Struck Out in DC school lottery....Tell/Sell me in your non-W School Cluster

[Anonymous]

Hi,

The title of the thread says it all. DH & I are moving two children to MoCo because we struck out in the lottery but are unsure of where to start. We have kinder and 4th grade. We can’t afford the W cluster and aren’t opposed to longer commute for more house.

Here are the top things we are looking for:

-Tight knit school community
-Single Family Home with spacious backyard
- Socioeconomic diversity but nothing above 30% FARMS/ESOL population
- Teachers who aren’t relatively young
- Strong PTA
- Relatively strong MATH/ELA test scores
- Near Metro Bus lines/ doesn’t have to Train accessible though
- Close to shops (grocery stores, good restaurants, etc)

Thank you in advance

[Anonymous]

What's your budget?

[Anonymous]

Price range is everything. Also number of bedrooms.

Also you can't game teacher's ages OP - MCPS is huge and there's no realistic way to find a school pyramid that only has your desired age range. And it's a silly criterion; great teachers exist at every end of the age spectrum.

[Anonymous]

OP here, DH and I have a max budget of $500,000. We prefer experienced teachers given we had our oldest in a charter and the retention rates weren’t stable for many of the school based staff. We would like 4 bedroom, 2 bath minimum with a large den for guests.

[Anonymous]

Rockville, MD going to Richard Montgomery High School fits your criteria. However, I would avoid any home feeding into Twinbrook Elementary, even though it is close to the metro. It has the lowest test scores of the five ES's feeding into Richard Montgomery High School. All the elementaries feed into Julius West Middle School and then Richard Montgomery. It is has a very well regarded IB program.

[Anonymous]

I think you will need to reset your expectations about what is realistic given your budget, unless you are willing to move quite a ways out.

[Anonymous]

- Socioeconomic diversity but nothing above 30% FARMS/ESOL population

1. There are 2 FARMS to look at to understand the poverty demographics. The % of current students currently on FARMS and % of current students who have ever been on FARMS. Some kids drop off FARMS because their parents start earning more money but this usually isn't that much more. Some students stop submitting the paperwork in high school for FARMS so the 'has ever been on FARMS' number is better representation of need.

2. You will have a hard time finding a 500K 4 bedroom house with a nice yard anywhere with less than 30% currently on FARMS let alone ever been on FARMS.

Either up your budget or lower your expectations.

Renting is a better bet in MoCo anyway as the county is stagnating. You're likely to loose or make no equity over the next few years so renting is better financially -in this are- anyway.

Rents are high in the nicer areas of the west with the better schools and low in the eastern side. However, there are magnet programs all over the county so if you end up in Silver Spring you might be OK if you get into a magnet.

[Anonymous]

There are loads of nice homes in Derwood a few miles away from Shady Grove Metro, but the commute can be a bit much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

- Socioeconomic diversity but nothing above 30% FARMS/ESOL population

1. There are 2 FARMS to look at to understand the poverty demographics. The % of current students currently on FARMS and % of current students who have ever been on FARMS. Some kids drop off FARMS because their parents start earning more money but this usually isn't that much more. Some students stop submitting the paperwork in high school for FARMS so the 'has ever been on FARMS' number is better representation of need.

2. You will have a hard time finding a 500K 4 bedroom house with a nice yard anywhere with less than 30% currently on FARMS let alone ever been on FARMS.

Either up your budget or lower your expectations.

Renting is a better bet in MoCo anyway as the county is stagnating. You're likely to loose or make no equity over the next few years so renting is better financially -in this are- anyway.

Rents are high in the nicer areas of the west with the better schools and low in the eastern side. However, there are magnet programs all over the county so if you end up in Silver Spring you might be OK if you get into a magnet.

This is helpful! Thank you! We will still perhaps make a purchase after renting. Why is the county stagnating? I assume all cities or towns go through cyclical growth and downturns.

[Anonymous]

Stonegate subdivision, 20905.
Olney

[Anonymous]

North kensington feeding into Rock View or Oakland Terrace elementary.

[Anonymous]

You want a 4 bedroom house with a large yard in a mostly white, rich area for under $500K... yea, good luck with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:North kensington feeding into Rock View or Oakland Terrace elementary.

Most larger houses with large yards will be $600-900,000 and its South Kensington. They may be able to get on the Silver Spring side for a bit cheaper but there will be too many Farms for OP.

[Anonymous]

Try Damascus, Clarksburg, and possibly Olney. You are going to have to go way out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

- Socioeconomic diversity but nothing above 30% FARMS/ESOL population

1. There are 2 FARMS to look at to understand the poverty demographics. The % of current students currently on FARMS and % of current students who have ever been on FARMS. Some kids drop off FARMS because their parents start earning more money but this usually isn't that much more. Some students stop submitting the paperwork in high school for FARMS so the 'has ever been on FARMS' number is better representation of need.

2. You will have a hard time finding a 500K 4 bedroom house with a nice yard anywhere with less than 30% currently on FARMS let alone ever been on FARMS.

Either up your budget or lower your expectations.

Renting is a better bet in MoCo anyway as the county is stagnating. You're likely to loose or make no equity over the next few years so renting is better financially -in this are- anyway.

However, there are magnet programs all over the county so if you end up in Silver Spring you might be OK if you get into a magnet.

#1 becomes more true in middle and high school. If you compare for the elementary schools, the difference isn't as pronounced.

#3 ... Whatever. OP, there are plenty of good elementary schools in Silver Spring.

These are the neighborhoods/zoned schools where we know people:

Oakland Terrace is right on your line for FARMS but under $500k is doable in that district. They have two-way Spanish immersion (optional), if that's your jam.

Woodmoor is a neighborhood with lots of young families. Lots of neighborhood stuff goes on up there.

We have friends zoned for Flora Singer who like the direction in which the school is going. It's a relatively new school.

You can try to find a house in Woodside Forest, but $500k is going to be a tough ask in that neighborhood (and for any other zoned for Woodlin).