Anonymous wrote:I went to Rockville, right before the IB program was implemented. Took AP and honors classes and most of my friends were from my specific classes. The big fish small pond situation was cool--I had leadership roles on multiple sports teams and publications that would have been more competitive at a bigger place. Went to a well regarded SLAC and then on to a top ranked grad school. The money my parents didn't use to stretch for a house in a "high performing" district paid for my college in full (grateful!!).

Also, I'm not afraid of brown people.

New poster, Love this feedback about the schools we are zoned for, thank you!

Hi op. Writing in to say I am in a somewhat similar situation. We live zoned for barnsley then woods then Rockville and have a toddler. I do get a little anxious about the schools but anecdotally all of my neighbors have been happy at the schools we are zoned for at each level. There are lots of kids her age in our neighborhood. FWIW we've decided to stay where we are, continue to save in the more affordable house where we've been for 10 years, and then if at some point we need to move and /or consider private we will hopefully be in a financial situation to afford to do so. Good luck in your decision!

The funny thing is that RHS and RM have always been rivals. RHS has always had a better reputation— hence the purpose of the magnet program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RM without IB is pretty average. It's going to be even more ordinary due to IB program trying to take more students from home school in RM.

Sounds harsh but I think this sums it up pretty well. Without magnet IB, I don't see any significant difference between two.

JW has a high rating -- 8 or 9. How do all these MSers at an 8/9 school go onto a middling HS?

I agree with the previous post that hanging out with the wrong kids could get them into trouble, but are there more "wrong" kids at Rockville than RM? Given that only 36% of kids at Rockville are meeting the Univ. of Maryland entry requirements, what are the rest of them up to? According to the RM at a glance, 64% of kids are meeting the requirements.

Anonymous wrote:Rockville isn't as bad as it is said to be. It would be easier for your kids to get involved and hold leadership positions in the school too. The important thing to know though is that you need to make sure they are hanging out with good kids, or else they could get into a lot of trouble at Rockville if they hang out with the wrong crowd.

That goes for any high school.

Rockville isn't as bad as it is said to be. It would be easier for your kids to get involved and hold leadership positions in the school too. The important thing to know though is that you need to make sure they are hanging out with good kids, or else they could get into a lot of trouble at Rockville if they hang out with the wrong crowd.

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly enough, if you look at the detailed GS ratings, white kids at Rockville actually have a better test score rating (9) then Richard Montgomery (8).

What if the OP is not white? Why would you even bring up the race in this discussion?

We are in the Rockville cluster. My kids are still in elementary, but the families I know who have students at Rockville are all happy with it there. I have no problem sending my children there when they are old enough.

OP here.

This is all helpful info and I think in my gut is telling me what I already know...that at the HS level, RM and Rockville will have similar outcomes for my kids. I just worry a bit about the future (which nobody can plan) given that my youngest is just starting elementary.

Lots to think about, thanks!

I went to Rockville, right before the IB program was implemented. Took AP and honors classes and most of my friends were from my specific classes. The big fish small pond situation was cool--I had leadership roles on multiple sports teams and publications that would have been more competitive at a bigger place. Went to a well regarded SLAC and then on to a top ranked grad school. The money my parents didn't use to stretch for a house in a "high performing" district paid for my college in full (grateful!!).

Also, I'm not afraid of brown people.

Anonymous wrote:Correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t RM allow open lunch?

Yes..and the whole school has lunch at the same time which is great for clubs as well as meeting with teachers. Everyone is free at the same time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RM without IB is pretty average. It's going to be even more ordinary due to IB program trying to take more students from home school in RM.

Sounds harsh but I think this sums it up pretty well. Without magnet IB, I don't see any significant difference between two.

This is a very lackluster view because it doesn't go into any depth. RM is a very weird dynamic if you break it up by ES. At the ES level, there are currently 3 (soon to be 4) high-performing schools and one average. When they combine at the middle school level, performance is above average. You an draw a lot more conclusions from the JW side than the RM side.

There was a thread to calculate average SAT score without IB for RM. Look it up and see where it puts RM without IB. I am aware of JW doing better and I did ask this to 2 principles of ES in this cluster.

MCPS is still able to push kids when they are young, it falls apart by the time they reach HS. External influence takes over and MCPS is not able to do the same job with HS kids. That's what both told me. I am not sure if it's 100% true, but just repeating whatever I heard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly enough, if you look at the detailed GS ratings, white kids at Rockville actually have a better test score rating (9) then Richard Montgomery (8).

And? So, what about Asian Am., Black and Hispanic test scores? And what does that exactly tell us?

OP, both schools are decent and very diverse. RM cluster probably has more higher SES than Rockville cluster. The size importance really depends on your DC - some students like small schools because otherwise they get lost in the crowd, so to speak, while others hate to stand out and prefer larger schools.

Location wise, RM is very close to Town Center, while Rockville is in the middle of the 'burbs.

It tells us that a white kid from this area will probably do just as well at RM as they would do at Rockville. Black and Hispanic scores at both schools are in the 3-4 range. People around here tend to hold RM in higher regard than Rockville, but in terms of actual student performance I don't know that there is much of a difference. OP, I would base my decision on what particular neighborhood you like better vs which HS it feeds into. There is quite a difference in neighborhoods even feeding into the same HS.

Correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t RM allow open lunch?