This is 12:12 again - I agree with 18:42 that the City of Rockville has great services. We've been especially happy with the summer camps and other rec department offerings.

Greatschools sez:
Rockville HS: 1243 students, rating of 7, 21% FARMS
Wootton HS: 2459 students, rating of 10, 4% FARMS
Richard Montgomery HS: 1953 students, rating of 7, 16% FARMS
Walter Johnson HS: 2003 students, rating of 8, 6% FARMS

Let's pick out some of:
Gaithersburg (aka Ghettosburg) HS: 2002 students, rating of 6, 30% FARMS
Kennedy HS: 1552 students, rating of 4, 41% FARMS
Einstein (aka Crimestein) HS: 1570 students, rating of 5, 37% FARMS

To sum: RichMo and Rockville aren't in the same SES class as Walter Johnson or Wootton. Neither are they in the same class as Kennedy/Einstein. I do have to wonder about people who'd be so deep into school snobbery as to avoid RichMo and Rockville.

Our eldest is at RM, and we've been pleased so far.

When we were buying several years ago, we came down to a decision between a house in the Wooton cluster and one in the RM cluster. Both are good schools, and I really don't think you could go wrong with either. We chose the house in the RM cluster because we loved the neighborhood [College Gardens], and we haven't regretted it.

Anonymous wrote:WJ is good too. I'd stay away from Richard Montgomery or Rockville HS.

This is nuts. According to the Washington Post High School Challenge Index for 2011, Richard Montgomery is #2 in the whole Washington region, second only to Bethesda Chevy Chase. I can't imagine why this poster would possibly caution you away from Richard Montgomery.

What are your commute needs?

Why do people call Rockville HS a mess? Or hate on RM for God's sake. Just wow.

My aunt lives in the Flower Valley neighborhood. It seems like a nice neighborhood when we visit, but I really don't know much past her 3 kids are very bright and did well at whatever high school they went to.

OP, The W schools are the 4 top socio-economic schools in MCPS that all happen to have W in the name...and not surprisingly have the highest test scores. Wooton, Winston Churchill, Whittman, and Walter Johnson.

We are in the RM cluster up to ms so far and are happy. I am sure it is a bit more diverse that the usual W schools mentioned but haven't had any problems with "rough crowds". Wonderful families and our kids both have close friends. City of Rockville has great services where ever you end up.

Anonymous wrote:WJ is good too. I'd stay away from Richard Montgomery or Rockville HS.

What is wrong with RM? We have small kids not yet in school - don't know much about the schools - but are zoned for RM. Should we be concerned? We live in the 20854 zip (a Potomac zip) but are technically within the city of Rockville, and so far have been happy with our neighborhood and Rockville city services.

WJ is good too. I'd stay away from Richard Montgomery or Rockville HS.

PP is right. The "other" side of Rockville is "rougher". Look in Wooten HS pyramid if you can afford it.

North Farm, Old Farm, and Tilden Woods are also great -- feed into Walter Johnson with Garrett Park and parts of Kensington and Bethesda.

We live in Fallsgrove and love it! I definitely recommend staying to the western end of Rockville. Definitely west of 355, but preferably west of 270 - the other side is a little rougher and Rockville HS is a mess. I would look for a house that is part of the Wootton cluster. Right now we're zoned for RM and plan to move, within Rockville, to be zoned for Wootton before kids get to school. Just my 2 cents. I'm sure someone will jump on me for not liking the other side of Rockville, but this is what we're comfortable with for our family.

Considering moving there - can anyone provide thoughts on neighborhoods, schools, etc?