I have kids who went to both. Hands down PHS. It is a happy place. RMIB is not. Phs is a kind and collaborative place. RMIB is not. RMIB parents and children are the worst Bethesda types. Phs is not.

I however drove my kid to school and back though, so commute was not that much of an issue.

The only thing that I did not like about phs was the building but that has changed now.

What did you choose OP?

My child got into both prgms as well. I drive my child to school EVERY morning bc the bus that is closest to our house comes so early and drops the kids off at phs 25 mins before school starts. And kids need their sleep…..so I drive them every day.
The drive to poolesville isn’t so bad, there is mild traffic and some very slow drivers on the single lanes road which sometimes feels like traffic. The real problem one encounters is the drive leaving poolesville. The traffic is very bad bc you are with all the commuters leaving poolesville trying to get into work. The worst days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. A 20 min drive ends up being an hour most days. It has really affected the quality of our family life. Definitely pick the program that is closer to you. The distance and time wasted adds up.
My other child who attends the local hs is able to come home, then go to their practice or work on the set or practice for the play. My child that attends phs can’t do any of those things, they must literally stay at the school without a chance to come home to break up a long day.

Our daughter chose RMiB over Poolseville and is very happy with the choice. She is a 10th grader.

She is very strong in math/sciences but still enjoys the IB curriculum.

Thus far, not too much homework...about 1 hour M-Th. And on the rare occasion, 2 hours.

She enjoys being able to leave school during lunch. She also plays 2 sports.

We are closer to RM...2 sports would have been tough with the Poolseville commute.

She can't go wrong! Let he go with her gut feeling.

My daughter chose PHS SMCS over RMIB and loves it. Second year there. There is a lot of homework, but kiddo is really good with her time management so gets things done. Also does sports and theater and clubs... so there are long days. Poolesville sounds far, but in the many, many, many times I've driven out there I've yet to run into any noticeable traffic. We've actually started to fall in love with the town and I'm actively looking at property there. I am so happy my kid chose Poolesville. And that's coming from someone who grew up in Rockville.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a kid in Global not SMCS and one at RMIB and I like Poolesville overall as a school much better. But with the longer commute and the longer day with SMCS my strong advice would be go to RMIB unless they have a strong interest in stem over humanities.

RM has great STEM, except for CS.

Pick the shorter commute. The extra time can be used for sleep, studying, ECs.

Proof?

We had a similar decision, although we are closer to PHS by 10 mins. After visiting both schools, my DD just liked the overall more chilled out atmosphere at PHS. We were impressed by the kids who sounded like they actually really liked the subject matter (across all 3 PHS programs actually). Both my spouse and I are HS magnet alumni (RMIB and one in NY) but in retrospect think just developing a love of learning without excessive competition is what would suit our DD. But some kids would definitely thrive under the pressure of RM.

Also think about the atmosphere more generally. PHS is a small high school in a small town. RM is a large high school in downtown Rockville. DS went to PHS and as a distance runner loved the daily runs through fields. But your kid may prefer the opportunities in Rockville Town Center.

My DD was in the same situation with Blair instead of Poolesville and RM was our local school. The logical choice to me was RM ... so close/existing friend group. She chose Blair after the visits. I do not think she regretted it...but maybe she would have loved IB too. Its a nice dilemma to have.

My son was in the same situation. After the shadow day at RM, he decided to go to Poolesville. He wants to pursue computer science and is really enjoying that aspect of SMCS. If he wasn’t interested in computer science, I would have encouraged RM a little more for the shorter commute.

+1 on shorter commute if torn

Anonymous wrote:I had a kid in Global not SMCS and one at RMIB and I like Poolesville overall as a school much better. But with the longer commute and the longer day with SMCS my strong advice would be go to RMIB unless they have a strong interest in stem over humanities.

RM has great STEM, except for CS.

Pick the shorter commute. The extra time can be used for sleep, studying, ECs.

I had a kid in Global not SMCS and one at RMIB and I like Poolesville overall as a school much better. But with the longer commute and the longer day with SMCS my strong advice would be go to RMIB unless they have a strong interest in stem over humanities.

Anonymous wrote:Got into both RMIB and PHS SMCS, good at math and stem-oriented.

RM Pros
Familiar people go there
It’s near
Overall nice teachers

Cons
Lots of hw (from what I’ve heard)
Bad CS teachers (from what I’ve heard)

PHS Pros
Has strengths in math, science, and CS

Cons
No one I know goes there
Takes a heck of a long time to get there

Now we're struggling to make a decision. Any help?

Primary decision should be on child's strong interests:

If they really love math and cs, go to PHS.
If they like humanities, do IB.
If they don't like writing and are meh about humanities, definitely do not do IB.
If they don't like school, do not do either.

Got into both RMIB and PHS SMCS, good at math and stem-oriented.

RM Pros
Familiar people go there
It’s near
Overall nice teachers

Cons
Lots of hw (from what I’ve heard)
Bad CS teachers (from what I’ve heard)

PHS Pros
Has strengths in math, science, and CS

Cons
No one I know goes there
Takes a heck of a long time to get there

Now we're struggling to make a decision. Any help?