Good schools in Germantown MD area?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
Troll post? If you love in McLaean, surely you know about parts of MD. You know about Bethesda.
Germantown? Come on. |
Anonymous
| People just generally think wootton is a stressful environment/too competitive for a high school level. |
Anonymous
I have a friend in his 30's that told me he had behavioral issues when he was in high school at Wooton. He was a C student that acted out. His telling of the story is that they gave him F's on his tests even though he passed them with C's and they tried to convince him to drop out of school. His parents complained to the school board and had him transferred to QO where he was a solid B/C student and graduated without any issue. He said he liked that school much better and they weren't trying to actively eliminate students with behavioral issues or ones that might be bringing test scores down. Now he's certainly a biased source since this is his story but I just wanted to mention it. I have no idea if it's true but I've never known him to lie before and why would he lie about that now (15 years later)? |
Anonymous
Cut my loss? LOL. I lost nothing. Just trying to help OP. My kid actually didn't attend Wootton. Went to magnet. |
Anonymous
That means Wootton SES > QO SES > Clarksburg SES, yes? So why would a guy who is looking for a 3 mil house want to settle in the lowest SES area? |
Anonymous
Boiled frog affect. |
Anonymous
It's like people are trolling pretending to be Wootton patents showing how crazy they are. |
Anonymous
Because you can buy a 13,000 square foot house for $3 million in Clarksburg, of course! Just beware of the roving gangs of low-SES, low-SAT-score Clarksburg street thugs. Or, um, something. |
Anonymous
| You have 3 million to spend on a house and you're actually considering Germantown? |
Anonymous
|
I am reading this thread with interest.
We have lived in Germantown for a long time. It has all the conveniences that makes for a great location. Recent developments have made it an even more desirable place. - Commute - easy access to 270 and 355, does not have the perpetual traffic bottlenecks of Clarksburg. - Shopping - Milestone shopping center (Walmart, Target, Aldis, Home Depot, Giant, Kohls, Best Buy and lots more. Close to Costco. Town Center has Black Rock Center for the Arts, Library, whole bunch of restaurants, movie theatres etc. Close to C'burg Outlet Malls. - Medical - Holy Cross, Adventist, tons of urgent care facilities, medical offices. - Recs and parks - Soccerplex, Black Hill regional parks (kayaking, birdwatching, trails, fishing), Black Rock Center for Arts, movie theatres, close to Rio. - Employers - Multiple tech and Biotech companies, DOE, Hughes, Hospitals, Mont College and much more. - Houses/lots - Germantown has a lot of open spaces and at the same time there is not a whole lot of commercial development land available. So these open spaces will remain and the new builds will mainly happen in G'burg and C'burg. G'town has a lot of wooded buffering between neighborhoods. What has kept G'town real estate prices down has been the quality of public schools which is extremely uneven. There are good schools and there are not that good schools in this area. Hard to just go by the demographic breakdown of the schools too. You have to dig deep to understand how the school is really performing. Very often the success of schools in UpCounty comes down to the leadership and/or parental engagement, and neither is a guarantee. On the other hand, Bethesda (and some W schools) the parental engagement is a given even if they frequently get a lemon for a Principal. You can buy the homes in Bethesda with confidence because the schools will remain strong (stronger than others at MCPS) and understand that you are paying the mega bucks for the parental engagement at the school. It is a bit of an oversimplification though. Right now, based on your desire for an easy commute to Germantown, good public schools, and close proximity to conveniences/amenities, I would look at homes that articulate to Whitman, QO or Northwest. How can you make sure that the boundary changes will not impact which school cluster you are in? You need a crystal ball for that. What about Poolesville? Poolesville has only one thing to recommend in real estate sense - a magnet HS. However, the majority of students to PHS are coming from the rest of the county after a test in admission. The majority of local population of PHS, are in the bottom half of this school. Poolesville is very isolated, very rural and severely lacking in amenities/conveniences. I will suggest that you buy there ONLY if you are also interested in farming and a rural way of life. We know people who moved there because that lifestyle appealed to them. 3 million will get you a mansion with acres of farm land in Poolesville but the lack of amenities is not worth it for just 4 years of HS experience, IMHO. The commute is not great either, at least 30-45 minutes one way. |
Anonymous
I have also lived in Germantown for over fifteen years, and this is a very accurate post about the area and the schools. The shopping in Germantown is excellent and extremely convenient. With kids, this is a big deal. It is never hard to get around to stores. and there is always lots of parking. (There is also Wegmans, Michaels, Bed Bath and Beyond, and DSW.) If you learn at 8 pm that your kid needs posterboard, black loafers, or two dozen cupcakes for school the next day, you can easily pull it off. The Clarksburg outlet mall is a few minutes away, as is Butler's Orchard. If you want to live in Darnestown or Poolesville, both of which are lovely, pay close attention to the location of shopping. The Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve surrounds those areas and the reserve is definitely rural--gravel roads, one-lane bridges, etc. Unless you live on the east side of Darnestown with close access to the Kentlands-area shops, you will find that you are spending a lot of time in the car running basic errands. The Harris Teeter in Darnestown is the only big grocery store for miles to the west, south, and northwest. You need to drive around that area and see if the beauty is worth it. Also keep in mind that the commute to central Germantown from Poolesville or Darnestown will be as long or longer than the commute from Rockville and also more subject to road closures for weather and flash flooding. As for Clarksburg, the traffic between Germantown and Clarksburg is a big deal. The roads are not up to the traffic load at rush hour. 270, 355, and 27 all get extremely backed up between Germantown and Clarksburg mornings and evenings. What looks like five minutes can take fifteen minutes or more at some times of day. Look at North Potomac, especially the area south of Quince Orchard HS between Jones Lane and Dufief. |
Anonymous
| Spring meadow neighborhood is awesome. |
Anonymous
Oh, please. I live in Barnesville, near Boyds. It takes me max of 15 minutes to get to anything in Germantown. If all you think the Poolesville area has going for it is the high school, you obviously have no idea. To call it very isolated is frankly silly. The area is somewhat rural, and super pretty, but if you’ve ever been in truly rural areas that actually are isolated, you’ll grasp the difference. If shopping malls and the like right next door is what you crave, you’ll obviously be disappointed, but it is easy to get to whatever amenity you seek. With the exception of skating rinks. We’re also very close to the river and the lake and all the beauty they hold. Plus, Frederick is a great resource to us that down county doesn’t use or know as much. That neither of the PP’s even mention it shows they shouldn’t be passing advice about living up here. The very fact that one PP thinks of a community as a place to go just for a good HS instead of a home for your entire family exposes why you miss one of the main allures of the Poolesville area. Poolesville hosts tons of community events and is very supportive of their kids. People know and care about each other. There’s a lot to be said for all the clubs and activities at the schools run by devoted members of the community. The parks are lovely, and your kids and their friends will play outside. Poolesville Elementary PTA gets a ton of support from the town and the Monocacy kids probably have the most gorgeous playground in the county. The schools are small, that does present logistical challenges, and there isn’t a huge cohort of high academic achievers just because of the overall size. But there are plenty of very, very bright and motivated students and the staff is overall very dedicated and caring. Keep in mind that the brightest kids from Poolesville and Monocacy often (but not always) turn down the elementary HGC center because they feel so good about the schools. They also have seats set aside and get accepted to the HS magnet programs, so of course they aren’t showing up in the “regular” population. Doesn’t mean the community doesn’t value academics. You all really need to check your prejudices. What is true: traffic through Clarksburg is a beast at rush hour. Something else to note: there is an overall lack of racial and cultural diversity. The diversity that the HS magnets bring to Poolesville is appreciated by much of our community. |
Anonymous
|
^^^^
I love Poolesville but it is 25 minutes to the closest grocery store (HT) and 30 minutes to restaurants. There are lots of outdoor activities and community events. They even have a vineyard, but it's not convienent. |
Anonymous
Holy Sh*t. Clarksburg is no better than Gaithersburg High. |