Moving from Arlington to Bethesda(ish) for job--best school clusters?

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone,

We're going to be moving from Arlington to Bethesda sometime in the next year, and I'm trying to get a handle on MCPS so we can direct our house search. We will have a rising PK and 3rd grader. It seems hard to distinguish one ES from another based on their websites, though I understand that "W" school clusters are supposed to be the best. We're still a long way from HS! Our 3rd grader is quite bright and accelerated, but am I right in my sense that MCPS doesn't have the same stratified "gifted center" structure that FCPS does? How high stakes is it to test in? I expect we'll be interested in either Blair or IB magnet programs eventually--are there unofficial "feeder" schools to these, or is the student population pretty well spread out across different MS?

I would love for them to be in an immersion program, but not sure the likelihood of that (esp. for 3rd...maybe too late?), but otherwise just looking for very solid academics, rigor, and a nice neighborhood where people have young kids and are friendly. Walkability is a big plus--it would be great if they could just walk down the street to see friends, etc. I realize that COVID will impact things next year, and am not too concerned--we're homeschooling this year to avoid DL, and may continue to do that for another year depending on how things go. We're thinking more long-term.

Thanks for answering my questions. I feel like I've gotten a good sense of APS and FCPS over the years just through talking with friends and neighbors, but none have direct experience with MD.

[Anonymous]

The good thing about moving with a 3rd grader is that your child will be considered for a CES in 4th grade. If you are interested in a CES and don't want your child to start a new school in 3rd and another new school in 4th, consider looking for a house in an elementary district that hosts a CES program:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/elementary/

I wouldn't put any eggs in the high school basket at this stage, but if you think your child might be interested in them down the road, perhaps consider a house where transportation to Blair or RM would not be a barrier.

[Anonymous]

Live within walking distance of any of the Ws and you'll be fine and won't have to worry about redistricting. Ignore those who try to worry you about this, despite what the SJW would have you believe, MCPS is not going to pay to bus kids away from walkable schools. There won't be any money for that.

Whitman has an overcrowded MS, Pyle, that won't be fixed any time soon, but their HS is getting an addition. Churchill is good, but make sure you check, one of their MSs has split articulation (half go to Churchill half go to Wootton, also a good school, and skews heavily asian). BCC and WJ more diverse than either of those, and both have honors programs (APEX and IB). WJ severely over-crowded, but Woodward will open in 2025 to relieve their overcrowding, and both will be excellent.

If you are picking based on HS, just make sure you are within walking distance so you children do not get bussed elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

My kids are older, but I believe that the gifted centers are populated by kids who test in. There are not enough spots for the # of kids who have high scores, so they waitlist a bunch of kids & compare your kid's scores to their peers (e.g. if you have a ton of high performing peers you won't be considered an outlier & your kid won't be going to a gifted center). Also, living in bounds does NOT guarantee attendance at the gifted center.

With regard to ES, some will say that the MCPS curriculum is the same across the county & schools are all the same. Totally not our experience. I don't know what you should do during pandemic bz I found it super useful to visit schools & audit classes/listen to principals.

Watch out for split articulation schools in ES like the above poster flagged. BCC feeder Rosemary Hills problematic in this way.

Don't know Blair feeder schools but you are absolutely right to backwards map from where you want your kid to go to HS. Your kids will make friends & you won't want to move them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi Everyone,

We're going to be moving from Arlington to Bethesda sometime in the next year, and I'm trying to get a handle on MCPS so we can direct our house search. We will have a rising PK and 3rd grader. It seems hard to distinguish one ES from another based on their websites, though I understand that "W" school clusters are supposed to be the best. We're still a long way from HS! Our 3rd grader is quite bright and accelerated, but am I right in my sense that MCPS doesn't have the same stratified "gifted center" structure that FCPS does? How high stakes is it to test in? I expect we'll be interested in either Blair or IB magnet programs eventually--are there unofficial "feeder" schools to these, or is the student population pretty well spread out across different MS?

I would love for them to be in an immersion program, but not sure the likelihood of that (esp. for 3rd...maybe too late?), but otherwise just looking for very solid academics, rigor, and a nice neighborhood where people have young kids and are friendly. Walkability is a big plus--it would be great if they could just walk down the street to see friends, etc. I realize that COVID will impact things next year, and am not too concerned--we're homeschooling this year to avoid DL, and may continue to do that for another year depending on how things go. We're thinking more long-term.

Thanks for answering my questions. I feel like I've gotten a good sense of APS and FCPS over the years just through talking with friends and neighbors, but none have direct experience with MD.

The curriculum is the same everywhere. There are also nice neighborhoods with friendly people everywhere. Find a residence you like and can afford, in a neighborhood you like, with transportation that works for you.

[Anonymous]

We prioritized walkability, including to metro, and looked at places walkable to downtown Bethesda and Silver Spring, either in the B-CC cluster or the DCC. We ended up in a place that is inbounds for Rosemary Hills PS/Chevy Chase ES/Silver Creek MS/B-CC HS. We love our neighborhood and don’t need to drive much. We have had a good experience at RHPS and especially CCES, the latter of which is smaller and better-run. It also hosts a CES program for 4th/5th grades.

[Anonymous]

Consider the Richard Montgomery HS cluster and Rockville Town Center area, next to metro. College Gardens and Bealle elementary schools have strong communities in tucked away neighborhoods. Bayard Rustin ES is brand new and houses a Chinese immersion program. RMHS has an IB program available to all students in 11th/12th grades, plus is the countywide IB magnet for 9th & 10th grades (they have recently added regional IB magnets too). There are a lot of young families in the area and good access to a large variety of activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Consider the Richard Montgomery HS cluster and Rockville Town Center area, next to metro. College Gardens and Bealle elementary schools have strong communities in tucked away neighborhoods. Bayard Rustin ES is brand new and houses a Chinese immersion program. RMHS has an IB program available to all students in 11th/12th grades, plus is the countywide IB magnet for 9th & 10th grades (they have recently added regional IB magnets too). There are a lot of young families in the area and good access to a large variety of activities.

OP here--thanks!! This is great to know. I had thought the RMIB was all lottery, but if you can live in-bounds and opt-in for 11th/12th that's huge. I assume those kids (who are not lottery) are in the same classes as the magnet kids? I am an IB Diploma grad myself so am very interested in the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Consider the Richard Montgomery HS cluster and Rockville Town Center area, next to metro. College Gardens and Bealle elementary schools have strong communities in tucked away neighborhoods. Bayard Rustin ES is brand new and houses a Chinese immersion program. RMHS has an IB program available to all students in 11th/12th grades, plus is the countywide IB magnet for 9th & 10th grades (they have recently added regional IB magnets too). There are a lot of young families in the area and good access to a large variety of activities.

OP here--thanks!! This is great to know. I had thought the RMIB was all lottery, but if you can live in-bounds and opt-in for 11th/12th that's huge. I assume those kids (who are not lottery) are in the same classes as the magnet kids? I am an IB Diploma grad myself so am very interested in the program.

There are a few high schools that offer the IB diploma option without having to get a magnet slot. For example, BCC has all kids fo through the IB MYP in 9th and 10th grade, and then all students are eligible for the IB degree program in 10th and 11th grade.

[Anonymous]

There are no best per se but if you are interested in test score averages just look at an area's HHI and that should answer your question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi Everyone,

We're going to be moving from Arlington to Bethesda sometime in the next year, and I'm trying to get a handle on MCPS so we can direct our house search. We will have a rising PK and 3rd grader. It seems hard to distinguish one ES from another based on their websites, though I understand that "W" school clusters are supposed to be the best. We're still a long way from HS! Our 3rd grader is quite bright and accelerated, but am I right in my sense that MCPS doesn't have the same stratified "gifted center" structure that FCPS does? How high stakes is it to test in? I expect we'll be interested in either Blair or IB magnet programs eventually--are there unofficial "feeder" schools to these, or is the student population pretty well spread out across different MS?

I would love for them to be in an immersion program, but not sure the likelihood of that (esp. for 3rd...maybe too late?), but otherwise just looking for very solid academics, rigor, and a nice neighborhood where people have young kids and are friendly. Walkability is a big plus--it would be great if they could just walk down the street to see friends, etc. I realize that COVID will impact things next year, and am not too concerned--we're homeschooling this year to avoid DL, and may continue to do that for another year depending on how things go. We're thinking more long-term.

Thanks for answering my questions. I feel like I've gotten a good sense of APS and FCPS over the years just through talking with friends and neighbors, but none have direct experience with MD.

My kids went from TPES->Blair and were in magnets the entire way through HS.

* TPES had the only elementary magnet when my kids were there. Also still is the only ES with enriched math. Also because it's a focus school class sizes range from 16-20.

* PBES, these days, has a local CES which was also wonderful. Also smaller class sizes than most schools.

* Living in the boundary for TPMS greatly improves your chances for MS magnet. It's similar to Jefferson but a lot more competitive.

* TPMS feeds into Blair which also has one of the two STEM magnet programs. Again it's similar to Jefferson but much smaller and more selective. It does beat them out in every category from It's Academic, to SAT averages, to Intel scholarships even had several US math and physics Olympians when my kids went through the program.

[Anonymous]

20816

[Anonymous]

The emersion schools are all lottery, regardless of where you live.

There are several other schools that offer IB without the "magnet"/test-in aspect - among them Rockville HS and BCC - I don't know the whole list.

If you're planning to minimize your commute and live in or near Bethesda, you will be fine school wise. Can't worry about the gifted programs because there are too few seats.

Wildwood near WJ is a great neighborhood with a lot of young kids. Convenient to DT Bethesda, convenient to the Beltway if your spouse is commuting a different direction, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The emersion schools are all lottery, regardless of where you live.

There are several other schools that offer IB without the "magnet"/test-in aspect - among them Rockville HS and BCC - I don't know the whole list.

If you're planning to minimize your commute and live in or near Bethesda, you will be fine school wise. Can't worry about the gifted programs because there are too few seats.

Wildwood near WJ is a great neighborhood with a lot of young kids. Convenient to DT Bethesda, convenient to the Beltway if your spouse is commuting a different direction, etc.

Agree all MCPS schools are fine. Same teachers and curriculum. People like to split hairs but it really makes little difference. Live wherever is convenient. It will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi Everyone,

We're going to be moving from Arlington to Bethesda sometime in the next year, and I'm trying to get a handle on MCPS so we can direct our house search. We will have a rising PK and 3rd grader. It seems hard to distinguish one ES from another based on their websites, though I understand that "W" school clusters are supposed to be the best. We're still a long way from HS! Our 3rd grader is quite bright and accelerated, but am I right in my sense that MCPS doesn't have the same stratified "gifted center" structure that FCPS does? How high stakes is it to test in? I expect we'll be interested in either Blair or IB magnet programs eventually--are there unofficial "feeder" schools to these, or is the student population pretty well spread out across different MS?

I would love for them to be in an immersion program, but not sure the likelihood of that (esp. for 3rd...maybe too late?), but otherwise just looking for very solid academics, rigor, and a nice neighborhood where people have young kids and are friendly. Walkability is a big plus--it would be great if they could just walk down the street to see friends, etc. I realize that COVID will impact things next year, and am not too concerned--we're homeschooling this year to avoid DL, and may continue to do that for another year depending on how things go. We're thinking more long-term.

Thanks for answering my questions. I feel like I've gotten a good sense of APS and FCPS over the years just through talking with friends and neighbors, but none have direct experience with MD.

My kids went from TPES->Blair and were in magnets the entire way through HS.

* TPES had the only elementary magnet when my kids were there. Also still is the only ES with enriched math. Also because it's a focus school class sizes range from 16-20.

* PBES, these days, has a local CES which was also wonderful. Also smaller class sizes than most schools.

* Living in the boundary for TPMS greatly improves your chances for MS magnet. It's similar to Jefferson but a lot more competitive.

* TPMS feeds into Blair which also has one of the two STEM magnet programs. Again it's similar to Jefferson but much smaller and more selective. It does beat them out in every category from It's Academic, to SAT averages, to Intel scholarships even had several US math and physics Olympians when my kids went through the program.

OP here--this is also great to know! My current 2nd grader (will be 3rd next year) is about two grade levels ahead in math and is super into science. He reads college science textbooks (that my husband had lying around at home) for fun. He's also really into reading and history, so I'm not sure if he'll lean more STEM or humanities as he gets older. I didn't know being in-boundary for TPMS improved your magnet chances. If you're in-boundary for TPES (for my younger), do you automatically get the enriched math, or is there an application process? She's still so young, it's hard to know what her strengths are--apart from being very verbal/argumentative