Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, the principals at both NCC and CCES are bad. I'd look elsewhere, OP.

NCC is a really, really nice school. Super well-run and a friendly atmosphere. No complaints at all. A very nice school. I wish my kids had gone there.

Our experience with CCES is through the gifted program, but the principal there is on meth or something. Very high strung. The school does not have the same relaxed and friendly feeling that NCC has. I highly recommend NCC.

I'm confused. If your kids did not attend NCC, what is the basis for your glowing praise for the school?

I work for MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, the principals at both NCC and CCES are bad. I'd look elsewhere, OP.

NCC is a really, really nice school. Super well-run and a friendly atmosphere. No complaints at all. A very nice school. I wish my kids had gone there.

Our experience with CCES is through the gifted program, but the principal there is on meth or something. Very high strung. The school does not have the same relaxed and friendly feeling that NCC has. I highly recommend NCC.

I'm confused. If your kids did not attend NCC, what is the basis for your glowing praise for the school?

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, the principals at both NCC and CCES are bad. I'd look elsewhere, OP.

NCC is a really, really nice school. Super well-run and a friendly atmosphere. No complaints at all. A very nice school. I wish my kids had gone there.

Our experience with CCES is through the gifted program, but the principal there is on meth or something. Very high strung. The school does not have the same relaxed and friendly feeling that NCC has. I highly recommend NCC.

Another perspective on NCC: the small size of the school can also be a disadvantage. The school does not have an assistant principal, which makes it harder to mitigate the principal's weaknesses. Community members have asked central office to hire an assistant principal but I haven't seen any indication that they will do so.

I'm not sure why underutilized space at NCC is an advantage - to my knowledge, they don't really use that space, and the class sizes are fairly large. The student:teacher ratios are about the same size as other MCPS schools.

If your kids are 3rd grade and older and you can move to a house that is walkable to either CCES or NCC, I think either school would be fine. But if you have kids younger than 3rd grade, I would keep looking and find a K-5 school so that you have a more cohesive experience. The split from one K-2 school to two grades 3-5 schools makes it harder to find community, in my experience.

The NCC principal is just not engaged at this point and needs to retire.

Anonymous wrote:There is one poster on here (who I think I know in real life) who is constantly saying the CES is given priority at CCES. This has not been our experience at all, and I would take it with a grain of salt. CCES is a wonderful school with strong teachers. I am also familiar with NCC and it is a great community, much smaller and a warm/welcoming PTA & parent community. Both are great schools. NCC is a bit more low-key.

Exactly this. We are at CCES (not CES) and love it, but also have a very strong opinion of NCC.

One thing to consider, OP - outside of schools - is that the NCC area is a bit better overall. The pool (NCC) is not quite as nice (as CCRA), but I would prefer to belong there - much cheaper and more low-key, can bring your own food, etc. - and the neighborhood had more public school kids. Our CCES area is 50% private.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who is the principal at NCC?

The current principal was there when my now- college freshman was at NCC and she was fine.

NP with same age kid (and younger): NCC principal is fine but not great. I think in some ways this helps keep good teachers at the school - the principal is pretty laid back / low key (or checked out if you want to put it more negatively.)

The best thing about NCC now is the space - MCPS built a new wing at NCC just before they opened a new MS for BCC and stopped the old practice of keeping grades 6 at NCC and CCES. As a result, NCC has a lot of underutilized space, which is rare and very nice. It's also a great community feel since so many kids are within walking distance. I can't speak to CCES except having heard not-so-great things about the principal there.

Anonymous wrote:Who is the principal at NCC?

The current principal was there when my now- college freshman was at NCC and she was fine.