Correction:

"There are million [dollar] homes in Anacostia.

People in their McMansions and snug in their little neighborhoods in Bethesda and Potomac have no clue.

Rockville, Germantown, and Gaithersburg do have their "hoods" that a proper white lady would not dare drive through.

In RM's case they draw from Lincoln Park. It's not southeast Washington but it's trouble.

Morons, There are million homes in Anacostia. You can try to make yourselves feel good all you like but the reality is that outside of the IB program, RM is just an average school for all the same reasons that many other school in the county are average. With the IB program, RM's average scores are the same or inferior to the 4 Ws. Without the IB, the scores are weak. Again, I am only trying the answer OP's question. To be honest, I would rather attend an average MCPS than a stellar school in most other school districts.

A "hood" where many single family homes (Fallsgrove) and brownstones (Park Potomac) go for well over a million bucks.

RM is a dive. Academics outside of the IB are mediocre at best. Sports and extracurriculars are abysmal. The magnet is there to keep the school from collapsing. The problem with MoCo is that if you live outside of Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac, or Kensington, you are living in the hood or on a farm. I know kids who attended or are attending RM. Most of the kids are bright. Diversity is ok if you are comparing it to Wooton. Given that the school takes in suspect area, the school has disciplinary problems. In 2010, the school made the news for being put on lock down. But, like most schools, a dedicated student with supportive parents will do well.

My, my. What will this poster do when awakened to discover that America is one big "hood"? I guess hitch hike a ride on the Mayflower back to the prisons from whence they fled.

For an up-county school, Rockville has some "hoods." The reason that RM and other schools have these specialized programs like the IB is to help them diversify the school to keep it afloat academically. See link below to fight from a few years back that made the news. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-breaking-news/richard-montgomery-hs-on-lockd.html

The hood? Hahahahaha!

And the best thing about the RM cluster is that we don't think like PP..the hood?

RM is a dive. Academics outside of the IB are mediocre at best. Sports and extracurriculars are abysmal. The magnet is there to keep the school from collapsing. The problem with MoCo is that if you live outside of Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac, or Kensington, you are living in the hood or on a farm. I know kids who attended or are attending RM. Most of the kids are bright. Diversity is ok if you are comparing it to Wooton. Given that the school takes in suspect area, the school has disciplinary problems. In 2010, the school made the news for being put on lock down. But, like most schools, a dedicated student with supportive parents will do well.

I'm 16:35. My kids were fine at JW. Maybe not as great an experience as their warm, smaller elementary school, and definitely not as good as high school, where they have more independence, but no problems.

Middle school can be a challenging time for any kid - they're growing up, starting to hit puberty, trying to be more independent, etc., but I think JW does as good a job as most with kids at this time of life.

They had some great friends, and I think they both liked having a larger pool of kids to mix with. They did both fall out of touch with a few of their ES friends that they didn't have classes with, which was sad, but they also made a lot of new friends.

Judging by their performance in HS AP classes (and AP tests), JW prepared them well. No issues there.

The longtime principal retired at the end of last year. I was sad to see her go, but I really like what I've seen of the new principal (who was JW's assistant principal). My youngest will be starting JW next year, and I have no worries for him.

I have two at JW. Both came from the HGC magnet. The distance of the MS magnets made that choice not realistic for our family. They are both happy at JW. The challenge level is not as high but they were both able to take 2 HS level classes starting in 6th grade. The diversity of the school is great and I feel that there are many life lessons to be learned from working with people who are different from yourself. I don't have other MS experiences to compare JW so maybe the W feeder schools are hugely better...I don't know. I am not a believer in test scores to rate success of a school.

PPs:

How did your children like (or dislike) Julius West?

I have two children currently at RM, not in the IB program. One preferred not to apply to the IB program; she wanted the flexibility of taking AP classes. The other may apply to the IB program next year when she's in 10th grade.

Both are thriving. They have classes that challenge them, great friends (some in IB, some not), and activities they enjoy.

I don't think the school is perfect (is any school?), but we've been generally pretty happy with the education they are receiving. I'm not at all worried about college admissions (but, neither girl is interested in Ivies; maybe I'd be worked up if Harvard were a goal).

Its a wonderful school. All opportunities are available to non-magnet kids as well as rest of MCPS HS.

Non-magnet kids can opt to do the complete IB diploma like the IB magnet kids as well. Tons of kids load up on AP classes and bypass IB altogether, some take a mix of AP and IB.

Hello,
My child is still in K and we're in the RM cluster, renting for now. I like the area and it's convenient for work and we like the ES a lot. We plan to buy in about a year or two and we're trying to decide whether to stay in this area. I've really not heard much about RM other than in the IB program context. How is it if your kid is not in the IB? Buying something in the W school clusters is going to be tight for us, but we could probably manage it - just don't know if it's worth it. Another option is Olney but that is not as convenient for work and I"m not sure whether those schools are any better than the cluster we're currently at.

Would be glad to hear other people's thoughts about the RM school in general - not IB.

Thanks!