This is DD's third year at Lakewood and we love it! It's very well run with great teachers. I don't love the principal, to be honest, but the AP is awesome as are most of the staff. Lots of opportunities to be involved.

Good luck!

I am a parent in the Ritchie Park school. I live in the community, so we walk, I can not speak to the busses. I have had some very good teachers there, but the main problem with the school is the admin. The principal is horrible. She refuses to listen to parental and community feedback. All the teachers left the school when she got there. There are horribly mean, punitive paraeducaters who run the school and she lets them get away with this ridiculousness. Just search this forum and you will get an earful.

Anonymous wrote:I have heard the same as PP regarding Ritchie Park but have no personal experience. I will just throw out that you should look at the length of the bus ride from Falls Grove to RP (probably on the RP website). The development was added to RP based on space not really distance to the school.

17:12 here. Yes, the distance from Fallsgrove to RP is longer than most MCPS elementary standards, but it's doesn't seem too bad given the traffic patterns. King Farm's proximity to College Gardens is also not ideal given there's no northern access to Gude Dr. from CGES. In both cases, it's my preference for a walkable/sidewalk, mixed-use community that is the draw. If there was a similar community linked to to one of the W clusters, that would be my dream scenario, but I'm not aware of one.

We've been really happy with Kensington Parkwood, and I hear good things about North Bethesda Middle School and WJHS.

I have heard the same as PP regarding Ritchie Park but have no personal experience. I will just throw out that you should look at the length of the bus ride from Falls Grove to RP (probably on the RP website). The development was added to RP based on space not really distance to the school.

folks don't love RP the Principal does not have a good reputation.

I don't mean to hijack this from the OP's question, but for the posters above mentioning College Gardens, may I ask if you've heard any opinions within the RM cluster as to the experience at College Gardens v. Ritchie Park? I've been considering buying in Fallsgrove (RP) or King Farm (the half zoned for CG/JW/RM, not GBurg), and was curious if there's any perceived difference in the elementary experience at the two schools. Thanks in advance.

If the OPs child is going into Kindergarten next year, then the Tilden modernization should be completed by the time middle school becomes an issue with OP. BTW - Tilden MS is already temporarily located at the old Woodward HS site. The Tilden MS building on Tilden lane is the one that is being torn down and rebuilt. The county has been using the Tilden Lane site as a holding school for other middle schools for years and busing the neighborhood kids to the Woodward site on Old Georgetown Rd. for years.

Any of the choices OP has mentioned are good school clusters. I agree that Wooten gets the big reputation and can be extremely competitive, but the end all be all, your child will get a great education in the RM (which has the IB program), WJ, or Wooten clusters. You may then want to compare other things like commute time and size of house for the $. The homes tend to be older and smaller in Garrett Park however the homes are very close to the Marc Train station and Grosvenor Metro station.

Anonymous wrote:My youngest is in his last year at College Gardens, and we've been there since my current RM junior was in 3rd grade. We've really loved the experience. I actually got a little choked up on the first day (which is completely not like me) at the thought that we're almost finished with CGES.

I've also been happy with the education my older two have gotten at JW and RM.

On the other hand, Wooton and Walter Johnson are also great schools. When we were buying, we looked at houses in all 3 clusters. I really don't think you can go wrong, whatever you choose.

I am the PP re: GP, and I agree with this. You can't really go wrong, so look at other factors - your commute, the type of house you want, size of lot, distance to a downtown area, public transportation. With the three areas you've chosen, the other factors should come into the forefront when making the decision.

My youngest is in his last year at College Gardens, and we've been there since my current RM junior was in 3rd grade. We've really loved the experience. I actually got a little choked up on the first day (which is completely not like me) at the thought that we're almost finished with CGES.

I've also been happy with the education my older two have gotten at JW and RM.

On the other hand, Wooton and Walter Johnson are also great schools. When we were buying, we looked at houses in all 3 clusters. I really don't think you can go wrong, whatever you choose.

You can do a search and find posts about Garrett Park. GP is a great school. Low staff turnover, brand new school, diverse student population and has met our needs for our children. It feeds into WJ, and I am a big fan of that school. The teens I know who've come out of that hs are just wonderfully well-rounded, smart, dedicated kids that don't seem like grinds and are certainly not burnouts. Full disclosure, GP does have larger classes, and I think Tilden is slated for modernization in the next few years, so it is possible that your child might be in a holding school for a year during middle school.

My kids are College Gardens grads and we are happy with teh cluster...and love our neighborhood. I am sure very shortly you will be pointed towards Wooton/WJ as the 'W' school have the highest test scores in the county..but IMO test scores don't really tell the story as they are mostly correlated with income. I don't have personal experience with the other two clusters but they have fine reputations so you probably won't go wrong with any of them. A visit would be the best way to find the one that would be the best match for your family...also check out the websites...

I've always liked College Gardens. My friend's daughter just completed kindergarten there and loved it. I'd be five with RM as a high school.

I'm in Wootton cluster now, but our elem. is Stone Mill. I don't know much about the two schools you listed. They are probably just fine, but check the middle school.

I'm not a great fan of Wootton, with respect to all the hype it gets. It's certainly not bad, but über competitive. And the kids who can't compete often end up in a not-great place. Lots of drug use in a particular set. I have no idea if most high schools are like that. I prefer Quince Orchard, personally.

DS will be starting K next year and if possible, we'd like to move during the year for various reasons. We are considering the following schools. Which one would you pick and why? Thanks!

- College Gardens elementary (Richard Montgomery high)
- Lakewood or Fallsmead elementary (Wootton)
- Garrett Park or Kensington Parkwood elementary (Walter Johnson high)