Another family considering moving to MoCo for the schools, but must stay east - recommendations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Have you actually had a child in a Silver Spring school?

If you are talking about the 10:24 pp, she probably hasn't had a child in a Silver Spring school. Frankly, part of the reason we bought in Silver Spring and not Bethesda was to avoid people who think like her.

LOL, same here. It's refreshing not to encounter people like her in my day-to-day life here in eastern MoCo.

Yes, I was talking about that pp. I am also in Silver Spring and it makes me grateful to be here!

[Anonymous]

Hi- I'm new to this. I choose to skip over all the negative talk. Back to the original question about good neighborhood recommendations and schools ... Oakland Terrace ES is a great school; very involved parents; good, stable staff & administration. Woodlin ES also seems like a very strong school. Of the neighborhoods that feed into these schools, Forest Estates is a very nice neighborhood (bounded by Georgia Ave, Forest Glen, Dennis Ave & Sligo Creek Parkway). Walk to Metro; walk to Holy Cross; close to 495; walking distance to shops and trail. Houses can vary from small to decent-sized; it's a relatively diverse neighborhood racially, ethnically, and SES. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Viers Mill ES is also an excellent school, although the school pulls from very poor neighborhoods (but not all).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi- I'm new to this. I choose to skip over all the negative talk. Back to the original question about good neighborhood recommendations and schools ... Oakland Terrace ES is a great school; very involved parents; good, stable staff & administration. Woodlin ES also seems like a very strong school. Of the neighborhoods that feed into these schools, Forest Estates is a very nice neighborhood (bounded by Georgia Ave, Forest Glen, Dennis Ave & Sligo Creek Parkway). Walk to Metro; walk to Holy Cross; close to 495; walking distance to shops and trail. Houses can vary from small to decent-sized; it's a relatively diverse neighborhood racially, ethnically, and SES. Good luck!

I agree with this recommendation. Several friends of mine have moved here and are thrilled. It's friendly and pleasant. Nice parks. There are many young children from well-educated families, so while Oakland Terrace is already good, the middle school and high school will likely improve over time too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I agree with this recommendation. Several friends of mine have moved here and are thrilled. It's friendly and pleasant. Nice parks. There are many young children from well-educated families, so while Oakland Terrace is already good, the middle school and high school will likely improve over time too.

Or, by then, they can either afford a house in a better school district or private school. If you did a long-term study, you'd likely see attrition in the ranks of the students who attend public schools in these areas over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We lived in Montgomery County and could not get out fast enough. We have been MUCH happier with Fairfax.

Do you mind sharing why? We're deciding between the two, hoping to find the perfect school: well-rounded education that includes arts, languages and science, a good, warm community and open to a multi-ethnic family like ours, with the 1st grade high energy brainiac amongst us. I have two schools in Vienna / McLean that seem to answer this description, wondering where in Montgomery I should dig to find something similar...

thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your plan to visit schools and talk to parents is a good one. Be on the lookout for schools with magnets that may disguise problems in the rest of the school. Low test scores do not equate to problems - just to a more diverse groups of students. Sligo Creek is one such school - the French Immersion demographics may mask underachievement in the rest of the school and parents are chroincally unhappy with the principal. Pinecrest (local school grades 3-5 for Woodmoor) has the HGC which has helped disqualify the school for Title I funding; parents with kids there may comment on how their kids outside the HGC are impacted. The opposite can also be true - reportedly Takoma Park ES/Piney Branch which have the math/science GT do a good job for all students which carries through to Takoma Middle. Similarly, Silver Spring International which has a whole-school IB program does a good job for all of its very diverse students.

While low test scores themselves aren't tremendously worrisome, do know that if the school continuously does not make AYP they will be at risk of restructuring which would cause a great deal of tumult.

Parents will then have the option of "fleeing." Westover and Sherwood ES are two options for children at one "red zone" school that missed AYP. You can see the portables lined up at Westover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We lived in Montgomery County and could not get out fast enough. We have been MUCH happier with Fairfax.

Do you mind sharing why? We're deciding between the two, hoping to find the perfect school: well-rounded education that includes arts, languages and science, a good, warm community and open to a multi-ethnic family like ours, with the 1st grade high energy brainiac amongst us. I have two schools in Vienna / McLean that seem to answer this description, wondering where in Montgomery I should dig to find something similar...

thanks!

Howard

still strong in the arts
pushes STEM better than MCPS
high schools have close connections to Howard Community College

[Anonymous]

Go private.

[Anonymous]

Just FYI- they are building a new elementary school called McKenney Hills, which will serve kids currently zoned for Oakland Terrace and possibly Woodlin. The boundaries will be worked out in the fall. I imagine all the elementary schools will still be good, and overcrowding will be reduced at Oakland Terrace- but just be aware that these changes are underway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi- I'm new to this. I choose to skip over all the negative talk. Back to the original question about good neighborhood recommendations and schools ... Oakland Terrace ES is a great school; very involved parents; good, stable staff & administration. Woodlin ES also seems like a very strong school. Of the neighborhoods that feed into these schools, Forest Estates is a very nice neighborhood (bounded by Georgia Ave, Forest Glen, Dennis Ave & Sligo Creek Parkway). Walk to Metro; walk to Holy Cross; close to 495; walking distance to shops and trail. Houses can vary from small to decent-sized; it's a relatively diverse neighborhood racially, ethnically, and SES. Good luck!

I agree with this recommendation. Several friends of mine have moved here and are thrilled. It's friendly and pleasant. Nice parks. There are many young children from well-educated families, so while Oakland Terrace is already good, the middle school and high school will likely improve over time too.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if this has already been posted yet but I just looked up the 2011 test scores for Highland View and they did very well on MSA. Please don't assume because a school is Title 1, or there are poor kids there, that it has low test scores. There are schools in some of the wealthier areas that did not make AYP this year - that doesn't mean they aren't still great schools.

[Anonymous]

I did take a quick look at the Highland View 2011 results recently. I recall that with a couple of exceptions, they have shown great improvement in test scores. It also has the benefit of being a relatively small school - about half the size of Oakland Terrace.

[Anonymous]

How do you find the test results? What are the results for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you find the test results? What are the results for?

MSA test results can be found by googling maryland report card. I can't recall the exact site, but you can break down the results by school and by race, gender, ESOL. etc.