pp from 12:44 again. What part of Rockville do you work in?

One of us currently has a commute to Rockville and was something to take into consideration when thinking about Howard County.

The commute might be doable but I didn't find appealing. Where you can get onto Norbeck Road either by the ICC and Georgia, coming through Brown Bridge Road, or maybe 198. But Norbeck Road in rush hour isn't that appealing to me.

Or you could take the ICC to 355 or 270, and neither of those are that great to me either.

It might depend on what your current commute is because moving to Howard County would have extended the commute to Rockville for us. And we know some people who are used to longish commutes.

The commute from Montgomery County to Prince George's County by the ICC isn't bad. Where there were times the person going that way made it into the office before the person taking 355 five miles down the road when leaving the house at the same time.

So if you expect the job situation to be the same I might lean towards Montgomery County but I'm also probably already biased towards Montgomery County to begin with.

I do like the homes and schools in Howard County. But since we're already settled in Montgomery County, it's kind of hard for us to uproot from it and give up the current convenience.

The reason I was looking at Reservoir was mainly because that's one of the closest parts to Montgomery County. But you could probably look a bit further up north, like Columbia and Clarksville and look into taking 108 down to Olney and then going into Rockville.

Anonymous wrote:OP--we just did a home search in the same areas so will offer my two cents. We settled on a house that is zoned for Rockville and have been happy so far but our kids are not HS age yet so I can only speak to the elementary part of the cluster. I think Sherwood is equally good, if not a little better, and would not hesitate to send my kids there. Olney is lovely--I just work closer to Rockville so I wanted to be closer to work (I also have family in Rockville/Bethesda).

I really like Howard County but I do think you have to be careful of the schools there as some as definitely better than others. I don't think that all HCPS schools are better than MCPS as a whole. I have heard good things about Atholton and we have very good friends who have kids there. They are really happy. I have a family member who worked at Murray Hill MS years ago and she described it as "a little rough". But this was years ago. Our friends also told us something that I didn't realize about HoCo--some of the elementary schools will split into different middle schools and then the middle schools may split into different high schools. So, your kids may be separated from their friends when they move up. This may not be an issue for you but this was something that was important to me.

Hello and thanks for the response.

The elem school is Flower Valley
Middle is Wood

High School is Rockville

I work in Rockville.
Wife works in PG County and obviously wanted to be near the ICC


Thanks

Arlington does this too..it is really tough socially especially between middle and high school. We are MCPS. I work with alot of HCPS people. There are pluses and minuses to both systems but I think many people can be happy with either. I would choose a commute/neighborhood/house

Anonymous wrote:OP--we just did a home search in the same areas so will offer my two cents. We settled on a house that is zoned for Rockville and have been happy so far but our kids are not HS age yet so I can only speak to the elementary part of the cluster. I think Sherwood is equally good, if not a little better, and would not hesitate to send my kids there. Olney is lovely--I just work closer to Rockville so I wanted to be closer to work (I also have family in Rockville/Bethesda).

I really like Howard County but I do think you have to be careful of the schools there as some as definitely better than others. I don't think that all HCPS schools are better than MCPS as a whole. I have heard good things about Atholton and we have very good friends who have kids there. They are really happy. I have a family member who worked at Murray Hill MS years ago and she described it as "a little rough". But this was years ago. Our friends also told us something that I didn't realize about HoCo--some of the elementary schools will split into different middle schools and then the middle schools may split into different high schools. So, your kids may be separated from their friends when they move up. This may not be an issue for you but this was something that was important to me.

This is actually true for every school in Howard County. I never realized that other counties didn't do it this way. The district lines for elementary, middle, and high schools are all different so some of your kids' elementary friends will go to a different middle school. And some of your kids' middle school friends will go to a different high school. It's sad to see some friends go on but that happens all the time anyway with people moving around the way they do.

OP--we just did a home search in the same areas so will offer my two cents. We settled on a house that is zoned for Rockville and have been happy so far but our kids are not HS age yet so I can only speak to the elementary part of the cluster. I think Sherwood is equally good, if not a little better, and would not hesitate to send my kids there. Olney is lovely--I just work closer to Rockville so I wanted to be closer to work (I also have family in Rockville/Bethesda).

I really like Howard County but I do think you have to be careful of the schools there as some as definitely better than others. I don't think that all HCPS schools are better than MCPS as a whole. I have heard good things about Atholton and we have very good friends who have kids there. They are really happy. I have a family member who worked at Murray Hill MS years ago and she described it as "a little rough". But this was years ago. Our friends also told us something that I didn't realize about HoCo--some of the elementary schools will split into different middle schools and then the middle schools may split into different high schools. So, your kids may be separated from their friends when they move up. This may not be an issue for you but this was something that was important to me.

Don't come to MCPS. We'd love to get out of this miserable school district.

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered Reservoir High School?

I was seriously considering looking at the Reservoir area of Laurel but decided that I prefer staying in Montgomery County.

The homes there are a lot nicer for the money but don't want to drive 20 to 30 minutes to come back to Montgomery County do things. And then even further to go down to Virginia or DC. Plus the issue of work and jobs.

But if the issues you have is with the ES and MS for Atholton, some of the ES and MSs that feed into Reservoir are rated as 10s on Great Schools. Granted take it for what it's worth. Reservoir is only rated as a 7 on Great Schools. But there are a couple of high schools rated as a 7 in Montgomery County that I wouldn't mind my kids going to. And hopefully by then your kids would be on a good track from the elementary and middle schools.

I'm old and went to Atholton. Way before Reservoir existed. But my old neighborhood goes there now, and I know a lot of folks whose kids have gone through Reservoir. They've really liked it. Is it rated top notch like Centennial and Mt. Hebron and River Hill? No, but it's a good, solid school.

I'd give slight preference to Atholton, but your point about feeder schools is really important. I think elementary and particularly middle schools need to be super-strong for kids.

goterps74 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they are all good enough schools that you should focus on other criteria in making your decision. Best neighborhood, best commute to work, friendliest neighbors, favorite house style, etc.

I'm not being flip. I really believe the schools will be equally fine.

Thanks. I looked at new homes in Wincopia Farms off of Gorman Road in Laurel

My hesistation is of Gorman Crossing Elem and Murray Hill Middle School.

I would try to do the Hammond Elementary and Middle School area if you can. Like Hammond Village.

Anonymous wrote:Sherwood and atholton are equal. Atholton undergoes constant boundary changes. Rockville is ok and improving .

The changes are hardly constant and the county has a rule that no student will be redistricted more often than every five years. They only redistrict every 3-5 years anyway. They are constantly building new schools, mostly in the Elkridge area, which results in those areas redistributing students as the new schools open.

Anonymous wrote:Sherwood and atholton are equal. Atholton undergoes constant boundary changes. Rockville is ok and improving .

No redistricting has occurred in several years so I think the word "constant" is an exaggeration.

I know a lot of people flip out over the redistricting that occurs in HCPSS. Every year, considerations are made to ease overcrowding at some of the schools. Most years, they choose not to change the district boundaries, but every few years some kids might need to change schools. They have announced that there will be some redistricting decisions made in the next year that will take effect in the 2018-2019 school year. It's mostly to relieve crowding on the east side of the county. I'd be surprised if Atholton is involved this time. This is not likely to affect you unless you are living near the district boundary of a crowded school. You can find the school district map on the HCPSS website to see the current boundary lines.

Where is commute? Atholton is more a suburb of Baltimore...Otherwise Rockville and Sherwood are very comparable and I'd choose based on ease of commute, neighborhood, etc. Rockville probably is more expensive, but easier to get into DC proper.

Sherwood and atholton are equal. Atholton undergoes constant boundary changes. Rockville is ok and improving .

I would definitely choose Atholton over Sherwood and Rockville.

Anonymous wrote:How about River Hill High School?

Sure, River Hill is highly rated but the school is packed full of spoiled rich kids. I know several families who are unhappy with the dynamic that goes on there because of the high SES of the students.

Anonymous wrote:How about River Hill High School?

It's a VERY expensive area. If an affordable home is a factor, then the Atholton and Reservoir districts are far more affordable.