Anonymous wrote:The most recent regional boundaries is option 5 (looks like it’s referenced in the 2nd post above), and I’m very happy with it. I hope this is what MCPS will go with.

I’m ok with it only if we are still zoned in the same high school.

The most recent regional boundaries is option 5 (looks like it’s referenced in the 2nd post above), and I’m very happy with it. I hope this is what MCPS will go with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The option that has each DCC Hs in a different region makes the most sense to me logistically, especially when you consider the middle schools. The DCC middle schools each have signature programs with a very different schedule than the rest of the county. I worry that combining too many current DCC schools in one region would make those schools revert back to a 7 period day with less room for electives. But I know the county can’t staff 8 periods at every MS in the county.

What do you mean that all DCC middle schools have signature programs? There are like 15 of them and I have only ever heard of 4 middle schools with programs.

I think PP is mixing up with the DCC with MSMC.

Anonymous wrote:I’m in Burtonsville.
Kennedy would be a trek for us.
Adding Sherwood to the NEC would be a good thing for those of us in the middle.
Sherwood and Springbrook are far apart though.

What? Sherwood and Springbrook are not that far apart. It’s a straight shot north or south on New Hampshire Ave to get to either.

Also, if you’re in Burtonsville then you would not be in bounds for Kennedy under the old DCC model or the new regions, so what are you talking about?

Anonymous wrote:The option that has each DCC Hs in a different region makes the most sense to me logistically, especially when you consider the middle schools. The DCC middle schools each have signature programs with a very different schedule than the rest of the county. I worry that combining too many current DCC schools in one region would make those schools revert back to a 7 period day with less room for electives. But I know the county can’t staff 8 periods at every MS in the county.

No option has each DCC HS in a different region.

I’m in Burtonsville.
Kennedy would be a trek for us.
Adding Sherwood to the NEC would be a good thing for those of us in the middle.
Sherwood and Springbrook are far apart though.

Anonymous wrote:The option that has each DCC Hs in a different region makes the most sense to me logistically, especially when you consider the middle schools. The DCC middle schools each have signature programs with a very different schedule than the rest of the county. I worry that combining too many current DCC schools in one region would make those schools revert back to a 7 period day with less room for electives. But I know the county can’t staff 8 periods at every MS in the county.

What do you mean that all DCC middle schools have signature programs? There are like 15 of them and I have only ever heard of 4 middle schools with programs.

Anonymous wrote:They shouldn't do regions. Just focus on cohorting and opportunities at each school within the current populations. All of these schools are big enough to do this.

They can’t do that without undo the mess that already exists. These random special programs that aren’t available to all are so inequitable.

The option that has each DCC Hs in a different region makes the most sense to me logistically, especially when you consider the middle schools. The DCC middle schools each have signature programs with a very different schedule than the rest of the county. I worry that combining too many current DCC schools in one region would make those schools revert back to a 7 period day with less room for electives. But I know the county can’t staff 8 periods at every MS in the county.

I never trust AI without verification because it's wrong so often. But if this analysis is in fact correct, it looks like MCPS did a good job with their proposed regions. Theirs match the regions based solely on optimizing distance pretty closely with only a handful of differences, and given how many other factors MCPS is taking into consideration besides distance, I'm impressed it's that close, which probably means the MCPS regions are pretty close to the best you can get.

Clearly they are not only trying to minimize the distance between schools. They are trying to cross some class boundaries while also keeping schools near one another. They are trying to bridge the east-west divide that has had parents for generations try to move further and further west to escape the poor.

They shouldn't do regions. Just focus on cohorting and opportunities at each school within the current populations. All of these schools are big enough to do this.

(Watkins Mill is of course not in Wheaton.)

MCPS has already revised the regions since that article you linked to was written. These are the new ones:

Region one: Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walt Whitman in Bethesda, and Montgomery Blair, Albert Einstein and Northwood in Silver Spring;

Region two: James Hubert Blake and Springbrook in Silver Spring, Paint Branch in Burtonsville, and Sherwood in Sandy Spring;

Region three: Walter Johnson in Bethesda, Charles W. Woodward in Rockville, and Wheaton and John F. Kennedy in Silver Spring;

Region four: Richard Montgomery, Rockville, and Thomas S. Wootton in Rockville and Winston Churchill in Potomac;

Region five: Crown and Gaithersburg in Gaithersburg, Col. Zadok Magruder in Rockville, Damascus and Watkins Mill in Wheaton; and

Region six: Northwest in Germantown and Clarksburg, Poolesville, Seneca Valley and Quince Orchard in Gaithersburg.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2025/07/25/mcps-end-countywide-program-consortia/

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2025/06/25/mcps-leaning-toward-regional-programming-model/


The proposed regions include the following high schools [Watkins Mill is missing from the listing]:


Region one:
Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walt Whitman in Bethesda,
and Montgomery Blair, Albert Einstein and Northwood in Silver Spring;

Region two:
James Hubert Blake and Springbrook in Silver Spring,
Paint Branch in Burtonsville,
and Sherwood in Sandy Spring;

Region three:
Winston Churchill in Potomac, Walter Johnson in Bethesda, Charles W. Woodward in Rockville, and Wheaton;

Region four: John F. Kennedy in Silver Spring,
and Col. Zadok Magruder, Richard Montgomery, Rockville, and Thomas S. Wootton in Rockville;

Region five:
Northwest in Germantown, and Crown, Gaithersburg and Seneca Valley in Gaithersburg; and

Region six:
Clarksburg, Damascus, Poolesville, and Quince Orchard in Gaithersburg.

------------

Gemini says:

Based on a computational analysis designed to minimize the driving distance between schools within a group, here is an optimized clustering

***

## Optimized School Regions

### Region A: Bethesda and Potomac.
* **Schools (5):**
* Bethesda-Chevy Chase
* Charles W. Woodward
* Walter Johnson
* Walt Whitman
* Winston Churchill
* **Average Interschool Distance:** **3.8 miles**

### Region B: Inner Silver Spring Cluster
* **Schools (4):**
* Albert Einstein
* Montgomery Blair
* Northwood
* Wheaton
* **Average Interschool Distance:** **3.9 miles**

### Region C: East County

* **Schools (5):**
* James Hubert Blake
* John F. Kennedy
* Paint Branch
* Sherwood
* Springbrook
* **Average Interschool Distance:** **6.1 miles**

### Region D: Rockville


* **Schools (4):**
* Col. Zadok Magruder
* Richard Montgomery
* Rockville
* Thomas S. Wootton
* **Average Interschool Distance:** **3.9 miles**

### Region E: Gaithersburg/Germantown

* **Schools (4):**
* Crown
* Gaithersburg
* Northwest
* Seneca Valley
* **Average Interschool Distance:** **3.7 miles**

### Region F: Upcounty Cluster

* **Schools (4):**
* Clarksburg
* Damascus
* Poolesville
* Quince Orchard
* **Average Interschool Distance:** **10.3 miles**