Germantown schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

QV poster here (that is not me above with the "yes" response). Quail Valley Blvd is one big horseshoe with Strawberry Knoll ES, so I walk by those homes every evening on my walk The one downside to a lot of the homes actually on QV Blvd is that many of them were built in pairs. I don't really know how to describe it, or if there's an official term for it, but there's one house with a short driveway, right next to house with a long driveway, and the short driveway house's backyard is pretty much the long driveway house's front yard (look at Google maps and you'll see what a mean). But they're not all like that, and I guess it wouldn't bother some people.

We originally paid $230k for our townhouse. THs on our cul-de-sac have been going for about $270-280k, so I don't think the foreclosures have hurt the home value much. There were a few homes on QV that were bought by obvious flippers, so if they were foreclosures, the turnaround was quick. I haven't noticed a plethora of abandoned homes or anything.

We love the community because of the people. It's really diverse, too. Our neighbors are African-American, white, Filipino, Vietnamese, Hispanic, young families, families with MS/HS kids, retirees. At Strawberry Knoll Park, there is a cricket field and there were tournaments there this summer. I've never seen cricket before, so we just walked over and watched for a little while, and met some more nice people. The QV pool is small but nice, and membership is part of your HOA dues. It's also pretty quiet. We had the baby pool to ourselves a lot this summer. The HOA has a few events, like outdoor movie nights and holiday decorating contests. I try to walk the loop every evening (2.2 miles) and pass lots of others doing the same. I don't know, it sounds cheesy, but it's just a nice friendly diverse community. It feels very safe, and there is a security company that patrols the streets when it's dark. There are also nice homes off QV in the Bannister/Tulip Grove/etc streets. Some of them may be zoned for Goshen ES, though (which I think has a good reputation, but it would mean a bus ride, rather than walking to school). Across Strawberry Knoll Rd, there is another "horseshoe community" on Cross Country Ln, and those have some nice homes, too.

We've been happy with SKES. It's a focus school, so the primary classes are small, and I think my "advanced" 1st grader is getting her needs met. I think the PTA is fairly active. I haven't gone to any meetings (shame, shame, I know), but they have a website that stays updated. There are a lot of after school clubs that the PTA helps sponsor. There's also Girl/Boy Scouts, and Soccer Shots (according to signs I see in the neighborhood).

My kids go/went to preschool near their grandparents' home, so I don't have any local experience to share. Top Hat Montessori recently opened nearby on 124, maybe 3-5 minutes away.

When we bought our house, we really thought it was just going to be our "first house" and didn't even think much about the schools. But it's been 7 years now and the thought of leaving--even for a bigger home--makes us sad, so when we're ready, we'll be looking to stay in this community, or at the very least this school.

[Anonymous]

For a preschool - The KidsCo Jr on Emory Grove is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

QV poster here (that is not me above with the "yes" response). Quail Valley Blvd is one big horseshoe with Strawberry Knoll ES, so I walk by those homes every evening on my walk The one downside to a lot of the homes actually on QV Blvd is that many of them were built in pairs. I don't really know how to describe it, or if there's an official term for it, but there's one house with a short driveway, right next to house with a long driveway, and the short driveway house's backyard is pretty much the long driveway house's front yard (look at Google maps and you'll see what a mean). But they're not all like that, and I guess it wouldn't bother some people.

We originally paid $230k for our townhouse. THs on our cul-de-sac have been going for about $270-280k, so I don't think the foreclosures have hurt the home value much. There were a few homes on QV that were bought by obvious flippers, so if they were foreclosures, the turnaround was quick. I haven't noticed a plethora of abandoned homes or anything.

When we bought our house, we really thought it was just going to be our "first house" and didn't even think much about the schools. But it's been 7 years now and the thought of leaving--even for a bigger home--makes us sad, so when we're ready, we'll be looking to stay in this community, or at the very least this school.

We looked at the QV properties this weekend and tbh, just weren't impressed with the condition of the homes we visited. We realize that it would be a lot of work and expenses to bring it up to updated standards in the kitchen, bathrooms which would more or less have to be gut jobs, and a lot of yard work. We did like the neighborhood though, saw many people out and about with their dogs on leashes, and children riding bikes or running around. We like the area for what it is, but we were just not enchanted with the homes itself. I see what you meant about the driveways, that was a bit odd, but it doesn't bother us as much as the interior condition of the homes. It seems like every house for sale decided to price at their comps across the board, but some homes are clearly not worth that value of $349 for what was going on inside. One literally had a huge mold smell hit us as we walked in!

We did look at a TH on Hummingbird, the price was well below our budget so that was attractive, but once we were inside we realized the kitchen was non functional and old. The basement was not finished, and the neighbor's music 2 doors down could be heard through the walls of the house we walked through. Also, directly adjacent to the property was a home that looked like it had been in a recent fire -- any info what happened there? It doesn't look like it did damage to the neighbors home, but it def. made us uncomfortable looking at the house all boarded up.

I did like the ES when we drove by it, SKES. If it's a focus school does that mean it may become a title 1 school?

[Anonymous]

No chance SKES will be Title I anytime soon, if ever. It's less than 50% FARMS. Title I is like 70+%.

[Anonymous]

So other than FARMS, how does title 1 vs. focus school differ? If you can speak exclusively about SKES that would be most helpful, but general feedback on that question is great too. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So other than FARMS, how does title 1 vs. focus school differ? If you can speak exclusively about SKES that would be most helpful, but general feedback on that question is great too. Thanks.

Title I is federal funding. The funding for focus schools comes from MCPS.