We live in the Westbrook ES neighborhood, and so I cannot specifically speak to Wood Acres or Sommerset ES, but I have lots of friends in those neighborhoods.

Both are great neighborhoods, and I'd be happy to live in either one.

One nice advantage of Sommerset is the town pool because it's so nice and such a great place to hang out in the summer. The houses are more expensive in Sommerset than in Wood Acres because the former is just walking distance from downtown Bethesda, which is lovely.

Westland MS is now a lot smaller with the opening of the second middle school in the BCC cluster. That's a big advantage.

I think it's nice to consider moving the kids during elementary so that they can use those years to build friendships. I think it's a bit easier to make neighborhood friends during elementary school.

Wood Acres Elementary parent here.

It's true the school is big, but we have found the large size improves the chances of DC making friends. If your child doesn't get along with someone, there is always another social group of kids he or she can gravitate toward.

Parents are friendly and active as a school community. If you want to improve your chances of connecting with other parents, volunteer to help out at school (e.g. by being a room parent) or have your DC do community activities like join a soccer or basketball team with other kids from the same grade. Mohican Pool also is a great source of community, so if you move, get on the waiting list right away.

As for teachers at Wood Acres, there are good ones and bad ones in every grade, with a degree of turnover every year. Classes tend to be big. A big enrollment also means lunch and recess slots are spread out over much of the day. Principal is good but seems mostly no-nonsense rather than touchy-feely. I think you have to be in order to successfully manage a school that big.

It's not perfect but we have been happy with the school so far.

OP--we are thinking about this same issue but with one kid approaching middle school and a much younger one who will go through elementary school in MCPS.

One thing i underestimated--we waited for middle school to move, for commute and other reasons--is how much older DC is upset at leaving behind friends. Middle school is a tough time and I wish I had realized that it would be much better to have a peer group and a lot of friends in his school going into that.

For that reason I'd suggest moving earlier.

Op for purposes of searching the archives for past discussions please note that it’s “spelled Somerset” with one “m”

OP here - ok, so my post was slightly hijacked .
Thanks for the useful feedback for those who commented on the Woodacres/Sommerset question. That was the feedback I got so far too, i.e. that BCC might be a better fit than Whitman. Others commented that Walter Johnson might also be a better fit. Thanks all!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:True, the liberals on the MCPS might push to institute bussing in order to mix bottom performers with top performers so doesn’t matter where you live. Your kid could have an hour commute in rush hour.

Doubt that's going to happen. There would be a huge uproar. Right now, my kid walks to school in 6 minutes.

MoCo just randomly selected our household to be part of a countywide survey. Filled it out today. It asked whether we thought county should adjust school boundaries for "diversity" and use of available school space. Under Erlich they are pushing this approach.

Lots of things are "explored." But if you think there is suddenly going to become a system of busing kids 1 hour across the county, you don't understand how county elections work.

Maybe I don't understand county elections, but I am more familiar with how the federal laws like ESSA end up pushing counties into "compliance."

Ok, please cite your evidence of how MoCo is out of compliance with ESSA and how it's going to be mandated to redistrict.

Just look at other public districts and what they are moving towards. It doesn't really matter who is on your local school board. I didn't say it would be "mandated" to redistrict. But continued inadequate progress closing the achievement gap leaves fewer options each year.

Six out of eight MCPS BOE members are person of color. Over 30% supervisors in MCPS are blacks. Last MC county executive is a black person. MC is one of the most progressive county in the States. Unfortunately there isn't enough white students in MCPS to be bussed around to make every school equal. Bussing the white students may not lift the acamamic performance of the URM

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:True, the liberals on the MCPS might push to institute bussing in order to mix bottom performers with top performers so doesn’t matter where you live. Your kid could have an hour commute in rush hour.

Doubt that's going to happen. There would be a huge uproar. Right now, my kid walks to school in 6 minutes.

MoCo just randomly selected our household to be part of a countywide survey. Filled it out today. It asked whether we thought county should adjust school boundaries for "diversity" and use of available school space. Under Erlich they are pushing this approach.

Lots of things are "explored." But if you think there is suddenly going to become a system of busing kids 1 hour across the county, you don't understand how county elections work.

Maybe I don't understand county elections, but I am more familiar with how the federal laws like ESSA end up pushing counties into "compliance."

Ok, please cite your evidence of how MoCo is out of compliance with ESSA and how it's going to be mandated to redistrict.

Just look at other public districts and what they are moving towards. It doesn't really matter who is on your local school board. I didn't say it would be "mandated" to redistrict. But continued inadequate progress closing the achievement gap leaves fewer options each year.

So basically you're chicken little and the sky is falling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:True, the liberals on the MCPS might push to institute bussing in order to mix bottom performers with top performers so doesn’t matter where you live. Your kid could have an hour commute in rush hour.

Doubt that's going to happen. There would be a huge uproar. Right now, my kid walks to school in 6 minutes.

MoCo just randomly selected our household to be part of a countywide survey. Filled it out today. It asked whether we thought county should adjust school boundaries for "diversity" and use of available school space. Under Erlich they are pushing this approach.

Lots of things are "explored." But if you think there is suddenly going to become a system of busing kids 1 hour across the county, you don't understand how county elections work.

Maybe I don't understand county elections, but I am more familiar with how the federal laws like ESSA end up pushing counties into "compliance."

Ok, please cite your evidence of how MoCo is out of compliance with ESSA and how it's going to be mandated to redistrict.

Just look at other public districts and what they are moving towards. It doesn't really matter who is on your local school board. I didn't say it would be "mandated" to redistrict. But continued inadequate progress closing the achievement gap leaves fewer options each year.

Agree with PP that you will probably like the BCC cluster more. There are some apartment building s near the Friendship Heights metro that you might consider if you are looking to rent — Kids go to Somerset/Westland/BCC.

We are at Rosemary Hills Primary/Chevy Chase ES/Silver Creek middle/BCC and happy with it — parents for the most part are approachable and friendly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:True, the liberals on the MCPS might push to institute bussing in order to mix bottom performers with top performers so doesn’t matter where you live. Your kid could have an hour commute in rush hour.

Doubt that's going to happen. There would be a huge uproar. Right now, my kid walks to school in 6 minutes.

MoCo just randomly selected our household to be part of a countywide survey. Filled it out today. It asked whether we thought county should adjust school boundaries for "diversity" and use of available school space. Under Erlich they are pushing this approach.

Lots of things are "explored." But if you think there is suddenly going to become a system of busing kids 1 hour across the county, you don't understand how county elections work.

Maybe I don't understand county elections, but I am more familiar with how the federal laws like ESSA end up pushing counties into "compliance."

Ok, please cite your evidence of how MoCo is out of compliance with ESSA and how it's going to be mandated to redistrict.

We moved from DCPS so kids could have access to magnet programs and special ed. Comparable magnet ES and MS experiences are simply not available in DCPS. We also moved anticipating mild to moderate special education needs. MCPS is a total failure at that, but probably not any more so than DCPS would have been.

If you’re not connecting w/ parents at Mann, I can’t imagine Whitman cluster would be any better.

Both Deal/Wilson and Westland/BCC have a more urban, diverse vibe, the former more so than the latter. We know people who have had great experiences and great college outcomes at both schools.

What kind of parents do you imagine you would connect with?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Somerset has been disappointing. Principal is not a strong leader, doesn't show much passion for kids, education, the school. It's hard to say exactly what's missing beyond that, it just doesn't seem like a place that inspires a lot of joy, curiosity, etc. (Although of course some individual teachers are amazing.) Parent involvement seems to be discouraged. I recently toured another MCPS e.s. and was struck by how much more vital and nurturing it seemed. Maybe Westbrook would be better? (That's not the school I toured but I've heard good things.)

My kids are at Somerset too. I agree the principal is not stellar, but I've been very happy with the teachers my kids have had, the resources provided, and the PTA has a lot of good programs that push in resources to the kids. I have friends at Westbrook and think it's pretty similar. It's a smaller school, but depending on how enrollment turns out, you could end up having 3 huge classes in 1 grade or 4 small ones (which is an MCPS issue).

One of my kids is in first at Somerset and we've been really happy. We moved from upper NW to the Town of Somerset, and we really like the community here - we've made parent friends, and the kids have friends of all ages in town and specifically through the town pool. My other kid is at a private and we're not nearly as wild about the other parents there. It's just a totally different vibe - stuffier and somehow more off-putting. Somerset isn't perfect - as others have said, MCPS is huge and pretty inflexible in certain ways- but we're overall pleased with the experience so far.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:True, the liberals on the MCPS might push to institute bussing in order to mix bottom performers with top performers so doesn’t matter where you live. Your kid could have an hour commute in rush hour.

Doubt that's going to happen. There would be a huge uproar. Right now, my kid walks to school in 6 minutes.

MoCo just randomly selected our household to be part of a countywide survey. Filled it out today. It asked whether we thought county should adjust school boundaries for "diversity" and use of available school space. Under Erlich they are pushing this approach.

Lots of things are "explored." But if you think there is suddenly going to become a system of busing kids 1 hour across the county, you don't understand how county elections work.

Maybe I don't understand county elections, but I am more familiar with how the federal laws like ESSA end up pushing counties into "compliance."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:True, the liberals on the MCPS might push to institute bussing in order to mix bottom performers with top performers so doesn’t matter where you live. Your kid could have an hour commute in rush hour.

Doubt that's going to happen. There would be a huge uproar. Right now, my kid walks to school in 6 minutes.

MoCo just randomly selected our household to be part of a countywide survey. Filled it out today. It asked whether we thought county should adjust school boundaries for "diversity" and use of available school space. Under Erlich they are pushing this approach.

Lots of things are "explored." But if you think there is suddenly going to become a system of busing kids 1 hour across the county, you don't understand how county elections work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:True, the liberals on the MCPS might push to institute bussing in order to mix bottom performers with top performers so doesn’t matter where you live. Your kid could have an hour commute in rush hour.

Doubt that's going to happen. There would be a huge uproar. Right now, my kid walks to school in 6 minutes.

MoCo just randomly selected our household to be part of a countywide survey. Filled it out today. It asked whether we thought county should adjust school boundaries for "diversity" and use of available school space. Under Erlich they are pushing this approach.