Luxmanor, Ashburton, Kensington-Parkwood, Garrett Park?

[Anonymous]

We are home hunting and these 4 schools are closest for my husband's commute. We don't know anyone here yet, so haven't really been able to ask much about the schools. From what I can determine on these forums, Luxmanor is great, Ashburton suffers from overcrowding and Garrett Park has declined in the past decade???? We can get much more "house" with our budget in the latter 3 schools. We would have to sacrifice space to be at Luxmanor, but we would be closest to my husband's office at Pike & Rose, have red line accessibility, and apparently be getting the best education for my son. Is Ashburton really that much worse? What about Kensington Parkwood? We're also open Farmland, Bells Mill, and Seven Locks but wouldn't have metro accessibility to get into DC. Thank you in advance.

[Anonymous]

All of these schools are generally comparable. I would choose a house you like best. Luxmanor's about to get a brand-new building. Yes, Ashburton is very overcrowded. K-P and Garrett Park have fairly new buildings. MCPS is doing a study on site selection for a new elementary school in the Walter Johnson and Bethesda-Chevy Chase clusters, to alleviate overcrowding at several area schools, so boundaries are not set in stone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are home hunting and these 4 schools are closest for my husband's commute. We don't know anyone here yet, so haven't really been able to ask much about the schools. From what I can determine on these forums, Luxmanor is great, Ashburton suffers from overcrowding and Garrett Park has declined in the past decade???? We can get much more "house" with our budget in the latter 3 schools. We would have to sacrifice space to be at Luxmanor, but we would be closest to my husband's office at Pike & Rose, have red line accessibility, and apparently be getting the best education for my son. Is Ashburton really that much worse? What about Kensington Parkwood? We're also open Farmland, Bells Mill, and Seven Locks but wouldn't have metro accessibility to get into DC. Thank you in advance.

Nah. Your son will get the same education at all of the schools - aside from individual variations in teachers and principals, which is hard to control for, difficult to predict (what teachers will your son do best with?), and subject to change.

Pick a residence you like and can afford, in a neighborhood you like, with commute/transportation options that work for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of these schools are generally comparable. I would choose a house you like best. Luxmanor's about to get a brand-new building. Yes, Ashburton is very overcrowded. K-P and Garrett Park have fairly new buildings. MCPS is doing a study on site selection for a new elementary school in the Walter Johnson and Bethesda-Chevy Chase clusters, to alleviate overcrowding at several area schools, so boundaries are not set in stone.

Sorry, it's a capacity study rather than site selection. Here is the project page: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/facilities/construction/project/bccwjesclusterstudy.aspx

[Anonymous]

Luxmanor will still be in the holding school this school year, so that’s kind of annoying but it’s only one year. In general I think people like all the schools. Ashburton is overcrowded. There will be some reshuffling when the new Luxmanor building opens. Unclear if that will reduce overcrowding at Ashburton or only at Farmland.

[Anonymous]

Of those schools, Garrett Park is quite crowded and has the most significant geographical constraints on the site. If kids are going to get shuffled, I would think they're the most likely target. The new Luxmanor expansion is targeted for current Farmland over-population. Despite one-year WJ building moratorium, numerous developments in the pipeline will impact Lux, GP, Ashburton. KP probably most stable on development front - generational turnover impacting their enrollment, however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of those schools, Garrett Park is quite crowded and has the most significant geographical constraints on the site. If kids are going to get shuffled, I would think they're the most likely target. The new Luxmanor expansion is targeted for current Farmland over-population. Despite one-year WJ building moratorium, numerous developments in the pipeline will impact Lux, GP, Ashburton. KP probably most stable on development front - generational turnover impacting their enrollment, however.

Farmland and Ashburton have much larger space deficits than Garrett Park:
Farmland -117
Ashburton -220
Garrett Park -24

[Anonymous]

KP’s enrollment numbers have been pretty steady the last few years. My DH who commutes to DC by public transportation would say to pay attention to how long the walk to a bus stop is. If you are deep in the neighborhood and have to spend 10-15 minutes walking to the main road for the bus it adds considerable time to the commute and is especially unpleasant in bad weather.

[Anonymous]

Remember it is all one school district so the curriculum is the same. Those are all in wealthy areas so you do not have much to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of those schools, Garrett Park is quite crowded and has the most significant geographical constraints on the site. If kids are going to get shuffled, I would think they're the most likely target. The new Luxmanor expansion is targeted for current Farmland over-population. Despite one-year WJ building moratorium, numerous developments in the pipeline will impact Lux, GP, Ashburton. KP probably most stable on development front - generational turnover impacting their enrollment, however.

Farmland and Ashburton have much larger space deficits than Garrett Park:
Farmland -117
Ashburton -220
Garrett Park -24

Indeed, but the powers that be have added a few classrooms to get Ashburton's capacity up to the 750 target for all ESes as of September, and have pretty much told the Ashburton folks too bad, so sad, and the Farmland folks have been promised the extra slots at the reopened Luxmanor, which will also be built up to 750. Unless all those plans get changed by the capacity study referenced above. The issue with GP is that there is no room on campus for either portables or more expansion, so any additional kids have to ger squeezed into existing structures.

[Anonymous]

My ILs live in Luxmanor and we are in Kensington so very familiar. I think you should add the part of Kensington that goes to RHES/North Chevy Chase to your search. Commute is easy. My friends at Ashburton & Garret Park complain about overcrowding. NCC classes were 23 kids last year (older two at MS school.)

My in-laws house will be a tear down for next buyer tho
its 5 B/4.5 baths. You’ll get more house for you $$$ elsewhere but Luxmanor is fine just not as kid/family focused as other areas you mentioned

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are home hunting and these 4 schools are closest for my husband's commute. We don't know anyone here yet, so haven't really been able to ask much about the schools. From what I can determine on these forums, Luxmanor is great, Ashburton suffers from overcrowding and Garrett Park has declined in the past decade???? We can get much more "house" with our budget in the latter 3 schools. We would have to sacrifice space to be at Luxmanor, but we would be closest to my husband's office at Pike & Rose, have red line accessibility, and apparently be getting the best education for my son. Is Ashburton really that much worse? What about Kensington Parkwood? We're also open Farmland, Bells Mill, and Seven Locks but wouldn't have metro accessibility to get into DC. Thank you in advance.

Nah. Your son will get the same education at all of the schools - aside from individual variations in teachers and principals, which is hard to control for, difficult to predict (what teachers will your son do best with?), and subject to change.

Pick a residence you like and can afford, in a neighborhood you like, with commute/transportation options that work for you.

+1

[Anonymous]

Also look at the middle schools they feed into —Tilden and NBMS

[Anonymous]

Your biggest concern is the upcoming countywide boundary study.
Second biggest concern is the upcoming Woodward HS opening
Third is the middle school

All else is less important

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your biggest concern is the upcoming countywide boundary study.
Second biggest concern is the upcoming Woodward HS opening
Third is the middle school

All else is less important

Disagree. Pick a house you like in a neighborhood you like. There's no way to know what the HS landscape will be like by the time your kids get there anyway.