Rockville HS vs. Richard Montgomery HS

[Anonymous]

We are looking to move and are having difficulty deciding if Rockville vs. RM will make a difference in our kids lives given that it will make a huge difference in our income. The mortgage in the Rockville HS cluster will be almost 40% less but we can still afford a house in RM. Most likely our kids would complete the IB program at Rockville but aren't in the top 1% of their class to gain entry to the RM IB program.

I have looked extensively at the "at a glance" reports online.

Our kids are English speaking and on the higher achieving end and very athletic.

Is the overall education different? Do kids in high school really socialize outside of their classes (I really didn't in high school)? Should I worry more about peer group than education?

Let me know what you think!

[Anonymous]

My kids aren’t in HS yet but the general consensus is that RM is better. For example, RM has a better graduation rate.

[Anonymous]

One thing you might want to take into consideration is that Rockville has a lot less students (~1,400) than RM (~2,400). (Rockville I believe has the 2nd lowest student population in Montgomery County). For sports, I imagine they have a lot better chance of making a team at Rockville.

[Anonymous]

Kids tend to stick together with the same kids that they are in classes with, so if they end up in IB, their social group will most likely be centered around the kids in IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids aren’t in HS yet but the general consensus is that RM is better. For example, RM has a better graduation rate.

+1

But the class sizes may be smaller at Rockville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing you might want to take into consideration is that Rockville has a lot less students (~1,400) than RM (~2,400). (Rockville I believe has the 2nd lowest student population in Montgomery County). For sports, I imagine they have a lot better chance of making a team at Rockville.

On the other hand, a smaller student body means less kids with similar interests which could mean fewer friends.

[Anonymous]

If you live on an RM neighborhood..your kids will have access to the IB program in 11h grade without the magnet competition. My kids have had a good experience at RM (non-IB) but the appeal of the small size of Rockville is appealing. I would send my kids to either one without worry..

[Anonymous]

Interestingly enough, if you look at the detailed GS ratings, white kids at Rockville actually have a better test score rating (9) then Richard Montgomery (8).

[Anonymous]

I get that scores are lower than RM's but note that RM's scores also include scores of the magnet program kids. I prefer Rockville HS. One, I prefer the neigborhoods that feed into it. I love Flower Valley and the small intimate feel of the area. Many of the kids who attend the schools grow up together and are in the same swim team together. I went to RHS a long time ago and back then it was also the 2nd smallest HS in the county. Loved it. Big enough to find your crew of friends, but small enough not to feel overwhelmed. I think it's one of the most underrated schools in the county.

[Anonymous]

RM without IB is pretty average. It's going to be even more ordinary due to IB program trying to take more students from home school in RM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly enough, if you look at the detailed GS ratings, white kids at Rockville actually have a better test score rating (9) then Richard Montgomery (8).

And? So, what about Asian Am., Black and Hispanic test scores? And what does that exactly tell us?

OP, both schools are decent and very diverse. RM cluster probably has more higher SES than Rockville cluster. The size importance really depends on your DC - some students like small schools because otherwise they get lost in the crowd, so to speak, while others hate to stand out and prefer larger schools.

Location wise, RM is very close to Town Center, while Rockville is in the middle of the 'burbs.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I went to a HS with less than 1,000 kids. My graduating class had less than 200 and a 33% drop out rate. I had a tough time finding more than a couple of friends. I hated it. I wouldn’t want that for my kids. Obviously neither of these schools have the drop out rate of where I went to school (not in DC metro area) which makes them both better than what I had. Generally speaking, the schools in montgomery county are good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:RM without IB is pretty average. It's going to be even more ordinary due to IB program trying to take more students from home school in RM.

Sounds harsh but I think this sums it up pretty well. Without magnet IB, I don't see any significant difference between two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RM without IB is pretty average. It's going to be even more ordinary due to IB program trying to take more students from home school in RM.

Sounds harsh but I think this sums it up pretty well. Without magnet IB, I don't see any significant difference between two.

This is a very lackluster view because it doesn't go into any depth. RM is a very weird dynamic if you break it up by ES. At the ES level, there are currently 3 (soon to be 4) high-performing schools and one average. When they combine at the middle school level, performance is above average. You an draw a lot more conclusions from the JW side than the RM side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RM without IB is pretty average. It's going to be even more ordinary due to IB program trying to take more students from home school in RM.

Sounds harsh but I think this sums it up pretty well. Without magnet IB, I don't see any significant difference between two.

This is a very lackluster view because it doesn't go into any depth. RM is a very weird dynamic if you break it up by ES. At the ES level, there are currently 3 (soon to be 4) high-performing schools and one average. When they combine at the middle school level, performance is above average. You an draw a lot more conclusions from the JW side than the RM side.

I think OP is specifically asking about HS.