How are schools in Rockville?

[Anonymous]

We are currently in Silver Spring and really love it. We were planning on doing a fairly big renovation, and in talking to some folks, are thinking it may be easier to just spend the money on a new home. We need to stay in Maryland (DH works here, DC goes to daycare in DH's building, so I want their commute to be the easy one). I work downtown DC so would like to be near a metro.

I was just fooling around on the internet and it looks like there are a lot of homes in our price range (500-600K) in Rockville near the metro. How are the schools there?

[Anonymous]

Are these houses less expensive than what you can find in Silver Spring?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are these houses less expensive than what you can find in Silver Spring?

No - our point is not to save money but to upgrade. We moved to SS four years ago. At the time we were not looking at schools because kids were way off and we thought we'd be moving out of the area well before school became an issue. Now we have a one year old, and so if we move we would consider schools. If we don't move now and we do end up just renovating and adding on to our current home, we will likely be looking to move in the next 10 years to get to better schools.

Not saying schools in SS are bad - and we end up staying put and sticking with them all the way through high school. But I've heard the high schools in other areas are better and so we are keeping options open. At this point if we move schools would be a factor so just trying to do some basic research before we look around.

[Anonymous]

Where in Rockville?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where in Rockville?

I don't know much about the area of Rockville. Preferably within easy distance to the metro - maybe not walking but within a quick drive either for parking nearby or on most days getting dropped off. Does that help?

[Anonymous]

We used to live in the historic section of Rockville and really liked it. The schools are good. However, to upgrade from your house in SS to that particular neighborhood would be considerably more than the price range you mentioned. I would also say that Rockville felt, to me, much more suburban than, say, downtown Silver Spring, and much more detached from the District. Some would find that to be a good thing and others wouldn't. It's a long metro ride downtown, too. Just some food for thought from someone who's done both!

[Anonymous]

Don't the schools in Rockville vary a lot? That has always been my impression. I think you need to pin down an area of Rockville. The parts with the better schools are going to have houses starting at above your upper range. Otherwise, I am not sure that you are going to get better schools than what you have in SS. Also, there are a few different metro stops from White Flint, Twinbrook to Shady Grove. It's a big area.

[Anonymous]

Thanks - I think after looking around on websites and based on this feedback, we will likely stay where we are.

Why give up great commutes and a neighborhood we absolutely love? I think we will just continue on with kitchen expansion and worry about schools in another 7 - 10 years. If we have to move out for better schools, at least we will have had good commutes for 15 years. And who knows, maybe the schools are not so bad.

[Anonymous]

Where are you in SS? We are happy with our elementary school and we have friends who are happy with theirs (Woodlin, Forest Knolls, and Oakland Terrace).

[Anonymous]

Lakewood ES is considered one of the 'top' elementary schools in MC. But Lakewood is not near the METRO, and you will likely need to spend more than $600K to live there.

[Anonymous]

"Lakewood ES is considered one of the 'top' elementary schools in MC. But Lakewood is not near the METRO, and you will likely need to spend more than $600K to live there"

Lakewood?? I just spoke with a mother the other day who hates Lakewood. Her description made us really worry about MC schools in general. The higher ranked schools are awful in only teaching to the test, hence the higher scores.

[Anonymous]

We are happy at College Gardens (despite the recent bullying saga). It is a large diverse school with something for everyone. The PTA is active. The building is only 2 years old and they offer an IB curriculum. There is a 1/2 day chinese immersion program..and all the kids get 1 hour of Chinese a week as part of the IB curriculum. Good Luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Lakewood ES is considered one of the 'top' elementary schools in MC. But Lakewood is not near the METRO, and you will likely need to spend more than $600K to live there"

Lakewood?? I just spoke with a mother the other day who hates Lakewood. Her description made us really worry about MC schools in general. The higher ranked schools are awful in only teaching to the test, hence the higher scores.

Name ONE MoCo elementary school that DOES NOT teach to the test! They all have the same rote, delivered curriculum. Signed, a former MoCo teacher who saw the light and is now happy in a private school where I no longer have to 'teacher' to any test.

PS--Lakewood is not without your usual MoCo school problems, but it does perform well compared to other Rockville schools.