I've heard from parents at ESS that they are happy with the school. Yes, it's a low income school. But that means the school gets federal funding and has a lot more resources than other area elementary schools.

You can't beat TPMS as a middle school. Plus, there are a couple of former ESS kids at the nearby HGC magnet.

If you're happy in your house and neighborhood, I wouldn't move to the Woodlin neighborhood just for that elementary.

I wouldn't mess around with the middle school. Kids are all about their peers and figuring out who they are in middle school. Even though it is 3 years compared to 6, it's when you as a parent have less control. By middle school kids need to be more independent with their learning, they are hormonal, they don't want to spend time with parents and want to spend it with their friends, you may not remember the core subjects well enough to enrich/pick up any slack and it may be harder to schedule any tutoring sessions and getting your child motivated enough to seek any extra help if needed.

I general I think it is easier to pick up some of the school slack in elementary than in middle school but I agree the elementary would need to be decent not awful. if you are starting from awful there is just too much you would have to counteract and you have limited time to do so. If by awful that meant safety issues, picking up bad habits, hating school for whatever reason plus not learning the basics ...to deal with all that you would have to homeschool.

A decent ES will do. Not a bad ES though. Put in effort and money towards enrichment and tutoring outside of school though if need be.

Anonymous wrote:

"It seems to me that in ES, kids are generally just kids, and barring a few cases the curriculum is generally the same. The peer group issues start to come into effect later in the schooling process. I don't have any real data to back this up though; just my own feelings so take that for what it's worth! "

also my sense. If your ES does a good job of not ignoring non-FARMS kids then your child will be learning what they need to learn and negative social issues should not be too significant. MS and HS - social issues are the biggest concern in my view. It's entirely possible that a HS"s academic offerings could be stellar, but if i'm worried my kid will get beat up or be more likely to hang out with kids not spending their time well then it's a non-starter.
sigh - which is why we have a few years until we need to seriously house hunt...

I also think for many parents it is easier for them to supplement if they are not 100% thrilled with the degree of challenge in the curriculum in elementary school. Most people can work on reading and basic math at home. Later on in middle school and high school when kids really need to learn how to write, critically think, discuss literature, etc. I think it might be harder for most parents to supplement. I'm pretty sure I could help a high schooler out with trig, but I'd need to brush up, whereas teaching addition or fractions or whatever would be pretty easy.

I agree with this 100%. Stick in the home you have now and help them with the basics and beyond. It is also much easier to connect with only 1-2 teachers as opposed to 6-8 in upper schools. We live in an area that has the best of the ES and our MS and HS are average. After sending our kid to one year of MS, we sent her to private. It was that AWFUL.

Nope- all of woodlin goes to sligo not newport mill

Anonymous wrote:Let me guess - you are zoned for ESS, TPMS, Blair, and considering moving to Woodlin, Sligo, Einstein.

OP here and you are correct although some woodlin houses feed to Newport mills MS and that is the MS I don't like. Silver Spring International is not my fav either.

If the kids don't have any special issues, I would start with your current local ES, which you describe as "decent." If either has unusual problems there, you can rethink it.

Anyone in the Bel Pre/Strathmore area? Would love some current parents' insights.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or could be Flora Singer, Sligo, Einstein

Does the Flora Singer area have larger yards and more expensive houses than other parts of the DCC? I always think of that area as being less expensive than for example, Indian Spring or Woodmoor.

I don't think it's less expensive than Indian Spring.

Anonymous wrote:Or could be Flora Singer, Sligo, Einstein

Does the Flora Singer area have larger yards and more expensive houses than other parts of the DCC? I always think of that area as being less expensive than for example, Indian Spring or Woodmoor.

Or could be Flora Singer, Sligo, Einstein

Agree, we've been in 4 DCC elementaries and all are different.

Hard to say which of each is important. Good study/learning habits from elementary is really key for heading into middle.

FWIW, I've heard Sligo is turning around (agree with someone else who said you must be looking at Woodside area that feeds into Woodlin, Sligo, Einstein.) Know people who started there this year and others visiting for next year and they have been impressed with the new principal.