Cold Spring ES

[Anonymous]

We have lived in MoCo for the last 2 years, since we relocated for my husband's job. We have a 2.5 year old and thinking about purchasing. The decision boils down to affordability, child's schooling (I am very heavily in favor of public schools) and real estate as a long term investment.

We are considering 4 ESs- 1. Cold Spring 2. Travilah 3. Stone Mill 4. Wayside.

Questions I have-
1. Do Cold Spring kids in grade 3 get to go to the HGC classes or are those separate? Do Cold Spring kids have to test into the HGC program like say, a Travilah 3rd grader to be a part of HGC instruction curriculum?
2. How many Cold Spring kids go to Tacoma Park MS gifted program? If they dont test into that program, they continue onto Cabin John/Wooton?
3. Do you think it is worth paying $200K more to get into Cold Spring ES over say, Travilah?
4. Is it true that Cold Spring is going to get renovated in 2019 (that's when I expect DC to start ES)- Where are classes held and who teaches them in the interim period when schools are being renovated?

Thank you all.

[Anonymous]

1. Separate classes. Test in 3rd grade for all schools to get into HGC, Travilah included.
2. Kids from HGC have better chances to get into Takoma, but it is open for everyone
3. For school itself - don't think so, Travilah is great, very strong principal. But location is quite different, 20854 is closer to civilization than 20878 - I mean shopping, public transit, kids activities, etc. Oh, and commute of course. Worth every penny for me not to deal with 270 in the morning.
4. MoCo has holding school somewhere in Rockville, kids got bused there while school is renovated.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for responding.

Is the quality of instruction, overall environment and teachers who teach in the "regular" school as good as the HGC?

Does Cold Spring get good reviews based only on HGC or is the regular program good as well?

Anyone with experience of Travilah/StoneMill/Wayside v/s Coldsping who had to make a choice?

[Anonymous]

I am curious about how many kids get into Coldspring HGC from other nearby ESs? Any stats in this regard?

[Anonymous]

Just curious why you're so fixated on magnet programs when your child is 2. Choose the neighborhood that is the best fit for you. Don't move to a neighborhood in order to get on a magnet track for a 2 year old. You'll most likely end up disappointed if you do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious why you're so fixated on magnet programs when your child is 2. Choose the neighborhood that is the best fit for you. Don't move to a neighborhood in order to get on a magnet track for a 2 year old. You'll most likely end up disappointed if you do that.

More likely, OP will end up writing letters of complaint, threats to sue, etc., when DC does not get into HGC or TPMS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for responding.

Is the quality of instruction, overall environment and teachers who teach in the "regular" school as good as the HGC?

HGC's teachers only teach the Students in HGC. The focus is different. HGC students do a lot of progects that regular classes don't do. It is different teaching but they are all teachers from mcps.

Does Cold Spring get good reviews based only on HGC or is the regular program good as well?

Without the HGC, cold spring es would be a very small school but most local kids are from moddle class family who live near the school. If you read the results from standarized test, the students third grade perform as well as other schools you mentioned.

Anyone with experience of Travilah/StoneMill/Wayside v/s Coldsping who had to make a choice?

All four schools are semilar, but Travilah and Stonemill may have more Asian immegrants than the othwr two schools. Short commute is top on my list so we purchased a house in Churhill hs district. My son went to cold spring for the HGC and enjoyed it a lot.

[Anonymous]

This link has a lot of info about schools that are slated to be renovated,etc.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/planning/cipmaster.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious why you're so fixated on magnet programs when your child is 2. Choose the neighborhood that is the best fit for you. Don't move to a neighborhood in order to get on a magnet track for a 2 year old. You'll most likely end up disappointed if you do that.

Thank you for the perspective. Rather than "fixation" I look at it as an analytical approach to deciding on where to buy. Neighborhood is also one of the considerations as is schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for responding.

Is the quality of instruction, overall environment and teachers who teach in the "regular" school as good as the HGC?

HGC's teachers only teach the Students in HGC. The focus is different. HGC students do a lot of progects that regular classes don't do. It is different teaching but they are all teachers from mcps.

Does Cold Spring get good reviews based only on HGC or is the regular program good as well?

Without the HGC, cold spring es would be a very small school but most local kids are from moddle class family who live near the school. If you read the results from standarized test, the students third grade perform as well as other schools you mentioned.

Anyone with experience of Travilah/StoneMill/Wayside v/s Coldsping who had to make a choice?

All four schools are semilar, but Travilah and Stonemill may have more Asian immegrants than the othwr two schools. Short commute is top on my list so we purchased a house in Churhill hs district. My son went to cold spring for the HGC and enjoyed it a lot.

This is fantastic feedback, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for responding.

Is the quality of instruction, overall environment and teachers who teach in the "regular" school as good as the HGC?

Does Cold Spring get good reviews based only on HGC or is the regular program good as well?

Anyone with experience of Travilah/StoneMill/Wayside v/s Coldsping who had to make a choice?

Teachers are always a gamble, HGC or not, but so far I've only see one so-so teacher out of all my kids meet in last 5 years

You're focusing on elementary school, which is understandable, but you also should think about HS
Travilah, StoneMill, and Coldspring are in Wotton cluster (at least for now), but Wayside is Chircilll HS
Oh, and MS for Stonemill and ColdSpring is Cabin John MS, which is feeder for both Wootton and Churchill.
Travilah goes to Frost middle school.

We were moving from Travilah area, and was hoping to stay within Wootton cluster (oldest kid was Sophomore in Wootton).

Excluded StoneMill right away due to location (too far for me to commute to Arlington) + possible rezoning if Crown Farm HS will be build someday, and all talks about development at Belward Farm (Google it: Great Seneca Science Corridor Master plan).
But development itself is great - sidewalks to bike almost everywhere in the development, great pool with swim team, close to both Kentland's and Washingtonian shopping centers. Newer houses compared to Stonemill and Wayside.

ColdSpring area - love the neighborhood - walkable, bike pass to Rockville trail, playgrounds for kids. Smaller school, great pyramids, almost no chance of being rezoned anytime soon

Travilah - loved that school as I already mentioned, and our little neighborhood full of kids. However, it's too remote for my taste. Public transit is limited to rush hours, not walkable at all for the most part.

Wayside - was outside of our search, I know nothing about it, other than it's Churchill - older houses, biger lots, no sidewalks in the neighborhoods we visited while searching, no public transit in walkable distance.

So, it is really about neighborhood and your priorities when you're looking for place to live with 2.5 yo.
All 4 schools are good, a bit different, so one might be better for your child than another, but at 2.5 it's too early to tell what will work for your kid.



My kids had exceptionally good time at Travilah, we didn't have chance to compare it to ColdSpring ES (no luck in house hunting in that area).
StoneMill as one of the PP mentioned has majority of Asian students, which is good as it means very involved parents, and bad - very competitive even at ES level. Not for everyone.
But I would not compare it to Travilah, our school was much smaller (~400 students vs ~650 in StoneMill), and had that family feel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for responding.

Is the quality of instruction, overall environment and teachers who teach in the "regular" school as good as the HGC?

Does Cold Spring get good reviews based only on HGC or is the regular program good as well?

Anyone with experience of Travilah/StoneMill/Wayside v/s Coldsping who had to make a choice?

Teachers are always a gamble, HGC or not, but so far I've only see one so-so teacher out of all my kids meet in last 5 years

You're focusing on elementary school, which is understandable, but you also should think about HS
Travilah, StoneMill, and Coldspring are in Wotton cluster (at least for now), but Wayside is Chircilll HS
Oh, and MS for Stonemill and ColdSpring is Cabin John MS, which is feeder for both Wootton and Churchill.
Travilah goes to Frost middle school.

We were moving from Travilah area, and was hoping to stay within Wootton cluster (oldest kid was Sophomore in Wootton).

Excluded StoneMill right away due to location (too far for me to commute to Arlington) + possible rezoning if Crown Farm HS will be build someday, and all talks about development at Belward Farm (Google it: Great Seneca Science Corridor Master plan).
But development itself is great - sidewalks to bike almost everywhere in the development, great pool with swim team, close to both Kentland's and Washingtonian shopping centers. Newer houses compared to Stonemill and Wayside.

ColdSpring area - love the neighborhood - walkable, bike pass to Rockville trail, playgrounds for kids. Smaller school, great pyramids, almost no chance of being rezoned anytime soon

Travilah - loved that school as I already mentioned, and our little neighborhood full of kids. However, it's too remote for my taste. Public transit is limited to rush hours, not walkable at all for the most part.

Wayside - was outside of our search, I know nothing about it, other than it's Churchill - older houses, biger lots, no sidewalks in the neighborhoods we visited while searching, no public transit in walkable distance.

So, it is really about neighborhood and your priorities when you're looking for place to live with 2.5 yo.
All 4 schools are good, a bit different, so one might be better for your child than another, but at 2.5 it's too early to tell what will work for your kid.



My kids had exceptionally good time at Travilah, we didn't have chance to compare it to Cold Spring ES (no luck in house hunting in that area).
StoneMill as one of the PP mentioned has majority of Asian students, which is good as it means very involved parents, and bad - very competitive even at ES level. Not for everyone.
But I would not compare it to Travilah, our school was much smaller (~400 students vs ~650 in StoneMill), and had that family feel.

Thank you - this is an incredibly informative and hence, helpful post. Given characteristics of neighborhood and ES (with additional considerations for MS and to a lesser extent about HS), I am trending towards a decision where it is toss-up between Travilah and Cold Spring. I am deleting Wayside from the search and Stone Mill comes a distant third.

We are a 2 car family anyways- it is sad but true, that we have completely given up taking public transportation. So being removed from such public transportation options is not an issue.

We just want a good school district and cozy, relatively tight knit neighborhood with other highly educated families who are not full of themselves i.e. are not snobby, We don't care if they have white, black, yellow, green or purple skin color or they are immigrants or native-borns, as long as they are educated and erudite professionals.

From the responses (and what I have read on DCUM in general), it seems that my kid has a 4 in 50ish chance of going to Cold Spring HGC and even if he does not, will get a decent shot at a good challenging education.

In all of this, the compromise we will make is a 15 minute incremental per trip increase to commute to work for my husband!

Thank you all moms (and dads) who responded to my questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for responding.

Is the quality of instruction, overall environment and teachers who teach in the "regular" school as good as the HGC?

Does Cold Spring get good reviews based only on HGC or is the regular program good as well?

Anyone with experience of Travilah/StoneMill/Wayside v/s Coldsping who had to make a choice?

Teachers are always a gamble, HGC or not, but so far I've only see one so-so teacher out of all my kids meet in last 5 years

You're focusing on elementary school, which is understandable, but you also should think about HS
Travilah, StoneMill, and Coldspring are in Wotton cluster (at least for now), but Wayside is Chircilll HS
Oh, and MS for Stonemill and ColdSpring is Cabin John MS, which is feeder for both Wootton and Churchill.
Travilah goes to Frost middle school.

We were moving from Travilah area, and was hoping to stay within Wootton cluster (oldest kid was Sophomore in Wootton).

Excluded StoneMill right away due to location (too far for me to commute to Arlington) + possible rezoning if Crown Farm HS will be build someday, and all talks about development at Belward Farm (Google it: Great Seneca Science Corridor Master plan).
But development itself is great - sidewalks to bike almost everywhere in the development, great pool with swim team, close to both Kentland's and Washingtonian shopping centers. Newer houses compared to Stonemill and Wayside.

ColdSpring area - love the neighborhood - walkable, bike pass to Rockville trail, playgrounds for kids. Smaller school, great pyramids, almost no chance of being rezoned anytime soon

Travilah - loved that school as I already mentioned, and our little neighborhood full of kids. However, it's too remote for my taste. Public transit is limited to rush hours, not walkable at all for the most part.

Wayside - was outside of our search, I know nothing about it, other than it's Churchill - older houses, biger lots, no sidewalks in the neighborhoods we visited while searching, no public transit in walkable distance.

So, it is really about neighborhood and your priorities when you're looking for place to live with 2.5 yo.
All 4 schools are good, a bit different, so one might be better for your child than another, but at 2.5 it's too early to tell what will work for your kid.



My kids had exceptionally good time at Travilah, we didn't have chance to compare it to Cold Spring ES (no luck in house hunting in that area).
StoneMill as one of the PP mentioned has majority of Asian students, which is good as it means very involved parents, and bad - very competitive even at ES level. Not for everyone.
But I would not compare it to Travilah, our school was much smaller (~400 students vs ~650 in StoneMill), and had that family feel.

Thank you - this is an incredibly informative and hence, helpful post. Given characteristics of neighborhood and ES (with additional considerations for MS and to a lesser extent about HS), I am trending towards a decision where it is toss-up between Travilah and Cold Spring. I am deleting Wayside from the search and Stone Mill comes a distant third.

We are a 2 car family anyways- it is sad but true, that we have completely given up taking public transportation. So being removed from such public transportation options is not an issue.

We just want a good school district and cozy, relatively tight knit neighborhood with other highly educated families who are not full of themselves i.e. are not snobby, We don't care if they have white, black, yellow, green or purple skin color or they are immigrants or native-borns, as long as they are educated and erudite professionals.

From the responses (and what I have read on DCUM in general), it seems that my kid has a 4 in 50ish chance of going to Cold Spring HGC and even if he does not, will get a decent shot at a good challenging education.

In all of this, the compromise we will make is a 15 minute incremental per trip increase to commute to work for my husband!

Thank you all moms (and dads) who responded to my questions.

You sound very salt of the earth. I hope you got everything you wanted. The thought of you having to live around someone who was not erudite is chilling.

[Anonymous]

LOL. Except when the erudite parents are too competitive.

[Anonymous]

We just want a good school district and cozy, relatively tight knit neighborhood with other highly educated families who are not full of themselves

Pick a neighborhood with sidewalks and a good pool with a swim team. Summer swim really seems to pull a neighborhood together. ???????