Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 23:37     Subject: Wootton or Churchill or RM
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Hello all, looking for insight on these schools. We are looking for a SFH just off Falls Road and have found houses we like in all three high school zones. We are not familiar with these schools(currently live in HoCo). I know people will say HoCo schools are better and to just not move but we are 100% moving to this part of MoCo and open to other neighborhoods and schools nearby but these neighborhoods and schools are our focus for right now. What are the main differences between them? Churchill seems like the most well-known in the area and ranked the best, but that is not only what we care about. Looking for good schools K-12 with a well-rounded but academically competitive student body. Which school would you choose for your family and why? Thanks!!!

No schools in HoCo are better than three mentioned schools. Period

River Hill sure is. No magnet or inflated scores/grades needed to curve it better either. They don’t have the diversity and apeshit tiger parents, so it won’t be on every crazy list, but it is an incredible healthy environment to learn.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 23:32     Subject: Wootton or Churchill or RM
Coming from the RM cluster and knowing families and kids in all schools (as well as staff/coaches) I would rank them:

Wootton
Churchill
RM

My guess is the cost of your homes for what you get also shows this.

RM has diversity, but a lot of poor kids and immigrants. It is also overcrowded and scores are masked by the IB program.

Your kid will feel left out as not being rich in Churchill

Wootton has the best parent involvement and academics. Not a fan of the location though. Your home price will continue to increase.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 23:25     Subject: Wootton or Churchill or RM
RMIB is hardest of the three and most pressure cooker of the three.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 22:52     Subject: Wootton or Churchill or RM
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Hello all, looking for insight on these schools. We are looking for a SFH just off Falls Road and have found houses we like in all three high school zones. We are not familiar with these schools(currently live in HoCo). I know people will say HoCo schools are better and to just not move but we are 100% moving to this part of MoCo and open to other neighborhoods and schools nearby but these neighborhoods and schools are our focus for right now. What are the main differences between them? Churchill seems like the most well-known in the area and ranked the best, but that is not only what we care about. Looking for good schools K-12 with a well-rounded but academically competitive student body. Which school would you choose for your family and why? Thanks!!!

No schools in HoCo are better than three mentioned schools. Period


Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 22:51     Subject: Wootton or Churchill or RM
Anonymous wrote:Hello all, looking for insight on these schools. We are looking for a SFH just off Falls Road and have found houses we like in all three high school zones. We are not familiar with these schools(currently live in HoCo). I know people will say HoCo schools are better and to just not move but we are 100% moving to this part of MoCo and open to other neighborhoods and schools nearby but these neighborhoods and schools are our focus for right now. What are the main differences between them? Churchill seems like the most well-known in the area and ranked the best, but that is not only what we care about. Looking for good schools K-12 with a well-rounded but academically competitive student body. Which school would you choose for your family and why? Thanks!!!

No schools in HoCo are better than three mentioned schools. Period
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 21:53     Subject: Re:Wootton or Churchill or RM
Anonymous wrote:Some of our closest friends are asian -Chinese, Korean, Thai, Taiwanese, and Indian. They are all incredibly warm and supportive neighbors and friends. Our children have been friends since K and we've shared so many things together. I really hate how some posters (intentional or not) stereotype asians as being overly competitive or a negative in a community. This has never been our experience.


Weird how you extrapolate to Asians as a whole and people are just talking about Wootton.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 21:50     Subject: Wootton or Churchill or RM
Churchill if you are extremely wealthy and can buy your kid a new car in junior and senior year, and pay for very expensive trips, outings and electronic gadgets. Many Churchill families summer at the beach and take ski trips to Aspen. Wootton is a pressure cooker that burns kids out and many people are unhappy. RM is great all-around - very good academics, with diversity. If you hate minorities though, go to Churchill.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 20:46     Subject: Wootton or Churchill or RM
I don't think there's *that* much difference between Wootton and Churchill, other than Churchill area has more money, and Wootton has more Asian Americans. Both of the HSs have similar test scores and FARMS rate.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 20:45     Subject: Re:Wootton or Churchill or RM
Anonymous wrote:Some of our closest friends are asian -Chinese, Korean, Thai, Taiwanese, and Indian. They are all incredibly warm and supportive neighbors and friends. Our children have been friends since K and we've shared so many things together. I really hate how some posters (intentional or not) stereotype asians as being overly competitive or a negative in a community. This has never been our experience.

yes, of course they can be friendly, but Wootton is pretty much a pressure cooker.

-signed an Asian American
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 20:32     Subject: Re:Wootton or Churchill or RM
Churchill is superior to Wootton, WHS boosters are just writing paragraphs to hide that they are just here to promote wootton. These are the only 3 nearby schools in the area you are looking, I would say churchill between wootton and wchs, and choose RM if you want diversity.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 19:48     Subject: Re:Wootton or Churchill or RM
Anonymous wrote:Some of our closest friends are asian -Chinese, Korean, Thai, Taiwanese, and Indian. They are all incredibly warm and supportive neighbors and friends. Our children have been friends since K and we've shared so many things together. I really hate how some posters (intentional or not) stereotype asians as being overly competitive or a negative in a community. This has never been our experience.

Just today I had a child crying at the end of the semester over a solid B in a very challenging AP course. It's her first B, it will ruin her 4.0, and of course ruin her chances to go to college, and ruin her life. Everyone in her family, and all her cousins are perfect and she isn't, and the family condemnation will come down upon her. Yes, she was Asian.

In my 15 years of teaching, I have known wonderful and amazing Asian students and parents that approach education in a well balanced manner. But this is also the only demographic that I have advanced students every year who have finally hit something really challenging crying because they aren't meeting the perfection expectation that their parents demand of them. It's a stereotype, especially when you are talking about these three schools, for a reason.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 19:20     Subject: Re:Wootton or Churchill or RM
Some of our closest friends are asian -Chinese, Korean, Thai, Taiwanese, and Indian. They are all incredibly warm and supportive neighbors and friends. Our children have been friends since K and we've shared so many things together. I really hate how some posters (intentional or not) stereotype asians as being overly competitive or a negative in a community. This has never been our experience.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 18:55     Subject: Wootton or Churchill or RM
Anonymous wrote:If you are at all interested in IB for your kids or want to have it as an option, buy in the RM. yes,anyone from any school can test in but living in the RM boundaries will give you more options (easier to be accepted to IB, opportunity to join in 11th grade rather than 9th)

+1 this was the main reason we chose RM over the other two. Plus, it is the most diverse of the three - both SES and race.

RMIB sets aside 25 seats (or more?) to inbound cluster students.

Overcrowding is an issue. But they are going to build Crown HS soon which should alleviate overcrowding at RM.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 18:47     Subject: Re:Wootton or Churchill or RM
Anonymous wrote:Weird replies from PPs.

There is nothing toxic about Wootton and no one is sad just one poster who hates it. Lots of friendly smart, kids from high UMC and low UMC families. Very international so as long as diversity to you means people from every religion, country and ethnicity then you will like it. Very highly educated parent population, filled with PHds, scientists and doctors. Drama/theater and swimming is popular. Its not MIT. Wootton homes under 750K go fast and have a little room to appreciate. The 1M dollar homes sit for a long time.

Churchill is also high UMC to mid UMC. Large areas of Churchill are not super wealthy and families have the same income as RM or Wootton families. Many of the ultra rich choose to go to private school as well. Swimming is also popular here. Its not Beverly Hills. Churchill is more educationally diverse (fewer Phds, more JDs), less economically diverse and probably the same level of international diversity as Wootton. Churchill areas have been losing value and sit on the market for a long time so be careful not to over pay and check the price history.

RM has a more mixed school population but seems to manage very well. The IB program is hands down the best academic program in the entire county. If your child is academically oriented and can do the work its an amazing option. RM is both internationally, economically and educationally diverse. RM has appreciation potential as the area keeps improving.


Agree with the PP. Churchill and Wootton are pretty similar; RM is more diverse. All the schools are a little different in what they offer although it's the same curriculum so if there's something important to you, you may want to investigate it. For example, Wootton has a marching band and I believe that Churchill does not. Wootton has pretty strong theater and Churchill's is relatively week. As note above, RM has the IB program. Churchill has Academies, etc.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2019 18:42     Subject: Wootton or Churchill or RM
1. RMIB, if your kid is smart enough
2. Wootton, if your kid doesn’t mind competing with driven Asian kids
3. Churchill, if you have money
4. RM, if your answer is no to above 3