Wood Acres vs Somerset Elementary?

[Anonymous]

Hi all - question about schools near Bethesda . I’m moving from DC for a job in Bethesda and will be renting. I have a small son who will be entering K. I’m wondering about the difference between Wood Acres school and Somerset Elementary? Also the parent communities? Which one would you choose and why? Many thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

wood acres is huge, Somerset is smaller. Search this forum and you'll see feedback on both.

[Anonymous]

Both are nice communities and you can't go wrong with either one. I taught at Somerset years ago. I loved the international diversity as you get a lot of children from diplomat/world bank/IMF families. A friend of mine teaches at Wood Acres and loves the families there so you are choosing between two nice schools with great families.

[Anonymous]

My kid is at Somerset and we've been happy. Good teachers for the most part. Extremely well resourced and active PTA. I know one or two families and Woodacres and they're happy too, although they say, yes, it's a very big school. It's more about the housing options you have and the commute. Somerset is more metro accessible to downtown type families, while the people I know at Woodacres all drive in.

[Anonymous]

Woodacres doesn’t seem that huge to me. Bigger then some others sure but there was only low 20s in both my kids classes. And the school is large with multiple unfilled class rooms. It also has separate auditorium and lunch room along with the only planetarium in the county. Doesn’t feel crowded except on international and art nights

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at Somerset and we've been happy. Good teachers for the most part. Extremely well resourced and active PTA. I know one or two families and Woodacres and they're happy too, although they say, yes, it's a very big school. It's more about the housing options you have and the commute. Somerset is more metro accessible to downtown type families, while the people I know at Woodacres all drive in.

Kind of a stretch calling Somerset metro urban and Woodacres more remote when their boundaries are next to each other. Sure the houses a stone throw from Wisconsin but nothing closer to the river side. It should also be noted Woodacres feeds the stronger of the two (both good) high schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at Somerset and we've been happy. Good teachers for the most part. Extremely well resourced and active PTA. I know one or two families and Woodacres and they're happy too, although they say, yes, it's a very big school. It's more about the housing options you have and the commute. Somerset is more metro accessible to downtown type families, while the people I know at Woodacres all drive in.

Kind of a stretch calling Somerset metro urban and Woodacres more remote when their boundaries are next to each other. Sure the houses a stone throw from Wisconsin but nothing closer to the river side. It should also be noted Woodacres feeds the stronger of the two (both good) high schools

.

DP but I would have the said the same thing. I guess it would be more accurate to say some of Somerset is fairly close to metro/downtown Bethesda and some isn’t but none of Wood Acres is?

Somerset also has a community pool doesn’t it (don’t know if WA does).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at Somerset and we've been happy. Good teachers for the most part. Extremely well resourced and active PTA. I know one or two families and Woodacres and they're happy too, although they say, yes, it's a very big school. It's more about the housing options you have and the commute. Somerset is more metro accessible to downtown type families, while the people I know at Woodacres all drive in.

Kind of a stretch calling Somerset metro urban and Woodacres more remote when their boundaries are next to each other. Sure the houses a stone throw from Wisconsin but nothing closer to the river side. It should also be noted Woodacres feeds the stronger of the two (both good) high schools

.

DP but I would have the said the same thing. I guess it would be more accurate to say some of Somerset is fairly close to metro/downtown Bethesda and some isn’t but none of Wood Acres is?

Somerset also has a community pool doesn’t it (don’t know if WA does).

+1 Most of Somerset is within walking distance of Friendship Heights or Bethesda Metro. None of Woodacres is. So yeah, more suburban. Yes, Somerset has a community pool for the Town of Somerset, but the Somerset Elementary school zone is much bigger than the Town of Somerset.

[Anonymous]

Between Whitman and BCC for HS I’d prefer BCC but not everyone would.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Between Whitman and BCC for HS I’d prefer BCC but not everyone would.

They are definitely two very different schools. BCC is urban (not Somerset Elementary suburban, but next to a metro station urban) and much more diverse, with a higher percentage of poor students. Whitman is whiter, more suburban and ranks higher in most standardized test driven lists. We picked BCC (mostly because the house involved a much shorter commute downtown than our Whitman options), but like the diversity it offers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at Somerset and we've been happy. Good teachers for the most part. Extremely well resourced and active PTA. I know one or two families and Woodacres and they're happy too, although they say, yes, it's a very big school. It's more about the housing options you have and the commute. Somerset is more metro accessible to downtown type families, while the people I know at Woodacres all drive in.

Kind of a stretch calling Somerset metro urban and Woodacres more remote when their boundaries are next to each other. Sure the houses a stone throw from Wisconsin but nothing closer to the river side. It should also be noted Woodacres feeds the stronger of the two (both good) high schools

.

DP but I would have the said the same thing. I guess it would be more accurate to say some of Somerset is fairly close to metro/downtown Bethesda and some isn’t but none of Wood Acres is?

Somerset also has a community pool doesn’t it (don’t know if WA does).

Woodacres doesn’t have a pool as part of the community but Mohican is 80% plus Woodacres and very nice.

[Anonymous]

One thing that will play out in the future is somerset will become more desirable as the city grows. Since it is incorporated and independent from MoCo it is not beholden to the planning commission and since they kicked the only apt buildings out of town, they will never lose the vote. Because of that it will always be this little rich SFH enclave with no obligation to add density or diversity which are the things rich people value. As traditional neighborhoods like it become rarer as they have their libraries, churches and other buildings replaced with density and the SES mix that brings. That will most likely send more buyers looking for fewer economically gated communities with proximity. It should play out very nicely for owners

[Anonymous]

Somerset-BCC parent here who also chose BCC as it's marginally more diverse, & kids tell me it's slightly less intense than Whitman, which is a Type A pressure cooker according to two families we know well who sent their kids there. The kids talk about the difference - & the Whitman families we know wish they chose BCC. Don't think this gives us a right to plant a 'woke flag' or that there's not ridiculous amounts of pressure on all of our kids, just something to consider. I think the 'we chose BCC' PP was likely just explaining their choice since most ppl assume that you'd choose Whitman if you could afford it & that's not true for all of us.

Being on Metro is much different than being 100% for sure a car commuter -- and allows me to be at work downtown & have my kids be able to hop on metro to get places after school (MS & HS kids). I grew up in an east coast suburban community without easy city access, & wanted my kids to have easier access to the city than I did. Somerset/BCC cluster provides walkability to Metro in ways that some Whitman nhoods do not -- & also provides access to Capital Crescent Trail which gets our kids on bikes/walking safely to Gtown & Bethesda. We liked this.

On a separate note, lest you think I'm a full booster, many Somerset families with older kids will tell you that they vastly preferred the former principal (Laurie Gross) to current principal (Kelly Morris) and the school has changed quite a bit over the last decade. I'm sure there are threads on it but many, many veteran teachers left. Westland principal strong & school smaller since Silver split but fewer curricular offerings; BCC principal mixed but really undercut by recent attempt to crack down on underage drinking completely unsupported by MCPS - so for whatever reason, she's not the strongest leader. Pretty sure there was a recent WaPo article about low staff morale. Teachers at both Westland & BCC (esp BCC) are for the most part strong, altho duds here & there.

[Anonymous]

claiming you value BCC diversity while living in the incredibly white Bethesda/Chevy Chase area and going to one of the least diverse feeder patterns in the County, state and metro is sort of like claiming you love Mexican food because you had a Latino Uber driver take you home after a dinner from an Irish Pub. Say what you want but everyone of your actions sort of says the opposite let alone rationalizing to the point where the think BCC diversity is some how exemplary in a rapidly browning county.

I don't have a problem with people loving the area as it is simply lovely, but it is just a farce and BS to claim it is about the diversity in anyway. The average Somerset kid will most likely never go a poor minority's house or really any non-millionaires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somerset-BCC parent here who also chose BCC as it's marginally more diverse, & kids tell me it's slightly less intense than Whitman, which is a Type A pressure cooker according to two families we know well who sent their kids there. The kids talk about the difference - & the Whitman families we know wish they chose BCC. Don't think this gives us a right to plant a 'woke flag' or that there's not ridiculous amounts of pressure on all of our kids, just something to consider. I think the 'we chose BCC' PP was likely just explaining their choice since most ppl assume that you'd choose Whitman if you could afford it & that's not true for all of us.

Being on Metro is much different than being 100% for sure a car commuter -- and allows me to be at work downtown & have my kids be able to hop on metro to get places after school (MS & HS kids). I grew up in an east coast suburban community without easy city access, & wanted my kids to have easier access to the city than I did. Somerset/BCC cluster provides walkability to Metro in ways that some Whitman nhoods do not -- & also provides access to Capital Crescent Trail which gets our kids on bikes/walking safely to Gtown & Bethesda. We liked this.

On a separate note, lest you think I'm a full booster, many Somerset families with older kids will tell you that they vastly preferred the former principal (Laurie Gross) to current principal (Kelly Morris) and the school has changed quite a bit over the last decade. I'm sure there are threads on it but many, many veteran teachers left. Westland principal strong & school smaller since Silver split but fewer curricular offerings; BCC principal mixed but really undercut by recent attempt to crack down on underage drinking completely unsupported by MCPS - so for whatever reason, she's not the strongest leader. Pretty sure there was a recent WaPo article about low staff morale. Teachers at both Westland & BCC (esp BCC) are for the most part strong, altho duds here & there.

+1000. Somerset principal is shockingly mediocre, completely lacking in charisma or sense of humor or obvious affection for the school, seems mostly interested in hanging out with the asst principal. Really has changed the feeling of the place over time.