To the poster talking about diplomats and foreigners: it's just a matter of residence like everyone else. You cannot place your kids out of cluster. My diplomat friend lives in-bounds for the school his kids attend. We are foreigners on work visas (and pay all state and federal taxes!), and we also live in-bounds.

*But*. While I was on our school's PTA board, I was told that families of kids who were patients at NIH could enroll all their children at the cluster schools: Bethesda Elementary, whichever middle school, and BCC high school. I think that's a great idea, and alleviates their stress and the need for family separation while one of the kids is undergoing treatment.

OP, to answer part of your question, BCC is not over-enrolled like many area high schools, so you could possibly get a spot for your teen. Walter Johnson HS, which I personally prefer because I feel it has better academics, is above capacity and very crowded. You could check capacity at Walt Whitman: it has the reputation for being the "best" MCPS high school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: A nonresident student’s parent/guardian may request to enroll the student as a nonresident, tuition paying student in MCPS, however not all schools are open to tuition paying students. “Open” schools are determined on an ongoing basis based on enrollment and utilization rates at each school. Tuition fees are established annually by the Montgomery County Board of Education. MCPS Form 335-73a: Request to Enroll Nonresident, Tuition-Paying Student must be completed and submitted to the International Admissions and Enrollment Office.

https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/studentservices/schooling/faq/

I would be slightly surprised if BCC was considered “open” for tuition-based enrollment since it last I heard they were still using some trailers but I could be wrong.

BCC is my neighborhood school. No trailers since huge addition went onto the school, but definitely at capacity if not slightly over.

According to the recently released CIP, BCC has 100+ available seats.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter4BCC.pdf

Very helpful, thanks

Anonymous wrote: A nonresident student’s parent/guardian may request to enroll the student as a nonresident, tuition paying student in MCPS, however not all schools are open to tuition paying students. “Open” schools are determined on an ongoing basis based on enrollment and utilization rates at each school. Tuition fees are established annually by the Montgomery County Board of Education. MCPS Form 335-73a: Request to Enroll Nonresident, Tuition-Paying Student must be completed and submitted to the International Admissions and Enrollment Office.

https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/studentservices/schooling/faq/

I would be slightly surprised if BCC was considered “open” for tuition-based enrollment since it last I heard they were still using some trailers but I could be wrong.

BCC is my neighborhood school. No trailers since huge addition went onto the school, but definitely at capacity if not slightly over.

I think there are pretty specific circumstances under which this is allowed, not just for any NW DC family who wants to opt out of Wilson. For example, people who have come from overseas to work in their country’s embassy here in DC, or for the World Bank or whatever, and happen to be living in MoCo. This is the case actually with a family on my block — they are just renting here for a few years, and are attached to their country’s diplomatic corps, and as such I don’t think they are paying taxes in MoCo. These provisions allow such families to attend the local schools despite not being taxpaying residents, as long as they pay.

Here is a link - this is handled within MoCo’s International Admissions and Enrollment Office, which is an indicator of the purpose of the program:

https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/studentservices/schooling/faq/

In any case, it’s subject to having space at the school in question. BCC is over capacity.

A nonresident student’s parent/guardian may request to enroll the student as a nonresident, tuition paying student in MCPS, however not all schools are open to tuition paying students. “Open” schools are determined on an ongoing basis based on enrollment and utilization rates at each school. Tuition fees are established annually by the Montgomery County Board of Education. MCPS Form 335-73a: Request to Enroll Nonresident, Tuition-Paying Student must be completed and submitted to the International Admissions and Enrollment Office.

https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/studentservices/schooling/faq/

I would be slightly surprised if BCC was considered “open” for tuition-based enrollment since it last I heard they were still using some trailers but I could be wrong.

We live in DC and there's long been the claim that for $10,000/year (or $15,000 now I heard) and out of stage kid can register for BCC. I can’t find anything online at MCPS and I have yet to meet someone who did this. Does anyone know if it’s true?