Germantown schools

[Anonymous]

Also a church is coming to the area near Gaithersburg HS and Asians are moving into the Walnut Hill neighborhood at rapid speed-that will only bring good things and improvement to Gaithersburg HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should also look in Rosemont, Walnut Hill, Washington Grove, Derwood Station, Summit Hall and the Gaithersburg Town Center area-many affordable homes and lots of new development near the Shady Grove Metro. ES's are good and the HS is improving. Saybrooke is also another nice neighborhood. And Quail Valley. Gaitherburg HS is a bit better than Watkins Mill.

However, if you are interested in it, Watkins Mill High offers the IB program to all students, and the feeder middle schools offer the IB middle years program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP, do you mind listing what street/cross streets of MV you're on? I have seen a lot of Redfin listings for MV THs and we are interested, but I'd like to know more from someone who actually lives there and not someone who's just dissing on the place because they think they're community is better than everyone else.

Our list of importance is elem school, middle school, and high school can be a give or take because we may decide to go private.
We are looking to stay at least 5 years, as we believe that's how long it takes to build equity back into the purchase price of the home. We're looking for a community that is friendly for young children, and 1 or 2 working parent(s) because I may become a SAH for a brief period of time while DC is young. Things like tot lots and meet up group opportunities for the little one is essential. One reason we want to be in Germantown/Gaithersburg is because the closeness of 270 is attractive to DH and I for work commute. We don't want to be right in the hustle and bustle of city life, and we have a HHI of around 130. We're looking for a moderate to low priced TH under 350k unless brand new in which case we will make an exception up to 400k.

MV PP here. I live in a single-family community; if you could bump up your price to get in a single-family community, you won't regret it. There are none that can think of that I wouldn't recommend. I just looked at the home listings, and there are several single family homes available for just under $400k. As for townhomes, it's a little more hit or miss as far as neighborhood. There are far too many neighborhoods for me to list yes/no to, but I can say that considering what's for sale now, I'd look at the townhomes on Thomas Lea (East Village), ones in "The Reach" and "Holly Pointe" in East Village, and the homes on Duffer and Dunbridge (although I think some of these are short sales). Anything in Shadow Oak and Dorsey's Regard would be worth a look, too. The neighborhoods I'd avoid the most are McKendree, McRory, Nathan's Hill, Club Hill, and anything near Ridgeline Drive; these tend to be some of the lowest priced townhomes available.

Goshen Elementary serves East Village children; Whetstone, Stedwick and Watkins Mill ES serve the rest of MV. Whetstone is a Focus school, Stedwick is Title I, and I think WMES is Title I, also; parents used to complain about the large class sizes at Goshen, and I'm not sure if it's become a Focus school in recent years. Regardless, the elementary schools have dedicated staff members and active PTA's. My children have received a great education and have had no issues in any of the MV schools. There are also plenty of children in MV who attend catholic schools, so finding someone to carpool, if you chose to send to private school, probably wouldn't be an issue.

There are playgrounds at many of the community centers throughout MV, and there is a nice, big playground in East Village. There are active Mom's Clubs in the area, too, which is a great way to meet other SAHM's. There are also a few preschool programs in the community.

If you have any other questions, PP, I'll try to answer them for you.

I know this might be a long shot, but would you be willing to communicate off DCUM with me via email? I feel like there are some questions that I don't feel as comfortable posting on DCUM after some of the responses. Everyone's nice, but some are more helpful and more experience oriented than others.

You answered a great deal of questions I have been thinking about today on my home search, and to refine before going out to see more homes I have some ?s about SFH communities. Which ones do you recommend as the most family friendly? The ones I found are probably the same ones you mentioned just under the 400 mark. We truly don't want to buy too much house and risk losing out when we have to re-sell it later on down the road. We also want a move in ready property, but willing to do upgrades like flooring/kitchen if needed. We just don't want to buy a low cost SFH only to have to dump more than 50k into it to bring it up to date/up to county code. It's probably my biggest fear in looking into older neighborhoods.

I'm not the PP but I agree with what they wrote about MV. Love the East Village area. I see people walking around, there are parks and nice houses. Duffer Way as well. Goshen is a great school. You can find some nice townhouses around Resnick but that is further out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also a church is coming to the area near Gaithersburg HS and Asians are moving into the Walnut Hill neighborhood at rapid speed-that will only bring good things and improvement to Gaithersburg HS.

Asians are all alike, of course. Everybody from the whole continent.

There are plenty of churches already near Gaithersburg HS. In fact, just on 355 between the train tracks and I-270, there is St. Martin of Tours, the Church of the Ascension, the Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church, Epworth United Methodist Church, and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also a church is coming to the area near Gaithersburg HS and Asians are moving into the Walnut Hill neighborhood at rapid speed-that will only bring good things and improvement to Gaithersburg HS.

Asians are all alike, of course. Everybody from the whole continent.

There are plenty of churches already near Gaithersburg HS. In fact, just on 355 between the train tracks and I-270, there is St. Martin of Tours, the Church of the Ascension, the Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church, Epworth United Methodist Church, and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Statistics do not lie! Look at Wooten HS-one of the best-choc full of Asians. Of course they are not all alike, but the do tend to value education and hard work-as a group, most are quite successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also a church is coming to the area near Gaithersburg HS and Asians are moving into the Walnut Hill neighborhood at rapid speed-that will only bring good things and improvement to Gaithersburg HS.

Asians are all alike, of course. Everybody from the whole continent.

There are plenty of churches already near Gaithersburg HS. In fact, just on 355 between the train tracks and I-270, there is St. Martin of Tours, the Church of the Ascension, the Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church, Epworth United Methodist Church, and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Statistics do not lie! Look at Wooten HS-one of the best-choc full of Asians. Of course they are not all alike, but the do tend to value education and hard work-as a group, most are quite successful.

Asians in the US have an average IQ of 106 compared to 103 for whites, 89 for Hispanics and 85 for blacks. I'm sure hard work plays a role, but the main driver of their academic success is mostly just smarts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Statistics do not lie! Look at Wooten HS-one of the best-choc full of Asians. Of course they are not all alike, but the do tend to value education and hard work-as a group, most are quite successful.

No, but they sure do mislead, when people misuse them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also a church is coming to the area near Gaithersburg HS and Asians are moving into the Walnut Hill neighborhood at rapid speed-that will only bring good things and improvement to Gaithersburg HS.

Asians are all alike, of course. Everybody from the whole continent.

There are plenty of churches already near Gaithersburg HS. In fact, just on 355 between the train tracks and I-270, there is St. Martin of Tours, the Church of the Ascension, the Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church, Epworth United Methodist Church, and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Statistics do not lie! Look at Wooten HS-one of the best-choc full of Asians. Of course they are not all alike, but the do tend to value education and hard work-as a group, most are quite successful.

Asians in the US have an average IQ of 106 compared to 103 for whites, 89 for Hispanics and 85 for blacks. I'm sure hard work plays a role, but the main driver of their academic success is mostly just smarts.

Need to do the tests in Asia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should also look in Rosemont, Walnut Hill, Washington Grove, Derwood Station, Summit Hall and the Gaithersburg Town Center area-many affordable homes and lots of new development near the Shady Grove Metro. ES's are good and the HS is improving. Saybrooke is also another nice neighborhood. And Quail Valley. Gaitherburg HS is a bit better than Watkins Mill.

We live in Quail Valley and our outgrowing our townhouse but don't want to leave the community. did not expect to say that when we first moved here--we figured this was our starter house and we'd move along before we had kids. Now we're casually looking for SFHs in QV, or surrounding area. Strawberry Knoll ES is great!

[Anonymous]

If you're still looking in Germantown, we have good things to say about Germantown Elementary. Small school and a very great "neighborhood" feel.

[Anonymous]

I live in Germantown. It has the look and feel of both urban and rural area. Great amenities and generally very green. We live in a large SFH with a huge yard, that would have cost an arm and a leg anywhere else.

My neighborhood is predominantly Asian, and most of these kids are going to MCPS HGC and magnet schools.You could be fooled into thinking that there is something magical in the water here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Statistics do not lie! Look at Wooten HS-one of the best-choc full of Asians. Of course they are not all alike, but the do tend to value education and hard work-as a group, most are quite successful.

Asians in the US have an average IQ of 106 compared to 103 for whites, 89 for Hispanics and 85 for blacks. I'm sure hard work plays a role, but the main driver of their academic success is mostly just smarts.

Actually, some recent studies (done by Asian researchers in US) suggests that the reason Asians do well in the US, regardless of SES, is because they are clued in to what academic pathways and opportunities to pursue. They are clued in to it because all the other Asians they know are treading the same path.

I think it is mainly cultural and hard work. Smarts? I don't know if it is a bigger factor than knowing the pathways to success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should also look in Rosemont, Walnut Hill, Washington Grove, Derwood Station, Summit Hall and the Gaithersburg Town Center area-many affordable homes and lots of new development near the Shady Grove Metro. ES's are good and the HS is improving. Saybrooke is also another nice neighborhood. And Quail Valley. Gaitherburg HS is a bit better than Watkins Mill.

We live in Quail Valley and our outgrowing our townhouse but don't want to leave the community. did not expect to say that when we first moved here--we figured this was our starter house and we'd move along before we had kids. Now we're casually looking for SFHs in QV, or surrounding area. Strawberry Knoll ES is great!

Thank you for this. I am the original OP and we have refined our search to look into Quail Valley. Any chance you're looking to put your home on the market soon? Lol. I'm totally serious.
http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Montgomery-County-MD/pmf,pf_pt/37225982_zpid/2975_rid/39.170046,-77.169235,39.15241,-77.20743_rect/14_zm/

We found this one that we're interested in looking at in the upcoming weekend.
http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Montgomery-County-MD/pmf,pf_pt/37226022_zpid/2975_rid/39.166607,-77.181739,39.162199,-77.191288_rect/16_zm/

This one where we like the galley kitchen less.

Is this close to your neighborhood, PP?

How do you feel about Strawberry Knoll's PTA? And where did your little one go for preschool if you were already in the area?

One thing we're concerned with by looking at the Zillow map is there around the area seems to be a lot of auction or pre-foreclosure homes. Should we be concerned with that? Has that hurt the market value of your home/neighborhood at all?

[Anonymous]

"One thing we're concerned with by looking at the Zillow map is there around the area seems to be a lot of auction or pre-foreclosure homes."


NP. Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"One thing we're concerned with by looking at the Zillow map is there around the area seems to be a lot of auction or pre-foreclosure homes."


NP. Yes.

Yes??