I would just reinforce that there is no "obvious" choice here.

Commute matters a lot. It's not just your child's commute, but also your own if they are involved in extracurricular activities. At the high school level, ECs do not end in time for activity buses. That means that parents are driving/carpooling for 3 out of 4 years at best.

Individual interests and temperaments also matter. A kid who hate public speaking and group work is probably going to be pretty miserable at CAP. A kid who is going to struggle to keep a consistent (and increasing) level of effort from the beginning of freshman to the end of senior year could easily flame out of RMIB.

Go to the open houses and let your child see what feels right.

Different poster. Appreciate any insights into our choice:

My kid got into the Wheaton Engineering magnet. His local school is Einstein. He wants a smaller school (both fit the bill). He wants to play sports. He wants to be in a high-quality orchestra. He likes math and thinks he likes engineering, but also was intrigued by the IB presentation at Einstein's open house. He's currently in Spanish 3.

What should we be looking at to make this decision--course offerings for grades 11 and 12? Other factors?

DC was invited to a few programs, but is leaning to Poolesville Humanities. Any thoughts or insight on the program? We live about 15 minutes away, so logistically doable.

Thank you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, if a concern is general course offerings at each school, check out this report that details actual course offerings by MCPS middle and high schools

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OLO/Resources/Files/2026_Reports/OLOReport%202026-2.pdf

Wow! Has the BOE commented on this yet? It infuriates me because this report only takes into account current courses running, not the false advertising of these academies where half the courses never actually run.

The principal decides what courses are offered and if they choose not to have the classes, too bad.

These are very different programs. Where do your student’s interests lie? My student did PLTW BioMed at Wheaton. It was a good fit for him. These schools are very different too. Blair - huge, Einstein much smaller. For RM, the cohort is about 100 students. Wheaton is 30 in BioMed and 30 in Engineering.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, if a concern is general course offerings at each school, check out this report that details actual course offerings by MCPS middle and high schools

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OLO/Resources/Files/2026_Reports/OLOReport%202026-2.pdf

Wow! Has the BOE commented on this yet? It infuriates me because this report only takes into account current courses running, not the false advertising of these academies where half the courses never actually run.

There is another thread discussing the OLO report on current course offerings in MS and HS.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1311217.page

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they are all great choices, but not necessarily for the same kid.

What does your kid want to do? If they are truly interested in both engineering and art, which interest are they going to be most able to keep going outside of school?

I would also figure in distance, but I don't think it would be a driving factor, at least between the 3 DCC schools which aren't that far apart.

Come Fall 2027, the school district will transform into a new regional construct. While your student will be grandfathered into whatever DCC school and program they attend, the bus transportation system is likely to be severely strained, and the first cut that Taylor will likely make is to those bus routes to DCC programs for students grandfathered into DCC programs at their non-catchment area high school.

The BOE has been asking for transportation area on Taylor's regional plan since last summer. The BOE has yet to receive it. Taylor isn't good at logistics; he is interested in big plans.

I agree that considering the path forward for the school once changes are implemented FAll 2027 would be smart.

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, if a concern is general course offerings at each school, check out this report that details actual course offerings by MCPS middle and high schools

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OLO/Resources/Files/2026_Reports/OLOReport%202026-2.pdf

Wow! Has the BOE commented on this yet? It infuriates me because this report only takes into account current courses running, not the false advertising of these academies where half the courses never actually run.

Anonymous wrote:Does your kid play sports? That’s another factor to consider. Some sports are easy to do at Wheaton and Einstein but at Blair it’s more competitive. The sheer size of the school makes it harder to make a team.

Some sports don’t have transportation, like swimming. So plan to pick your kid up at 2:15 to drive them to their 3:00 practice or be able to carpool.

Fyi, if a concern is general course offerings at each school, check out this report that details actual course offerings by MCPS middle and high schools

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OLO/Resources/Files/2026_Reports/OLOReport%202026-2.pdf

IB at Richard Montgomery for sure. No brainer.

Anonymous wrote:DC was accepted to multiple high school programs and now has to choose. They are a good student and have varied interests so would likely do well at any of these. Wondering what the experience has been like in these programs for others. Communication Arts at Blair, PLTW Biomedical at Wheaton, IB at Richard Montgomery, and VAC at Einstein.

My DC chose the VAC at Einstein over Blair SMCS, CAP, Biomed at Wheaton, and probably some other things I’m forgetting.

The VAC is amazing for art. Einstein is smaller and less competitive for both athletics and academics than Blair. (I’m not as familiar with Wheaton.) DC has found Einstein to be a very supportive environment overall, with a solid academic peer group.

Some downsides:
- If you don’t live in the DCC, transportation is not provided. With the upcoming dissloution of the DCC, I wouldn’t plan on transportation being provided period.
- Course selection at Einstein is extremely limited for an academically-oriented student, especially in STEM. Math tops out at BC Calc / AP Stats, and there is no AP science. This could potentially change if they drop local IB in the regional model, but the peer cohort could also change with the redistricting and dissolution of the DCC.
- The VAC is 2 periods a day for all 8 semesters, so there is no room for any other courses beyond the five core academic subjects - math, English, science, history, world language. Senior year, your child will have to drop at least one of history, science & world language to fit in PE. They’ll have to drop more than one of those if they haven’t already taken Heath and Tech. Both of those can be taken in summer school. Some kids will have completed the Tech requirement in middle school.

Anonymous wrote:None. Sorry, a very DCUM answer.

...boundary studies.
-not the above poster

Anonymous wrote:I think they are all great choices, but not necessarily for the same kid.

What does your kid want to do? If they are truly interested in both engineering and art, which interest are they going to be most able to keep going outside of school?

I would also figure in distance, but I don't think it would be a driving factor, at least between the 3 DCC schools which aren't that far apart.

Come Fall 2027, the school district will transform into a new regional construct. While your student will be grandfathered into whatever DCC school and program they attend, the bus transportation system is likely to be severely strained, and the first cut that Taylor will likely make is to those bus routes to DCC programs for students grandfathered into DCC programs at their non-catchment area high school.

The BOE has been asking for transportation area on Taylor's regional plan since last summer. The BOE has yet to receive it. Taylor isn't good at logistics; he is interested in big plans.

Anonymous wrote:None. Sorry, a very DCUM answer.

Your home school is one of the Ws, right?