Anonymous
Post 12/23/2016 17:57     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:
Next teir in MOCO of Magruder , Rockville , Clarksburg
Are above the HOCO dregs schools of

Howard, Oakland Mills , Hammond, Longreach which are like Watkins Mill , Wheaton , Northwood, Seneca Valley.



Isn't Howard County one of the best schools based on greatschools, niche, etc.?

I lived in HoCo for 5 years and loved it but wouldn't describe the county as "walkable". If you look at walk scores for various zip codes, the average in HoCo will be much lower than for MoCo: https://www.walkscore.com/score/21044

Anonymous
Post 12/23/2016 17:38     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Columbia and everything east of route 29 is not very good schools.

The only really good schools are River Hill, Centennial , Marriotts Ridge.

Whitman , Churchill and Wootton are much better and much higher priced neighborhoods in MOCO.

WJ is superior to the next tier of HOCO schools

Atholton , reservoir , Mt Hebron and Glenelg


Are comparable to Sherwood , Damascus, RM, BCC , Poolesville , Northwest, Blair

Next teir in MOCO of Magruder , Rockville , Clarksburg
Are above the HOCO dregs schools of

Howard, Oakland Mills , Hammond, Longreach which are like Watkins Mill , Wheaton , Northwood, Seneca Valley.

Anonymous
Post 12/23/2016 17:23     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Most of Columbia is very walkable. I live here and can walk within 10 minutes to:
-my child's school
-our neighborhood pool
-2 pizza places
-my nail salon
-my hair salon
-dry cleaners
-some fast food
-drugstore (Walgreens)
Anonymous
Post 12/23/2016 15:21     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:All else aside, I would choose Howard County schools over Montgomery County schools in a heartbeat and twice on Sunday. I have experience with both systems. No question.


Agree


It's a sillycomparison. Most people dont choose HoCo because it's a horrible commute unless you live in Baltimore and this is mainly a DC area forum. Howard county is also not walkable and the housing stock is totally different. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

Many parts of Howard County are extremely walkable if that feature is needed so you can take that off the table. Many of the houses are significantly newer than Montgomery County houses so if you're looking for a 50+ year old house, you'll have a harder time find that in Howard County.


Thanks - I'm mostly familiar with Columbia and that does not seem walkable at all but admit I don't know all of Howard County. Yes, the 80s housing stock can be a bit of a turn off - that is mostly what I've seen in the 700-800K price range. I do prefer older homes. And my house is not the envy of all by any stretch of the imagination, but it's got a great foundation and great character. Most of the houses I'm familiar with in Howard County are neighborhoods where most of the houses look the same and aren't walkable. The houses are not bad - just not my preference.
Anonymous
Post 12/23/2016 13:59     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:All else aside, I would choose Howard County schools over Montgomery County schools in a heartbeat and twice on Sunday. I have experience with both systems. No question.


Agree


It's a sillycomparison. Most people dont choose HoCo because it's a horrible commute unless you live in Baltimore and this is mainly a DC area forum. Howard county is also not walkable and the housing stock is totally different. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

Many parts of Howard County are extremely walkable if that feature is needed so you can take that off the table. Many of the houses are significantly newer than Montgomery County houses so if you're looking for a 50+ year old house, you'll have a harder time find that in Howard County.
Anonymous
Post 12/23/2016 12:33     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:All else aside, I would choose Howard County schools over Montgomery County schools in a heartbeat and twice on Sunday. I have experience with both systems. No question.


Agree


It's a sillycomparison. Most people dont choose HoCo because it's a horrible commute unless you live in Baltimore and this is mainly a DC area forum. Howard county is also not walkable and the housing stock is totally different. It's like comparing apples and oranges.
Anonymous
Post 12/22/2016 23:33     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:All else aside, I would choose Howard County schools over Montgomery County schools in a heartbeat and twice on Sunday. I have experience with both systems. No question.


Agree
Anonymous
Post 12/22/2016 21:10     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you move to flower valley, then chances are your kids will do activities and sports in Olney...so why not just move there?

We know a family that regrets moving to FV specifically for that reason.


NP, is Olney the only place that offers sports?


City of Rockville offers excellent rec and camp activities...as does the County


I posted earlier because we live in the area. We have done some City of Rockville sports, but some of their offerings are limited to ONLY City of Rockville residents (like their Track and Field program). City of Rockville has been great for camps though.

But baseball is very tough to find here - families either go with OBGC or schlep all the way up to Germantown. With multiple kids, driving all over gets old fast and carpooling only works when the kids are in your neighborhood!

Agree with the other PP that having kids from your own ES on your sports teams helps foster a sense of community and that can be missing when you're traveling to a different area for sports. YMMV
Anonymous
Post 12/22/2016 16:28     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you move to flower valley, then chances are your kids will do activities and sports in Olney...so why not just move there?

We know a family that regrets moving to FV specifically for that reason.


NP, is Olney the only place that offers sports?


City of Rockville offers excellent rec and camp activities...as does the County


So does Silver Spring...doesn't mean you want to schlep your kid there for practices and games.
Anonymous
Post 12/22/2016 16:04     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you move to flower valley, then chances are your kids will do activities and sports in Olney...so why not just move there?

We know a family that regrets moving to FV specifically for that reason.


NP, is Olney the only place that offers sports?


City of Rockville offers excellent rec and camp activities...as does the County
Anonymous
Post 12/22/2016 15:39     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you move to flower valley, then chances are your kids will do activities and sports in Olney...so why not just move there?

We know a family that regrets moving to FV specifically for that reason.


NP, is Olney the only place that offers sports?


Flower Valley is off Norbeck Road. It's in an area that essentially borders northern Silver Spring/Aspen Hill and Olney. It's not in the heart of Rockville. It's actually closer to Olney, so most families end up in activities (ballet, karate or OBGC/all sports) in Olney. You might regret living in one neighborhood when all the activities are in another---not just for the driving, but for the missed opportunity to have your kid enrolled in schools and sports with the same kids.
Anonymous
Post 12/22/2016 14:56     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you move to flower valley, then chances are your kids will do activities and sports in Olney...so why not just move there?

We know a family that regrets moving to FV specifically for that reason.


NP, is Olney the only place that offers sports?


Not the PP, but we live in the Flower Valley area and there isn't a ton around here. Many families go with OBGC and end up traveling up to Olney for baseball, etc. There are some soccer options in the area.
Anonymous
Post 12/22/2016 14:31     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:If you move to flower valley, then chances are your kids will do activities and sports in Olney...so why not just move there?

We know a family that regrets moving to FV specifically for that reason.


NP, is Olney the only place that offers sports?
Anonymous
Post 12/22/2016 13:56     Subject: Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
If you move to flower valley, then chances are your kids will do activities and sports in Olney...so why not just move there?

We know a family that regrets moving to FV specifically for that reason.
Anonymous
Post 12/21/2016 23:06     Subject: Re:Better School? Sherwood HS, Rockville HS or Atholton HS?
Anonymous wrote:
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


Im the PP you were responding to. That is the area we are in--Flower Valley. We really like it here. Lots of rebirth in the neighborhood with young families moving in. Lots of kids. Very nice people and an active, safe community. Norbeck Road can be a bit of a hassle in the morning, especially heading toward Rockville (heading to the ICC doesn't seem as bad). But it's not going to be worse than commuting from Howard County. Again, I don't have personal experience with the high school but I haven't heard anything bad. I do know it is one of the smallest high schools in the county so it seems to be a pretty close knit community.