Option H is permanent and the old Wootton HS campus will be closed for good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wootton does not have to sit empty with the neighborhood losing a school.

Move Wootton to Crown.

MCPS should make the current Wootton building (after renovations) a central location for all special needs programs from PEP to 12th grade or more. It is easier to get to Wootton since it is centrally located.

As it is all schools are having issues with SES kids, so having a school for them with dedicated resources will be a good thing for them as well as the NT kids.

And what better location than Wootton?

Are you kidding me? Crown is way more centrally located and easier to access. Wootton is farther away from most schools

Looking just now at google maps, the drive times from Damascus, Einstein, Kennedy and Sherwood, four schools mentioned earlier in this thread, are all between 23 and 27 minutes. For some, it is 3 or 4 minutes faster to Wootton. For others, it is 3 or 4 minutes faster to Crown.

Of course, these numbers would go up during the weekday with traffic, but they would remain relatively similar in comparison. Any difference, here, is like the difference in walk zones -- one or other set of neighborhoods might benefit at the expense of the other, but neither holding school option, Wootton or Crown, really presents a significant differential walk zone benefit to the county as a whole, and the same goes for drive-time access by communities needing a holding facility.

It would be better to concentrate on other aspects of the options when suggesting there is a relative benefit in one or the other.

If Crown or Wootton becomes a long-term holding school, it has to be able to hold the displaced student body. Damascus will prob fit anywhere, but my guess is that any HS needing UMBC as a graduation site like Sherwood or QO will be too large to fit into Wootton.

Not sure anyone has bothered to look into basic stats like that. So much pontificating, but overlooking key details - which is par for the course with MCPS.

All schools go to umbc.

Look up graduation sites from 2025.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

Then why would MCPS so eager to bus in and bus out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

Then why would MCPS so eager to bus in and bus out?

Bus whom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

Then why would MCPS so eager to bus in and bus out?

Bus whom?

Not the PP, but I assume PP meant about the regional model.

I'm not a Wootton parent, but I'd consider option H a double-edge sword thing. If the HS becomes more academically diverse, it is better for top-tier competitive ones to stand out, of course assuming the school remains safe overall and the students won't involve in gangs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

Did you ever actually go to high school? You think kids are only with the kids they are in classes with and that’s it? It’s a community. There is so much more to it than just being in classes with other similarly academic kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

Did you ever actually go to high school? You think kids are only with the kids they are in classes with and that’s it? It’s a community. There is so much more to it than just being in classes with other similarly academic kids.

Sure, it is a community. If there is no relative loss of that community between an option to have Wootton at its current location and an option to move it to the Crown location, then it would seem the "community" concern is limited to that which would be added to the community...like Fields Road, perhaps.

If that is not the case, it might be better to provide detail. If that is the case, then just ew.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

Then why would MCPS so eager to bus in and bus out?

Bus whom?

Not the PP, but I assume PP meant about the regional model.

I'm not a Wootton parent, but I'd consider option H a double-edge sword thing. If the HS becomes more academically diverse, it is better for top-tier competitive ones to stand out, of course assuming the school remains safe overall and the students won't involve in gangs

The regional model would apply regardless of the location chosen for Wootton. They should provide detail as to which aspect applies to this discussion instead of throwing out bussing as a boogeyman. That differential, or, rather, the lack of it from an overarching perspective in the sense that one or other community would benefit from a walk zone while others would need to ride busses, already has been discussed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

Did you ever actually go to high school? You think kids are only with the kids they are in classes with and that’s it? It’s a community. There is so much more to it than just being in classes with other similarly academic kids.

Sure, it is a community. If there is no relative loss of that community between an option to have Wootton at its current location and an option to move it to the Crown location, then it would seem the "community" concern is limited to that which would be added to the community...like Fields Road, perhaps.

If that is not the case, it might be better to provide detail. If that is the case, then just ew.

It’s not just adding fields road and rosemont. It’s also about removing some Wootton ES to other clusters. Whole Wootton and fields road and half rosemont dont fit in crown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

Did you ever actually go to high school? You think kids are only with the kids they are in classes with and that’s it? It’s a community. There is so much more to it than just being in classes with other similarly academic kids.

Sure, it is a community. If there is no relative loss of that community between an option to have Wootton at its current location and an option to move it to the Crown location, then it would seem the "community" concern is limited to that which would be added to the community...like Fields Road, perhaps.

If that is not the case, it might be better to provide detail. If that is the case, then just ew.

I love how many of the critics here automatically look at this issue through the "ew" lens, instead of Woottom families wanting to keep their school exactly where it is and remediate the immediate issues with the building.

Lift and shift of Wootton to Crown will destroy what Wootton families have built for numerous reasons that have been exhaustively articulated in this and other threads. You might think it will enhance the student population through diversity - but unless you can GUARANTY that the "new Wootton" will rank #3 amongst all Maryland public high schools (or at least not drop out of the top 5, where it's been for several years) - then the move is not in the best interests of the Wootton community. The move will be to save MCPS money at the expense of Wootton families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

Did you ever actually go to high school? You think kids are only with the kids they are in classes with and that’s it? It’s a community. There is so much more to it than just being in classes with other similarly academic kids.

Sure, it is a community. If there is no relative loss of that community between an option to have Wootton at its current location and an option to move it to the Crown location, then it would seem the "community" concern is limited to that which would be added to the community...like Fields Road, perhaps.

If that is not the case, it might be better to provide detail. If that is the case, then just ew.

I love how many of the critics here automatically look at this issue through the "ew" lens, instead of Woottom families wanting to keep their school exactly where it is and remediate the immediate issues with the building.

Lift and shift of Wootton to Crown will destroy what Wootton families have built for numerous reasons that have been exhaustively articulated in this and other threads. You might think it will enhance the student population through diversity - but unless you can GUARANTY that the "new Wootton" will rank #3 amongst all Maryland public high schools (or at least not drop out of the top 5, where it's been for several years) - then the move is not in the best interests of the Wootton community. The move will be to save MCPS money at the expense of Wootton families.

MCPS should be making decisions based on what's best for the whole school system, not one school's US News rankings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

Did you ever actually go to high school? You think kids are only with the kids they are in classes with and that’s it? It’s a community. There is so much more to it than just being in classes with other similarly academic kids.

Sure, it is a community. If there is no relative loss of that community between an option to have Wootton at its current location and an option to move it to the Crown location, then it would seem the "community" concern is limited to that which would be added to the community...like Fields Road, perhaps.

If that is not the case, it might be better to provide detail. If that is the case, then just ew.

It’s not just adding fields road and rosemont. It’s also about removing some Wootton ES to other clusters. Whole Wootton and fields road and half rosemont dont fit in crown.

But those removals seem only to have been presented in the first four options (A, B, C & D), mostly with DuFief moving out. All of the options wherein there is a holding facility, with Wootton staying where it is (E, F & G) or moving to the Crown location (H), all of current Wootton stays together. This thread, for the most part, is about those latter four, with the focus on the last.

And those four are the only examples where the boundaries aren't shifted such that Wootton loses one or other of their feeder elementaries (or a portion thereof). Of course, they really are varied agglomerated possibilities set up to elicit discussion, not really options from which to choose, though a final choice may use one or other as a starting point, adjusting to the expressed interests of MCPS, the BOE (likely to a lesser extent than we might hope) and the community (definitely to a lesser extent than we hope). But keeping Wootton exactly as it is remains unlikely if a shift can better balance capacity utilization, etc.

Then there is the upcoming system-wide elementary boundary study. The ~70 seat shortage at the Crown location (and there might be others with similar shortages) if H were modified to include Fields Road could be addressed via minor adjustments -- some already quite likely to occur during that ES process. I suppose some Wootton stakeholders might always look at the upcoming ES boundary study with the hope that the one change, if the HS remained at its current location, would be the removal of the Rio, but, again, ew...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m confused. If they use Crown for Wootton, and move one or two additional GHS neighborhoods to Crown, how does that the overcrowding at the neighboring schools like RM, QO, NW?

It doesn't. It achieves the following:

1. Removes the political pressure from Wootton families on MCPS to remediate (not renovate) issues at Wootton
2. Removes Wootton from the Capital Improvement Plan in 2035 (after being removed twice previously, but now permanently - third time's a charm)
3. Moves the Wootton boundary to include GHS neighborhoods by moving Wootton 3 miles, achieving previous boundary study goals/recommendations that were rejected
4. Redistributes the high achievers from Wootton to a new school and mixes them with kids from much lower-achieving school(s), hoping for improved grades by peer influence
5. Removes the political pressure from vocal, non-W school neighborhoods that such schools are bastions of white, privileged, rich families
6. Frees up prime real estate on Wootton Parkway for substantial residential development, enriching a developer that will make campaign contributions for years to come
7. Covers up a mistake by MCPS in accepting "free land" and building a new high school in a congested, high-traffic area right off the highway
8. Generates more tax revenues from increased business at the shops and restaurants surrounding Crown (and potential campaign contributions for years to come from those businesses)

Can you expand a little more on your #4?

Not the pp but It means Wootton will not be a top performing school anymore. That list that comes out with the best high schools in MD-it will no longer be on it. Basically it will probably be a very small step up from Gaithersburg HS.

What lists?
Why do you think that will happen?
What actual impact would it have if that does happen?

US News and World report-heard of that? Wootton is ranked 191 nationally.
What makes a school great? It’s usually a very strong and active PTA. It correlates to high parent involvement. Rosemont basically has no PTA. And the reviews of Fields road are absolutely awful. The impact will be much time that is supposed to be for instruction now devoted to managing behavior issues.

Are you concerned about dilution? Because the Wootton cohort & PTA would pretty much stay intact with a move to the Crown location. What does the ranking, in and of itself, generate, aside from marginally higher real estate prices? The understanding is that it does not result in preferential admission to college on an individual basis.

High school is by period/course. The likely placement of academically minded Wootton students in honors-level/advanced classes, which certainly stay available with any reasonably sized portion of the intact cohort, would tend to keep them with others similarly interested and less prone to being difficult (in the manner about which you may be expressing concern) in the classroom, even if from (gasp!) Fields Road.

Did you ever actually go to high school? You think kids are only with the kids they are in classes with and that’s it? It’s a community. There is so much more to it than just being in classes with other similarly academic kids.

Sure, it is a community. If there is no relative loss of that community between an option to have Wootton at its current location and an option to move it to the Crown location, then it would seem the "community" concern is limited to that which would be added to the community...like Fields Road, perhaps.

If that is not the case, it might be better to provide detail. If that is the case, then just ew.

It’s not just adding fields road and rosemont. It’s also about removing some Wootton ES to other clusters. Whole Wootton and fields road and half rosemont dont fit in crown.

But those removals seem only to have been presented in the first four options (A, B, C & D), mostly with DuFief moving out. All of the options wherein there is a holding facility, with Wootton staying where it is (E, F & G) or moving to the Crown location (H), all of current Wootton stays together. This thread, for the most part, is about those latter four, with the focus on the last.

And those four are the only examples where the boundaries aren't shifted such that Wootton loses one or other of their feeder elementaries (or a portion thereof). Of course, they really are varied agglomerated possibilities set up to elicit discussion, not really options from which to choose, though a final choice may use one or other as a starting point, adjusting to the expressed interests of MCPS, the BOE (likely to a lesser extent than we might hope) and the community (definitely to a lesser extent than we hope). But keeping Wootton exactly as it is remains unlikely if a shift can better balance capacity utilization, etc.

Then there is the upcoming system-wide elementary boundary study. The ~70 seat shortage at the Crown location (and there might be others with similar shortages) if H were modified to include Fields Road could be addressed via minor adjustments -- some already quite likely to occur during that ES process. I suppose some Wootton stakeholders might always look at the upcoming ES boundary study with the hope that the one change, if the HS remained at its current location, would be the removal of the Rio, but, again, ew...

It’s not 70 seats shortage. It’s rather 200 if fields road is added. And overcrowding will get worse as there are so many new developments. There is also effect of regional model which will bus hundreds students in wootton as Wootton has the strongest stem magnet. The current options all assume equal number coming in and leaving which are not realistic. Wootton will be super crowded very soon