OP, I live in Takoma Park and like it. That said, I wish we found a place that is zoned for East Silver Spring so that we could have saved money on city taxes

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And to be specific - TPES has 2.5x kids per grade than ESS. That would feel bigger to me, but. YMMV.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02756.pdf

Why would a K-2 school with 600 (or whatever) students feel bigger to you than a K-5 school with 600 (or whatever) students?

It can feel bigger to the students, because in a k-5 school with 4 or 5 classes per grade, by 5th grade, the kids will have gotten to know and been in the same class at some point with most kids in their grade. With ten classes per grade k-2 and then 3-5 in a different school that also has many classes, kids will always be one of 200 or more kids per grade vs one of 60 or 70 per grade.
And it can be a challenge for parents who have more than one elementary aged kids and have to deal with kids in two different schools.
It doesn’t mean these aren’t great schools. It’s just a different experience from a smaller k-5 school.

Anonymous wrote:

And to be specific - TPES has 2.5x kids per grade than ESS. That would feel bigger to me, but. YMMV.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02756.pdf

Why would a K-2 school with 600 (or whatever) students feel bigger to you than a K-5 school with 600 (or whatever) students?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TPES -> Piney Branch -> TPMS -> Blair

Yes. Also East Silver Spring feeds to TPMS and Blair and has some great neighborhoods.

TPES is huge. 12-13 K classes? Haven’t they taken over every special classroom for more sections?

ESS has...4-5.

TPES had 623 students last year, making it not especially large for an MCPS elementary school. ESS had 539. The K-2/3-5 split schools just have more sections per grade than the other schools. Looks like TPES has just 10 K teachers listed.

TPES has 629 k-2. ESS has 539 k-5. They do have more sections per grade, making the school seem bigger. I had heard from another parent that in the latest expansion the music room was taken over, I didn’t independently verify.

And to be specific - TPES has 2.5x kids per grade than ESS. That would feel bigger to me, but. YMMV.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02756.pdf

Bigger per grade, sure. But with no 3rd-5th graders in the building, the overall student population is comparable to other average-sized schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look off of Dale Drive in the Woodside neighborhood. Great schools and many homes in the ballmark of our budget. People on this board tend to comment quite a bit but not really know much about SS or the DCC. Happy house hunting!

+1

Come live in Woodside Park! Wonderful neighborhood feel, huge setbacks, close to the park, walkable to Metro and downtown Silver Spring, great schools. Quick commute to DC.

We love it here.

Woodside park / forest are beautiful

I live north of there but that's a neighbor to consider with your budget

OP, why are you moving. Bigger house, better schools? What is your real motivator. Would you have been happy with Wilson HS in DC or are you looking for a better school than Wilson.

If you are moving to close-in Silver Spring, with your budget, I would just go ahead and move to TPES>TPMS>Blair. Blair is nearly impossible to get through the DCC lottery. It is also easier to get into the MS magnet if you are zoned to Takoma Park, because they set aside a certain number of seats for in-bound students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TPES -> Piney Branch -> TPMS -> Blair

Yes. Also East Silver Spring feeds to TPMS and Blair and has some great neighborhoods.

TPES is huge. 12-13 K classes? Haven’t they taken over every special classroom for more sections?

ESS has...4-5.

TPES had 623 students last year, making it not especially large for an MCPS elementary school. ESS had 539. The K-2/3-5 split schools just have more sections per grade than the other schools. Looks like TPES has just 10 K teachers listed.

TPES has 629 k-2. ESS has 539 k-5. They do have more sections per grade, making the school seem bigger. I had heard from another parent that in the latest expansion the music room was taken over, I didn’t independently verify.

And to be specific - TPES has 2.5x kids per grade than ESS. That would feel bigger to me, but. YMMV.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02756.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TPES -> Piney Branch -> TPMS -> Blair

Yes. Also East Silver Spring feeds to TPMS and Blair and has some great neighborhoods.

TPES is huge. 12-13 K classes? Haven’t they taken over every special classroom for more sections?

ESS has...4-5.

TPES had 623 students last year, making it not especially large for an MCPS elementary school. ESS had 539. The K-2/3-5 split schools just have more sections per grade than the other schools. Looks like TPES has just 10 K teachers listed.

TPES has 629 k-2. ESS has 539 k-5. They do have more sections per grade, making the school seem bigger. I had heard from another parent that in the latest expansion the music room was taken over, I didn’t independently verify.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TPES -> Piney Branch -> TPMS -> Blair

Yes. Also East Silver Spring feeds to TPMS and Blair and has some great neighborhoods.

TPES is huge. 12-13 K classes? Haven’t they taken over every special classroom for more sections?

ESS has...4-5.

TPES had 623 students last year, making it not especially large for an MCPS elementary school. ESS had 539. The K-2/3-5 split schools just have more sections per grade than the other schools. Looks like TPES has just 10 K teachers listed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TPES -> Piney Branch -> TPMS -> Blair

Yes. Also East Silver Spring feeds to TPMS and Blair and has some great neighborhoods.

TPES is huge. 12-13 K classes? Haven’t they taken over every special classroom for more sections?

ESS has...4-5.

623 students is huge? In a building that is just about at capacity (629 students). So why would they take over every specials classroom? 190 kindergartners, 210 first-graders, 223 second-graders last year.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02754.pdf

There are 10 kindergarten classroom teachers listed in the staff directory.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/takomaparkes/staff/directory.aspx

All of this information is easy to find on line.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TPES -> Piney Branch -> TPMS -> Blair

Yes. Also East Silver Spring feeds to TPMS and Blair and has some great neighborhoods.

TPES is huge. 12-13 K classes? Haven’t they taken over every special classroom for more sections?

ESS has...4-5.

Anonymous wrote:OP, have a look at the neighborhoods off of East-West Highway, Rock Creek Forest and Rosemary Hills. Easy access to the Silver Spring Metro (you can walk from Rosemary Hills or you can grab the bus). Rosemary Hills Primary School is K-2; kids then go onto North Chevy Chase ES for 3-5. Rock Creek Forest ES is K-5; the schools feed into the B-CC Cluster

Great spot this poster just recommended!

Are you kidding me?? Best bang for your buck in SS; especially if you commute to DC. Kensington is so overpriced.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good way to check what school you might want is to go to Montgomery County schools website and check out ESOL (English as Second Language) and FRM (Free and Reduced meals ) percentages of the student body as a marker of poverty/low income. the greater the ESOL and FRM numbers, the less money the school has to spend on enrichment programs.

Actually quite opposite, Title 1 schools get the most funding out of all the schools in the area. These are the schools who have smaller class sizes and have the extra resources for enrichment. One example, I met a Science teacher at a Title 1 school whose sole job is to provide STEM enrichment for all the students at the school. We are not at a Title 1 and i can tell you that we certainly don't have that.

Yah but STEM enrichment at a title one school is teaching the kids not to stick forks into outlets because of fancy electrification

Go ahead and think what you want to think. ignorance is a beautiful thing.

Anonymous wrote:Look off of Dale Drive in the Woodside neighborhood. Great schools and many homes in the ballmark of our budget. People on this board tend to comment quite a bit but not really know much about SS or the DCC. Happy house hunting!

+1

Come live in Woodside Park! Wonderful neighborhood feel, huge setbacks, close to the park, walkable to Metro and downtown Silver Spring, great schools. Quick commute to DC.

We love it here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TPES -> Piney Branch -> TPMS -> Blair

This is probably your best option if your child is interested in STEM education because of:
1) TPES STEM magnet
2) PBES local CES
3) TPMS magnet's neighborhood set aside

Not to mention access to many magnet classes even for regular Blair students.