Anonymous wrote:My kid sits on an overturned garbage can and uses his lap for a desk at Ashburton. Yeah, it's really great here.
Anonymous wrote:We are a military family and anticipate being in the area 5-10 years. We have 2 children. The oldest wont start school until 2015, so there is a good possibility we will be moving prior to the start of MS for either of them. A great MS would be a BONUS, but it is far enough away that we could consider moving again if we are still in the area.
We are open to any neighborhood that is safe and within a 45 min commute to Bethesda. The closer the better. Seems like to be closer we will have to choose something little older/outdated to stay in our budget, but we are ok with that if we will have better resale value, safety, and or quailty of school.
I am not looking for the Harvard of elementary schools, and they are both too young to have shown a strong interest in any particular thing yet. We are trying to raise grounded, resilient, altruistic kids. Hopefully we can find a school environment that will encourage those things as well.
We are looking safe place, where they will get a solid foundational education, with a strong sense of community, a principal who is liked and respected, and where parental involvement will be encouraged. (Some other threads seems to imply some schools were only inclusive to parents when fundraising was involved)
Sorry this sounds so idealistic...I know every school will have it's mean kids and give too much homework, etc. Just want to feel like we are part of a team. We do not want to feel like the school is stretched too thin, and the parents are all mad at the world, and everyone is just counting down the days till the end of the year.
Again, thank you all for taking the time to respond. I am feeling much more optimistic than when just perusing the other threads!
Anonymous wrote:How is the principal at luxmanor? How does he regard kids on an IEP it attending typical classes?
Anonymous wrote:The parent community and principal stand out for me at Westbrook Elementary School. I have never seen such dedicated and friendly involvement in a school. Definitely check this school out and the surrounding neighborhood. It is a gem.
Anonymous wrote:
Really, no IB at WJ? please say why you think that PP.
Anonymous wrote:We've loved Kensington Parkwood. A few clarifications: the building isn't all that old (2005) but the school population has grown dramatically so the school needs more space already. It is in the pipeline for additional renovations through MCPS. A pp is correct that Walter Johnson HS doesn't have IB; it does have a special "APEX program" for students wanting more challenge (http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/wjhs/programs/apex/program_info.aspx).
Anonymous wrote:
-Parkwood Elementary in Kensington has the CETA program, which pairs them with the Kennedy Center for some really interesting exposure to the arts, feeds up to Walter Johnson HS which has International Baccalaureate: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/parkwoodes/artsintegration/ I've heard good things about this school from a community perspective, downside is that the building is older and I think they're looking to renovate it, though I'm not sure when that will happen. Here's a link to the last I saw published on that, though there's likely more updated info out there somewhere: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/construction/studies/Docs/KensingtonParkwoodESFeasibility.pdf