We’ve been very happy with Northwood, especially Dr. Garrick. Sending a second kid there in two years.

Poolesville cluster

Anonymous wrote:Voice of reason here OP

Yes the boundries are changing.

I would do the Whittman, Churchill, or Wootton (not dufief given current boarders changing )clusters. Any of the elementary and middle schools is fine.

MCPS is a great school system. All school systems this large have movement.

It's about how you parent how you value education.

No school is perfect. MCPS comes dam close in most schools. Every school can have a bad teacher or crappy administration.

+1

Decided to log in and not hide behind the Anonymous tag. Gaithersburg HS has been great for my 10th grade daughter. Having moved back here from the Eastern Panhandle of WV, the diverse population at Gaithersburg has really made a huge positive difference for her in finding her place in high school. The teachers have been highly supportive and accommodating of some issues my child has in ways other schools have not in the past. I'm sure other schools in MCPS would be just as good for my daughter but I definitely have nothing bad to say about Gaithersburg.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really like Gaithersburg HS for my kid. It has been perfect for her since we relocated back to the area from 4 years out of state.

Thanks for posting Central Office.

Lol. Yes i’ve noticed an uptick in CO posts trying to make Gaithersburg HS sound good. I’ve heard nothing but bad things about the place from its students.

Anonymous wrote:I really like Gaithersburg HS for my kid. It has been perfect for her since we relocated back to the area from 4 years out of state.

Thanks for posting Central Office.

NBMS and any of the elementaries that feed into it. My oldest now at WJ and loves it. It's big and crowded which he actually enjoys. Most importantly the teachers are first rate.

I really like Gaithersburg HS for my kid. It has been perfect for her since we relocated back to the area from 4 years out of state.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it goes teacher by teacher. My kids had a few wonderful teachers at Bradley Hills. Then one horrific teacher who got moved out of mainstream teaching due to endless complaints over many years (other parents, not me actually).

they didn't have many good teachers at Pyle, except in the foreign language classes - those teachers are stellar there.

And at Whitman there were one or two really inspirational teachers. Mr. Omari James for one. Fabulous English lit teacher.

Not many others.

They graduated this year, 2025

This is our path too - Bradley Hills to Pyle to Whitman (but we haven't gotten to Whitman yet). We've found Bradley Hills and Pyle both to be exceptional. The music program in particular at Pyle is fantastic, but all the teachers have been varying levels of good to great in our experience. Strong communities as well.

Same path here. Bradley Hills was great and we had a mix of teachers. I think Pyle has much better teachers. So far only one really bad one, and a ton of excellent ones. Very impressed by Pyle. Both schools have a great community.

Same path except one kid at CCES. Really liked BHES. Very caring teachers in our experience.

Pyle was meh, both kids didn’t particularly like it. One had a horrible language teacher who then moved to Whitman, where he had her again before she left the school.

Agree that the music program at Pyle is exceptional. DS, who didn’t particular like playing an instrument, insisted on doing band all 3 years plus jazz band because he loved being a part of it so much.

Whitman has been fine. Mix of teachers. The PLTW program struggled for a few years but is on a much better track now. Love the new-ish principal.

Absolutely loved Garrett Park elementary for both kids. Tilden had been meh for both. WJ has been fantastic for my older daughter. I’m pretty sure my younger daughter will go to the new Woodward.