrooms and meet the teachers and students.
We visited 6 Elementary schools and they really varied quite wildly in terms of how many students they had, what their special education provisions entailed (some had designated classrooms, some had recess time integration, some had full class integration and some had practically nothing).

In Bethesda where we live, all the schools work with the same syllabus and most of them are performing well across the board, so its these differences I mention above, and anything else which is particular to you, which will be the deciding factors.

The school we liked the best was beyond our budget for buying a house, and there was very little rental stock, but the second school out of 6 on our list had lots of housing stock and was a lot easier to find a place in. Good luck.

Some MCPS ES discourage visits during school hours when it would actually be useful to come. We tried for a full year to schedule one at Wayside. Finally, just went with a private K.

Wayside was very happy to grant us a tour, as were all the other schools we called. Some of them have designated days on which they give tours and don't like to vary their schedule, but even those were happy to accommodate us when we explained we were visiting from out of state (a lot further than DC in fact). I know Wayside is currently or about to be refurbished, so that may have had something to do with your not getting a tour.

[Anonymous]

No. Eaton and the schools it feeds into are excellent schools. You can find negatives and positives compared to MoCO, but on balance, if you are happy where you live, stay there.

[Anonymous]

Eaton is a great school. I would stay with it if your place is big enough and then consider a move to Montgomery County for middle school if Hardy is not an option by then. Also, not all MCPS are the same. If you do move there, I would be picky about which schools you go to. We were surprised at the feedback we got on some of the programs in the eastern part of the county vs. the wetsern part.

[Anonymous]

We moved from a high performing charter in DC with families we loved to MCPS. It was hard to make the decision to go, but we've never regretted it. DD was in first grade when we moved and the transition was very smooth. We suspected she had learning difficulties and we felt she needed to be in a larger system better equipped to address special needs if necessary. At her charter she was doing OK. Not shining but not falling behind either. As a quiet, well behaved student, her learning and attention issues hadn't really surfaced yet. She was still young. At her MCPS elementary, her teachers immediately recognized her ADD and tested her without our pushing. While she didn't qualify for an IEP or a 504, the whole teaching team has rallied to support her. We have regular meetings with staff and her teacher gives her tons of individualized attention, even in a classroom with 28 students. When I volunteer, the classroom is orderly and on task with few discipline interruptions. DD's teacher sends links of math games to play with her. That was not the case at DD's charter. Everyone's experience is different, OP. This was ours. Follow your gut.

[Anonymous]

No. DC is on the rise. Moco on the decline.

[Anonymous]

Depends on what your long-term goals are. MoCo schools are good, and you can stay through high school. Class sizes in the younger grades in many schools are bigger. Many do not love 2.0 implementation in the k-3 years.